World Championship: Day 7 Open Thread

A pair of regulation round games kick off the day, followed by two qualification round games later. 

Slovenia vs. Latvia (4:15 PM local, 10:15 AM EST)

This is a tough one for Latvia...  they played yesterday and lost in heartbreaking fashion.  If Latvia doesn't make it, this game could be the reason why.  Still, it's hard to believe they won't put up a good showing here.  Slovenia played their tough Group A competition quite well, but Latvia has yet to have a truly bad game, losing in a shootout to Denmark in order to be placed here.

Belarus vs. Austria  (4:15 PM local, 10:15 AM EST)

In Kosice, Belarus has had at least a day to recuperate from their shocking loss to France in OT.  Austria is where everyone expected them to be.  The good news is that in these first games, no one has had to travel, so the schedulers were kind in that respect.

Russia vs. Denmark (8:15 PM local, 2:15 PM EST)

Tough first draw for Denmark, but they'll take it.  Denmark almost has to win this game, or at least force overtime, in order to move up into a quarterfinal spot by the end of Monday.  Unfortunately for them, this is Russia, and they need the points badly.

Switzerland vs. Norway (8:15 PM local, 2:15 PM EST)

Norway has played quite well this tournament, and I think this will be a competitive game.  I'm not quite sure what to make of this particular Swiss team quite yet...  this is definitely a key game for both sides.  Norway has already taken down Sweden this tournament, and they played well enough in general to think that they could be this year's surprise quarterfinalist. 

Stick around the comments for game updates and discussion.

EDIT:  Check out this IIHF page for roster additions.