The Blue Jackets by virtue of missing the playoffs had many players over in Russia competing in the World Hockey Championships. In total the Jackets sent five players from their NHL roster: Ryan Murray and Boone Jenner (Canada), Sergei Bobrosvky (Russia), Alexander Wennberg (Sweden), and Nick Foligno (USA). They also had one prospect compete in Oleg Yevenko who suited up for Belarus.
Canada defeated Finland to win the gold, their second consecutive. Murray and Boone were both key players for Canada, each playing all 10 of the games. Murray picked up five assists while Boone had two goals and two assists. Russia won the bronze medal defeating the USA. Bob played in nine of the 10 games for Russia and posted a very good .931 save percentage. For his efforts Bob was named one the three best players for Team Russia.
These extra games where huge for this trio. All three have missed significant time over the past few seasons with injuries and definitely benefited from playing extra games. It was great to see Bob out there again and playing well. He was sharp, not appearing to show any rust from the time off. His strong performance here hopefully helps people forget the season he had, and Bob can use this as a springboard to a great off-season. For Murray and Boone getting them in to as many extra high level games is a good thing. Both players missed key parts of development seasons and tournaments like this are a good way to make up for some of that lost time.
For Boone this was also a chance for him to showcase his skills on an international level. This tournament could be seen somewhat as a tryout for the World Cup coming up in September. Boone was not named to the first 17 players for the Under 23 team (Murray was), but his strong play in this tournament may give him an edge when the final roster is picked.
Another player whose World Cup stock rose would be Alexander Wennberg. He had a strong season for the Jackets and continued his strong play in the tournament. He played in all of Sweden’s eight games and tied for the team point lead with Gustav Nyquist with eight points. In typical Wennberg fashion he finished with seven assists which tied for sixth among tournament leaders. Sure Wennberg doesn’t score enough but he's continuing to become a very good playmaker. He showed what he can do with a bona fide sniper on his line, helping Nyquist score seven goals. He’s not likely to make Team Sweden but his good season and strong play here should get him into consideration.
Foligno’s stat line doesn’t look great, just five points in 10 games but considering the players on Team USA it looks much better. This was not a great roster for the US. They relied on a lot of young players, many of which aren’t even in the NHL yet. Foligno was a veteran and a leader on the team, serving as the assistant captain. He was another player who needed a good tournament to forget his poor regular season. The USA was unable to win a medal losing to Russia in the bronze medal game, but considering their roster getting to that point has to be considered a success.
Finally, Yevenko played in all seven games for Belarus and did not pick up a point, though he did have 12 penalty minutes. Belarus won two games and was able to avoid relegation. They will be back in the tournament next year.
You can follow me on Twitter
@PaulBerthelot 
Columbus Blue Jackets Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»