Latest news with #KevinFiala
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
USA Beats Switzerland 1-0 in OT for Gold in Stockholm
Stockholm, Sweden- Team USA needed overtime to do it but the Red White and Blue won its first goal medal since 1934, beating a more than worthy Team Switzerland 1-0 on a goal from Buffalo Sabre Tage Tompson. For the second year in a row, Kevin Fiala and his Swiss compatriots will have to settle for silver after another excellent run at the men's Worlds. TAGE THOMPSON HAS THE GOLDEN GOAL!! 🥇For the first time in 92 YEARS USA wins the #MensWorlds 🇺🇸 — Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) May 25, 2025 Team USA and Switzerland kicked off the gold medal game in Stockholm with an exciting first frame of hockey, featuring lots of hits and back and forth action. Goaltenders Jeremy Swayman (USA) and Leonordo Genoni were both called upon to make big saves and both answered the bell. They also both lived up to the old adage that your goalie is your best penalty killer, especially Genoni who made some key saves on the US power play in the winding seconds of the first period. The US was clearly looking to impose their physicality on the Swiss early, but Switzerland matched the Americans hit for hit. Given that it's been 92 years since the USA won a gold medal in this tournament and that the Swiss have lost all seven of their previous gold medal games, physicality, and board battles were certainly to be expected. With just over five minutes expired in the second period, the USA were awarded a penalty shot after Michael Fora was called for hooking. After a few moments of gamemenship surrounding who would take the shot, Connor Garland skated out to center. Garland tried to wait Genoni out, but the Swiss netminder read the play perfectly to keep things scoreless. Conor Garland had a big chance to put USA up 1-0 in the gold medal match on a penalty shot but he was denied by Switzerland goalie Leonardo Genoni. — Remy Mastey (@MasteyRemy) May 25, 2025 As the second period wore on, the USA would start to string together the better of the chances, forcing Genoni to make some tough saves in tight with lots of traffic in front of the Swiss net. Although the Americans picked up the pace in the second, both teams would head off to the dressing rooms scoreless after forty minutes of play. After the break, the tension kept building, and it started to look like the first goal might be the only goal. Every chance, however, continued to be turned away by Swayman and Genoni. With six minutes remaining in the third period, the Americans had a chance to take the lead on the power play but Genoni and the Swiss came up with a huge kill to keep things squared at zero. And things would stay knotted up through sixty, although the USA would finish with 39 shots on goals to Swizterland's 24 at the end of regulation. The overtime period used the familiar 3-on-3 NHL format but extended beyond the allotted five minutes in the NHL, allowing for a full twenty minutes of overtime before going to a shootout. Tage Thompson and Team USA would barely need two minutes to end things though, putting an end to close to a century-long gold medal drought and sending the Swiss toan 0-8 record in gold medal finals at the IIHF World Championships.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Former Wild Forward Advances To IIHF Men's World Championship Gold Medal Game
The 2025 IIHF Men's World Championship Gold Medal game is set to take place on Sunday. Team Switzerland and Team USA will meet for Gold. USA last won the tournament in 1933. Switzerland is back in the Gold medal game for the fourth time since 2013 and in it for the second straight season. Advertisement Wild defenseman Zeev Buium will represent USA in the Gold. Former Wild forward Kevin Fiala will represent Switzerland and is one of their best players. Fiala, 28, has three goals and ten points in seven games in the tournament so far. He joins Nino Niederreiter and Christoph Bertschy as the other former Wild players. Wild Youngster On Fire In IIHF Men's World Championships. Wild Prospect Wins WHL Championship. Wild Top Prospect Danila Yurov Signs Entry-Level Contract. Bertschy has one goal and three points in nine games so far. Niederreiter has two goals and five points in three games so far. In 215 career games for the Wild, Fiala recorded 79 goals, 107 assists, and 186 points. He was acquired from the Nashville Predators by the Wild for Mikael Granlund in 2019. Advertisement Minnesota traded Fiala to the Los Angeles Kings in 2022 for defenseman Brock Faber and a 2022 first-round pick which the Wild used to draft Liam Ohgren. Photo: Oct 15, 2022; Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; Los Angeles Kings left wing Kevin Fiala (22) during a game at Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-Imagn Images.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Switzerland Crushes Denmark, Advances to Gold Medal Game vs. USA
Kevin Fiala and Team Switzerland emphatically punched their ticket to the gold medal game by crushing Denmark 7-0 in the semi-finals. The Swiss find themselves in the finals for the second straight year and continue their quest for Switzerland's first ever gold medal in IIHL World Championship play. "We are like a family. We love each other," confided Fiala to Radio Televison Suisse. "I was MVP last year and things went well for me. But the most important thing is that we win." After joining his compatriots following the end of the LA Kings' playoff run, Fiala has three goals and seven assists in seven games alongside follow Swiss NHL-ers Timo Meier, Nino Niederreiter, and Nico Hischier. Of Fiala's three goals, two have come on the power play. The man advantage has been a particular strong point for the Swiss throughout the tournament, clicking at 34% (11 for 32). Scoring in general hasn't really been a problem for Switzerland either as they lead all tournament teams in shooting percentage at 16% (47 GF on 245 SOG). The Swiss have also benefited from outstanding goaltending throughout the tournament, having already recorded five shutouts heading into the final. Nino Niederreiter opens the scoring for @SwissIceHockey! 