Hey look, we got some photos from this tournament! Hooray!

After some interesting results on Monday, Tuesday went to the favourites. Belarus got their first win as expected over Kazakhstan, who will be lucky to get a point let alone a win with a schedule coming up that seems them play the four top teams in their group. Latvia took down Italy 5-0 for their second win, continuing their strong tournament which will see them in the mix for a playoff spot by the looks of things. Finland is proving a worthy tournament host and defending champion, going to 3-0 with a convincing 5-2 win over Switzerland, although that game had some tense moments for the home side. Russia shutout Germany 2-0 to remain undefeated.

Today's games should produce a bit more drama. Canada and Switzerland are known to have very tight games decided through special teams at this tournament, while Sweden has largely been untested and will face a desperate German team, looking for a big win as they try and qualify for a playoff spot. If Italy is going to surprise us all and make a bit of a playoff push, they'll need a win today against Norway, who have looked strong this tournament. Slovakia and Kazakhstan meet in the opener, which shouldn't be much of a contest, but I suppose you never know in this sport...

With the Nashville Predators and the Philadelphia Flyers out of the playoffs, there could be some reinforcements coming soon. Switzerland has already added defenceman Roman Josi to their team, while Belarus awaits word on the Kostitsyn brothers. Could Russia be adding Alexander Radulov, or one of the Philadelphia goaltenders? Canada and the USA have a lot of new options as well as we head into the preliminary round's final week.

The games can be watched on YouTube if you live in Canada, Germany, Switzerland or most non-represented countries in this tournament. We'll try and keep you updated on the action as it happens here. Also, you can follow my Twitter feed to see if I've checked in from there.

Today's games lack a bit in terms of highly anticipated match-ups, but does feature a good Finland-Switzerland match-up for top of the Helsinki Group. Kazakhstan and Belarus try and get their first win of the tournament in the opener, while Latvia and Italy try and start a win streak after strong wins their last time out. The action closes out with Germany trying to rebound from their loss to Latvia by taking on undefeated Russia.

You can watch the games live on YouTube (or you know, maybe you can't).

Injury updates: Simon Moser of Switzerland (knee) is out for the tournament, as is Joel Lundqvist of Sweden (fractured orbital bone). The Swiss have replaced Moser with ZSC Lions forward Thibaut Monnet.

Each team has played 2 games, so perhaps it's a good time to look at the current standings after the first weekend of action:

Helsinki Group

Rank	Team	Record	Pts	GD
1		2-0-0-0	6	+5
2		2-0-0-0	6	+2
3		1-1-0-0	5	+6
4		1-0-1-0	4	E
5		1-0-0-1	3	-2
6		0-0-0-2	0	-2
7		0-0-0-2	0	-2
8		0-0-0-2	0	-7

Stockholm Group

Rank	Team	Record	Pts	GD
1		2-0-0-0	6	+5
2		2-0-0-0	6	+5
3		1-0-0-1	3	+2
4		1-0-0-1	3	-1
5		1-0-0-1	3	-2
6		0-1-0-1	2	-2
7		0-0-1-1	1	-3
8		0-0-0-2	0	-4

Italy's OT win over Denmark makes things interesting right now for the bottom part of the Stockholm pool, but there are still five games to play and a lot can change. Latvia defeating Germany was another result of interest from yesterday, and France did me a solid by easily defeating Kazakhstan, justifying my faith in them as a team. Switzerland has an early lead right now but when the two teams you play are sitting currently in 7th and 8th, it shows the standings as they currently sit aren't really to be trusted just yet. There are eight days left in the preliminary round to change things up, but even now we're seeing a lot of the expected teams in the top half.

