Ice Hockey IIHF World Championships 2017

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WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

2017

 

 

 

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Knockout Round

 

Quarterfinals
Central European Summer Time (GMT +2)

United States 0 - 2 Finland
Period-by-Period: 0-0, 0-1, 0-1
May 18th 2016, h. 16:15, LANXESS Arena, Cologne

 

2-0 win takes Suomi to semis

Finland moves on in tournament

 

Finland defeated the United States 2-0 to advance to the semi-finals of the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Cologne, Germany.

 

Strong defence and timely scoring by Mikko Rintanen and Joonas Kemppainen gave the Finns all they would need to keep their medal prospects alive in this tournament. Making his fourth start, Harri Sateri earned his first shutout.

 

Finland was making its first appearance at LANXESS arena in this tournament.

 

Finland defeated Team USA 3-2 last year when they made an unbeaten tournament run that took them to the finals in Moscow. Eventually, Finland lost 2-0 to Canada in the gold medal game. On the other hand, the USA was seeking to secure a place in the semi-finals for the third consecutive World Championship.

 

From the start, both teams circled around the other waiting for mistakes to take advantage of and establish an early lead.

 

Finland’s two best chances came as Jani Lajunen tipped a Juuso Hietanen shot that hit the post. Later in the period, an errant pass in the offensive zone by Anders Lee was intercepted by Juhamatti Aaltonen who skated in on a breakaway. As he did against Russia on Tuesday, Jimmy Howard held his ground, blocking a forehand shot with his left pad.

 

Team USA didn’t look as sharp at the start. Certainly, not as sharp as they’ve been in games in the Preliminary Round. Finland also closed off lanes and the American’s ability to establish a presence around Sateri’s net.

 

Nick Schmaltz was called for the lone penalty over the first twenty minutes. Finland showed some solid puck movements but generated few real or dangerous chances.

 

When Anders Lee was called for tripping at 26 seconds into the second period, Finland went on their second power play of the game. This time, they used the opportunity to take a 1-0 lead.

 

Moments after Jesse Puljujarvi sent a shot on goal that was gobbled up by Howard, Mikko Rantanen scored at 1:01. After receiving a pass from Sebastian Aho, Veli-Martti Savinainen’s shot was saved but Rantanen, who was alone in front, took the rebound and scored.

 

The United States took small steps to try and get back into the game. Brock Nelson had a shot that went off the shoulder of Sateri and out of play. When Antti Pihlstrom was sent off for tripping at 17:55 of the second, Team USA would have its first power play of the game. With seven power play goals, this should have been the United States best chance to bring the game even but it was Finland that almost scored.  

 

Aho took Valtteri Filppula with him for a two-on-one. Aho sent a pass to Filppula for a wrist shot that Howard made a big stop on Filppula.

 

By the third and the urgency to score more apparent, Team USA had some sustained possession time in the Finnish zone. But as they were moving the puck around the perimeter, they were unable to penetrate inside, near the crease to test Sateri.

 

USA's best players Kevin Hayes and Johnny Gaudreau were unable to recreate the magic they've enjoyed over their previous few games. 

When defenceman Brady Skjei fell at the blueline, Finland has another two-on-one with only Charlie McAvoy back. Juhamatti Aaltonen forwarded a pass to Kemppainen who scored to make it 2-0.

 

The tournament comes to an abrupt end for Team USA who won six of their seven games in the Preliminary Round, including a group deciding encounter against Russia.

 

Finland, who was just able to make it into the quarter-finals now moves on in the tournament.

 

 

 

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2017

 

 

 

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Knockout Round

 

Quarterfinals
Central European Summer Time (GMT +2)

  Russia 3 - 0 Czech Republic
Period-by-Period: 2-0, 0-0, 1-0
May 18th 2016, h. 16:15, AccorHotels Arena, Paris

 

 

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MEN'S

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2017

 

 

 

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Knockout Round

 

Quarterfinals
Central European Summer Time (GMT +2)

  Russia 3 - 0 Czech Republic
Period-by-Period: 2-0, 0-0, 1-0
May 18th 2016, h. 16:15, AccorHotels Arena, Paris

 

Russia rolls over Czechs

Vasilevski's shutout sends Russians to SF

 

Goalie Andrei Vasilevski earned his third shutout of the tournament as Russia downed the Czechs 3-0 to win the early quarter-final in Paris on Thursday.