🇨🇭🚨 #MensWorlds #IIHF — IIHF (@IIHFHockey) May 24, 2025 However, ff Switzerland plans on winning it all, they will have to do it without Hischier (New Jersey Devils), who sustained an injury against Germany. They will also have their hands full with an American side that made surprisingly quick work of Sweden, 6-2 in the other semi-final. Team USA is currently on a 92-year gold medal drought in this competition and has not made it to the final since 1934. Both teams met earlier in the preliminary round on May 12th, with the Swiss coming out with a convincing 3-0 win over the USA. The Americans have sometimes been hit or miss during the tournament, losing to Switzerland in regulation and needing overtime to beat Norway (6-5) but at the same time beating defending champions Czechia (5-2). The goal medal game is shaping up to be a classic tale of offense versus defense: the US has scored the second highest number of goals in the tournament (38), while the Swiss have given up the fewest (7). In any event, one of these nations has a chance to do something extremely significant on May 25th: the USA can finally end its 92-year gold medal drought or the Swiss can finally add a gold medal to their three silver medals. Both compelling reasons to tune in this game if you can.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Danault and Team Canada Eliminated, Fiala and Team Switzerland Advance at Worlds
In what amounts to one of the biggest international hockey upsets seen in quite some time, Denmark stunned Canada 2-1 in the quarterfinals at the IIHL World Championships. Denmark will go on to face Kevin Fiala and Team Switzerland in the semi-finals on May 24th in Stockholm, Sweden. Canada dominated much of the first and second periods in terms of shots on goal and puck possession, but Danish goalie Frederik Dichow made several key saves to put the Danes in position to pull off the upset late in the third period. The former 5th round draft pick of the Montreal Canadiens in 2019 had already made his presence known in this tournament by making four saves in a preliminary round game shootout against Germany but can now put Sydney Crosby and Team Canada on his kill count. 'We let them hang around and obviously they get huge goals and find a way to win a hockey game,' said Ryan O'Reilly during a post-game interview with TSN. 'Yeah, it's disappointing.' Sydney Crosby also emphasized disappointment in his post-game interview as well: 'We got better as the tournament went on. I don't think tonight was necessarily our best but we still found a way to give ourselves the lead in a pretty tough environment here, a road game, with the lead, I liked where we were at, but yeah, disappointing. We had a great group here.' The Danes came on big in the third period, outshot Canada 22 to 10 and finally tied the game with 2:15 remaining on a shot from Winnipeg Jet Nikolaj Ehlers. Nick Olesen would then pot the game-winner with just 48 seconds to go in the third period. EHLERS! 😤🔥 #MensWorlds #IIHF @dkishockey — IIHF (@IIHFHockey) May 22, 2025 NICK OLESEN GIVES DENMARK THE LEAD WITH UNDER A MINUTE TO PLAY! 😱🇩🇰#MensWorlds — TSN (@TSN_Sports) May 22, 2025 As for LA Kings participating in the 2025 Worlds, center Phillip Danault played in all eight of Canada's games and finished with two assists and a +1 rating in a fourth line role. While Danault's tournament came to a shocking ending, Kevin Fiala and Team Switzerland dominated Austria 6-0, punching their ticket to the semi-finals against Denmark on May 24th. Sandro Schmid makes it 5-0 Switzerland. #MensWorlds — Steven Ellis (@SEllisHockey) May 22, 2025 Fiala chipped in with a goal and an assist to help send Switzerland through to the semi-finals for the second straight year. Since joining Team Switzerland, the LA Kings' winger has had an excellent tournament. After missing the first three games, Fiala has three goals, six assists, and a +8 rating. The Swiss are looking to return to the gold medal game after losing to Czechia 2-0 in 2024 in Prague., and after today's shocker against Canada, Switzerland would be smart to not overlook the Danes.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Jets Out, Will Nino Niederreiter Join Swiss Team At Worlds?
On Saturday night – early Sunday morning in Europe – the Winnipeg Jets were eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs by the Dallas Stars. Almost immediately, Swiss media began speculating about the addition of Jets winger Nino Niederreiter. 'We'll certainly look into it,' Swiss coach Patrick Fischer responded after practise on Sunday, according to Blue Sports. The roster spot has become available to the Swiss because team captain Nico Hischier has been ruled out for the rest of the tournament with a lower-body injury – what the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation is calling a 'muscle injury.' The addition of another high-profile NHLer would fill that hole on the top line. Niederreiter, 32, has played for Switzerland at seven previous IIHF World Championships and won three silver medals, including last year in Czechia where he tallied seven points in 10 games. Niederreiter was the captain of the Swiss team in 2023. Niederreiter had 37 points in 82 regular-season games for Winnipeg this year and six points in 13 playoff games. Kevin Fiala Added To Swiss Roster As was expected, Kevin Fiala has been added to the Swiss national team's roster at the IIHF World Championship. The 28-year-old Los Angeles Kings forward's addition had been delayed due to an unspecified family issue. Switzerland currently sits second in Group B with 13 points in five games. It plays Sunday against Hungary but the earliest Niederreiter could conceivably play is Tuesday against Kazakhstan, which is the team's last in the group stage. Niederreiter would be the second NHLer that the Swiss have added since the start of the tournament. Kevin Fiala of the Los Angeles Kings joined the team for its third game and has two assists in three games. Despite the end of the group stage fast approaching, speculation on adding players eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs continues. Czechia has expressed interest in adding David Kämpf to its roster if the Toronto Maple Leafs lose Game 7 to the Florida Panthers on Sunday. Czechs Eyeing Kämpf If Leafs Lose Game 7; Hertl Hurt Czechia still has a free forward spot on its World Championship roster and the team is apparently eyeing David Kämpf in the event the Toronto Maple Leafs lose Game 7 of their Stanley Cup second-round playoff series to the Florida Panthers on Sunday.
