The 27-year-old Kempe is the 2018 world champion from Copenhagen, and he also appeared at the championships in 2019 in Bratislava and Košice and 2021 in Riga. This season, he set a personal best in the NHL with 75 points for 28 goals and 47 assists in 77 games. He scored five points (4+1) in five playoff games. In eight seasons in the best league in the world, he collected 328 points (159+169) in 549 games, scored 19 points (11+8) in 22 duels for the Stanley Cup.
The team for the Czech Games (Betano Hockey Games) in Kloten and Brno included 13 Swedish players from the NHL: the complete trio of goalkeepers Filip Gustavsson with Jesper Wallstedt from Minnesota and Samuel Ersson from Philadelphia, defensemen Rasmus Dahlin from Buffalo, Jonas Brodin from Minnesota and Marcus Pettersson from Pittsburgh. The offensive line featured Seattle’s André Burakovsky, Minnesota’s Joel Eriksson Ek, New Jersey’s Alexander Holtz, Anaheim’s Isac Lundeström, Buffalo’s Victor Olofsson, Detroit’s Lucas Raymond and San Jose’s Fabian Zetterlunda.
Defensemen Victor Hedman from Tampa Bay, Erik Karlsson from Pittsburgh and forward Marcus Johansson from Minnesota will join in the week before the World Cup. The Swedes will play Group B in Ostrava, entering it on Friday against the USA selection. Then Poland, Germany, Kazakhstan, Latvia, France and Slovakia await them.
