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<p>It’s Day Two of the 2025 IIHF World Championships, and all three Vancouver Canucks’ representatives teams were in action after kicking off the tournament on Boxing Day.</p>
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<p>Opening Day Two was Switzerland, where Basile Sanssonnens skated in his exact role from Thursday. In fact, he not only played the same role but saw the exact same number of minutes played, with 15:33 of ice time in each of his games.</p>
<p>Though not flashy, Sansonnens&#8217; game is built on reliability, and he executed the assignment he was tasked with. He avoided any glaring mistakes, remained composed under pressure, and kept Slovakia’s forwards to the perimeter. While the stat sheet remained quiet, his effectiveness in a defensive role was evident as Switzerland secured a much-needed 4-2 victory.</p>
<p>Sansonnens maintains a minus-1 rating from Thursday’s game, with no additional peripherals on his stat sheet. Next up, he’ll face fellow Canucks prospect Tom Willander and Team Sweden on Sunday at 9:00 am PT.</p>
<p>Later in the day, Sweden faced a projected last-place Kazakhstan team, and the results were as expected—a lopsided 8-1 victory for the Swedes.</p>
<p>Tom Willander wasted no time making an impact, setting the tone early with a perfectly placed, threaded pass to 2025 draft-eligible forward Victor Eklund. The heads-up play found Eklund in the slot for a redirection to open the scoring, giving Willander his second assist of the tournament.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tom Willander threads the perfect pass toward the slot to pick up his second assist of the tournament. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Canucks?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Canucks</a>    </p>
<p>🎥 <a href="https://twitter.com/TSN_Sports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TSN_Sports</a> <a href="https://t.co/I3ss9PIqW3">pic.twitter.com/I3ss9PIqW3</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Dave Hall (@davehall1289) <a href="https://twitter.com/davehall1289/status/1872770356295156134?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 27, 2024</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>As Sweden dictated the game&#8217;s pace, Willander led the team in ice time for a second consecutive game, logging 20:56 and finishing with a plus-2 rating. With two points (both assists) and a plus-2 through two games, Willander continues to solidify his reputation as a two-way force capable of excelling in all situations.</p>
<p>Sweden now enjoys a day off before squaring off against Switzerland on Sunday, where Canucks fans will see Willander and Sansonnens go head-to-head.</p>
<h1>Canada</h1>
<p>Sawyer Mynio watched from the press box for the second straight game as Team Canada faced Latvia.</p>
<p>There is a chance that the Kamloops native catches time in the tournament, though. In the game, Canadian defender Matthew Schaefer collided with the post during a breakaway and did not return. If Schaefer cannot suit up for Canada’s next game on Sunday against Germany, Mynio could make his much-anticipated World Junior debut.</p>
<p>Technically, there’s one wrinkle — Canada has yet to register Mynio as an active player on their roster officially. While they could theoretically replace Schaefer with another defender, Mynio will likely be registered and called upon to fill the vacancy.</p>
<p>Canada faces Germany on Sunday at 4:30 pm PT, and Mynio’s status will undoubtedly be a storyline to watch.</p>
<p><strong>Sponsored by bet365</strong></p>
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It’s Day Two of the 2025 IIHF World Championships, and all three Vancouver Canucks’ representatives teams were in action after kicking off the tournament on Boxing Day.
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2111" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="329"></div>
&nbsp;

Opening Day Two was Switzerland, where Basile Sanssonnens skated in his exact role from Thursday. In fact, he not only played the same role but saw the exact same number of minutes played, with 15:33 of ice time in each of his games.

Though not flashy, Sansonnens' game is built on reliability, and he executed the assignment he was tasked with. He avoided any glaring mistakes, remained composed under pressure, and kept Slovakia’s forwards to the perimeter. While the stat sheet remained quiet, his effectiveness in a defensive role was evident as Switzerland secured a much-needed 4-2 victory.

Sansonnens maintains a minus-1 rating from Thursday’s game, with no additional peripherals on his stat sheet. Next up, he’ll face fellow Canucks prospect Tom Willander and Team Sweden on Sunday at 9:00 am PT.

Later in the day, Sweden faced a projected last-place Kazakhstan team, and the results were as expected—a lopsided 8-1 victory for the Swedes.

Tom Willander wasted no time making an impact, setting the tone early with a perfectly placed, threaded pass to 2025 draft-eligible forward Victor Eklund. The heads-up play found Eklund in the slot for a redirection to open the scoring, giving Willander his second assist of the tournament.

https://twitter.com/davehall1289/status/1872770356295156134

As Sweden dictated the game's pace, Willander led the team in ice time for a second consecutive game, logging 20:56 and finishing with a plus-2 rating. With two points (both assists) and a plus-2 through two games, Willander continues to solidify his reputation as a two-way force capable of excelling in all situations.

Sweden now enjoys a day off before squaring off against Switzerland on Sunday, where Canucks fans will see Willander and Sansonnens go head-to-head.
<h1>Canada</h1>
Sawyer Mynio watched from the press box for the second straight game as Team Canada faced Latvia.

There is a chance that the Kamloops native catches time in the tournament, though. In the game, Canadian defender Matthew Schaefer collided with the post during a breakaway and did not return. If Schaefer cannot suit up for Canada’s next game on Sunday against Germany, Mynio could make his much-anticipated World Junior debut.

Technically, there’s one wrinkle — Canada has yet to register Mynio as an active player on their roster officially. While they could theoretically replace Schaefer with another defender, Mynio will likely be registered and called upon to fill the vacancy.

Canada faces Germany on Sunday at 4:30 pm PT, and Mynio’s status will undoubtedly be a storyline to watch.

<strong>Sponsored by bet365</strong>
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