Once the Boston Bruins' 2024-25 season came to an end, thankfully, it didn't mean the end of the season for some of the Black and Gold players. Despite missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs, some players got to play for their country at the IIHF World Championship in Sweden.
David Pastrnak had a strong tournament, six goals and nine assists for Czechia, Dans Locmelis had four goals and two assists for Latvia, Mason Lohrei and Andrew Peeke each had a goal and two assists for Team USA and Jakub Lauko, acquired at the trade deadline from the Minnesota Wild had a goal and an assist for Czechia. Two other players who struggled this season for the Bruins had strong showings, and it was just what they needed heading into the summer.
Jeremy Swayman and Elias Lindholm have stroing showing at World Championships
Both Jeremy Swayman and Elias Lindholm will be the first to tell you that their 2024-25 seasons were not very good. There's no denying it. The numbers and performances speak for themselves. They were a part of a long list of underperforming players.
If any players needed redemption at the World Championship this month, it was both. Swayman looked like his old form in the tournament and took over the full-time netminding duties. It was the right choice as Swayman went 7-0-0 with a 1.69 goals against average and a .920 save percentage. His best performance was in the Championship Game, where he made 24 saves in a 1-0 overtime win over Switzerland.
Lindholm, who called himself out back in November for his performance, became one of the better Boston forwards over the last six weeks of the season, and he carried that over the tournament in his home country. He finished with eight goals and six assists, one of the top goal scorers in the whole tournament, and looked like a different player. Bruins fans hope that the performance from Lindholm will carry over to the 2025-26 season.
It wasn't the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but regardless, it was nice that Swayman and Lindholm were able to play more hockey this month and gain a lot of confidence going into next season. If they can carry this over to the fall, then that will be huge for the new Black and Gold coach.