...will be hosted in Helsinki, Finland. It begins on December 26, 2015, and will end with the gold medal game being played on January 5, 2016. Coming up, already tomorrow, some interesting games
like the United States versus Canada and Czech Republic against Russia. Who do you think will win this year? Last five years winners includes, in order, Russia, Sweden, USA, Finland and Canada.
Will Canada repeat their win from last year in Canada?

Go Canada! This tournament is always a big deal here, with TSN promoting it heavily over the years, especially when the tournament is held in Canada.

Big hockey fan go team USA!

Sweden-Switzerland 8-3. And a fearsome blindside hit on Swede William Nylander who suffered a concussion. I hope he will be able to come back in this tournament.
Russia won against Czechia 2-1 after penalties. Canada is playing USA right now: 0-0 after the first period.

...USA-Canada 4-2.

I think Canada is gonna be in tough to repeat, with only four, maybe five(?), returning players from the Gold medal team. Looks like USA might be the team to beat this year, with next years' first overall pick, Auston Matthews, in the line-up.

Great job team USA I'm sure we will see Canada down the road.

This tournament has slowly but steadily outpaced International World Cup tournament in coverage and media interest.

I don't think Sweden will win this time, but one can always hope.


GO Sweden GO!



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Two interesting games coming up tomorrow: Sweden-USA and Finland-Russia. Switzerland took out three of our players yesterday so I'm afraid it will be a decimated Swedish team that meets USA tomorrow.

That hit on Nylander was brutal. Go Sweden!

Thanks, Andrew. I'm looking forward to a good game tomorrow. Team USA will be slight favourites but you never know...

Go Söderström Go....



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A strange game indeed. Very much junior ice hockey. 14 goalless power plays, 8 for Team USA and 6 for Team Sweden. You can say Linus Söderström, the Swedish goaltender, won the game for Sweden. He saved 46 shots.
1-0, Sweden. A sweet goal by Alexander Nylander (William's younger brother). In the other big game Russia won against host nation Finland, 6-4, after a 3-1 Finnish lead in the beginning of the second period.

Its been a great series so far. I am cheering for Canada but keeping a wary eye on Sweden and the US. Canada vs Sweden on New Years Eve should be a hell of a game!

Since Canada lost a point to Switzerland yesterday (3-2 after penalties) Sweden only needs a win in today's game against Denmark to secure a first positon in group A. The ideal opponent in the quartefinal would be Slovakia, which is probably the weakest team in group B. But Denmark isn't a bad team so I hope Team Sweden hasn't counted the win in advance...

Sweden always makes a flat game in the regular season so it will surely against Denmark today ... my tip is that Denmark will win in the long run, and Sweden only takes a stick ...
Sverige gör alltid en plattmatch i grundserien så den kommer säkert mot Danmark idag...mitt tips blir att Danmark vinner i förlängningen och Sverige bara tar en pinne... Bing Translator...vilket skämt...(Bing Translator, what a joke)

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This is a championship for kids?

U20, Dandy. This championship gathers much attention because it's the only ice hockey championship where nations can assemble their best teams. Maybe with an exception for The Olympics.
And, further on, it's a feast for NHL agents and a huge opportunity for young players to show their talent in front of a big audience and potential employers.

Quote
DandelionPowderman
This is a championship for kids?

I don't think you would like to meet any of these "kids" in a hard hit in the rink. They lift more kilo than any of us, and they have been hitting hard for many many years in games already, dreaming of NHL...

Bjornulf

There is a huge interest here in Finland for these 'kids' championships... Lots of hopes for Team Finland, but based on the game against Russia two days ago, it doesn't look too good. We have very strong offense, but the defense is a rather mediocre, if not even poor, and unfortunately our most important part traditionally, goalies, are even worse. So it is, once again, very much up to the tactics and team-play if these weaknesses are to be compensated.

But the positive aspect is the offense, so I say some words about it. There is a new league of different kind of forwards breaking through now here: big, strong, damn skilfful players, exactly the qualities needed to make it big in NHL (ask the Swedes), and not any longer those fast, small, energetic players made for lines three and four in NHL. The capitan Mikko Rantanen - who already played some games in NHL for Colorado, but has scored some 27 points in 22 games in AHL - is leading the new generation. He has started the games rather poorly (just one goal), but his contribution is very much needed if Finland is going to somewhere in this tournament. Then there are two 17 years old guys, Patrik Laine and Jesse Puljujärvi, who are ranked even among top three in upcoming NHL draft next year. Especially Laine is considered the most promising Finnish goal-maker since Teemu Selänne. These kids, with Sebastion Aho in the same line, have started the tournament incredibly well, for example, Aho and Puljujärvi has scored six points in two games, Laine four... So, those who follow NHL keep those names in mind... you are going to hear a lot about them in future.

- Doxa



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2015-12-30 12:58 by Doxa.

One more victory...5-0 against the Danes...and danish player Lassen got the prize for The Best Player...Personally I beg to differ that choice...

I will be routing for the Chzecks(sp) because David Pastrnak is Bruins property and he'll be rejoining the team after the tourney. They play Finland tomorrow!!

All the best for the coming year to you all! So, time for the playoff rounds then. Coming up tomorrow, January 2, 2016 and looks like this:

QF 1) Sweden - Slovakia
QF 2) Finland - Canada

QF 3) Russia - Denmark
QF 4) United States - Czech Republic

Winners of QF 1 and 2 will meet each other in the semi-finals. The same goes for QF 3 and 4. One notation: The ice in Helsinki Ice Hall looks pretty bad.
Unfortunatelly quarter-finalists 1 and 4 will have to deal with that. Both semi-finals will be played in Hartwall Arena though. So, which are your predictions?

Let's make a tip:

QF 1) Sweden - Slovakia 0-0, 1-1, 1-1, 1-0 3-2
QF 2) Finland - Canada 1-0, 1-0, 1-1 3-1

QF 3) Russia - Denmark 3-0, 2-0, 2-0 7-0
QF 4) United States - Czech Republic 1-1, 0-1, 1-0 0-0, 1-0 3-2

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Time schedule for today's quarterfinals: CET 13:00 Russia-Denmark, CET 15:00 Sweden-Slovakia, CET 17:00 Finland-Canada, CET 19:00 USA-Czechia.

Here is my tip about the results: I think Sweden and Canada will make it to the first semifinal and Russia and USA to the second.
But I guess Finland, Czechia and Slovakia will have their say about that later on today. The big game today will be the one between host nation Finland
and last year's winner Canada. I guess there won't be many empty seats in Hartwall Arena then...

Congratulations to Finland who won with 6-5 against Canada in an action-packed game! The Finns were off to a shaky start with a 0-2 disadvantage but managed to, maybe due to some unnecessary penalties from the Canadian side, win with 6-5 in the end. Denmark led with 3-2 against Russia with 44 seconds to go but Russia claimed the victory after extra-time. Right now USA leads, 2-0, in the first period against Czechia.

Way too many penalties by a very undisciplined Canadian team. Oh, well, congrats to Finland!

Huge disappointment for Canada. One of the worst tournaments in recent history. Undisciplined play and I don't think the coaching was that great. Virtanen did absolutely nothing the whole tournament, and goaltending was poor.
Lots of negative on line comments by disappointed Canadians and this team deserves all of them.
I'll be cheering for Team USA now!

Think I'll cheer for Sweden and/or Finland since they both have Leafs prospects on their rosters (two for Sweden).