Eight teams have been reduced to four after the quarterfinals in the IIHF World Ice Hockey World Championship 2016. In this post we write about the semifinals and the results from the quarterfinals.
Semifinals in the 2016 IIHF World Championship
USA – Canada
Comment: A classic all-North American showdown. Canada has the most talented team when comparing player by player, but team USA has a strong collective and are known to be able to execute a miracle every now and then.
Finland – Russia
Comment: Another classic match-up. Finland have a good record of defeating Russia in play-off games while Russia’s at home record in the World Championships/Olympic games is not great.
Results from the quarterfinals
Czech Republic 1-2 USA (after shootout)
Comment: Czech Republic made an excellent performance in the preliminary round, winning group A. However, against USA in the play offs, it was game over after the shootout. USA played an efficient and disciplined game. Auston Matthews became the big hero of the day with his equalizing 1-1 goal as well as deciding the shootout with his second of the game.
Finland 5-1 Denmark
Comment: Denmark stood up against Finland for a while, but then the ”Lions” put the pedal to the metal. Any other result would have been the biggest surprise of the tournament. However, Danish hockey has taken some major steps forward and this year they had an entire line with NHL players.
Canada 6-0 Sweden
Comment: For some reason, many players from the NHL turned down the Swedish national team this tournament. The result was a major defeat against a Canadian team that was better everywhere on the ice. Sweden is dependent on getting their best players to the World Championships in order to fight for the medals, and this year, the Three Crowns were not even close.
Russia 4-1 Germany
Comment: Germany actually got the 1-0 lead against the host nation. Then, the Russians did like the Finns, stepping up their game and winning comfortably.
