Nine Players from Organization Participating in World Championship

Even though the NHL regular season has concluded, several Sharks skaters have been invited to compete at the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship.
In total for the organization, nine players will represent seven different countries.

The tournament will take place in Riga, Latvia from May 21-June 6. The players selected to the annual tournament include:
USA- Three players will don the United States colors including Kevin Labanc, Ryan Donato and Sasha Chmelevski. This is the first appearance in the World Ice Hockey Championship for all three skaters but both Labanc and Donato have experience with Team USA at different tournaments.
Labanc appeared in the U-17 World Hockey Challenge in 2011-12, appearing in six games as the captain and also skated with Team USA's U-18 club at the World Junior Championships in 2013.
Donato appeared in the 2016 World Junior Championships, scoring three goals and four points in seven games en route to a bronze medal and also played in the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang and was tied for the lead in goals (five) with two other players.
Chmelevski also appeared in Team USA's U-17 World Hockey Challenge in 2015-16 and represented the nation in the World Juniors in 2018-19, where he collected seven points in seven games and won a Silver medal.
CANADA - Mario Ferraro is the Sharks representative for Team Canada and after a strong sophomore season which saw him paired up with Brent Burns for most of the year, he will appear in his first international tournament.
Ferraro set career highs in assists and points and appeared in all 56 games for San Jose. He also led the Sharks in hits (155), blocked shots (96) and was second in penalty kill time on ice (159:51).
DENMARK - This is Alex True's first trip to the Worlds, but he already appeared at several World Junior Championships for Denmark.
He represented Denmark in three straight tournaments from 2015-2017, where he was named an assistant captain in 2016 and donned the 'C' in 2017.
Overall, he registered five points (two goals, three assists) in 15 games with Denmark and was named a Top 3 Player on his team in 2016. He helped Denmark to their best finish in the tournament in 2017, ending up fifth behind Sweden.
GERMANY - This is Lean Bergmann's second go in the World Championship, after skating in the 2019 tournament and appearing in five games.
Bergmann played in one game for the Sharks this season but primarily skated for the Barracuda recording seven points (two goals, five assists) across 32 games with a plus-six rating.
RUSSIA - Newest Shark Alexander Barabanov, who recently signed a one-year contract, will represent his home country for the fourth time at the World Championships.
In 28 career games, the forward has collected 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) and two Bronze medals in his trophy cabinet in 2017 and 2019.
He also appeared in the 2018 Olympic games and helped Russia to a Gold Medal with two points in six games.
The experience is there for the veteran on international ice, and paired with his end of season success with San Jose, he'll certainly be one to watch.
SWEDEN - Marcus Sorensen is set to appear in his first World Championship for his home country. It's also the first time since the 2015-16 calendar year in which he will play internationally for Sweden.
In his career with Team Sweden, he has recorded 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in 21 games and adds another three goals in four contests with Sweden's junior program.
SWITZERLAND -This is Timo Meier's second run with Switzerland at the World Championships, last appearing in 2018 where he scored seven points (two goals, five assists) in seven games and helped his country win Silver.
He has several games internationally under his belt for his country, having appeared in three separate World Juniors (2015, 2016; U-18 in 2013) and other top tournaments for the Swiss junior team.
HOW TO WATCH - The tournament is slated to start on Friday, May 21 early in the morning with Germany (Bergmann) vs. Italy and Russia (Barabanov) vs. Czech Republic at 6:15 am (PT) followed by Canada (Ferraro) vs. Latvia at 10:15 am (PT).
The next day on Saturday, May 22, Denmark (True) and Sweden (Sorensen) will face off in their opening game of the tournament at 2:15 am (PT) followed by USA (Chmelevski, Donato, Labanc) and Finland at 6:15 a.m. and Switzerland (Meier) vs. Czech Republic at 10:15 am (PT).
Games televised in the United States are available to watch on NHL Network and ESPN+. For a full schedule of the tournament, click here.
MORE ABOUT THE IIHF ICE HOCKEY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP -Held annually, the World Championships are hosted by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and is considered the sport's top international tournament of the year.
The previous tournament in 2020 was canceled due to the pandemic, but in 2019 Finland captured Gold.
Canada has medaled four times dating back to 2015, which includes two Gold medals, and Team USA is searching for its first Gold in over 60 years, but has earned three Bronze medals since the 2013 tournament.