FAIRBANKS, Alaska – On Thursday, Alaska hockey's rookie goaltender Gustavs Grigals has officially been named to the Team Latvia roster for the 2019 IIHF World Championships, which will be held in Bratislava-Kosice, Slovakia from Friday, May 10 through Sunday, May 26. Grigals is one of three netminders on Team Latvia's 22-man roster.

Despite having experience on Team Latvia in the World Juniors, this is Grigals' first call-up on the international main stage following a stint at camp. The 2019 IIHF World Championships features two pools made up of six teams each. Latvia will compete in Group B, which includes Austria, the Czech Republic, Italy, Norway, Russia, Sweden and Switzerland. Group A consists of Canada, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, France, Finland and the United States.

With only four National Hockey League teams remaining in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Grigals will be facing over 95 current NHL players who will be representing their countries at the IIHF World Championships this month. Ages for the tournament range from a 1979 birth year to 2001. According to the IIHF website, Grigals is the 11th youngest player in the championships.

Furthermore, the Riga, Latvia native is one of three players in the IIHF World Championships that played in the NCAA last season, along with Adam Fox (Harvard) and Marc Michaelis (Minnesota State). Grigals is the only player in the tournament with NCAA eligibility remaining, as both Fox and Michaelis signed professional contracts following the conclusion of the 2018-19 season.

In his first season with the Nooks, Grigals appeared in 14 games for the Blue and Gold, registering a 5-6-1-1 record. Grigals tallied 367 saves from 408 shots, earning a .900 save percentage and a 3.33 goals against average. On Nov. 10, Grigals earned his first collegiate win and Alaska's first victory of the season by backstopping the Nooks to a 4-3 road win over Lake Superior State with 19 saves.

"The first week of camp was really hard, we did a lot of skating and conditioning, on top of trying to adapt to professional shots. After that, we focused more on breakouts and special teams," Grigals said. "I have to give a big thank you to UAF for helping me get to where I am right now. They helped me finish my academic semester here in Latvia while I was trying out at camp."

The 2019 IIHF World Championships will be aired live on NHL Network, with select games being featured on FloHockey TV. Team Latvia's schedule is listed below:

• Saturday, May 11 vs. Austria (8:00am AKT)
• Sunday, May 12 vs. Switzerland (10:00am AKT)
• Tuesday, May 14 vs. Italy (8:00am AKT)
• Thursday, May 16 vs. Czech Republic (10:00 AKT)
• Saturday, May 18 vs. Russia (2:00am AKT)
• Monday, May 20 vs. Sweden (8:00am AKT) – NHL Network
• Tuesday, May 21 vs. Norway (8:00am AKT)
• Thursday, May 23
  • Group A
    • Quarterfinal 1 – 6:00am AKT – NHL Network
    • Quarterfinal 2 – 10:00am AKT – NHL Network
  • Group B
    • Quarterfinal 1 – 6:00am AKT
    • Quarterfinal 2 – 10:00am AKT
• Saturday, May 25
  • Semifinal 1 – 5:00am AKT – NHL Network
  • Semifinal 2 – 9:00am AKT – NHL Network
• Sunday, May 26
  • Bronze medal game – 5:30am AKT – NHL Network
  • Gold medal game – 10:00am AKT – NHL Network

For more information on the Alaska Nanooks hockey team, follow @NanooksHockey on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks Hockey team page on Facebook.