The NHL playoffs is not the only major hockey tournament occurring at the moment. Over in Finland and Sweden, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) is holding their annual world championships. This year, sixteen teams started the competition and now only eight remain. The eight teams competing in the quarterfinals are Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, and United States. The match-ups are Finland vs. Slovakia, Canada vs. Sweden, Switzerland vs. Czech Republic and Russia vs. USA.
Finland-Slovakia
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Joni Ortio
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Finland may not be led by many stars, but they are number two in the World Rankings. Petri Kontiola of the KHL's Traktor Chelyabinsk is leading the offense with six goals and six assists. He also has a shooting percentage of 28.57. Both of their goalkeepers, Joni Ortio and Antti Raanta, have been good. Both have three wins each and a GAA under two. Slovakia just got into the quarters and I do not expect them to stay long. Their top goalie, Rastislav Stana, has a GAA of 2.22. They will need to keep the scoring low, as only two players have more then five points and their goal differential is +1. I expect a 3-1 victory for Finalnd.
Switzerland-Czech Republic
Switzerland was the best team in the group play. Their record was the best 6-1-0-0 and their goal differential was tops with +19. Their success was a result of excellent play, excellent net and a spread out attack. Goalkeepers Reto Berra and Martin Gerber have been outstanding. Berra has a GAA of 1.33, a save percentage of 95.7%, and is 3-0. Gerber is also 3-0 and his goal differential and save percentage is slightly worse, at 1.47 and 92.77% respectively. Six players have six or more points. Nashville Predators' defender Roman Josi has five assists and two goals. The Czech Republic has some good players, but struggled in the first round. Only a two players have five plus points. They are not the highest scoring team, but that is why they need great goal tending. Ondrej Pavelic was great in the preliminary round with a 1.26 GAA and a 93.75% save percentage. He will need to keep up his stellar play for a Czech Republic win. However, I think the Swiss get it done with a 3-1 victory.
Canada-Sweden
Coming into the match, Canada is looking very good . In preliminary round, they did not lose in regulation in the . Steven Stamkos, who was on fire for the Tampa Bay Lightning this year, has kept the flame lit. He has six goals, five assists and a +/- of +5. Devan Dubnyk has played very well in net so far. He has a 1.48 GAA and a record of 4-0. Sweden does have a good chance to pull an upset. Led by the Sedin brothers, Sweden went 5-0-0-2 (Win-OT Win-OT Loss-Loss) in group play. Netminder Jhonsd Enroth has a GAA of 1.30, has a save percentage of 94.12%, had a shutout, and was 3-1. Sweden will need to be on the attack to win. They have the least amount of goals scored of the team still left, and when your against a high-powered team like Canada, you need to score. I like this game to be close with Canada pulling it out in the end with a 3-2 win.
Russia-USA
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Josh Gibson
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This is the best match-up of all the quarterfinal games. Both teams have a history of great hockey teams, but Russia has 26 more medals then the US. The US also does not have a medal since 2004 and only four since 1960. This year's Russian team has a lot of fire power, led by Ilya Kovelchuk and Alexander Ovechken. Kovelchuk is the tournament's top player so far. He was twice the Best Player of the Game for Russia, is the leader in points with thirteen, goals with eight, and +/- rating with +8. Ovechken's first game for Russia will be the quarterfinals. He did not play in the first round because he was playing for the Washington Capitals in the NHL playoffs. The US has a tough decision to make about who should start in goal, Ben Bishop or Josh Gibson. Bishop went 3-2 in his starts in goal and was the number one goalie coming in. Gibson may be only 19 years old, but he already has key international experience. Earlier in the year, he participated in the U20 World Championships. Not only did the US win gold, Gibson was tournament MVP, was Directorate Best Goalie, and was on the all-star team. In his two games so far, he shutout Germany and beat Finland 4-1. I believe Gibson should start. He is the better player. If Bishop starts, I like Russia 3-1. If Gibson starts, the game will go into overtime, where Russia finally gets one last into the period and win 2-1.
