Over the weekend, forwards Carl Grundstrom and T.J. Tynan concluded their respective participation in the IIHF World Championships.
Both players joined their respective nations midway through the tournament, following the elimination of the LA Kings and Ontario Reign from the postseason. Grundstrom joined Team Sweden three games into the tournament and collected two points (1-1-2) from five games played, heading overseas immediately after exit interviews in Los Angeles. Team Sweden finished second in their group but fell to Team Canada in the quarterfinals. Tynan joined Team USA with three games left in the group stage, helping his country to a fourth place finish and playing through the knockout round. The Americans defeated Swizterland in the quarterfinals and eventually wound up in the bronze-medal game but fell to Czechia to finish in fourth place.
Across five games played, Grundstrom scored one goal, added an assist and finished the tournament with a +2 rating. Grundstrom hopped right into the lineup on the fourth line in his first game with the team, eventually moving into a middle-six role for the remainder of the tournament. Grundstrom scored the game-tying goal against the United States in his second game of the tournament, in an eventual 3-2 overtime loss and added an assist in a 7-1 win over Norway in his third game. Grundstrom finished the tournament with 10 shots on goal, including two in a quarterfinal defeat against Canada.
Grundstrom's first goal of #IIHFWorlds 🚨@CarlGrundstrom scores unassisted and ties it up for @Trekronorse #USASWE #IIHFWorlds @LAkings pic.twitter.com/CKRveTzkYY
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) May 21, 2022
Tynan stepped into the Team USA lineup against Grundstrom and Team Sweden and tallied two assists in the 3-2 overtime win, including the primary helper on the game-winning goal. Tynan worked his way onto the second line for the Americans and added two additional assists in a defeat in the semifinals against the eventual gold medalists, Team Finland, as well as an assist in the bronze-medal game against Team Czechia. Tynan’s tournament concluded with five total assists.
ADAM. GAUDETTE. 💥@usahockey takes the win 3-2 in overtime #USASWE #IIHFWorlds @senators pic.twitter.com/L62bpb7C2c
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) May 21, 2022
2022 marked the first time since 2017 that the Kings did not have a medalist at the World Championships, coinciding this year at least with the team qualifying for the postseason. The Kings had 10 players participate in the tournament last season, with nine players collecting medals during last year’s edition. For good reason though, we’ll take postseason hockey over success internationally here in LA.
To follow tomorrow will be the beginning of the season in review series focusing on individual players. We’ll start with the goaltenders, Jonathan Quick and Cal Petersen and cfrom there, we’ll tackle the forwards and defensemen…..away we go! Preparation for the draft, Ontario Reign season-ending thoughts and more, as well as other news, will be sprinkled in between. Plenty more to follow throughout the month, Insiders!
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