Steven Stamkos will miss Canada's first game of the qualification round on Friday after suffering a minor concussion after a hit from Swiss defenseman Timo Helbing. Jordan Eberle will be added to the Canadian roster and take his place in the lineup. For a recap of Switzerland's 4-1 victory of Canada, visit The Copper & Blue. Matthias Wienhandl of Sweden, however, after a recurrence of concussion like symptoms from an earlier concussion he suffered six weeks ago while playing in the KHL. Wienhandl had 3 goals and was +3 in 2 games. Sweden could add two skaters before today's game vs. the Czech Republic, and then two more to their roster at the start of the qualification round.

The 20-year old Danish goalie who backstopped the 4-1 victory against Finland dreams of using the World Championships as a stepping stone to North America. The Danish coach Per Bäckman has announced that he will be starting Patrick Galbraith (who safeguarded the goal against the US) against Germany.

A little late in getting this one up, although Bruce McCurdy provided the link in the Game Day Thread yesterday. Again, they'll be doing this after every Team Canada game, and hopefully you're already checking them out! As for team captain Ryan Smyth, he's done for the tournament with a fractured ankle, and Team Canada will not be able to replace him until after the preliminary round. Who is your choice for the next captain?

The resident Russian translator for Japers' Rink shares this Sovetsky Sport interview with the Caps' netminder in Germany. The Russians always surprise me with their thoughtful responses in their interviews.

Czech Republic: F Martin Rucizka Denmark: F Morten Green Italy: F Alexandger Egger As the article says, each team is allowed 20 skaters and 3 goalies for the preliminary round, and are able to add 2 more players after that. Via the Russian Hockey Fans Twitter feed/Sportbox.ru, Detroit Red Wings forward Pavel Datsyuk has agreed to join the Russian team.

Click above for the link from Universal Sports to watch Russia take on Slovakia. And feel free to use this thread to talk about the game as it progresses, and the aftermath of it as well. Slovakia is quite a bit different looking from their Olympic team, but boast a lot of familiar names regardless. Russia has nearly every hand they could possibly get on deck, trying to avenge their disastorous Olympic showing.

Bruce McCurdy does a great recap of Canada's debut game at the 2010 IIHF World Championships, a 5-1 win over Italy. In particular, he looks at the line combinations and defense pairings that Craig MacTavish is using. They'll be doing recaps of the Team Canada games throughout the tournament over at The Copper and Blue, so be sure to check them out over the next few weeks (and beyond)!

Peter Regin of Denmark scores a fantastic goal as Denmark opens their Group D pool with a stunning 4-1 win over Finland. I said that Group D had the chance to produce some upsets, but seeing both Germany and Denmark beat the USA and Finland is quite unexpected. A surprising starter for Denmark was 20 year old G Frederik Andersson, who stopped 36 of 37 shots. He didn't score the empty netter this time (Frans Nielsen scored it for his second of the night), but he's fully capable of doing that, too.

Pavel Lysenkov of Sovietsky Sport interviews Alexander Ovechkin, his father Mikhail Ovechkin and Alexander Semin about the World Championships and more. Interview translated by the Alex Ovetjkin blog.

Last night, the Calgary Hitmen finished off the Tri-City Americans in the WHL Final, winning both the game and the series 4-1. The Hitmen were awarded the Ed Chynoweth Cup for the second time in franchise history, and have earned a berth in the 2010 Memorial Cup; their first game is a week from today against the QMJHL champion. LA Kings prospect Martin Jones was named playoff MVP.