With national teams in Finland to begin play in the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship Friday, five Kraken players will be part of the month-long tournament. Goaltenders Philipp Grubauer (Germany) and Chris Driedger (Canada) will be in net for their countries. Defenseman Adam Larsson (Sweden) and forwards Karson Kuhlman (USA) and Morgan Geekie (Canada) will be skating to advance their native-land squads through the opening round-robin phase.

Grubauer and his Germany teammates are set to face Driedger, Geekie and Team Canada in the first game for both nations Friday at the Helsinki Ice Hall. Germany and Canada are two of the eight teams in Group A.

Team USA and Sweden are part of Group B. The Americans begin play Friday in Tampere, a Finnish city about two hours north of Helsinki by car. Kuhlman and the USA squad will open tournament action Friday at Nokia Arena against Latvia, while Sweden and Larsson play Austria Saturday. Larsson and Kuhlman will be in opposing jerseys May 21 during round-robin play.

It's an honor for each Kraken player to be selected to represent their countries, indicating their regular-season performances caught the attention of national team general managers and coaches. The world championship also affords a chance for each player to improve his game and gain experience playing highly meaningful games at an elite level.

Grubauer and Larsson have appreciated the opportunity to represent their nations and hone their skills in past seasons (both as juniors and NHLers). Larsson is the most decorated, winning gold with Sweden at the 2018 IIHF World Championship in Denmark.

Larsson, a stalwart of the Swedish defensive corps, has played 26 international games for Team Sweden in men's championships and another 23 at the juniors level, earning a bronze medal at the 2010 World Junior Championship and silver at the U18 World Championship later that same year (he was named Best Defenseman of that tourney).

No doubt Team Sweden leadership are familiar with Larsson's shutdown qualities as a 5-on-5 and penalty-kill defender (and a perennial NHL leader in least mistakes made in the defensive zone). What's likely nearly as intriguing is Larsson's career-high eight goals and 119 shots on goal this NHL season and regularly jumping into the offensive-zone play.

Grubauer, who won a Stanley Cup with Washington in 2018, played five games in the men's world championships in 2014 and 2019 with a .921 save percentage. He logged 21 games in international juniors play for Germany.

Kuhlman is getting his first chance at wearing the USA jersey during IIHF play, impressing the American hockey brain trust in his 25 starts with the Kraken, especially chemistry developed with linemate Yanni Gourde later in the season when the 26-year-old was fully recovered from a mid-season injury.

Kuhlman finished the year with two goals, six assists and 29 hits, proving a speedy counterpart for Gourde during 5-on-5 play and as an ace pair of penalty killers. The tournament is an ideal opportunity for Kuhlman to make up for the 20-plus games he missed during the injury after Seattle claimed him on waivers from the Boston Bruins.

Kraken fans who consider themselves part of the "Geek Sqaud" are in for a treat with the favorite player getting his chance to debut for Team Canada. Like Driedger, it's his first time "wearing the maple leaf" and living out a widespread Canadian child's hockey dream.

Geekie, who has appeared in 111 NHL regular-season games and 11 playoff games, has an elite shot plus playmaking skills that Team Canada scouts evidently noticed, particularly the range of shots that he can fire with quick-release. The 23-year-old works on his shots after every practice. He's also become a reliable faceoff man in all zones, working extra time throughout the season on the vital part of play. His 669 faceoffs (52.1 win percentage) is highly respectable and he proved it out over a much higher volume than previous NHL years.

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