USA Picks Beniers, Canada Selects Power for World Championship
5/14/2021 1:15:00 PM | Ice Hockey
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Matty Beniers and Owen Power of the University of Michigan ice hockey team have been selected to compete in the 2021 IIHF Men's World Championship. Beniers will represent the United States, and Power will represent Canada.
The World Championship will be held May 21-June 6 in Latvia. The 16 teams, split into Groups A and B, will play a round-robin format in the preliminary round with the top four teams from each group advancing to the quarterfinals. USA and Canada are both members of Group B.
Canada will face the host nation in the first game of the tournament on May 21, while USA will take on Finland in its first game on May 22.
An All-Big Ten honorable mention and All-Freshman Team selection, Beniers led the conference in on-ice rating with a +21, ranking him eighth nationally. He collected 24 points, with 10 goals and 14 assists in 24 games, and ranked fourth amongst the nation's rookies in points per game.
Beniers joins an elite group of Wolverines that have been on both the World Junior and World Championship teams in the same season. They include: Jack Johnson (2007), Jacob Trouba (2013), Dylan Larkin (2015) and Quinn Hughes (2018 and 2019).
The College Hockey News Rookie of the Year, Power was on the All-Big Ten second team and All-Freshman Team and a finalist for the league's Freshman of the Year. Power was the top-scoring rookie defenseman in the league with 16 points, with three goals and 13 assists. He was on the ice for 31 goals and finished a +18, with 40 blocked shots and just three penalties.
Power is the first Wolverine to be named to the Canadian roster since Mike Cammalleri, who was a member of the 2007 gold-medal-winning squad.
This marks the sixth time in the last eight World Championships that players coming off a season with Michigan have been selected for the event. The list includes Quinn Hughes in 2018 and 2019; the C-C-M line of JT Compher, Kyle Connor and Tyler Motte in 2017; Dylan Larkin in 2015; and Jacob Trouba in 2013.
Thirty-nine Wolverines have played in the World Championship, including 32 for the United States, six for Canada and one for Austria. Michigan players have brought home 14 medals (three gold, two silver and nine bronze).
