Johnson, Sillinger earn silver at World Championships

Nine members of the Blue Jackets organization -- eight players who spent the 2021-22 season with Columbus as well as Rick Nash -- took part in the IIHF World Championships, which run through Sunday in Finland.
We kept track of highlights, schedule info and more for those players to keep up on how your favorite CBJ players performed throughout the yearly international tournament.
Of the Blue Jackets taking part, four -- defensemen Nick Blankenburg and Andrew Peeke for Team USA as well as forwards Kent Johnson and Cole Sillinger for Canada -- represented North American squads. The other four -- goaltender Elvis Merzlikins of Latvia, forward Alexandre Texier of France, forward Emil Bemstrom of Sweden and defenseman Dean Kukan of Switzerland -- were on European national teams. Nash, meanwhile, was the assistant general manager of the Canadian team.
The two CBJ players to leave with medals were young forwards Cole Sillinger and Kent Johnson, who were on the Canadian squad that lost the final in overtime to homestanding Finland.

Sunday's Schedule

Gold medal game: Finland 4, Canada 3 (OT)
Bronze medal game: Czechia 8, United States 4
CBJ stats
Nick Blankenburg, United States: 4 GP, 0-0-0, +1, 2 SOG, 15:02 TOI (out for rest of tournament, injury)
Andrew Peeke, United States: 10 GP, 0-6-6, -1, 13 SOG, 21:19 TOI
Kent Johnson, Canada: 10 GP, 4-3-7, 20 SOG, 13:13 TOI
Cole Sillinger, Canada: 10 GP, 3-0-3, 24 SOG, 13:53 TOI
Elvis Merzlikins, Latvia: 5 GP, 1-3-0, 4.26 GAA, .862 save percentage
Alexandre Texier, France: 7 GP, 3-2-5, 28 SOG, 19:05 TOI
Emil Bemstrom, Sweden: 8 GP, 1-4-5, 1 shootout goal, 22 SOG, 16:24 TOI
Dean Kukan, Switzerland: 8 GP, 2-4-6, +6, 20 SOG, 21:20 TOI

Highlights and more

May 29
The tournament ended with Canada rallying to overturn a 3-1 deficit late in the third period, giving Kent Johnson and Cole Sillinger hope at a gold medal in their appearance at the Worlds, but Finland scored in overtime to take a 4-3 victory and the championship.
It capped what has been a memorable few months for the Finnish national team, as the squad also won gold at the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing during February before capturing the Worlds as well.
It was a strong tournament for the CBJ rookies, though, who combined for seven goals in the 10 games despite each being 19 years old. Now they'll have a chance to relax and train for the rest of the offseason before the CBJ season gets back under way in the fall.
Andrew Peeke and Team USA, which was down to just four healthy defensemen by the end of the tournament and fell short of the bronze on Sunday with the loss to Czechia. Just like with the Blue Jackets this year, Peeke got to play big minutes and was a rock on the defensive end for the squad.
May 28
For the second time at the tournament, both Cole Sillinger and Kent Johnson scored for Canada, helping push their home country to the Worlds final with a 6-1 drubbing of Czechia.
Johnson buried a rebound to make it 3-1 in the second period, giving him his fourth goal of the event, tied for 10th overall. Sillinger then scored on a rush in the third to make it 5-1 as Canada eased its way into the final.

