World Championship Round-Up, Week 2
By Ryan Pike
9 years ago
The weekend is over for our American pals – us Canadians get today off to commemorate the birth of Queen Victoria – and the World Hockey Championship roars on.
The round robin is almost over. Almost. Most teams have one game left. Some have two. But we can guess what the quarterfinal pairings may be.
GROUP A
- Canada – currently has 18 points – probably finishes 1st
- Sweden – currently has 18 points (lost to Canada) – probably finishes 2nd (on tie-breakers)
- Czech Republic – currently has 10 points, plays France – probably finishes 3rd
- France – currently has 10 points, plays the Czech Republic – possibly finishes 4th
- Slovakia – currently has 7 points, plays Denmark – possibly finishes 4th
- Norway – currently has 7 points, plays Canada – can finish 4th, but it’s unlikely
- Denmark – currently has 5 points, plays Slovakia – done
- Italy – currently has 3 points – done
Most likely, it’s Canada, Sweden, the Czechs and either France or Slovakia into the quarters. If France and Slovakia are tied, it goes to head-to-head (as it does for Canada and Sweden), which gives France the edge. Long story short – Denmark’s pair of games will determine who loses to Russia in the quarters.
Update: France beat Denmark
Speaking of…
GROUP B
- Russia – currently has 18 points, plays Belarus – will finish 1st
- USA – currently has 14 points – probably finishes 2nd
- Belarus – currently has 12 points, plays Russia – possibly finishes 3rd or 4th
- Finland – currently has 11 points – possibly finishes 3rd or 4th
- Switzerland – currently has 10 points – can finish 4th, but it’s unlikely
- Latvia – currently has 9 points – possibly finishes 3rd or 4th
- Germany – currently has 5 points, plays USA – done
- Kazakhstan – currently has 2 points – done
Okay. Russia’s in. USA can get knocked out on tie-breakers, I believe, but let’s presume they get in. Two of the Belarus/Finland/Latvia trio get in. Russia beats Belarus. The Latvia/Belarus game probably determines everyone’s fate. My gut says Latvia beats Belarus, Finland beats Kazakhstan and Switzerland beats Latvia. That would result in Russia, USA, Latvia Belarus and Finland being the four qualifiers (in order).
Update: Finland beat Kazakhstan, Belarus beat Latvia
PROSPECTIVE QUARTERS
- 1A (Canada) vs. 4B (Finland)
- 2A (Sweden) vs. 3B (Belarus)
- 3A (Czechs) vs. 2B (USA)
- 4A (France) vs. 1B (Russia)
The tournament will probably start getting fun from here on out. And it seems likely that all of the Flames at the tournament will qualify for the quarter-finals.
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