 

Thanks to this stifling effort, the Russians will face the winner of Canada-Germany in the semi-finals in Cologne on Saturday. Nikita Kucherov stepped up with a goal and an assist, and Dmitri Orlov and Artemi Panarin also scored, while Yevgeni Kuznetsov had two helpers. The Russians clearly enjoyed their brief visit to the French capital.

"We were ready for them," said Sergei Andronov. "They always go hard and they had a bit of an advantage because they played all tournament here. They know the ice, the boards. They outplayed us a bit in the first period, but by the second we were okay. We got used to the conditions and played well."

 

Russia now has a shot at its first gold medal since Minsk 2014. It has medaled at the Worlds three years in a row, including 2015’s silver and 2016’s bronze.

The Czech Republic's drought continues. They haven't won gold since 2010 in Cologne or a medal of any shade since 2012’s bronze in Helsinki. This was a disappointing and anticlimactic end to a tournament in which they went unbeaten in five straight games in between losses to Canada and Switzerland.

 

Czech goalie Pavel Francouz did his best, but it wasn't enough. The 26-year-old Traktor Chelyabinsk netminder got the quarter-final start after posting better numbers than Petr Mrazek of the Detroit Red Wings in the group stage -- a 0.99 GAA and 92.6 save percentage versus a 2.47 GAA and 88.1 save percentage.

 

Entering this game, coach Oleg Znarok’s team boasted the tournament’s top offence with 35 goals in seven games. Not always famed for their defensive play, the Russians shone in all three zones to help Vasilevski get his tournament-leading third shutout with 27 saves. The modern-era record for most shutouts at the Worlds is four, shared by Czechoslovakia's Jiri Kralik (1982) and Canada's Cam Talbot (2016).

"The key was our penalty killers," said defenceman Vladislav Gavrikov after Russia killed off five minors. "They were excellent, and so was our goaltender. That was the difference."

 

Vasilevski criticized his teammates after their 5-3 loss to the U.S. in the Group A closer, and the Russians had a rough start here. During an early Czech power play, Vladislav Namestnikov hobbled off after making an ill-advised shot block with his left foot.

"Everybody worked together, as a team," said Andronov. "We blocked shots, played for each other."

 

Sergei Plotnikov set up a pinching Dmitri Orlov for the 1-0 goal at 8:45. The Washington Capitals defenceman came blazing down the middle to zing a wrister past Francouz’s glove.

 

The Russian wave kept coming. Valeri Nichushkin and Vladimir Tkachyov narrowly missed finishing off on a 2-on-1. Russia got its first power play after Czech blueliner Jakub Jerabek sent Kucherov tumbling head over heels on a low hit on the rush and was called for interference.

 

Kucherov got his revenge with the 2-0 man-advantage goal at 13:36. Kuznetsov circled the Czech net and fed Kucherov in the right faceoff circle, and he went high to the short side before Francouz could react.

 

Now the Russian fans erupted with chants of “Shaibu!” and “Rossiya!” Meanwhile, Czech frustration mounted. Captain Jakub Voracek rang one off the post during a late first-period power play.

 

Russia’s checking tightened up in the second period. And when Ivan Provorov was penalized for tripping up Voracek mid-period, Vasilevski shut the door. Nichuskin and Tkachyov came awfully close again on a shorthanded break.

Kucherov nearly scored on a partial breakaway to kick off the third. He was in the box for tripping when the Czechs finally got their first shot of the period near the mid-way mark.

Panarin misfired on a breakaway and was clobbered by Czech blueliner Tomas Kundratek when he picked up the rebound behind the net. But with 6:05 remaining, he sealed the deal at 3-0, converting a 2-on-1 with Kucherov for his team-leading 14th point.

