For International Hockey Coverage

The calm before (or after) the storm at the World Juniors involves all the non-medal teams playing one last game. What's the point of these games, you ask?

Last year, Nino Niederreiter wouldn't let Russia make the semifinals with his late game heroics for Switzerland. This year, Evgeny Kuznetsov decided Russia wouldn't be denied against Finland.

It's playoff time at the 2011 IIHF U20 WJHCs, with quarterfinal action going on today. Canada takes on Switzerland in the afternoon game, while Russia and Finland play in the evening.

It's not where you want to be at the end of the day at the 2011 U20 IIHF World Juniors, but four teams now face a situation where they must win their games in order to avoid relegation. We look at how the Czechs, Slovaks, Germans and Norwegians have fared so far.

It's the final day of preliminary round action at the IIHF U20 World Junior Hockey Championship in Buffalo and Niagara. The Czechs and Russians battle for the final playoff spot in Group B, while Canada, Sweden, Finland, USA and Switzerland all have eyes for a semifinal berth.

Day five of the IIHF U20 WJHCs hits today, as well as the semifinals of the Spengler Cup. Join us for the action, which includes Sweden vs. the Czechs, and USA vs. the Germans.

There are four IIHF U20 WJHC games on the dock today, including Switzerland vs. Finland, Canada vs the Czechs, Russia vs. Sweden and USA vs. Slovakia. Be sure to join the chat for these games, as well as the Canada/HC Davos Spengler Cup game.

Here's a recap of some of the stories from around the hockey world on Day 2 of the IIHF U20 World Juniors. Emerson Etem, Antonin Hojenesek, Dominik Riecicky and Robin Lehner made the headlines for their teams.

Games today at the Spengler Cup include Team Canada against Spartak Moscow, featuring former NHL legends Mark Messier (Team Canada coach) and Dominik Hasek (goaltender for Spartak). At the 2011 IIHF WJHCs, Slovakia takes on Germany and the Czechs debut against Norway.

The once proud Czechs are having to take a hard look at their national junior hockey system, something everyone agrees needs fixing. Meanwhile, the current team has the odds stacked against them for this year's IIHF World Juniors.