Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

The Last Day Of The Preliminary Round Of The World Junior Championship

12/31/2014 at 8:55am EST

from Martin Merk of IIHF.com,

In Group A Canada, the United States, and Slovakia are already qualified. Canada and the U.S. will battle it out for first place while Slovakia finished the group in third place.

Finland and Germany will have a head-to-head battle for fourth place and the last berth in the quarter-finals for the Montreal-based teams. The loser will have to play in the best-of-three relegation series in Toronto against the bottom team of the other group.

Sweden is already the winner of Group B in Toronto and will play its quarter-final game at the same venue against Finland or Germany. Russia is also qualified for the quarter-finals, and its final position in the group will depend on the game against the Czech Republic. The Czechs (in the last game against Russia), Switzerland (in the last game against Sweden) and Denmark (which has played all of its games) will battle for the two remaining spots in the quarter-finals.

continued

note- USA/Canada puck drops at 4:00pm ET today, KK will have the live stream up and running around that time.

added 9:11am, from Gare Joyce of Sportsnet,

What we know going into the New Year’s Eve showdown between Canada and the U.S. at the World Junior Hockey Championship:

One: These look like the two strongest teams in the tournament.

Two: Zach Fucale deserves the start in goal against the U.S. He had a great view and no action against Slovakia in the tournament opener, making it impossible to evaluate him. Eric Comrie saw a little more action in against the Germans but Fucale had to be very good in the second period against Finland, making six red-letter stops when the game was very much hanging in the balance. Fucale has throughout the proceedings here seemed the epitome of cool—in-demeanour, he reminds me of Carey Price going back to the WJC in Leksand. Going with Comrie is counter-intuitive at this point — bespeaks a lack of Coach Benoit Groulx’s confidence in Fucale that’s founded on some poor play in the QMJHL and nothing he’s done since he reported to the under-20s camp a few weeks back.

continued

Create an Account

In order to leave a comment, please create an account.

About Kukla's Korner Hockey

Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

Email Paul anytime at [email protected]

Most Recent Posts

Most Recent Comments

Comment by Paul in Kukla's Korner Hockey from the entry NHL Short Notes - 3 hours ago
Comment by Paul in Kukla's Korner Hockey from the entry NHL Short Notes - 3 hours ago
Comment by Steeb in Abel to Yzerman from the entry Quick Recap- Wings/Hurricanes - 4 hours ago
Comment by calquake in Abel to Yzerman from the entry Quick Recap- Wings/Hurricanes - 5 hours ago
Comment by StargateSG1 in Abel to Yzerman from the entry Quick Recap- Wings/Hurricanes - 5 hours ago