Avs will battle for gold at Worlds
A preview of the 2016 IIHF World Championship, where 7 Avs players will battle for gold.The 2016 IIHF World Championship kicks off tomorrow at 15:00 CET, with several Avalanche players taking part in the annual tournament. Players from the Avs organization will look to emulate last year’s success, as five of them went home with medals. Since the Avs are playing for a plethora of different teams, it’s highly improbable that a similar number will win silverware, yet based on the number alone someone from the Avalanche organization should go back to Denver with a medal. Once again, the most Avs players will dress for Team Canada, as two Avs will done the Canadian maple leaf.
After almost 10 years, the tournament returns to Russia, with Moscow and St. Petersburg being the venues where teams will square off against each other. Teams from Group A will play in Moscow. Three Avalanche players will be involved in the games in Moscow – Swiss goalie Reto Berra, Swedish defenseman Anton Lindholm and Norway’s Andreas Martinsen. A quartet of Avs will be playing in St. Petersburg – Canada’s Matt Duchene and Calvin Pickard, with the latter mentioned making his senior international debut, USA’s JT Compher and Finnish youngster Mikko Rantanen, both also playing at their premier senior tournament.
How will the tournament be played?
The system of the tournament will be the same as during the past 4 years. The participating teams will be divided in two groups per 8 teams, with each team playing one game against the others, every team thus playing a total of 7 games. The 4 best teams from each group will advance to the quarterfinals. The 4 teams that won’t advance to the quarterfinals will play to remain in the top division, the team that will finish last being relegated. As Germany and France will be the co-hosts of next year’s tournament, they are safe from relegation. After the quarterfinals, the semifinals will decide who’ll play for gold and who’ll battle for bronze. The medal rounds will be played at the VTB Ice Palace in Moscow, home of KHL’s Dynamo Moscow.
Group A (Moscow): Russia, Sweden, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Latvia, Norway, Denmark, Kazakhstan
Group B (St. Petersburg): Canada, Finland, USA, Slovakia, Belarus, France, Germany, Hungary
Who will be the tournament’s best Avalanche player?
This will be a tough question to answer, as only a handful of Colorado’s top players will play at the tournament. Matt Duchene was one of the Avalanche’s top player this season and he will look to add another gold medal to his collection, which also includes Olympic gold. Duchene will be one of Canada’s key players. Andreas Martinsen will also play an important role for his side, as this is the 7th time he will don Norway’s jersey at the World Championship. Based on Norway’s training camp, Andreas is supposed to play alongside the Olimb brothers, who consistently put up good numbers at the international level. Mikko Rantanen will look to win his second gold medal this year.
The tournament’s favorite as predicted by Eurolanche
As opposed to last year, based on the various rosters, no will is considered as the tournament’s clear-cut favorite. Canada and Russia have once again strong rosters and it wouldn’t really be a surprise if both teams end up battling for gold. Canada’s roster lacks a dominant leader, while the Russians have several players with well-known leadership qualities, most notably Pavel Datsyuk and Sergei Mozyakin. Finland also has high hopes, as their roster combines both talented youngsters and dependable veterans. Several of the players from Finland’s gold-winning junior championship team will make their debut at the senior World Championship. The Swedes are also among the tourney’s favorites, even if their roster isn’t as star-packed as during the past.
The complete program of Avs players at the 2016 IIHF World Championship (CET time)
May 6: 15:15 Sweden – Latvia, Canada – USA; 19:15 Finland – Belarus
May 7: 11:15 Switzerland – Kazakhstan; 15:15 Norway – Denmark; 19:15 Belarus – USA
May 8: 11:15 Hungary – Canada; 15:15 Norway – Switzerland, Finland – Germany; 19:15 Sweden – Denmark
May 9: 15:15 Belarus – Canada; 15:15 Sweden – Czech Republic, Finland – USA
May 10: 15:15 Switzerland – Denmark; 19:15 Kazakhstan – Norway
May 11: 15:15 Switzerland – Latvia; 19:15 Sweden – Canada, Finland – Hungary
May 12: 15:15 Czech Republic – Norway, USA – France; 19:15 Canada – Germany
May 13: 15:15 USA – Hungary
May 14: 11:15 Norway – Sweden, France – Finland; 19:15 Canada – Slovakia
May 15: 15:15 Germany – USA; 19:15 Switzerland – Sweden, Slovakia – Finland
May 16: 15:15 Canada – France
May 17: 11:15 Czech Republic – Switzerland, USA – Slovakia; 15:15 Latvia – Norway; 19:15 Canada – Finland
World Championship at Eurolanche.com
Michal Hezely, Slovakia, hezely@eurolanche.com
05/05/2016 - 17:00