Here is today's action:

Canada's got the early game, and I don't expect too much difficulty in this one, despite this being a French team that is amongst the strongest we've seen from that nation. The team will welcome Kyle Quincey, who arrives in time to replace Marc-Edouard Vlasic who is done for the tournament. Similarly, I have a hard time seeing Norway being able to counterpunch effectively enough to overtake the Czechs, but yesterday saw 19 year old goaltender Lars Volden do a heck of a job against the Russians. Combine that goaltending with a good PP and the Czechs can't take them too lightly. The game of the day features the undefeated USA against a desperate Slovakian team. This is a huge swing game in the standings for both sides, but much moreso for Slovakia, who could use the boost heading into the easier part of their schedule (Kazakhstan, Belarus, Switzerland, and France) and set them up well for a playoff run. Denmark will get Jannik Hansen back from suspension and will be looking to rebound from a poor showing against Italy with a big game against their much more formidable neighbours and host nation, Sweden.

Join us after the jump and throughout the day for updates, commentary, and the like.

The prices are cheaper in Stockholm, so we'll see if there is an immediate boost in the amount of fans taking in the action on this Sunday full of games. Here's a list of the action today, with six games total:

It's a big first game for potential relegation as France and Kazakhstan play each other early. Denmark shouldn't have to fear that fate, but without Jannik Hansen (suspension) they'll have to dig a bit deeper to take out Italy and get their first win. Finland had a tough first game trying to solve a hot goaltender in Vitali Koval of Belarus, and hope to get a sold out crowd to help them past a tougher Slovakian team led by Zdeno Chara on defence. Russia will try and match Sweden's perfect start by taking on Norway, while Switzerland and Germany will look to put some distance between themselves and Belarus and Latvia with wins in the late games. Those are key playoff spot battles, and if Belarus or Latvia can pull of a victory there those pools get much more competitive.

For a recap of the first two days of action, read this from last night. Join up in the comments to keep up with the action, and if you can, catch the games on YouTube.

Editor's Note: There are perfectly legal products out there that can make your IP Address appear to be from a country that isn't geo-blocked by the YouTube feed. I'm not advertising or advocating any specific ones, just making you consumers aware that there are ways to access the feeds.

Well, this wasn't exactly the idea the organizers had in mind when they decided to have Stockholm and Helsinki split he hosting duties for the next two World Championships. There were two traditional European powers, who both wowed the audience in Slovakia last year, meeting in the Finals. It was a great advertisement for the next two years, a way to shift the focus away from the likes of the Czechs and Russians and onto the new hosts. But ticket packages proved a tough sell, and when the individual game prices finally came out in the final lead-up to the tournament, fans were shocked by the high prices. Average ticket prices were set at €145, which is over $190 US by current conversion rates. Stockholm is a fairly wealthy city, but the hockey fans weren't buying that these early tournament games were worth that. And neither was Pavel Datsyuk, who asked this Hockey Sverige reporter point blank about the ticket prices after Russia opened with a 5-2 win over Latvia on Saturday in front of a reported 5219 fans (in an arena that has nearly 14,000 seats):

The organizers have responded to the low turnout in Stockholm with a massive price reduction of 70%. Blogger Janne Virtanen had this report on Live It, Eat It, Breathe It:

Organiser Christer Eglund said, "We could have made more of a profit if we would've kept the prices as they were, as the World Championships boom would grow as the games progress. However, we have one of the greatest brands to protect and therefore we are eager to offer all supporters the opportunity to enjoy the games."

The reaction comes after the first four games at Globen were watched only by an audience of 8000.

The IIHF's official numbers show a higher number than the 8000, but it could be a difference of tickets sold and actual butts in seats. The crowds in Helsinki have been criticized as well, but organizers there are not dropping the prices just yet. After a jump, a summary of the action so far as well as the game by game attendance figures.

Continue reading this post »

I'll get more of a recap of the action so far after today, but for now let's focus on the games going on for Day 2:

Games are available on Youtube, barring restrictions by country.

