Summary: World Championship and the Avs
Summary of the 76th World Championship in ice hockey organized in Finland and Sweden. Another world championship has ended. It was very special for Slovakia. The team has come back to the elite group. In spite of the loss in the final game, nobody was sad. The tournament showed the other face of Russians – discipline and effort. Two overseas teams disappointed – Canada and USA. The championship was very specific in many ways and also for the Colorado Avalanche players.
- Avs at the Worlds: Final day (day-to-day summary)
Group
H
1. Canada – 19 p
2. USA – 16 p
3. Finland – 15 p
4. Slovakia – 15 p
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5. France – 9 p
6. Switzerland – 6 p
7. Belarus – 3 p
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8. Kazakhstan – 1 p
Canada was strong in the first phase. It lost only
North American derby in the overtime. All players showed great performances. It
looked like anybody – or only one team – would stop them. USA´s games were nice
surprise. Americans beat home team Finland and also Canada. Everybody expected
more from Fins. They lost with both American teams and had hard time with other
opponents. The way of Slovaks was unclearly at the start. Many people predicted
they would finish in the first phase. At the end, they made the way to the playoffs
in the final game.
The biggest surprise of the regular part of the
tournament was France. If they could beat Slovakia, they would play in the
playoffs. Switzerland and Belarus disappointed. Especially, Belarus´ hockey is
going down from year to year. Kazakhstan was relegated to the B category;
Austria will take its place next year.
Group
S
1. Russia – 21 b
2. Sweden – 18 b
3. Czech Republic – 14 b
4. Norway – 13 b
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5. Latvia– 6 b
6. Germany – 6 b
7. Denmark – 4 b
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8. Italy – 2 b
A little bit less interesting group. Russians did not
lose a game. Swedes were very strong opponent and many fans expected their
appearance in the finals. They lost a game only with Russia. Czechs had hard
times. They lost all with favorites and almost repeat it against other teams.
Norway confirmed the hockey is growing up there.
From the trio of Latvia, Germany and Denmark only the
first and the third team left a good impression. Germany was terrible and the
biggest disappointment of the regular phase. Former Av Uwe Krupp is not anymore the coach of Germans, what was clearly to
see on their play. Italy will be replaced by Slovenia next year.
Play-off
Quarterfinals
Canada – Slovakia 3:4
Sweden – Czech Republic 3:4
Russia – Norway 5:2
USA – Finland 2:3
Three big surprises or shocks! Only Russia did not
have problems. Norway had strong two periods, but finally lost the game in the
third. Czechs used the bad day of the big favorite from Sweden and beat him by
goal in the final minute of the game. The goal from the same period of time
decided the game between USA and Finland. Americans played very solid, but the
mistake few seconds before the end cost them everything. Slovaks shocked the
whole world and beat Canada.
Semifinals
Slovakia – Czech Republic 3:1
Russia – Finland 6:2
Slovak´s shocks had continued. The team had almost
zero NHL players, but still could win games. They beat Czechs in the derby
game. Strong Russia continued and did not give a chance to the home team.
Bronze
medal game
Finland – Czech Republic 2:3
Fins deserved the loss. It was shame what they showed
at the home stadium. Czech´s playing style celebrated another success.
Gold
medal game
Slovakia – Russia 2:6
Hard to believe how Russia could beat everybody and
win the whole tournament. Its players deserved it and beat the final opponent.
Colorado
Avalanche
Four Avalanche players played at the tournament. Matt Sokolowski was a trainer for team
Canada and David Quinn from Lake
Erie Monsters was the assistant coach of the team USA.
Ryan
O´Reilly (7 games, 2+2, 3+, 9 shots, 99:13
ice time) lost the key face off in the game against Slovakia. Then, the
winning goal came. In spite of it, he was one of the best players in the face
offs. He had defensive role in the all star team of Canada. He was solid. Rating: B
Paul
Stastny (8 games, 3+6, 6+, 14 shots,
139:19 ice time) was the best offensive player of our team. He became one
of the best three players of the USA. He was the offensive leader and leaded
the first line. He could do more. It is shame the team failed in the final
minute of the game. Rating: A
Gabriel
Landeskog (8 games, 1+4, 6 PIM, 3+, 24
shots, 124:49 ice time) was the rookie in Swedish jersey. Many stars played
with him. He did not score many goals, but got experiences. He was very good in
the aggressive style of the game. He will be the star in the future. It was
hard for him this year. Rating: C+
Semyon
Varlamov (8 games, 201/214) was
absolutely the best Avalanche player. He leaded team Russia to the gold medal
without any loss. His 93.93 % SVS is the best of all goalies. He showed great
saves without mistakes. Rating: A+
All-Stars
team
Goalie: Jan Laco (Slovakia)
Defense: Zdeno Chara (Slovakia)
– Iliya Nikulin (Russia)
Offense: Evgenij Malkin (Russia)
– Patrick Thoresen (Norway) – Henrik Zetterberg (Sweden)
MVP: Malkin
The
best goalie: Laco
The
best defenseman: Chara
The
best offensive player: Malkin
David Puchovsky, Slovakia, eurolanche@eurolanche.com
21/05/2012 - 16:00
