Three members of the Washington Capitals will represent their countries at the 2012 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship in Helsinki, Finland. The tournament began on May 4, while Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin and Niklas Backstrom were part of the Capitals' playoff run, and concludes on May 20. Dates for their next games were announced on Monday by the Capitals.
Ovechkin and Semin will play in Russia's next game which is set for Monday, May 14. They will face Italy. Backstrom takes the ice with the Swedish team on Tuesday, May 15. Sweden takes on Latvia.
All three players are familiar with high-profile international hockey tournaments. Ovechkin played in three World Junior Championship tournaments, the 2004 World Cup and the 2006 and 2010 Olympics. Semin represented Russia twice in the World Junior Championship as well as the 2010 Olympics.
Backstrom was part of the Swedish team in the 2010 Olympics and three World Junior Championship appearances.
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