It's been a very good championship so far. Some upsets, some really good games.
Well organized by the Danes and lots of fans at the games. And now it's time for the playoffs.
Looking like this:


17 May Sweden - Latvia
17 May USA - Czech Republic
----------------------------
17 May Russia - Canada
17 May Finland - Switzerland

Which teams will win? What do you think? I think the semifinals will look like this:

SF 1: Sweden - USA
SF 2: Russia - Finland

But that is just a guess. Maybe I'm stupid to count out Team Canada or The Czech Republic? Who knows?

Do they still have ice in Denmark? It’s almost summer

Sure they have, Koen! It's as sure as the fact that the Amsterdam canals always freezes over in the winter!

...or the fact that Holland and Italy always qualifies for the Football World Cup!

Hahaha.

I have this thread for myself then. Probably only me and Doxa who are interested in hockey here. And Andrew M, but he doesn't seem to write anymore.
Well, Canada won against Russia today after extra time, 5-4. And USA beat czechia, 3-2. Two goals by Patrick Kane. So, looking forward to this evening's two games now!

Tough to keep track of games because of the time difference in North America. I know Canada was playing Russia but didn't know the game already took place! Finland beat Canada in the round robin so it'll be a tough rematch (assuming Finland wins today).
Patrick Kane has been on fire in this tournament. Glad to see since I'm a huge Blackhawks fan and hopefully this carries on to next season.
I've mentioned here in previous years how this tournament isn't that huge in Canada since the Stanley Cup playoffs is on. It's a good consolation for players who's teams didn't make the playoffs but a lot of players decline an invite. There are some late player additions that can be added from teams that get knocked out of the Stanley Cup in the first or second rounds.

Further to my last post, Finland lost to Switzerland?!?

Hi DGA! Yep, they did. Switzerland is not a bad team though. But all the same, a bad result for the Finns who beat both Canada and Team USA in the group stage. Nerves? Who knows?
Sweden got away by the skin of their teeth against Latvia - 3-2. Taking stupid penalties and weak goaltending was part of their plan obviously. Latvia played well though. A good team.
Strange though that team that did well in the group stage like Russia, Finland and Czechia are out. Team USA and Canada only did so-so in round robin. But here they are in the semifinals!

In many previous years, Canada would go undefeated in the round robin then lose one game in the playoffs to get eliminated so perhaps they got all their losing out of their systems early!

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Stoneage
...or the fact that Holland and Italy always qualifies for the Football World Cup!

Holland and Italy are boycotting Putin, now don't they ...

resotele

Coach Marjamäki getting a bad wrap in Hufvudstadsbladet: "The worst coach for The Lions (Finland) in modern history". The loss against Switzerland didn't go down well in Finland I guess.
Quite understandably. They had a good team this time around. Tomorrow Team USA will stand a chance to make it to the finals for the first time since 1960! Will they take that chance?
They will meet Tre Kronor (Sweden) who won gold last year. Games tomorrow:

Sweden - USA
Canada - Switzerland

My guess: USA and Canada in the final. Canada has to look out for The Swiss though. If they underestimate them one bit they will lose!

Well Canada chokes against Switzerland. Lots of shots on goal and Swiss goalie played awesome. One of the biggest wins for Switzerland ever! Now we play for the bronze against the US which basically for most Canadian fans is a who cares game. Nobody will be celebrating if we win a bronze. Good luck to Switzerland against Sweden.

I was wrong on both parts. Sweden and Switzerland in the final tomorrow. Team USA wasn't bad. Maybe the goalies made the difference? But 6-0 is 6-0. Team Canada dominated the game against the Swiss.
But wasn't able to capitalize on that. A footnote, perhaps irrelevant: Canadian wifes/girlfriends drinking rosé wine and having a ball in the stands when Team Canada was trailing 1-3 with only minutes to go. An omen?

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Stoneage
...or the fact that Holland and Italy always qualifies for the Football World Cup!

Interestingly both countries play each other Sunday in the Under-17 EURO final. So there is hope

Congrats to Sweden for winning gold and to Switzerland for a very exciting game, kind of sucks that it has to end in a shootout.
USA got bronze beating Canada earlier, a very disappointing result for Canada.
Glad to see Patrick Kane do well in this tournament, again hope it carries forward to the Blackhawks next season.

Yep, disappointing final. Could have gone either way. I kind of rooted for the Swiss. They won against Finland, Canada and, almost, Sweden in the play offs. What a team! But, all in all, Sweden didn't lose a game in the tournament so no one can say that it wasn't well deserved. Patrick Kane was awarded the MVP price. I don't know about that, but he won the points league. People are joking here about Johnny Hockey calling him Johnny Baseball (he hit a Swedish player in the back with his stick)...