In our final IIHF World Championships preview, Puck Worlds looks at the top five ranked teams in the world, the most recent champions of the tournament. Here we preview Canada, Russia, Czech Republic, Sweden, and of course, the defending champion and hosts Finland.
Radek Dvorak was the third first-round draft pick made by the Panthers, following Rob Niedermayer in 1993 and Ed Jovanovski in 1994. Like those two players, he was part of the 1996 Panthers team that made it to the Stanley Cup Final, but was swept by the Avalanche. and like those two players, he was also traded around the time the Panthers stopped making the playoffs.
It's playoff season in Europe, and we're doing some catching up on the action to date. Here's a look at what has happened so far in Switzerland's NLA and the Czech Extraliga.
The Bruins downed the Liberec White Tigers 7-1 in a preseason tune-up in the Czech Republic.
