The final game of round 1 was a nailbiter as Germany and Switzerland kept things very close for 40 minutes. Scoreless after 1, tied 1-1 after 2, but the Swiss team dominated in the 3rd period to go up 3-1 against Germany and earned the final spot in round 2. Gorin Bezina's had the game winner.
"We're thrilled to be moving on", Gorin said. "We were technically considered the favorites going into the game, but Germany was very close to us in skill level. It was a huge win and we're riding so high right now that I think we have a shot against Canada in the next round."
There were very few surprises in the first round of the tournament with 10th seeded Norway beating 7th seeded Slovakia being the only upset. That is a far cry from last year's tournament that saw #3 ranked US fall to #16 ranked Belarus and #2 ranked Russia fall to #17 ranked Denmark. Some felt last year's upsets took a little away from the tournament and many are happy to see the best teams moving forward.
"Upsets are great in sports. It's why people watch," commented Canadian GM Steve Yzerman. "But having the more star studded teams advance will be good for the sport in general. Few remember how Belarus and Denmark fared after their upsets last year. But everyone will remember if Canada and Russia or the US and Sweden face eachother in the finals. I'm really looking forward to some great games between some great teams."
Round two will feature Canada vs. Switzerland, Sweden vs. Finland, USA vs Czech Republic, and Norway vs Russia. All the series will be best of 3.
No comments:
Post a Comment