Another day, another Columbus Blue Jacket is set to go to the World Championships.
As the IIHF tournament is set to begin May 5 with games in the cities of Cologne, Germany, and Paris, France, multiple players in the NHL have been called upon to give their services to their national teams.
As first reported by the Columbus Dispatch's Aaron Portzline, Blue Jackets backup goaltender Joonas Korpisalo is the latest player to be selected by his home country. Finland is a perennial contender and just last year in the 2016 IIHF World Championships finished as runner-up.
Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen during his end of the season press conference with president John Davidson reiterated the thought that Korpisalo should make the country's team for the tournament.
"Joonas Korpisalo will be joining Team Finland," said Kekalainen. "Both him and (Markus) Hannikainen have to make the team. But I think there is a good chance that they will."
Korpisalo this past season played in 14 games, starting 13 of them. He finished the regular season with a 7-5-1 record, 2.88 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage.
Hannikainen, meanwhile, split the season with Columbus and Cleveland of the AHL. In 10 NHL games, Hannikainen had a goal and an assist.
Other Blue Jackets scheduled to participate are goaltender Elvis Merzlikins (Latvia), forward William Karlsson (Sweden) and defenseman Dean Kukan (Switzerland).
One player who won't be going is center Lukas Sedlak. The rookie was banged up near the end of the season with Columbus and turned down a chance to join the Czech Republic team, Kekalainen said.
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