HERNING, Denmark – The National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) will be well-represented at the upcoming 2025 IIHF Men’s World Championship, including five NCHC programs having a current or former player on the 2025 U.S. Men’s National Team. Two more NCHC alumni are on other national teams at the tournament.
 
Team USA features Western Michigan freshman goaltender Hampton Slukynsky, who is one of only three current college hockey players on the squad. The Stars and Stripes roster also includes a trio of past NCHC standouts in former Denver defenseman Zeev Buium, former St. Cloud State forward Mikey Eyssimont and former North Dakota forward Shane Pinto. Eyssimont is on the Men’s National Team for the third straight year, while Pinto is back for a second year in a row. Two former Arizona State Sun Devils are also on Team USA in goaltender Joey Daccord and forward Josh Doan.
 
In addition to the U.S. squad, two other NCHC alums will suit up for their native countries at the 2025 Men’s World Championship. Former St. Cloud State forward Patrick Russell is once again on Team Denmark, while former WMU forward Frederik Tiffels is back on Team Germany.
 
The 2025 IIHF Men’s World Championship is set to get underway tomorrow, Friday, May 9 and runs through May 25. Team USA is in Group B and will play all of its preliminary round games in Herning, Denmark at the Jyske Bank Boxen. The U.S. opens pool play against Russell and the host Danes on May 9, and will also face Hungary, Switzerland, Norway, Tiffels and Germany, Kazakhstan and Czechia in the preliminary round. All Team USA games can be seen live on NHL Network.
 
The 2025 Men’s World Championship quarterfinals are set for Thursday, May 22 in either Herning or Stockholm, Sweden, with the semifinals and medal games on May 24-25 in Stockholm.
 
Slukynsky (Warroad, Minn.) is coming off a stellar freshman season at Western Michigan, backstopping the Broncos to their first National Championship, as well as the Penrose Cup and NCHC Frozen Faceoff titles. He was named to the NCHC All-Rookie Team and Second-Team All-NCHC this past season after leading the conference with a 1.90 GAA and posting a .922 save percentage, while going 19-5-1 in 25 starts in net. The L.A. Kings draft pick also helped Team USA win a gold medal at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship in January, going 2-0-0 in net with a 1.50 GAA and a .933 save percentage.
 
Buium (San Diego, Calif.) recently completed his college career after two years as a standout defenseman at Denver (2023-25). He was named NCHC Player of the Year for 2024-25 and repeated as NCHC Offensive Defenseman of the Year, while being a unanimous First-Team All-NCHC selection, a First-Team All-American and a Hobey Hat Trick finalist as a sophomore. After leading NCAA blueliners with 48 points this past season (13g/35a) in 41 games, Buium signed with the Minnesota Wild and made his NHL debut on April 20 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He has helped Team USA win back-to-back golds at the World Junior Championships in 2024 and 2025 and totaled 98 points (24g/74a) in two seasons as a Pioneer (83 games).
 
Eyssimont (Littleton, Colo.) is suiting up for the Men’s National Team for the third straight season, appearing in 17 games over the last two Men’s World Championships, totaling four points, including a goal in each tournament. He started this season with the Tampa Bay Lightning, playing in 57 games, before being traded to the Seattle Kraken on March 4. Eyssimont totaled 16 points (9g/7a) in 77 NHL games this past season, including 10 points with Tampa Bay and six with Seattle. Eyssimont starred at St. Cloud State for three years from 2015-2018. In his time with the Huskies, the 2016 Frozen Faceoff Most Outstanding Player totaled 102 points (45g/57a) in 115 career games. He earned Second-Team All-NCHC honors as a junior with 17 goals and 39 points in his final season at SCSU, while helping the Huskies win the 2017-18 Penrose Cup.
 
Pinto (Franklin Square, N.Y.) is back on Team USA for the second straight year after tallying nine points (2g/7a) in eight games at last year’s World Championship. The Ottawa Senators forward is coming off his best NHL season, racking up career highs of 21 goals and 37 points in 70 games this year, while helping the Senators make the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Pinto played at North Dakota from 2019-2021, earning NCHC Player of the Year honors as a sophomore in his final season at UND. He also garnered NCHC Forward and Defensive Forward of the Year in 2021, after landing NCHC Rookie of the Year in 2019-20. In two seasons with the Fighting Hawks, the 2021 First-Team All-American and Hobey Hat Trick Finalist totaled 60 points (31g/29a) in 61 games while leading UND to a pair of Penrose Cups. Pinto first donned the Stars and Stripes at the 2020 World Junior Championship, totaling four goals and seven points in five games.
 
Daccord (North Andover, Mass.) will be suiting up for Team USA for the first time at 2025 Men’s Worlds. He is coming off his second straight full NHL season, appearing in 57 games for the Seattle Kraken this year, going 27-23-5 in net with a 2.75 GAA and a .906 save percentage. Daccord starred at Arizona State in the program’s early stages from 2016-19, improving each season. He played 82 career games in net for the Sun Devils, going 32-40-7 in his college career with a .913 save percentage and eight shutouts.
 
Doan (Scottsdale, Ariz.) is also experiencing his first time representing Team USA in Denmark. He played two years at Arizona State from 2021-23, serving as team captain as a sophomore. Doan racked up 28 goals and 75 points in 74 career games as a Sun Devil. He’s spent the last two seasons splitting time between the NHL and AHL, including 51 games with the Utah Hockey Club this past year, totaling 19 (7g/12a) points in the NHL, as well as 26 points in 28 games with Tucson in the AHL.
 
Tiffels (Cologne, Germany) is competing in his seventh Men’s World Championship for Germany, while he also played for Germany in the 2022 Winter Olympics. He was a three-year standout at Western Michigan from 2014-17, compiling 59 points in 105 career games. Russell (Birkerød, Denmark) is playing in his sixth Men’s World Championship for the host Danes, while also participating in the 2022 Winter Olympics. He was a two-year forward for St. Cloud State from 2014-16, earning NCHC All-Rookie Team honors as a freshman in 2015 and helping SCSU win the Frozen Faceoff in 2016.
 
At the 2024 IIHF Men's World Championship in Czechia, the U.S. finished in fifth place and had a 5-0-1-2 record in its eight games. Along with Eyssimont and Pinto, last year’s U.S. Men’s National Team also featured former North Dakota defenseman Jake Sanderson, former UND forward Brock Nelson and former St. Cloud State goaltender Charlie Lindgren.
 
In total, the U.S. has earned 13 podium finishes at the Men’s World Championship, last earning a medal in 2021 (bronze). Team USA has won one gold medal, four silvers and eight bronze medals in its Men’s World Championship history.