IIHF Hockey World Championships

• gorocks99

  

  The IIHF World Championships are going on in Finland and Sweden currently - some very good hockey going on over there and I've been trying to catch it on NBCSN and NHL Net when I can. Some names on the US team you may recognize: http://www.iihf.com/competition/272/teams/USA.html
  
  Almost all the way through the group stage and the USA has had a pretty darn good showing (OT win over Kazakhstan and loss vs Slovakia aside). So far in the tournament:
  
  vs France, W 7-2
  vs Canada, W 5-4 (OT)
  vs Slovakia, L 2-4
  vs Belarus, W 5-3
  vs Kazakhstan, W 3-2 (OT)
  vs Finland, W 5-0
  vs Switzerland 5/15
  
  The US is squarely in 2nd place in their group with one more to play. Top four from the groups move on to the knockout stages and those teams are set as of now (their order is still up for grabs, however):
  
  Finland Group:
  Canada 16 pts
  US 13 pts
  Finland 12 pts
  Slovakia 12 pts
  
  Sweden Group:
  Russia 18 pts
  Sweden 15 pts
  Czech Republic 11 pts
  Norway 10 pts
  
  If the order stays the same, the US will play Finland on Thursday in the quarterfinals.
• End of Line

  

  I thought I was the only person watching this lol.
• gorocks99

  

  The_Crosby_Show;1170241 wrote:I thought I was the only person watching this lol.

  Love me some international hockey. I just wish it were in a closer timezone so the games weren't on early in the morning during the week.
  
  Side note: Has the U.S. ever hosted the event? I imagine with the overlap from the NHL and NBA, no, but it seems like it would get some great attention over here.
• chicago510

  

  I watched a little bit of the Finland game...its just a tad short on star power for me, and the NHL playoffs have been SO good that it seemed a bit lackluster. Enjoying Captain Jack Johnson though.
• gorocks99

  

  Guessing the star power will ratchet up for the knockout rounds. In the past couple days, Ovechkin and Semin have agreed to join Russia, Erat has agreed to join the Czechs. I think Team USA still has space for another forward/dman to join.
  
  That said, I enjoy watching the youth take over for the USA. There are a lot of talented young guys - couple that with the talented youth we saw in Vancouver and we have a deep, good team for years to come on the international stage.
• End of Line

  

  gorocks99;1170252 wrote:Love me some international hockey. I just wish it were in a closer timezone so the games weren't on early in the morning during the week.
  
  Side note: Has the U.S. ever hosted the event? I imagine with the overlap from the NHL and NBA, no, but it seems like it would get some great attention over here.

  I don't think the IIHF cares about the States.
• gorocks99

  

  The_Crosby_Show;1170681 wrote:I don't think the IIHF cares about the States.

  well, fuck them then.
• End of Line

  

  Speaking of the 2014 Olympics, I already know what team I want to see lol.
  
  Parise(C)-Kesler-Kane
  Ryan-Stastny-Kessel
  Pacioretty-Pavelski-Pominville
  Brown(A)-Backes-Callahan(A)
  Oshie
  
  Suter(A)-Yandle
  McDonagh-E. Johnson
  Orpik-J. Johnson
  Carlson
  
  Quick
  Miller
  Howard
• gorocks99

  

  The_Crosby_Show;1170694 wrote:Speaking of the 2014 Olympics, I already know what team I want to see lol.
  
  Parise(C)-Kesler-Kane
  Ryan-Stastny-Kessel
  Pacioretty-Pavelski-Pominville
  Brown(A)-Backes-Callahan(A)
  Oshie
  
  Suter(A)-Yandle
  McDonagh-E. Johnson
  Orpik-J. Johnson
  Carlson
  
  Quick
  Miller
  Howard

  That's a sweet team. Goaltending up the wazoo.
• gorocks99

  

  US-Switzerland about to drop on NBCSN. Last game of the group round, a win locks the USA into 2nd place in the group (behind only Canada) heading into the knockout.
• gorocks99

  

  US comes out firing in the 3rd. Two goals 42 seconds apart and they're up 4-1.
• End of Line

  

  These are the quarterfinal matchups.
  
  Russia vs Norway
  Sweden vs Czech
  
  Canada vs Slovakia
  USA vs Finland
• End of Line

  

  TV times for the games.
  
  Canada vs Slovaki 6:00am ET (12pm noon local)
  
  Russia vs Norway 8:45am ET (2:45pm local)
  
  USA vs Finland 11:30am ET (5:30 pm local)
  
  Sweden vs Czech 2:15pm ET (8:15 pm local)
• gorocks99

  

  Slovakia just scored with less than 3 minutes to go to take the lead 4-3 over Canada!
• gorocks99

  

  Upset city! Canadians go down in the quarterfinals 4-3!
• End of Line

  

  Russia beats Norway 5-2 and stay undefeated.
  
  USA vs Finland next at 11:30
• gorocks99

  

  Finland is gonna be angry coming into this one. The last few times the US has faced off with them:
  
  2010 Olympics: USA 6 Finland 1
  2012 IIHF Championships: USA 5 Finland 0
  
  And we've got them in Helsinki. Hope the boys come out ready to play.
• chicago510

  

  Thanks for the reminder. Can't believe Canada lost.
• gorocks99

  

  Anyone have a good place to track online? I should've worked from home today damnit.
• gorocks99

  

  1-1 after two periods. Finns have yet to take a penalty.
• gorocks99

  

  BOOM, Bobby Ryan and it's 2-1 USA!
• gorocks99

  

  Damnit, Finland scored with 9 seconds to go to win 3-2. USA is out.
• End of Line

  

  Semis:
  
  Russia vs Finland
  Czech Republic vs Slovakia
  
  My guess is Russia vs Czech Republic in the finals.