Team Canada Watch

Sweden vs Finland (TSN, 4:30pm et)
Teams last met in 2008, 4-0 FIN win in the bronze medal game
Teams last played against each other in the gold medal game in 1998, SWE won (2 games to 0)
SWE:
SWE last won gold in 2006, which was the last time they were in the gold medal game
SWE (31) leads the tournament in goals
SWE .944 has the tournaments 2nd best team sv%
Berglund is tied for the tournament lead in goals 8
FIN:
FIN has won gold just once at the WC, 1995
FIN last played in the gold medal game in 2007
FIN has the tournaments 2nd best PP 9/38, 23.6%
Immonen (11) leads the tournament in PTS he is tied for the lead in goals (8)

Czech Republic vs Sweden - 1015AM
Teams met twice last year, CZEs winning both times
CZE beat SWE in the semi-finals last year
CZE(27) and SWE(26) are the two highest scoring teams at the WC
SWE:
SWE has lost 4 straight semi-final games, last winning in 2006
SWE has the 2nd best team sv% .944
Fasth .974 leads the tournament in sv%,Pavelec .955 is 2nd
Berglund-6 is T-2nd in the tournament in goals
CZE:
CZE are defending champions
Of the teams remaining CZE has the 2nd best PP (7/29, 24.1%)
CZE have the best team sv% .955
Jagr-5, Plekanec-5 and M. Michalek-4 have combined for 14 of the CZE 27G

Finland vs Russia - 215PM
FIN beat RUS in the qualifying round 3-2 in a shootout
Prior to 2011, RUS had shutout FIN the last two times they faced 5-0 in 2010, 4-0 in 2008
FIN:
FIN last made the semi-finals in 2008 (lost to RUS)
FIN last won in the semi-finals in 2007, beat RUS in OT
Of the teams remaining FIN has the best PP (8/33, 24.2%)
Immonen leads the tournament in goals (7) and is T-1st in PTS (9)
RUS:
RUS beat GER in the semis last year
RUS has gone just 3/24 on the PP in the tournament
RUS has gone 22/23 on the PK in the tournament, best among the final 4
RUS has only one forward with more then 2G, Zinoviev-4

Finland vs Norway - 1015AM
FIN has never lost to NOR at the WC, 14-0-2 all time, teams last met in 2009, FIN won 5-0
FIN:
FIN lost in a shootout in the QF's last year
FIN has the worst PK of all teams in the QF (19/24, 79%)
Immonen and Ruutu (5) are T-2nd in goals through the qualifying round
FIN's goalies Vehanen .919 and Lassila .913, rank 8th and 9th in the tournament in sv% (through qualifying round)
NOR:
NOR last made the QF's in 2008, lost to CAN
NOR has the best PP of all teams in the QF (8/31, 25.8%)
Olimb 1G, 8A (T-1st in the tournament, with Tavares in points) through the qualifying round
Holtet (6) led the tournament in goals through the qualifying round

Canada vs Russia - 215PM
RUS beat CAN in the QF's last year
CAN has lost 3 straight games at the WC vs RUS, last winning in 2005
CAN or RUS has made the gold medal game in 4 straight years
CAN:
CAN has outscored their opponent 7-3 in the first period in the tournament
Tavares 5G, 4A (T-1st in the tournament, with Olimb in points) through the qualifying round
Bernier has stopped 48 of 52 shots in 2 games (.923sv%)
Through the qualifying round, Pietrangelo (+8) led all players in +/-, he is T-3rd (4) in PTS by a d-man
RUS:
RUS has made the semi-finals in 4 straight years (last missed semi's in 2006)
RUS 18/19, 94.7% has the best PK of any team that made the QF's
Ovechkin has no PTS and 11 shots in 2 games
Kovalchuk has 0G, 5A in 6GP he has never gone without a goal at the WC
Barulin has a .926sv% in 4GP

Winner of CZE/USA plays winner of SWE/GER
Winner of FIN/NOR plays winner of CAN/RUS

Czech Republic vs USA - 10AM on TSN
Teams last met in 2007, CR win
Teams last met in QF's in 2005, CZE win
CZE have the best team sv% .947, US has the 2nd worst .881 (only AUT worse)
CZE:
CZE won gold last year
CZE have won 11 straight games at the WC, last losing to SUI in the Qualifying Rd last year
Michalek and Plekanec lead CZE in goals with 4 each
Pavelec .943 is 2nd in the tournament in sv%
USA:
US finished 13th last year, they last made the semi-finals in 2009(lost and then lost bronze medal game)
US has dropped their last 2 games in which they scored first (vs CAN and vs SUI)
US has 1 player with more then 2G (Smith-3)
Conklin .889 ranks 17th out of 19 in sv%, Montoya .871 ranks 19th

