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Kevin Fiala joins Team Switzerland at World Championships, will play today

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It’s been quite the whirlwind week for Kings forward Kevin Fiala.

Earlier in the week, Kevin and his wife Jessica welcomed their first child, a daughter named Masie-Mae. Yesterday, it was announced that Fiala will join Team Switzerland for the remainder of the 2024 World Championships, linking up with the team in advance of their game here today.

Team Switzerland is off to a pretty good start without him, winning each of its first two games during group play. Switzerland defeated Norway on the opening day of the tournament and followed it up with a victory over Austria in Game 2.

Fiala will play for his country for the second straight season, after he skated in the 2023 World Championships. Fiala also joined that tournament late, as he recovered from a late-season injury that cost him Games 1, 2 and 3 of the 2023 postseason. In total, this is Fiala’s sixth appearance for Switzerland at the World Championships. He won a silver medal in 2018, was selected as a Top 3 player on his team in 2019 and had the most points by a U18 player in 2014.

He’ll be joining a squad that is led by Nashville defenseman Roman Josi, New Jersey forward Nico Hischier and Winnipeg forward Nino Niederreiter, as well as Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler, New Jersey goaltender Akira Schimd and Chicago forward Philipp Kurashev. The World Championships are always a point of pride for players from European countries, especially those with a smaller NHL presence such as Switzerland. A good opportunity for the core of the team to play together in advance of the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Fiala is in today’s lineup and will play on a line with Hischier and forward Christoph Bertschy.

His full tournament schedule is listed below –

Team Switzerland Schedule
May 10 – Switzerland vs. Norway, 5-2 Win
May 12 – Switzerland vs. Austria, 6-5 Win
May 13 – Switzerland vs. Czechia, 11:20 AM Pacific
May 16 – Switzerland vs. Great Britain, 11:20 AM Pacific
May 18 – Switzerland vs. Denmark, 3:20 AM Pacific
May 19 – Switzerland vs. Canada, 11:20 AM Pacific
May 21 – Switzerland vs. Finland, 11:20 AM Pacific

May 19 marks the only Kings versus Kings action of the group stage as Fiala’s Team Switzerland will take on Pierre-Luc Dubois and Team Canada.

Dubois opened his account for the tournament yesterday with a power-play goal in his team’s 5-1 win over Denmark. He has two points from his first two games played, a pair of victories. Forward Adrian Kempe collected an assist in Team Sweden’s win over the United States to begin their tournament and followed up with another assist yesterday against Poland. Forward Carl Grundstrom has played in both games but is scoreless to date.

Kempe and Grundstrom are back in action today versus Germany, while Canada returns to play tomorrow against Austria. Full schedule for the LAK contingent HERE.

Working on an offseason stage-setter today, which I’ll have up on LAKI later on this afternoon. A look at where the Kings stand heading into the summer ahead. From there, we’ll lean in a bit harder with Ontario Reign coverage, with Ontario set to begin the third round of the playoffs on Wednesday, May 15 against the Coachella Valley Firebirds.

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