Arizona Coyotes captain to represent Sweden in World Championships
By James Reeve
The Arizona Coyotes will be represented at the upcoming World Championships, with captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson set to play for Sweden.
With the Arizona Coyotes narrowly missing the playoffs, captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson has opted to join his country for the World Championships in Slovakia next month.
Despite missing the post-season for the seventh consecutive year, it was a solid campaign by the Coyotes and the first with Ekman-Larsson as the team’s sole captain – taking on the mantle after Shane Doan.
OEL himself performed to his usual high-level across the season, registering 14 goals and 44 total points in 81 regular season games – missing just one game through injury.
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As expected, the Coyotes captain led the team in average time on the ice with 23:38 – almost three whole minutes more than Alex Goligoski in second place.
While often starting in the offensive zone (56.6%), OEL helped to drive play and had a positive Corsi rating of 51.7%.
Ekman-Larsson helped lead the team through a season of true adversity, with half of Rick Tocchet‘s team missing significant portions of the campaign with injuries.
His 162 hits and 52 blocked shots helped contribute to the Coyotes’ joint-best penalty killing unit (85%) and saw the team allow the joint-fifth lowest goals against.
Representing his country will be the cherry on top of what should be viewed as a largely successful season – with bigger hopes for the future.
Having Ekman-Larsson on the blueline is always a nice comfortable blanket for the Arizona Coyotes and seeing him take to the ice in May in the famous yellow and blue of Sweden will be another positive sight for the fans – as long as OEL comes through the tournament healthy.
Next. Coyotes should stick with the 14th overall pick. dark
What do you think Coyotes fans? Are you pleased to see the Coyotes captain earn a spot on the Sweden national team? How do you think they will fare in the World Championships next month? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!