Team USA, meanwhile, lost a 4-3 heartbreaker to Finland, meaning Andrew Peeke and the injured Nick Blankenburg will go for bronze Sunday.
May 26
North America flexed its muscle Thursday in the quarterfinal round, with both the United States and Canada moving on to the semifinals of the Worlds.
Canada got the ball rolling with a frenetic comeback in the morning, downing Sweden 4-3. The Canadians were trailing 3-0 after two periods but rallied to tie the score, tallying twice in the final two minutes, before Drake Batherson's OT winner on the power play. Canada will take on Czechia in a Saturday semifinal.
Team USA, meanwhile, went the opposite way, opening a 2-0 lead in the first and cruising home to a 3-0 shutout over Switzerland. Andrew Peeke finished with an assist in the win, with the Americans set to take on Finland on Saturday.
May 24
The quarterfinals are set, with the World Championships now down to the knockout stages.
Six of the players who skated for the Jackets a year ago have advanced, with Merzlikins' Latvia team done (and Elvis having suffered an injury that kept him out of the last game) and Texier's France squad also heading home. Latvia finished fifth in its eight-country group thanks to two regulation wins and an OT triumph, a solid showing for a nation that occasionally has to worry about relegation. France also safety avoided the drop, as a strong showing from Texier pushed the team to sixth-place finish thanks to a win and an OT victory.
Team USA will take on unbeaten Switzerland on Thursday in an afternoon quarterfinal, though the Americans will be without Nick Blankenburg thanks to an injury that cut his tournament short after four games. Canada will take on Sweden as well in a matchup on three CBJ forwards from this past year in Cole Sillinger, Kent Johnson and Emil Bemstrom.
In other semifinals, Germany will face Czechia and Finland will take on Slovakia.
May 23
It was an interesting day at the Worlds, with both Canada and the United States losing games to Denmark and Czechia, respectively. Canada's 3-2 loss to Denmark was its first-ever setback against the nation, and somewhere Oliver Bjorkstrand must be smiling. Kent Johnson, meanwhile, has to be ruing the fact his attempt at scoring a "Michigan" lacrosse-style goal came up just short.

For Team USA, the final was a 1-0 loss to Czechia, which came with the Americans down to just five healthy defensemen to dress. One of the players unable to go was Nick Blankenburg, while Andrew Peeke made a key play that unfortunately wasn't enough for the Americans.

Tuesday will be the end of group play, and there's some good news and bad news for CBJ players. The good is that no one will be relegated from the tournament, a victory for relatively small and young hockey nations like France and Latvia. The biggest drama could come in the pool involving Team USA, which would not make the knockout round with a loss to Norway and a Latvian win over Sweden.
May 22
There's been a lot to like for CBJ fans at the Worlds, but at the top of the list has to be the play of Alexandre Texier.
The young forward missed the last few months of the season while on leave for personal reasons, but at the Wolrds he's looked a lot like the Texier that might have been the Jackets' best forward for the first half of the season.
The Frenchman notched his third goal in six games Sunday, but it wasn't enough as Switzerland rallied with five straight goals to take a 5-2 win.

Former CBJ defenseman Dean Kukan had a monster game, posting a goal and two assists for Switzerland. In other action, Emil Bemstrom had an assist as Sweden dominated Norway by a 7-1 score, while Elvis Merzlikins gave up three goals and was replaced in net in Latvia's come-from-behind 4-3 win over Great Britain.
May 21
The Olympics and the World Championships aren't quite at the level of play of the NHL.
But Kent Johnson's success at each shows someone who might very well be able to break out for the Blue Jackets. The 19-year-old forward has been a point-per-game player at each of those tournament, posting a 4-6-10 line in 10 games combined at the tournament after he scored his third goal of the Worlds on Saturday vs. Switzerland.

Canada fell from the ranks of the unbeaten, though, as Switzerland battled back to take a 6-3 victory. The Swiss now remain unbeaten in their group five games in, with help from Dean Kukan, as the defenseman had a 1-1-2 line Saturday a day after telling reporters he would leave the Jackets after seven seasons with the organization to return to his home country next year.
In other action, Andrew Peeke had an assist and Nick Blankenburg was scratched in Team USA's 3-2 overtime win over Emil Bemstrom and Sweden, while Alexandre Texier and France were shut out 3-0 by Denmark.
May 19
After two days off, Nick Blankenburg and Andrew Peeke of Team USA got back in action in a 3-0 victory over Great Britain. Blankenburg went into the game as USA's seventh defenseman after Jon Merrill of the Minnesota Wild slotted into the lineup, but Merrill left with injury after just two shifts. Also on the blue line, Peeke notched his second point of the tournament when Ben Meyers tipped his shot pass in for the opening goal.

