World Championships 2007 Day Four

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Jim 'Tambo' Piper gives us his take on the action from Day Four of the IIHF World Championships.

SLOVAKIA 5 GERMANY 1

Slovakia took on newly promoted Germany looking for the 3 points that would qualify them for the second round.

After close opening exchanges Slovakia took the lead on the powerplay as Podhradsky shot on goal. The rebound was fanned on by defender Dietrich straight to Podhradsky who slid the puck past Jonas. That was the end of the scoring in a tight first period that saw each team get 8 shots on goal.

The Slovaks made it 2-0 with 22:42 gone with Podhradsky’s second goal of the game as he took a pass from Kapus to wrist the puck past the goalie. Germany were always in this game and only a couple of smart saves kept them out. No further scoring in the second and the Slovaks had a somewhat fortunate 2-0 lead.

Germany never gave up chasing Slovakia and Christoph Ullman scored his second goal of the tournament to reduce the lead as he tipped a slapshot from Dietrich into the net. Time 47:30. This seemed to galvanise the Slovakian team as the game was slipping from them. On 49:15 they found themselves 2 goals up again as Marek Uram passed to Kapus who drove the puck past the diving Jonas. Slovakia scored two late goals from Marian Gaborik and Radaovan Somik to give them a rather flattering 5-1 win.

Germany gave their all in this game but the quality of Hossa, Satan and Gaborik were too much for them and they now go into a crucial winner takes all game against Norway on Wednesday. Slovakia move to the second round and have a group deciding game against Canada.

SWITZERLAND 2 ITALY 1

The Switzerland v Italy match was by far the most physical of the competition so far. The first period was full of hard hitting and forechecking. With five minutes on the clock Ramoser hit Swiss player Sannitz from behind and Ansoldi came in from the side to level the Swiss. Surprisingly no penalty was called but Sannitz had to be taken off with concussion and is unlikely to take any further part in the competition. Switzerland took the lead on 15:44 on the powerplay when Lemm passed to Bezina who hit the puck home at the left post. End of the 1st 1-0 to the Swiss.

Switzerland started hard and fast in the second and Hell in the Italian goal had to be at his best. The period fizzled out with not a lot of adventure from either side. The most interesting part of the period was the Mexican wave round the arena.

Italy equalised with just over 4 minutes gone in the third. Ramoser was strong enough to get the better of the Swiss defence behind the net and threw the puck out in front for Ansoldi to flash the puck past Hiller. 1-1. Switzerland had a 5 on 3 advantage close to the mid point of the period and just as the advantage finished they took the lead. Ivo Ruthemann hammered home a rebound after Hell had parried a fierce Lemm shot from the face off circle. Switzerland then killed off the remainder of the game for the points and qualification for the second round. Italy must now beat Norway to stay in the top half of the competition and avoid the relegation round.

CANADA 4 NORWAY 2

Canada produced a workmanlike performance to see off a plucky Norway side and qualify for the second round. The North Americans started nervously and Norway took the game to them in the early stages. With 9:29 on the clock when Mathis Olimb took a shot from the top of the circle that Cam Ward spilled and Spets turned and fired through traffic into the net. This woke Canada up and just 4 minutes later they equalised. Youngster Jonathan Toews, who turned 19 yesterday and playing in his first senior tournament, pushed the puck to Rick Nash who powered in and sent the puck past Grotnes in the Norwegian goal. Canada took the lead less than two minutes later. McClement charged down his left wing and dropped the puck for the on rushing Mayers to hit one hard and low towards the net. Grotnes got his stick to it , deflecting it behind the goal. Chimera got to the puck first and swept round the net and tucked it into the empty goal. That finished the scoring in the first. 2-1 to Canada

Not a lot to write about in the second , which was littered by minor penalties. However Norway equalised on a man advantage as Jonas Andersen absolutely belted a shot from the slot on 12:14. Only one other incident in the period as Norway, again on the powerplay, laid siege to the Canadian goal . And that really was the story of the second stanza.

It was Canada that broke the deadlock early in the third when Shane Doan batted a flying puck past Grotnes after a hefty shot from the point. An ugly goal but the Canadians were happy with it. Half way through the period, Canada wrapped it up with an insurance 4th goal, again on the powerplay, Justin Williams tipping in after good work by Murphy. That was all there was and Canada take the points with a 4-2 win.

This was a gritty, niggly game, halted too many times by an over fussy referee, who , so far, seems to be the only one adhering to zero tolerance.

Canada now move to a match up with Czech Republic for group bragging rights and Norway will go into their do or die game with Germany in good spirits after taking the Canadians all the way.

LATVIA 2 SWEDEN 8

The Tre Krone showed tonight that they will not relinquish their title without a fight.

A superb attacking display , blew the plucky Latvians out of the water, with seven different players scoring. Strangely enough the shot count was 29 to 24 in favour of the Swedes, however the scoring percentage was considerably better.

Sweden took the lead on 29 seconds as Jorgen Jonsson won the puck behind the net and fed to Backstrom to one time a low shot past Masalskis. This was the youngsters first ever goal in the Championship. That was the only score of the first period which was full of minor penalties as the referee decided zero tolerance was the order of the day.

Sweden came out a bit hesitant in the second and the Latvians took the game to them in the early stages. However it was Sweden who increased their led on 26:28 with a huge slapshot from Akerman. That opened the floodgates as two minutes later Sweden took a three goal advantage. Martensson found Wallin rushing into the high slot and his accurate shot hit the net just inside the post. Latvian heads dropped after this and Sweden dominated the rest of the period. Only one further goal came with just less than 2 mins left in the period, Fredrik Bremberg scoring. End of the second 4-0 to Sweden.

Sweden started the 3rd as if they were still in the locker room and with only a minute gone, Latvia got on the scoresheet. A shot from Sorokins in front of goal was intercepted by team mate Daugavins who wrapped the puck around the despairing Henriksson. Just one and a half minutes later, Latvia scored again, much to the delight of their noisy fans. A fast break left the Swedish defence floundering for position and a shot from Sirokovs bounced off a defender and the goalie and crept over the goal line. Time for some panic from the World and Olympic champions….. no way. On the very next shift Johansson skated into the slot and hit an unstoppable slapshot that flew past Masalskis. With just under 5 mins left Hornqvist hit the Swedish 6th goal when a pass from Bremberg bounced off his skate into the net. A long video review awarded the goal. 16:43 and 7-2 was the score with Warg hitting the net. A late Dick Tarnstrom marker finshed the scoring at 8-2.

A fabulous performance from Sweden who go into their third match against Switzerland in fine fettle. Latvia must now regroup to take on Italy in the match to decide who goes to the relegation round.

A fabulous day’s hockey with Sweden looking like champions as the groups take shape. The referees in the evening games have obviously had a directive on zero tolerance as we saw a plethora of minor clutch and grab penalties given in the two games compared to the competition so far.

Tambo

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