Keeping tabs on the Blue Jackets at the World Championships

The annual worldwide celebration of the sport of hockey is back, and three players with Blue Jackets ties are taking part in the IIHF World Championships.

Forward Alexandre Texier (France) and defensemen Samuel Knazko (Slovakia) and Ole Bjorgvik-Holm (Norway) all took part in the two-week championship of international hockey that began May 12 in Tampere, Finland, and Riga, Latvia.

Unfortunately, all three saw their countries fall short of advancing out of the preliminary round.

In addition, Tim Berni was on the original roster for the Switzerland team but is yet to play, though reports indicate he remains in Riga as a potential injury replacement.

Texier, who is set to return to the Blue Jackets this upcoming season after playing a year in Switzerland, took part in the Worlds for the fourth time. Knazko and Bjorgvik-Holm were in their second tournaments.

Knazko made his CBJ debut in the final two games after spending most of the season in Cleveland, while Bjorgvik-Holm is a 2020 fifth-round draft pick of the Jackets who split this year with Cleveland and Kalamazoo of the ECHL.

There are also CBJ ties off the ice, as Blue Jackets director of player personnel Chris Clark is the general manager of Team USA, and the Americans have Jackets equipment manager Jamie Healy and trainer Chris Strickland on the bench. For the first time ever, the Americans won all their games in the preliminary round and will head into the knockout portion as the top seed in Group A.

In addition, Blue Jackets director of pro scouting Josef Boumedienne is an assistant general manager for Sweden.

Games are being shown on NHL Network and ESPN+ for American audiences.

CBJ Stats

Ole Bjorgvik-Holm (Norway): 4 GP, 1-0-1, 4 SOG, 9:10 TOI

Samuel Knazko (Slovakia): 7 GP, 0-3-3, 3 SOG, 18:19 TOI

Alexandre Texier (France): 6 GP, 0-1-1, 14 SOG, 16:31 TOI

Highlights and more

May 23

The curtain came down on the CBJ on-ice contingent as the round-robin ended and France, Norway and Slovakia all saw their tournaments end.

Slovakia was the only team that had a chance to survive going into Tuesday and did its part, downing Norway by a 4-1 score. But Latvia got the points it needed in its game vs. Switzerland later in the day, allowing the Latvians to go through and leaving Slovakia in fifth place in Group B with three regulation wins, two losses and two overtime losses.

Knazko got his third assist of the tournament in the win over Norway and skated 16:12. He finished the tournament second among Slovak blueliners in ice time per game at the event.

Bjorgvik-Holm was not dressed and did not skate in a fourth straight game.

France also bowed out, placing sixth in Group A after a 5-0 loss to Germany that ended their tournament with four losses, an overtime win and two overtime losses. Texier was back in action after missing Monday's game and skated 18:27. The CBJ forward finished the tournament leading France with 14 shots on goal despite the missed time.

May 22

Norway earned a famous victory Monday, never trailing on the way to a 3-2 shootout triumph over Canada. It was just the second win for Norway ever against one of the world's top hockey powers, and the first since 2000.

It was a good news-bad news situation for Bjorgvik-Holm, who was listed as dressed and in the lineup after missing two full games, but the bad news was he did not skate a second in the game as the seventh defenseman.

Norway is eliminated from advancing, but this was a historic win. Tuesday, the only CBJ player with a chance left to move on, Knazko of Slovakia, will battle in a key contest as the round robin comes to a close.

May 21

Slovakia kept alive its hopes of advancing to the quarterfinals, earning a 1-0 win over Slovenia to move back into a tie for fifth in Group B.

Knazko skated 14:29 in the game, which featured a lone goal from Richard Panik. Slovakia will need a win over Norway and a Latvia loss to Switzerland to advance to the knockout round.

Meanwhile, Texier did not skate in France's 4-0 loss to the United States, which eliminated France from contention of advancing past the round robin.

May 20

In another tough blow for CBJ players at the event, Texier played just 3:37 of France's 4-0 loss to Sweden before exiting and did not return.

Bjorgvik-Holm also missed a second straight game for Norway in a 2-0 loss to Czechia. With the loss, Norway was eliminated from advancing to the eight-team knockout round.

May 19

Samuel Knazko and Slovakia suffered a tough loss, dropping a 4-3 final to Kazakhstan in a shootout.

Knazko played plenty of minutes though, putting two shots on goal in 22:25, again the second most among Slovak defensemen in the game.

The loss leaves Slovakia fifth in Group D with five points through five games, a full three points behind fourth-place Latvia.

May 18

The only CBJ player in action was Slovakia, which dropped a 4-2 final to unbeaten Switzerland, who broke a 2-2 tie in the third period with a pair of goals.

Knazko skated 16:47 -- again, second on the team in minutes among defensemen -- and notched his second assist of the tournament, the second helper on Pavol Regenda's game-tying goal in the second period.

With the loss, Slovakia is tied for fifth in Group B with Norway.

May 17

France hung with Finland in action Wednesday, but in the end the French team didn't have enough in a 5-3 setback.

Texier notched his first point of the tournament, an assist, on a first-period goal that gave France the lead, but Finland broke a 2-2 tie in the second and led from there. Texier had five shots on goal in the game and leads France with 13 in the tournament.

France is now fifth in Group A with four points.

Meanwhile, Norway lost a 2-1 final and played with Bjorgvik-Holm, who left Tuesday's game after the first period. The Norwegians are tied for fifth in Group B with four points after the result.

May 16

It was a mixed bag for CBJ players and prospects Tuesday, with Bjorgvik-Holm having some highs and lows of his own.

On the good side, Norway posted a 1-0 win over Slovenia, a big win at the tournament for a country not normally listed among the top contenders. The bad news is that Bjorgvik-Holm skated just 5:12, all in the first period, before departing the contest. He also did not dress in the team's Wednesday contest vs. Latvia.

Texier, meanwhile, saw France drop a tight 3-2 overtime final to Hungary, with the CBJ forward skating a team-best 21:33.

May 15

Knazko and Slovakia engaged in a nailbiter vs. Canada in the only action of the day for a CBJ player, with Canada capturing a 2-1 victory via an eight-round shootout.

Knazko was second among Slovak defenders in ice time, skating 18:30 to place behind only Simon Nemec, the No. 2 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, though he did not have a point or a shot on goal against the Canadians.

The result left Slovakia in fourth place in the Group B standings with a win, an overtime loss and a regulation loss.

May 14

Texier and Bjorgvik-Holm each saw action, with their teams dropping decisions. France fell 4-3 in overtime to Denmark, while Norway was blanked 3-0 by Switzerland.

Through two games for every team, Slovakia is placed fourth in Group B with one win and one loss, while Norway sits in sixth place in the group with one point thanks to an overtime loss. In Group A, France sits fourth thanks to its opening win over Austria.

The top four teams in each group will advance to the knockout stages after the seven round-robin contests.

May 13

The Blue Jackets contingent had a busy day highlighted by Bjorgvik-Holm's goal for Norway in an overtime setback vs. Kazakhstan.

Texier also made his tournament debut with France and had 25 penalty minutes in a win over Austria, while Knazko played in Slovakia's second game of the tournament, a win over Latvia.

May 12

The lone Blue Jacket to take part in the opening day of the tournament was Knazko, whose Slovakia squad took an early lead but fell to Czechia by a 3-2 score.

Knazko had the primary assist on Martin Chromiak's opening goal, but after the Slovaks made it 2-1 later in the first period, former CBJ forward Lukas Sedlak scored twice to give the Czechs the lead for good.

Knazko skated 21:59, second most on the Slovak team.