With the Philadelphia Flyers having missed the playoffs for the fourth straight season, some of their players won’t be left empty handed as the World Championships are set to begin on the 10th of May and will run until the 26th in the Czech Republic. One member of the Flyers that has already committed is Joel Farabee, as he is set to partake in his very first World Championship tournament.
Farabee is coming off a career season with the Flyers in which he reached the 50-point plateau for the first time thanks to 22 goals and 28 assists. He ended the season third among all Flyers in total scoring and was one of 12 players to reach double-digits in goals.
The United States unveiled their initial 15-man roster today and Farabee will be joining a stacked and loaded roster that is headlined by players like Dylan Larkin, Trevor Zegras, Brady Tkachuk, Seth Jones, Zach Werenski, and former Flyers goaltender Alex Lyon, among many others. After a disappointing finish at last year’s tournament, Team USA is not messing around this year.
Farabee has represented the United States internationally at the World U17 Hockey Challenge, the U18 World Junior Championships twice, and the World Junior Championships once. He recorded 3 goals and 5 points in 7 games at the WJC in 2018-19 and helped his country capture the silver medal after being defeated by Finland.
Farabee started the 2023-24 season on a blistering pace with 17 goals and 40 points in his first 48 games. He finished with just 5 goals and 10 points in his final 34 games but still managed to finish with career-highs in goals (22), assists (28), and points (50).
Team USA will play a pre-tournament game against Slovakia on the 7th of May before kicking off their tournament on the 10th against Sweden. They will then play Germany on the 11th, Slovakia on the 13th, France on the 16th, Poland on the 17th, Kazakhstan on the 19th, and Latvia on the 21st to finish off the Preliminary Round.
The Quarterfinals are set to begin on the 23rd, the Semifinals are set for the 25th, and both the Bronze Medal and Gold Medal games will be played on the 26th in Prague.
The United States finished atop their group last year with a 6-1-0-0 record. They defeated the Czech Republic 3-0 in the Quarterfinals, before falling to Germany in overtime in the Semifinals. It was a tournament of upsets as Sweden was also defeated in the Quarterfinals by Latvia before they took out the United States in the Bronze Medal game in overtime. Canada defeated Germany to capture gold by a score of 5-2.
Rocco Grimaldi paced the Americans and the tournament with 14 points in 10 games, T.J. Tynan was second for the Americans with 11 points, and he was followed up by Cutter Gauthier‘s formidable tournament where he scored 7 goals and 9 points.
The United States have not fared entirely well in this specific tournament as they only have one gold medal, and that as was back in 1933. They have four silver medals from 1931, 1934, 1939, and 1950, and eight bronze medals; including recent tournaments back in 2015, 2018, and 2021. They have finished in the top-four in seven of their last ten tournaments but have only a few medals to show for it.
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