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Game One - Finland has a nice, breezy afternoon of pummeling Slovakia into dust, win 6-0.
It was a balmy 20 degrees Fahrenheit, or -7 Celsius, in Edmonton today, which must’ve been a great reminder of home for Leijonat. Because they played like they had a point to prove.
Game Notes:
- Slovakia when they’re on their horse can absolutely play and backcheck like champions, and Sam Hlavaj is just incredible, but unfortunately have crippling offensive deficiencies that will probably look better next year with some players getting more ice time and experience. But for right now? Pain.
- Finland meanwhile, had a lovely day, especially Anton Lundell, who picked up three points in this thrashing.
- Bruins At the World Juniors: Matias Mantykivi played today! He didn’t have any points, but played just a solid game all around, and logged about 13 minutes.
Game Two - Tim Stutzle is a baaaaaad man. Germany goes to the Quarterfinals!
Look, Germany might be down some players, but they still got two guys scarier than pretty much any Swiss player. John Peterka, and Tim Stutzle.
Game Notes:
- The Swiss system is fine, but losing so many players that were critical to their ability to play offense, especially guys who often carried their offense, has been their downfall so far. Thankfully, the elimination game is over
- Germany’s power play is on fire, currently among the most successful at getting goals in the tournament, only beaten by the US, Canada, and Sweden. Given how few players they have to call on, that’s nothing short of incredible. What a whirlwind tournament they’ve had so far.
- Germany is going to the quarters to be bravely mulched by some other team. They’ve never done this before, so let’s just be excited for them for getting this far with so little. Viel Gluck, Jungen!
Game Three - A Polar battle between Russia and Sweden is close, wild, and fun. Russia wins 4-3 in Overtime!
This game absolutely ruled.
Game Notes:
- From bell to bell to bell to bell to bell this was just one of the best games of the tournament by a mile. It was tight, it was tense, it was back and forth for a bit, thought that Russia was gonna pull it out in regulation, then Sweden tied it up, and then overtime happened. The Germany vs. Slovakia game was fun, but this was just a good game all around.
- So! Looks like Sweden actually really needs that USA game today! Funny how that works, right?
- Bruins Playing In this game: Roman Bychkov had a night! 18 minutes of heartpounding hockey. No points, but with how tight this game was, those were spare to come by.
Today’s Games:
- Czech Republic vs. Austria -2pm
- Canada vs. Finland - 6pm
- Sweden vs. USA - 9:30pm
Personal Recommendation: You won’t be as drunk for Canada/Finland as you will be by the time Sweden/USA comes on!
But for real, you can skip the afternooner. We all know how that one’s gonna go.