ST. LOUIS — The 2023 IIHF World Championship is set to begin on Friday, May 12, and many St. Louis Blues players will represent their country.
The tournament will be held from May 12 through May 28 and take place in Tampere, Finland, and Riga, Latvia. Sixteen countries will compete in two groups in a preliminary round-robin to determine seeding. Then the top four from each group will then advance to the quarterfinals.
Forwards Sammy Blais and Jake Neighbours and goalie Joel Hofer will represent Team Canada in the tournament.
Blais joined the Blues in February following the trade that sent Vladimir Tarasenko to the New York Rangers. He matched a career-high in goals (nine) in 2023, all with the Blues. Blais also set a new career-high with 25 points.
Neighbours spent half of the season with the Blues, recording 10 points (six goals and four assists). He also spent time with the team's AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds, and recorded nine goals and seven assists in 23 games.
Neighbours has represented Team Canada at the U-17, U-18 and U-20 junior tournaments and won a silver medal in 2019.
Hofer, 22, spent most of the 2022-23 season with the Thunderbirds, posting a 27-25-5 record. He also had a 2.50-goals-against average and five shutouts.
In eight games with the Blues over the past two seasons, he has a 4-2-1 record with a 3.18 goals-against average.
Blues General Manager Doug Armstrong is also serving as Team Canada's General Manager.
Blues defenseman Scott Perunovich will represent Team USA at the tournament. This will be the 24-year-old's third time representing the United States. He won a bronze medal in the 2018 World Junior Championships.
Kasperi Kapanen was named to Team Finland's roster on May 8. He was part of the 2016 World Junior Championship team where he scored the gold medal-winning goal.
Kapanen was claimed off waivers by the Blues in February and he recorded eight goals and six assists in 23 games with the team.
Find more information on the tournament and how to watch it here.