EDMONTON, CANADA - DECEMBER 31: Members of Team Canada and Team USA shake hands during the 2012 World Junior Hockey Championship game at Rexall Place on December 31, 2011 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Team Canada defeated Team USA 3-2. (Photo by Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images)
The preliminary round had a lot of surprises, from the Americans' surprising early ouster, the return of the Czechs and Slovaks to the medal rounds, and Sweden turning the table on last year's comeback kings Russia in the final game to claim first in the group. Before we get going, why not just have a look at that epic Sweden/Russia New Year's Eve game, from a totally pro-Swedish perspective:
Here's a quick look back at the games, players of the game and the big scorers so far in the tournament:
| Game | Date | Home | Score | Visitors | Home POG | Visitor POG |
| 1 | Dec 26 |
 |
1 : 8 |
 |
Alexander Ruuttu | Mark Stone |
| 2 | Dec 26 |
 |
4 : 9 |
 |
Nikita Jevpalovs | Filip Forsberg |
| 3 | Dec 26 |
 |
3 : 11 |
 |
Mathias Bau-Hansen | Charlie Coyle |
| 4 | Dec 26 |
 |
0 : 3 |
 |
Tim Wolf | Andrei Vasilevskiy |
| 5 | Dec 27 |
 |
7 : 0 |
|
Tomas Hertl | Sebastian Feuk |
| 6 | Dec 27 |
 |
3 : 1 |
|
Juraj Simboch | Kristers Gudlevskis |
| 7 | Dec 28 |
|
1 : 4 |
|
Jarred Tinordi | Sami Aittokallio |
| 8 | Dec 28 |
|
4 : 3 (SO) |
|
Max Friberg | Joël Vermin |
| 9 | Dec 28 |
|
5 : 0 |
|
Freddie Hamilton | Petr Mrazek |
| 10 | Dec 28 |
|
3 : 1 |
|
Andrei Makarov | Tomas Jurco |
| 11 | Dec 29 |
|
2 : 10 |
|
Nicklas Jensen | Brandon Gormley |
| 12 | Dec 29 |
|
0 : 14 |
|
Zegmus Girgensons | Yevgeni Kuznetsov |
| 13 | Dec 30 |
|
2 : 5 |
|
Bill Arnold | Petr Holik |
| 14 | Dec 30 |
|
9 : 1 |
|
Erik Thorell | Michal Toman |
| 15 | Dec 30 |
|
10 : 1 |
|
Miikka Salomäki | Patrick Bjorkstrand |
| 16 | Dec 30 |
|
5 : 3 |
|
Christoph Bertschy | Arturs Kuzmenkovs |
| 17 | Dec 31 |
|
0 : 4 |
|
Tomas Nosek | Mikael Granlund |
| 18 | Dec 31 |
|
6 : 4 |
|
Tomas Matousek | Tanner Richard |
| 19 | Dec 31 |
|
3 : 2 |
|
Brendan Gallagher | Jacob Trouba |
| 20 | Dec 31 |
|
3 : 4 (OT) |
|
Andrei Vasilevskiy | Jonas Brodin |
After the jump, we'll recap some of the stats through the preliminary round:
| Rk | Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts |
| 1 | Mark Stone |
|
4 | 7 | 2 | 9 |
| 2 | Nikita Gusev |
|
4 | 3 | 6 | 9 |
| 2 | Yevgeni Kuznetsov |
|
4 | 3 | 6 | 9 |
| 4 | Max Friberg |
|
4 | 7 | 1 | 8 |
| 5 | Teemu Pulkkinen |
|
4 | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| 6 | Ryan Strome |
|
4 | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| 7 | Jonathan Huberdeau |
|
4 | 1 | 7 | 8 |
| 8 | Mikael Granlund |
|
4 | 1 | 6 | 7 |
| 9 | Sebastian Collberg |
|
4 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 9 | Miikka Salomäki |
|
4 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 9 | Erik Thorell |
|
4 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 12 | Tomas Jurco |
|
4 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| 12 | Ludvig Rensfeldt |
|
4 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| 14 | Brett Connolly |
|
4 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| 14 | Charlie Coyle |
|
4 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| 14 | Joakim Nordstrom |
|
4 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| 17 | Joel Armia |
|
4 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| 18 | Bill Arnold |
|
4 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 18 | Brandon Gormley |
|
4 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 18 | Rickard Rakell |
|
4 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 18 | Jason Zucker |
|
4 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
"Hands of Stone" is a recurring theme throughout the tournament so far, but its linemate Jonathan Huberdeau who is setting him up most often, and Ryan Strome is cashing in big time as well. Of note, Yevgeni Kuznetsov has zero points against playoff teams in this tournament, while I've deducted one goal from the Sebastian Collberg compared to the IIHF's rankings because they count the game-winning shootout goals as a goal which is quite obviously stupid. Max Friberg is tied with Mark Stone for the goal scoring lead, while Brandon Gormley is the only defenceman to break into the top 20... there hasn't been a standout offensive performer from the blueline as of yet, though Gormley's performance to date is definitely notable.
| Rk | Name | Team | GP | Min | SOG | GA | Svs | SV% | GAA | SO |
| 1 | Sami Aittokallio |
|
2 | 120:00 | 75 | 1 | 74 | 98.67 | 0.50 | 1 |
| 2 | Andrei Vasilevskiy |
|
3 | 182:44 | 125 | 4 | 121 | 96.80 | 1.31 | 2 |
| 3 | Scott Wedgewood |
|
2 | 120:00 | 58 | 2 | 56 | 96.55 | 1.00 | 1 |
| 4 | Mark Visentin |
|
2 | 120:00 | 51 | 3 | 48 | 94.12 | 1.50 | 0 |
| 5 | Petr Mrazek |
|
4 | 240:00 | 132 | 11 | 121 | 91.67 | 2.75 | 1 |
| 6 | Juraj Simboch |
|
3 | 180:00 | 94 | 8 | 86 | 91.49 | 2.67 | 0 |
| 7 | Lukas Meili |
|
2 | 113:31 | 82 | 9 | 73 | 89.02 | 4.76 | 0 |
| 8 | Jack Campbell |
|
3 | 177:36 | 88 | 10 | 78 | 88.64 | 3.38 | 0 |
| 9 | Tim Wolf |
|
3 | 130:14 | 56 | 7 | 49 | 87.50 | 3.22 | 0 |
| 10 | Kristers Gudlevskis |
|
3 | 177:02 | 126 | 16 | 110 | 87.30 | 5.42 | 0 |
| 11 | Christopher Gibson |
|
2 | 120:00 | 67 | 9 | 58 | 86.57 | 4.50 | 0 |
| 12 | Johan Gustafsson |
|
3 | 186:42 | 66 | 10 | 56 | 84.85 | 3.21 | 0 |
| 13 | Sebastian Feuk |
|
4 | 210:21 | 181 | 34 | 147 | 81.22 | 9.70 | 0 |
Yeah, Sweden is going to need a lot better from Gustafsson in the semifinals and finals, but he leads all goaltenders in the wins statistic despite his dismal performance to date. Goaltending differences definitely stand out as a reason why the Czechs and Slovaks made it over the Americans and Swiss this year. Also, poor Sebastian Feuk... he never stood a chance.
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