Sweden vs Germany - 2PM on TSN
SWE beat GER in the bronze medal game last year in their most recent meeting
SWE:
SWE won their QF game last year, lost in semi-finals
SWE has made the semi-finals in 10 straight years
Fasth .982, leads all goalies in sv% through the qualifying round
Berglund (5) is the only player on SWE with more then 2G
GER:
GER won their QF game last year, lost in semi-finals
GER 2/21, 9.5% has the worst PP of any team that made the QF's
GER has made the semi-finals twice in their past 7 WC's (2010 and 2003)
Schutz and Tripp lead GER in goals

Canada (10PTS) vs Sweden (10PTS)
Winner of the game finishes first in Group F
CAN lost to SWE last year, SWE has won 3 of the past 5 meetings between the teams
CAN:
CAN(24) has scored the most goals in the tournament
CAN has gone 4/20 on the PP (20%), 7th best at WC
Tavares (4G, 4A) is 2nd in the tournament in PTS
CAN has 7 players with 2 or more goals
Pietrangelo (+7) leads the tournament in +/-
SWE:
SWE leads the tournament in team sv%, .948
SWE has gone 5/29 on the PP, 17.2%, 9th ranked at the WC
Fasth .982sv% leads the tournament in sv%
Berglund (5) is T-1st in the tournament in goals, (Ruutu)

Teams met in qualification round last year, 12-1 CAN win
CAN is 18-1-0 all-time vs NOR, loss came in 2000
CAN:
A win by CAN in reg or OT/SO they clinch a spot in QF's
Bernier expected to start, he last appeared in a game on April 4th
CAN ranks 5th on the PP, 4/18, 22.2%, tied 6th on the PK (13/15, 86.7%)
Tavares (3G, 4A) has a PT in all 4 games
Pietrangelo (2G, 2A) is tied for the tournament lead in PTS by a defencemen
NOR:
NOR last made QF's in 2008 (lost to CAN)
NOR has the best shooting % in tournament, 15G on 87 shots,17.24%
NOR has the best PP at the WC, 6/18, 33.3%
NOR has 3 players averaging better then a Pt-pergame through 4 games, Skroder-5, Bastiansen-8, Olimb-9 NOR ranks third in sv% .938

Notes: Antoine Vermette, who was injured during an exhibition game, will be the 13th forward. Scalzo comes out and Bernier will back up Reimer. Bernier will start Saturday vs. Norway

Notes: Antoine Vermette was skating for the first time since suffering a lowerbody injury on Apr 27th vs Cze (exhibition game). He is not eligible to play until next round.

Notes: Bernier has not arrived in Slovakia yet and Colaiacovo will play Tuesday vs. Switzerland
Vermette is day to day, but out until next round

Notes: Forward James Neal will play on the left side Sunday against france. He's scheduled to arrive in Slovakia today.
Goalie James Reimer will get the start against France.

Notes: Goaltender Jonathan Bernier (Laval, Que./Los Angeles Kings, NHL), defencemen Carlo Colaiacovo (Toronto, Ont./St. Louis Blues, NHL), Marc-André Gragnani (Île-Bizard, Que./Buffalo Sabres, NHL) and Mario Scalzo (Montreal, Que./Mannheim Eagles, DEL) and forward James Neal (Whitby, Ont./Pittsburgh Penguins, NHL) have been added to Canada’s roster... Forward Antoine Vermette is out with a lower-body injury

CAN is 4-0-0 all-time vs BLR at Worlds, last meeting in 2009, 6-1 CAN, Spezza had 1G, 2A, Grabovski scored for BLR
CAN finished 7th last year, BLR 10th
CAN:
CAN has won 6 straight opening games at the WC, including 2009 vs BLR
CAN has gone 28-1-1 over the past 10 years in the prelim round, lone loss came vs SUI last year
Reimer starts - only other TML goalie to play for CAN at WC was Potvin in 1998
Skinner will be the 9th player under the age of 19 (7th youngest) to play for CAN at the WC (he turns 19 on May 16)
CAN scored 29G last year, 11 came on the PP
BLR:
BLR's best finish at the Worlds was a 6th in 2006
This is Mezin's 11th WC, which is the 2nd most all-time by any goalie (Tretiak-13)
Only player besides Grabovski on BLR's roster that plays in North America is Kolosov-Grand Rapids
BLR was 1-2-0 in the prelim round last year, won their opener vs KAZ
BLR was 3/23 on the PP in last years tournament
Kalyuzhny led BLR in goals (4) and PTS (6) last year, not on roster this year

Notes: - Antoine Vermette did not skate on Thursday after suffering a lower-body injury in Wednesday's game and will not play in Friday's opener. James Reimer will get the start against Belarus.