After a rather successful rookie season, Sam Ersson will debut at the Men's World Championship after being named to Sweden's roster on Wednesday morning. This is not the first time Ersson will represent Sweden on an international stage, but he has not played in this specific tournament before this year.
Ersson was part of Sweden's roster for the European Hockey Tour. It was a warmup for Worlds and a preview of what Sweden's roster could look like. The best players from that tournament would move on to this upcoming tournament. Ersson did appear in one game, posting a 3.69 GAA and a .867 SV%.
As for his previous experience with the national team, Ersson also played at the Euro Hockey Tour in 2020-21. He posted a 1.50 GAA and a .936 SV%. He appeared at World Juniors in 2018-19 and posted a 2.23 GAA and a .922 SV%. He was named a Top Three player on his team, but Sweden did not medal despite Ersson going 3-1-0 in the tournament. He was also on the WJC U18 squad in 2016-17 but did not appear in a game.
Ersson is joined by Jesper Wallstedt and Filip Gustavsson as the three goaltenders on the roster. Wallstedt is the only one that has played in this tournament before. He posted an incredible 0.67 GAA and a .947 SV% in three games. He also had a shutout. Unfortunately, Sweden was upset by Latvia in the quarterfinals. Wallstedt, despite strong play in the pre-tournament games, was not in the net. He could have the inside track on the starting job based on prior experience.
Sweden has not medaled at Worlds since capturing gold back in 2018. They have finished fifth or worse since then, finishing ninth in 2021. Sweden has won the gold medal 11 times at the tournament, finishing with silver 17 times and winning bronze 16 times. Canada has won the most gold medals, leading all countries with 28. They took home the top spot last year, defeating Germany.
Overall, Sweden ranks fourth with 11 gold medals and 47 total medals at the Men's World Championship. They can move into second place if Czechia does not capture a medal and Sweden does.
Sweden will play preliminary round games beginning May 10. They will face the United States, Poland, Germany, Kazakhstan, Latvia, France, and Slovakia. The playoffs will begin on May 23.
Ersson is the second Flyers' player to be named to a Worlds' roster as Joel Farabee is on the United States squad.