Global Gulls Take Flight at 2024 IIHF World Championship

May 9, 2024

By Nick Aguilera/SanDiegoGulls.com 

The American Hockey League season might be over, but for a few Gulls past and present, the puck keeps moving. 

Seven players, Reto Berra, Lukas Dostal, Isac Lundestrom, Ondrej Kase, Pavol Regenda, Trevor Zegras and Olen Zellweger, are set to represent their home countries during the 2024 IIHF World Championship in Czechia beginning May 10.  

Regenda and Zellweger both appeared for the Gulls in 2023-24. After each of them saw some time in the NHL with the Anaheim Ducks this season, they’ll now face each other for global glory. Regenda has already had a prolific international career for Slovakia. The 24-year-old forward helped lead Slovakia to a bronze medal during the 2020 Olympics, posting a multi-point performance in the bronze medal game and earning 1-3=4 points in seven games. Regenda has collected 7-3=10 points in 15 World Championship contests over the past two tournaments. 

Zellweger will transition from a high-profile junior international career to the senior circuit. He helped Team Canada earn back-to-back gold medals at the World Junior Championships in 2022 and 2023 and ended his junior career ranking second in all-time WJC points by a Canadian defenseman (2-15=17). He’ll have some familiar faces surrounding him in former WJC teammates Connor Bedard, Adam Fantilli and Dylan Guenther, who helped the Canadians to Gold at the 2022 WJC. 

Dostal will represent Czechia at the World Championship for the second time in his career. He appeared in one game during the 2023 edition of the tournament. The 23-year-old netminder will likely see some increased playing time this go around after he appeared in 44 games for the Ducks this season and posted a .902 save percentage in his first full season in the NHL. He joins Kase, who spent parts of three seasons with the Gulls from 2015-18, and Ducks teammate Radko Gudas on Team Czechia. 

For the first time since his historic 2021 World Junior Championship run, Trevor Zegras will don the red, white & blue. Zegras, who posted 10-11=21 points for the Gulls in 2020-21, will make his World Championship debut on a stacked Team USA squad that includes Brady Tkachuk, Cole Caulfield, Johnny Gaudreau and more. 

Lundestrom returns to represent Sweden for the second time in as many years. Last tournament, he had a goal and an assist in seven games.  

Berra, who went 16-12-2 with a 2.66 GAA, .922 SV% and three shutouts with the Gulls in 2017-18, will make his 10th consecutive World Championship appearance. He leads all active World Championship goaltenders in appearances (39) and wins (20). 

Each team will play seven preliminary round games before the top four in each of the two groups advance to the knockout stages. Group A consists of Austria, Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, Great Britain, Norway and Switzerland. Group B includes France, Germany, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden and the United States. 

Preliminary Round Schedule 

May 10 

Switzerland (Berra) vs. Noway, 7:20 a.m. PDT 

Slovakia (Regenda) vs. Germany, 7:20 a.m. PDT 

Sweden (Lundestrom) vs. USA (Zegras), 11:20 a.m. PDT 

Czechia (Dostal, Kase) vs. Finland, 11:20 a.m. PDT 

May 11 

Great Britain vs. Canada (Zellweger), 3:20 a.m. PDT 

Norway vs. Czechia (Dostal, Kase), 11:20 a.m. PDT 

USA (Zegras) vs. Germany, 11:20 a.m. PDT 

May 12 

Slovakia (Regenda) vs. Kazakhstan, 3:20 a.m. PDT 

Denmark vs. Canada (Zellweger), 7:20 a.m. PDT 

Austria vs. Switzerland (Berra), 11:20 a.m. PDT 

May 13 

USA (Zegras) vs. Slovakia (Regenda), 7:20 a.m. PDT 

Switzerland (Berra) vs. Czechia (Dostal, Kase), 11:20 a.m. PDT 

Germany vs. Sweden (Lundestrom), 11:20 a.m. PDT 

May 14 

Canada (Zellweger) vs. Austria, 11:20 a.m. PDT 

May 15 

Czechia (Dostal, Kase) vs. Denmark, 7:20 a.m. PDT 

Switzerland (Berra) vs. Great Britain, 11:20 a.m. PDT 

Slovakia (Regenda) vs. Poland, 11:20 a.m. PDT 

May 16 

Kazakhstan vs. Sweden (Lundestrom), 7:20 a.m. PDT 

Canada (Zellweger) vs. Noway, 11:20 a.m. PDT 

USA (Zegras) vs. France, 11:20 a.m PDT 

May 17 

Czechia (Dostal, Kase) vs. Austria, 11:20 a.m. PDT 

Poland vs. USA (Zegras), 11:20 a.m. PDT 

May 18 

Denmark vs. Switzerland (Berra), 3:20 a.m. PDT 

Latvia vs. Sweden (Lundestrom), 3:20 a.m. PDT 

Canada (Zellweger) vs. Finland, 7:20 a.m. PDT 

Czechia (Dostal, Kase) vs. Great Britain, 11:20 a.m. PDT 

France vs. Slovakia (Regenda), 11:20 a.m. PDT 

May 19 

USA (Zegras) vs. Kazakhstan, 7:20 a.m. PDT 

Switzerland (Berra) vs. Canada (Zellweger), 11:20 a.m. PDT 

Slovakia (Regenda) vs. Latvia, 11:20 a.m. PDT 

May 20 

Sweden (Lundestrom) vs. France, 7:20 a.m. PDT 

May 21 

Canada (Zellweger) vs. Czechia (Dostal, Kase), 7:20 a.m. PDT 

Latvia vs. USA (Zegras), 7:20 a.m. PDT 

Finland vs. Switzerland (Berra), 11:20 a.m. PDT 

Sweden vs. Slovakia (Regenda), 11 :20 a.m. PDT