MADISON, Wis. – Two former Wisconsin men's hockey players -- Cole Caufield and Luke Kunin -- are among the first 15 players named to United States roster for the 2024 IIHF Men's World Championships, USA Hockey announced on Wednesday.
The 2024 IIHF Men's World Championships will take place from May 10-26 in Ostrava and Prague, Czechia. The U.S. has finished in the top four of the IIHF Men's World Championship in seven of the last 10 tournaments with four bronze medals to its credit in 2013, 2015, 2018 and 2021.
Luke Kunin, a forward currently playing for the San Jose Sharks, will make his second world championships appearance and first since he helped the United States to a seventh-place finish in 2019. The former Wisconsin captain currently has 62 goals and 124 points in 359 career NHL games and racked up 11 goals and 18 points in 77 games played with the Sharks in 2023-24. Kunin, a U.S. National Team Development Program product, captained the 2017 U.S. National Junior Team to a gold medal at the world junior championships.
Also a product of USA Hockey's National Team Development Program, forward Cole Caufield will make his World Championship debut. Caufield has 81 goals and 149 points in 205 games played with the Montreal Canadiens, notching 28 goals and 65 points through 82 games played during the 2023-24 season. The Stevens Point native has skated for Team USA on the international stage before, helping the United States win gold at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship.
Kunin and Caufield are the first Badger skaters to play for Team USA at the IIHF Men's World Championships since Kunin and defenseman Ryan Suter represented the U.S. in 2019 in Slovakia. In that same year, forward Kyle Turris skated for Team Canada and Steven Reinprecht was an assistant coach for Team Germany. Most recently, current Head Coach Mike Hastings and former Badger skater and assistant coach Don Granato acted as assistant coaches for Team USA in 2022.
All time, 66 former Badgers have participated in the IIHF Men's World Championship as either a player, coach or staff member, with 52 representing the United States.
The United States opens tournament play against Sweden on May 10 in Ostrava, Czechia, at 1:10 p.m. CT. All U.S. tournament games will air live on the NHL Network.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE FOR USA:
- Pre-tournament game: Slovakia, May 7 (11 a.m. CT)
- Game 1: Sweden, May 10 (1:20 p.m. CT)
- Game 2: Germany, May 11 (1:20 p.m. CT)
- Game 3: Slovakia, May 13 (9:20 a.m. CT)
- Game 4: France, May 16 (1:20 p.m. CT)
- Game 5: Poland, May 17 (1:20 p.m. CT)
- Game 6: Kazakhstan, May 19 (9:20 a.m. CT)
- Game 7: Latvia, May 21 (9:20 a.m. CT)
- Quarterfinals: May 23 (9:20 a.m. or 1:20 p.m. CT)
- Semifinals: May 25 (7:20 a.m. or 11:20 a.m. CT)
- Gold Medal Game: May 26 (1:20 p.m. CT)
