Deutschland Duo: Islanders Greiss, Seidenberg to play for Germany at 2017 IIHF World Championships

Goalie Thomas Greiss and defenseman Dennis Seidenberg will play for their native Germany at the 2017 IIHF World Championships next month, facing some of their Islanders teammates in their home country.

The Islanders announced this afternoon that Greiss and Seidenberg will join Calvin de Haan (Canada), and Anders Lee and Brock Nelson (USA! USA!) at this year’s international event. Both Cologne, Germany and Paris, France will be the sites for the tournament, which runs from May 5th through the 21st. Germany’s first game will be against good ol’ Team USA on the opening day.

Seidenberg, who just re-signed with the Islanders for next season, will play in his fourth World Championships. He had five goals and 17 assists in his first season with the Islanders. No, I’m not mentioning his +/- rating because enough has already been said about it.

For the second season in a row, Greiss set career highs in starts and wins with the Islanders, going 26-18-5 in 49 games, with a .913 save percentage. He also scored a contract extension for himself, getting three more years back in January. This is the second time he’ll suit for Germany at the annual spring games.

Both have extensive international histories with Olympics and World Junior games as well. They also played at last year’s World Cup of Hockey for plucky Team Europe, which went all the way to the finals before losing to Team Canada (although Greiss was mainly used as a third-stringer to Islanders teammate Jaroslav Halak and Washington’s Philipp Grubauer). Seidenberg’s play at the World Cup helped him sign a one-year, $1 million UFA deal with the Islanders.

Congrats to both guys and good luck at Worlds. And as we say to all Islanders participating in international competition, DON’T GET HURT.