"It was a tough game, and we can't take so many penalties and expect to win every time," said Gavrikov.

 

This was the sixth all-time quarter-final meeting between Russia and the Czech Republic since the IIHF instituted the playoff system in 1992. Their records are now equal at three wins and three losses apiece.

 

Looking back, the most memorable outcomes include Russia’s 3-1 win in 2002, which ended Czech hopes of capturing a fourth straight gold medal; the Czechs’ 4-3 overtime victory in 2006 on Zbynek Irgl’s clever close-range tally; and Russia’s 4-0 win in 2007, which marked the final time Russia would remain unbeaten on Moscow ice dating back to 1957. (Mikko Koivu’s 2-1 semi-final overtime winner for Finland ended the streak.)

After this quarter-final, the three best Czech players of these Worlds were named: Pavel Francouz, Radko Gudas, and Jakub Voracek.

 

 

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Results after 1st Period

 

Quarterfinal 1B-4A in Cologne

Canada - Germany 1-0 (1-0,-,-)

17:11 Mark SCHEIFELE 1-0

Quarterfinal 2B-3A in Paris

Switzerland - Sweden 1-1 (1-1,-,-)

04:15 Nicklas BACKSTROM 0-1

12:53 Gaetan HAAS 1-1

 

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Results after 2nd Period

 

Quarterfinal 1B-4A in Cologne

Canada - Germany 2-0 (1-0, 1-0,-)

17:11 Mark SCHEIFELE 1-0

38:08 Jeff SKINNER 2-0

Quarterfinal 2B-3A in Paris

Switzerland - Sweden 1-2 (1-1, 0-1,-)

04:15 Nicklas BACKSTROM 0-1

12:53 Gaetan HAAS 1-1

33:15 William NYLANDER 1-2

 

[bestmen 2,817]

LOL switzerland defeated canada and loses now vs sweden

 

this tournament is a joke

[hckošice 14,822]

Results after 2nd Period

 

Quarterfinal 1B-4A in Cologne

Canada - Germany 2-1 (1-0, 1-0, 0-1)

17:11 Mark SCHEIFELE 1-0

38:08 Jeff SKINNER 2-0

53:21 Yannic SEIDENBERG 2-1

Quarterfinal 2B-3A in Paris

Switzerland - Sweden 1-3 (1-1, 0-1, 0-1)

04:15 Nicklas BACKSTROM 0-1

12:53 Gaetan HAAS 1-1

33:15 William NYLANDER 1-2

43:44 Alexander EDLER 1-3

 

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Canada - Germany  50-20 shots on goal (35-8 after 2nd period (20-1 in 2nd period )), 2-1 goals

 

Philip Grubauer

 

and now ladies and gentlemens I invite you all to watch some SPORT! Saturday 19:15 Semifinal Russia vs Canada

 

[hckošice 14,822]

MEN'S

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

2017

 

 

 

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Knockout Round

 

Quarterfinals
Central European Summer Time (GMT +2)

Canada 2 - 1 Germany
Period-by-Period: 1-0, 1-0, 0-1
May 18th 2016, h. 20:15, LANXESS Arena, Cologne

 

 

 

 

 

 

[hckošice 14,822]

MEN'S

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

2017

 

 

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Knockout Round

 

Quarterfinals
Central European Summer Time (GMT +2)

Canada 2 - 1 Germany
Period-by-Period: 1-0, 1-0, 0-1
May 18th 2016, h. 20:15, LANXESS Arena, Cologne

 

Defending champ rolls on

Canada beats Germany, faces Russia in SF

 

Canada kept its dream of a three-peat alive, but Germany proved to be a pesky opponent in front of a partisan crowd in Cologne.

 

The Canadians booked their place in the last four and set up a mouth-watering showdown against Russia – but if the outcome of the quarter-final against Germany was predictable, the host nation put up some brave resistance against the defending champion.

 

Germany defended doggedly, goalie Philipp Grubauer was inspired with 48 saves, and it was deep in the second period before Canada finally achieved a measure of comfort with its second goal. Even then, the Germans conjured a short-handed goal to keep the dream alive into the closing minutes before slipping to a 1-2 defeat.

