GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Former Grand Rapids Griffins defenseman Karel Rachunek won a gold medal with the Czech Republic at the 2010 IIHF World Championship, the sport’s premier annual international event that concluded Sunday in Germany.

Rachunek, who made an impressive North American debut with the Griffins in 1999-00 before embarking on a 371-game career in the National Hockey League, helped the Czech Republic earn its first crown since 2005 with a 2-1 win over two-time defending champion Russia in the gold medal contest.

In Saturday’s semifinal matchup against Sweden, Rachunek scored the game-tying goal with eight seconds left in regulation in an eventual 3-2 shootout triumph for the Czechs. Fellow Griffins alums Jonathan Ericsson (2006-09) and Michael Nylander (2009-10) were on the losing side in that contest, but their Swedish squad rebounded to earn the bronze medal with a 3-1 victory over Germany on Sunday. Ericsson was named one of Sweden’s best three players during the tournament by a panel of coaches.

Six other Griffins alumni participated in the tournament, including Belarus’ Sergei Kolosov (2008-10), Kazakhstan’s Konstantin Shafranov (1999-00), Norway’s Ole-Kristian Tollefsen (2009-10), Slovakia’s Ivan Ciernik (1999-02) and Tomas Tatar (2009-10), and Switzerland’s Julien Vauclair (2001-02).

Complete results and statistics for the tournament can be found at iihf.com.