The first two games are the first games for the respective four countries, with particular interest for the Latvia-Russia game, featuring the two former Soviet Republics that always seems to be spirited, if one-sided in the outcomes. Switzerland-Kazakhstan marks the return of the Kazakhs to the elite group, so we'll see how they handle a strong Swiss side that has had issues in the past playing the role of favourites. The late games are gems, though. Canada-USA will be broadcast on TV across North America, TSN for Canada and NBC Sports Network on tape delay due to Kentucky Derby coverage. Both teams won their openers yesterday, Canada barely getting by Slovakia 3-2 and the USA easily defeating France 7-2. Sweden and the Czech Republic top off the games with what appears to be the most competitive game of the tournament so far. Sweden had some issues with Norway, but won 3-1, while the Czechs outlasted Denmark in a 2-0 shutout win.

Join in the conversation and get updates on the action as it happens. I'll be around for most of the day catching the action online. uu

We've got a full slate of six games today to kick of the 2012 IIHF World Championships. Here's a quick list of games to use as a guide. For North Americans, the games start bright and early... so the early games, including the debut of the United States, might be over by the time you read this. I've shown times as Central European Standard Time and in North American Eastern Standard Time.

Here's a list of broadcasters by country/region from the IIHF. For the United States, NBC Sports Network will provide coverage of the American games, while in Canada games will be covered by TSN, including all games involving Team Canada.

The IIHF is streaming the games for free online via YouTube, but there are a lot of countries that are being blocked from the coverage. The countries blocked include the USA, Russia, Sweden, Finland, Belarus, Denmark, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Ukraine. Basically this is great for Canadians, central and western Europeans, and the rest of the world.

Here's where you can find the rosters of the teams (PDF files), courtesy of the IIHF. You can also check out the club stats of the players at Elite Prospects. My previews are linked below:

Part 1: The Longshots

Part 2: The Pretenders

Part 3: The Contenders

Stay updated and discuss the action in the comments. Enjoy!

OK, here we go. My NHL playoffs predictions this year have been so bad, and my World Junior ones were pretty dismal (USA for gold, they end up in the relegation round), so I guess this is my chance to redeem myself. Or continue making hilariously awful predictions to close out my season. First, let's rank the preliminary round:

Preliminary Round Predictions

Rank	Stockholm Group	Helsinki Group
1	Sverige	Canada
2	Россия	Suomi
3	Deutschland	Slovensko
4	Ceska republika	USA
5	Danmark	Svizra
6	Norge	France
7	Latvija	Беларусь
8	Italia	Қазақстан

I'm predicting strong tournaments for Slovakia and Germany, poor ones for Latvia, Belarus and a disappointment for the Swiss. Top four in each group advance to the quarterfinals, and last in the group means you're relegated. I'm not being entirely original putting the two teams that were promoted from Division 1A last year to go back down. I'm not entirely sold on Finland's team this year, but in front of a home crowd I think it's good enough to claim the 2nd spot in their group. But in seven games, I can't see Canada not having the best record there. In Stockholm, Sweden is loaded and motivated, I can't see a crash landing for them, this should be a great team. That said, they won't like my predicted quarterfinal opponent, a somewhat mediocre Czech entry that is still very tough to play against and with plenty of offensive weapons. I'm also somewhat hopeful for the Americans this time around, getting them into the quarterfinals ahead of the Swiss on the strength of some strong offensive weapons, particularly on the PP. Denmark, Norway and Latvia could all be mixed around in a blender, I'm just going on what I feel about their rosters to be honest. The disciplined Germans should find their way into the quarterfinals, and I'm giving them the 3rd spot just for kicks.

Playoffs

The quarterfinals play out as 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3 in each group before they mix the teams up for the semifinals in Helsinki. I'll take Sweden and Russia (shocking) to move out of Stockholm, and Canada and Finland (another shocker) to continue on in Helsinki. I can't forsee much different given the results I gave, but I'm sure the Sweden vs. Czech Republic and Canada vs. USA games would be very good games.

In the end, that leaves a semifinals that is tough to read who would play who, I'm going to rank the teams as follows:

1. Sweden, 2. Canada, 3. Russia, 4. Finland

So Sweden and Finland meet in a rematch of last year's Championship in one semifinal, and Canada plays Russia. Here's my medal prediction:

I'll continue to make predictions as the tournament progresses and these results turn out to look really silly.