 

German forward Patrick Reimer was full of praise for his netminder after a brave display that came close to frustrating the tournament favourite.

 

"We had great goaltending by Gruby," he said "It was our goal not to give up too much. He was giving us a chance to stay in the game.

 

Then that late goal gave us momentum. Ehrhoff is one of our best d-men and played in the NHL for a long time and he had a good view with that pass to Yanic who finished and that gave us a boost and we thought we could tie up the game but it didn't happen."

 

The early exchanges favoured the Canadians. A freakish bounce off the glass almost gifted Matt Duchene the opening goal in the third minute and second later Ryan O’Reilly hit the post from close range. But Germany dug in, and the game settled into a surprisingly even contest – albeit one in which the host was struggling to really hurt Canada’s defence.

 

With the Canadian power play boiling over at 48%, Germany could ill afford to take penalties. When the whistle blew on Patrick Reimer’s trip, the offer was too good for Canada to turn down. Its first PP of the game delivered the opening goal in the 18th minute. Mitch Marner played the puck to O’Reilly on the red line. O’Reilly mis-controlled the pass, but recovered to set up Mark Scheifele for a close-range finish inside Grubauer’s near post.

 

Goalscorer Scheifele said that the key thing was to keep progressing as a team.

 

"You want to build on each and every game that is what you have to do in this tournament, both as a team and as a player," he said. "We took another good step tonight and we have to take more and more steps as the tournament goes on. It has been a fun ride so far, hopefully we can keep on making it fun."

 

The opening goal wasn’t enough to open the floodgates. Indeed, had Yannic Seidenberg managed to get a touch as the puck flew in front of Calvin Pickard, Germany might have tied the game off the next play. Instead, it dug deep and made Canada work hard for that game-breaking goal.

 

Did Canada dominate? Yes, to the extent that 15 minutes into the second period Pickard was still waiting to make his first save of the session. Did Germany crumble? Not a bit of it. Grubauer pulled off the big saves, getting his body behind a Duchene rocket after a delightful passing move cut an elegant swathe through the home zone and denying Claude Giroux after the Canadian PP presented the team captain with a clear shooting chance from the left dot.

 

"What can you do when you run up against a goalie like him?" asked Canada's Chris Lee. "He was fantastic. We put pressure on him all night, we created chances but in the end we got the win, and that's what matters for us."

 

A moment of controversy soon followed when Giroux won a face-off and O’Reilly fired the puck into the net, only for a delaying the game call to wipe out the goal. Giroux went to the box after two Canadian violations on the same draw; behind the bench, the frustration was palpable. Germany’s solitary shot of the stanza came during that power play, but Pickard was not seriously inconvenienced.

 

If Canada was starting to worry about when a second goal would arrive, relief came on 38:08 when Jeff Skinner got the job done. Mike Matheson’s effort from the blue line was blocked, but Skinner was strong on top of the crease – aided by a tiring and overworked German defence – and stuffed home the rebound.

 

"We played really well," insisted Wayne Simmonds. "If there was anything we needed to do differently, it was put a few more pucks in the back of the net. We did what we wanted to do and played a strong game for sixty minutes and, like I said, we just needed to score a few more goals."

 

Even then, Germany wasn't quite done. After bringing more offence in the final frame, the reward came with 6:39 left to play. For once, Canada's PP faltered as Christian Ehrhoff played the puck out from beyond his goal line and sent Yannic Seidenberg off to the races. The forward got everything right, getting up close and waiting for Pickard to commit before slotting the puck into the net to get the home  crowd believing once again.

 

The miracle never came. Canada played out the closing moments in a wholly professional manner, keeping Germany trapped in its own end and unable to call Grubauer to the bench for one final assault. But while the victory went, as expected, to the Canadians, the host nation bowed out of the tournament with much to be proud of.

 

"Our goal was to be in the eight nations," Reimer concluded. "If we had more offence we thought we stood a better chance but it didn’t happen today."