Jamie Schaafsma Stars for the Netherlands in IIHF World Championships

Jamie Schaafsma - Photo from ckhockeyheroes.com

He may have been born and raised in Chatham-Kent, but that isn’t stopping Blenheim’s Jamie Schaafsma from helping the Netherlands at the IIHF Division 1 World Championships.

Following the trend of many Canadian and United States hockey players who are unable to crack to top tiers of International hockey in North America, Schaafsma headed overseas to play professionally in Holland. For three seasons, Schaafsma played in the Netherlands with the Amsterdam Tigers and Galeen Smoke Eaters.

His play in the Netherlands top professional hockey league, and his time in the country was enough to qualify him to play for the Netherlands at the World Championships of Hockey. Schaafsma now has dual citizenship, and has competed for the Netherlands 3 other times in International competition.

Wednesday against Spain, the Netherlands won 8-2, with Schaafsma picking up a goal. In his team’s second game, a 3-2 loss to Italy, Schaafsma had a single assist. Schaafsma also picked up an assist in his country’s opening game of the World Championships, a 7-3 loss to Hungary.

In the Netherlands game against Italy, not only did Schaafsma record an assist, he was also selected as his team’s best player by IIHF World Championship officials.

The Netherlands and Schaafsma finish their round robin play Friday against Korea.

Last season, Schaafsma played professionally in Italy, scoring 18 goals and 28 assists in 30 games for HC Gherdeina, followed by 13 goals and 10 assists in 16 playoff games with the club.