The group phase, or preliminary round if you prefer, of the World Ice Hockey Championship came to a close today.
A few minutes ago, the last two games of the group phase came to an end, with Switzerland beating Finland 3-1, and Sweden dominating Slovakia 6-1.
All 16 teams present at the tournament in Prague, Czech Republic, have now officially played their seven group games, giving us the final standings for both groups.
It’s important to note first of all that we know the two relegated teams, Great Britain and Poland, who will be replaced next year by Hungary and Slovenia.
Now, as for the quarter-finals, we know which clashes will kick off on Thursday.
And the one that really stands out is the clash between the first-placed team in Group A and the fourth-placed team in Group B, which will pit Canada against Slovakia.
Juraj Slafkovsky & Team Slovakia ๐ธ๐ฐ will face Kaiden Guhle & Team Canada ๐จ๐ฆ in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
The game will be on TSN at 10am ET. pic.twitter.com/JqKc88TVsi
– /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) May 21, 2024
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The two countries will face off in the quarter-finals, which means that Montreal Canadiens teammates Kaiden Guhle and Juraj Slafkovsky will battle it out for a place in the semi-finals.
This will be a very interesting match to watch this Thursday at 10:20 a.m.
After beating Cole Caufield and the United States, Juraj Slafkovsky will certainly want to do the same to Kaiden Guhle.
The Slovak winger would surely welcome the opportunity to tease two teammates.
Unfortunately for Slovakia, they lost a major player today in their loss to Sweden, when Martin Pospisil was injured.
Martin Pospisil has 3G, 4A for Slovakia but leaves less than 10mins into the 1st period vs Sweden after a hit into the boards.
Juraj Slafkovsky motioned to the athletic therapist to come onto the ice moments after the hit. #MensWorlds pic.twitter.com/YJrxnDjPi8
– Claire Hanna (@clahanna) May 21, 2024
From what we can see on the footage, it would be surprising to see Pospisil against Canada again. It’s a real shame for the Slovak, as Pospisil was really a big part of their team.
Facing Canada was already going to be tough, so this potential loss of Pospisil really hurts.
But you never know, Slovakia could very well surprise Canada, who have yet to lose a match in the tournament.
Note that Slafkovsky has yet to score in the tournament (seven assists in seven games), so scoring against Canada in the knockout phase would be really important.
Kaiden Guhle, meanwhile, has one goal and four assists for a total of five points in seven games.
In a gust
– Here are all the World Championship quarter-final matchups.
These are the four QF matchups on Thursday:
Canada vs. Slovakia
Switzerland vs. Germany
USA vs. Czechia
Sweden vs. Finland#MensWorlds– Steven Ellis (@SEllisHockey) May 21, 2024
– Great play by Slafkovsky.
elite playmaker juraj slafkovsky
pic.twitter.com/rkfIAuiSRb– /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) May 21, 2024
– Signings with the Penguins.
The Penguins have signed defenseman Jack St. Ivany to a three-year contract with a salary-cap hit of $775,000 and forward Jonathan Gruden to a two-year deal with the same cap hit.
– Dave Molinari (@MolinariPGH) May 21, 2024
– Don’t miss tomorrow at Stade Saputo.
Decisive match this Wednesday evening at Stade Saputo ๐
Second leg of our #CanChamp quarterfinal Wednesaday night at home ๐
Buy your tickets now >>> https://t.co/9pDv4EBgLG#CFMTL pic.twitter.com/3JZ1p9Rd9X
– CF Montrรฉal (@cfmontreal) May 21, 2024
– What do you think?
๐ณ๏ธ SURVEY – CF MONTREAL
After seeing that 67% of respondents to my previous poll said they were happy with the idea of Marco Di Vaio being appointed CF Montreal’s technical director, I’d like to know your opinion on another less famous candidate.
ISSA TALL – Assistant…
– Nilton Jorge (@NiltonJorge) May 21, 2024