Jeremy Swayman

Anchorage’s Jeremy Swayman, fresh off light goaltending duty Tuesday, and his Team USA mates are moving into the quarterfinals at hockey’s World Championships in Finland.

The Americans (5-2-0), who closed preliminary play with a 4-2 victory over Norway in Tampere to finish fourth in Group B, will face Group A winner Switzerland (7-0-0) Thursday in Helsinki.

Swayman, who recently finished the season with the NHL’s Boston Bruins, stopped all nine shots he faced in the first period before giving way to Strauss Mann, the former University of Michigan goalie and fellow 23-year-old who plays in the Swedish Hockey League. Swayman played just enough to stay sharp and then was rested for the remainder of the game because other results at that point locked Team USA into a quarterfinal with the Swiss.

Since arriving in Finland midway through the preliminary round, Swayman has started four straight games and gone 2-1-0 with a 0.89 goals-against average, .953 save percentage and one shutout. He made 15 saves in Sunday’s 1-0 overtime loss to Czechia and was named Team USA’s Player of the Game.

Swayman seems to start Thursday’s elimination game.

These World Championships mark the first time Swayman (South High) has played for a USA Hockey senior team. He represented Team USA at the 2018 World Juniors, where he served as the No. 3 goalie and played briefly in the bronze-medal game the Americans won.

Swayman is coming off a strong full rookie NHL season. He made his NHL debut in the 2020-21 season when he crushed a 10-game stint. This past season, he went 23-14-3 with a 2.41 goals-against average, .914 save percentage and three shutouts. For comparison’s sake, the league average for goals-against average was 2.92 and the league average for save percentage was .907.

Swayman, a fourth-round draft pick of the Bruins in 2017, started the NHL playoffs as backup to Linus Ullmark, but quickly assumed the starting role and became the first Alaska goalie to start an NHL Stanley Cup playoff game.

The former University of Maine First-Team All-American next fall will enter the final season of his three-year, entry-level contract.

Jeremy Swayman and Team USA are moving on at the World Championships. Photo by USA Hockey

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