Team Canada also returned to the ice after two days off and posted a 6-3 victory against Kazakhstan that featured a pair of first period primary assists by Johnson, who now has a point per game for the unbeaten Canadians. Unfortunately for Johnson, his bid for a third goal in four games was denied by one of the saves of the tournament.

Elvis Merzlikins was less lucky, though, as Czechia jumped all over Latvia in the opening period, posting a 17-3 shots on goal edge and taking a 5-0 lead on the CBJ goalie in the first. He was then rested the rest of the way as Arturs Silovs made his tournament debut for the Latvians in the final two periods as Czechia finished the 5-1 victory.
May 18
Canada and the United States were each off for the second day in a row, but Bemstrom, Kukan and Texier took to the ice.
Bemstrom had the biggest impact on the day's proceedings in the always heated matchup between Sweden and Finland. Both teams entered the contest unbeaten and skated to a 2-2 tie through regulation and overtime before Bemstrom's snipe in the shootout nabbed the extra standings point for Sweden and moved his country to the top of the group.

In other action, it was another big day for Dean Kukan and Switzerland, as the team downed Slovakia by a 5-3 score to stay unbeaten in their first four games. Texier and France also notched a key win, battling back with a late goal and an overtime tally to post a 2-1 win against Italy that may keep the French squad clear of relegation this year.
May 17
It was a relatively quiet day for CBJ players in Helsinki and Tampere, with just two of the eight players seeing the ice. Emil Bemstrom's Sweden team had little trouble in a 6-0 win that featured an assist from the Columbus winger, while Dean Kukan had eight (!) shots on goal in Switzerland's 3-2 victory over Kazakhstan.
The IIHF also put together this highlights video from Elvis Merzlikins' hot start to the tournament with Latvia.

May 16
Cole Sillinger? More like Goal Sillinger.
On his 19th birthday, the CBJ forward scored his second goal of the tournament as Canada pulled away to a 5-1 win over Slovakia to stay undefeated through three of seven round-robin games.

Meanwhile, Elvis Merzlikins and Latvia got their first win with a 3-2 victory against Norway, leading to hugs for Elvis.

For Alexandre Texier's strong tournament continued as he mashed home a power-play goal -- and celebrated with gusto -- in France's 3-2 loss against Germany.

Team USA also dropped its first contest, as Finland claimed a 4-1 win in a game that featured both Blankenburg and Peeke.
May 15
It has to feel good for Alexandre Texier to get back on the ice after missing the end of the season on personal leave. Even better is the fact he's playing well -- so much so he was voted the player of the at the Worlds as part of his 1-1-2 performance in France's 2-1 win over Kazakhstan.

Meanwhile, Emil Bemstrom has gotten off to a great start with Sweden, earning first-line minutes and taking advantage. He's been feeling it, putting 14 shots on goal through two games -- including this goal in a 5-3 victory over Czechia.

May 14
With both Team USA and Team Canada off, it wasn't a big day in terms of highlights for the CBJ players at the worlds.
Only Latvia and Switzerland played, with the latter posting a solid 5-2 win over Italy. Latvia, meanwhile, went toe-to-toe with Finland but dropped a 2-1 final on a late goal by Mikael Granlund past Elvis Merzlikins on the power play.
Also, Kent Johnson's strong opening day at the tournament provided a little bit of history, the IIHF says.

May 13
What a start for the Blue Jackets on Team Canada as the Words got under way. Both Kent Johnson and Cole Sillinger scored goals as the Canadians opened the tournament with a 5-3 win over Germany.

It was a teammate vs. teammate game as Team USA opened with a 4-1 victory over Latvia. The first goal of the tournament came when Andrew Peeke's shot from the point pinballed past Elvis Merzlikins, who had little chance to stop Riley Barber's redirection.

Merzlikins would finish with 26 saves on 30 shots against.