This tournament’s gonna be wild. I can feel it.
Game 1: Sweden gets a scare, wins 3-2 anyway against Slovakia
Tre Kronor decided they were gonna wake their fans up by giving them a serious spooking.
Game Notes
- To be fair to Sweden, they had built a pretty solid lead on Slovakia before getting spooked, and largely controlled the game at all strengths, and I don’t know if there was necessarily any doubt that they would lose…but man they made it as painful a process as you could get. One Slovak goal was just a rocket…but Slovakia’s 2nd goal? That was a total breakdown that a better team could take ample advantage of. Granted, I do not think Switzerland is going to be that team, but given how this tournament has begun and the multitude of goals being scored, this is gonna be something the Swedes need to clean up before they run into another competitive squad.
- Slovakia put up a grand old fight, and as always is set to be difficult in some capacity…but man this Pradel kid just isn’t Sam Urban. His five hole game is just not up to the task yet. Oh, and you gotta play Germany who appears to be a lot more energetic than they’ve been in years past. Have fun with that!
Game 2: Finns flush Danes in 6-2 drubbing
Thank you for coming, Denmark!
Game Notes
- Once again Finland showed they are a nightmare when properly on their horse for non-traditional powers, and they got scoring from just about everywhere in their lineup. If you wanted a platonic ideal of what they want to do, you couldn’t have asked for a better dance partner than Denmark. They were especially lethal in using their forwards on rebound chances, which better teams are gonna have to watch out for; Leijonat is gonna be in your face all damn tourney if they get the chance.
- That said…Denmark got 2 goals on 10 shots on goal. That was probably a heralding of the skill floor of this tournament maybe being a little higher than it’s been in years past. Hell, you could maybe make the case that Finland probably should’ve shut them out if they were really so dominant. But they’ve already gone on their way to making my prediction look bad, so sail on you crazy Danes.
Game 3: United States and Germany have the second fastest boat race of the day, States win 6-3
Team USA decided to do a little remixing of their usual theme and the Germans decided they wanted to be taken seriously for about 35 minutes.
Game Notes
- In previous years, the US would’ve likely started with the Germans keeping pace before pulling away fully, so I’m glad they at least decided to do all their hero hockey in the 2nd half of the 2nd period rather than get everyone raising an eyebrow heading into the 3rd. They did however spend a good portion of said second period begging the Germans to tie or even take the lead in this game given how poorly they played it, and it must have resulted in an animated 2nd intermission speech, because they locked that game down tight afterwards. They’re still the US, warts and all.
- Also I’m just gonna say it can we lock down these uniforms and the aways especially as the official uniform of USA hockey forever? This is by far the best look they’ve ever had. I can’t believe they successfully tricked Nike into giving them these back.
- COLE EISERMAN SCORED ESSEX COUNTY IS ONCE AGAIN BACK ON TOP BAY BEEEEEEEEE-
- Germany’s name game this year is actually incredible. Timo Kose is already primo “I am a hockey player or bassist for Helloween” naming, but Lenny Boos? Simon Seidl? Just fantastic. Zee Germans showed a lot of fight in this game, even as the US suddenly locked things down they never stopped trying to crack the American’s defense for something, anything, to get them back into it. I think they’ll make life very uninviting for the rest of the middle powers of this tournament if this keeps up.
Game 4: Czechia and Canada have a certified classic. Canada wins 7-5
If you gotta go on last, you may as well perform like headliners.
Game Notes
- Canada got a good look at what it means when you have competition outside your southern neighbor, and to their credit, they met that moment with aplomb. They recognized instantly that this was not going to be a game in which backchecking was going to be a major factor, and turned their forecheck up to 11 and let their skill guys go wild. It’s still early, but it looks like Canada is rounding back into the form their fans should expect of them rather than just assume they will have from having the sweater on their backs.
- Zayne Parekh is going to be rode like a horse to much of this tournament if his TOI keeps up like this. Kid played 22:27 and came away with 2 goals. He’s the straw stirring the drink in a lot of shifts, and made Canada so much better for his inclusion.
- Czechia’s going to be a tough beat, man. They brought a level of exciting hockey beyond even what I initially expected for them, and I usually expect a fun game when I watch the Czechs. They outshot Canada throughout the entire game, they got some quality chances, and they never let being down affect them. The rematch of this game in the Quarters is gonna be appointment viewing.
Bruins on Day 1’s performance:
Team USA
- Will Zellers and James Hagens are interesting because they’re the first time in awhile that Bruins prospects are expected to medal and also be a major part of their respective national team’s performance, and to both of their credits? They did beautifully. Zellers came away from their game against Germany with 3 points, and Hagens came away with an Assist; though that only tells some of the story as he was a demon of a forechecker; just an absolute stunner of a player.
Upcoming Games:
Slovakia vs. Germany
Previously, I’d have told you that this is a game you could maybe consider skipping.
Now? Given how Germany played against the US?
I’m very interested in seeing if they make Slovakia’s life a little harder than it should be. The Slovaks had to do a lot just to scare the Swedes, and I dunno if they want to tussle with a group of guys who seem disinterested in letting any score get them down right now.
Latvia vs. Canada
So hey you know how I was down on Canada in the primer? You wanna know why I was down on them?
Because Latvia won this game last year. A country for less than 1% of it’s populace plays beat you. A country with less registered players than Newfoundland and Labrador beat you.
It was close, they got a ton of shots, but a vast majority of them were easy. Meanwhile Latvia was up Canada’s nose all game. This year’s gotta be different. If you wanna be taken seriously as a number one in the world, this is the game you need to have a moderately-fought 7-1 win. You gotta show me that last year’s win was a fluke.
You want that crown back? You want that gold medal? Show me a beatdown. That’s what this should be, after all.
Meanwhile, Latvia! Great of you to join us. Think you can scare Canada again? Because this time Canada isn’t playing around! You’d better do whatever you can to lock that offense down because oh buddy are they scary this year!
USA vs. Switzerland
The US maybe started this tournament a little looser than they’d like, so a game against Switzerland is more than likely the ticket to getting them back into proper form. The Swiss are coming into this tournament in real danger of meeting Denmark at the end of it to see who gets to stay, and they gotta prove quickly that they can avoid that fate if they play well here.
I don’t expect a miracle, but I certainly expect a spirited showing…for the most part.
Will Zellers and James Hagens will be playing in this contest
Denmark vs. Czechia
Denmark I really hope you’re ready for another 6-2 asskicking because that’s probably what you’re getting.
