By Tomi Rantanen

Eight of the best remain

The Ice Hockey World Championship 2016 in Russia has progressed through the preliminary round and up next are the playoffs with best of one quarter finals. All the big hockey nations made it through the groups with ease, but there were a couple of surprises nevertheless.

The hosts Russia, who lost to Czech Republic on the first day of the tournament, went on to an impressive run after that first game disaster. They finished the group second, after beating all of the six remaining opponents by two or more goals. Czech Republic ended up winning Group-A, despite winning Latvia only on penalties and losing to Denmark in penalties as well.

As expected, Sweden finished third, losing only to Czechs and Russians. The surprise inclusion to top-8 was Denmark, who beat Switzerland and Norway to the coveted fourth spot in the group. It’s only a second time Denmark has progressed through the preliminary stage.

In Group B, Finland took an impressive win by beating all six of their opponents. In the final game of the preliminary round the Finns beat enormous favorites Canada with a clean sheet 4-0. With the loss Canada succumbed to second in the group, after winning five games. Surprise team Germany beat the US to third spot and pushed the Americans to fourh. Once again Slovakia were bluntly left out of the playoff stages, even after they won USA after the overtime.

The tournament continues with quarterfinals on Thursday. With Accuscore simulations we can predict the future and see how the playoff games are likely to turn out.



According to the simulations, quarter finals are a piece of cake for the big favorites. Czechs have played better than USA, Canada should beat Sweden with ease, Russians have no problem in ousting the Germans and Denmark is not even close to being a match for impressive Finland. As the stakes get higher, the quality of the roster is emphasized greatly.

In the semifinals the simulations still indicate two of the biggest favorites to proceed into the final. Canada is likely to beat the Czechs, and Russia will narrowly edge Finland in a game that is very much anyone’s game. The hosts are only a marginal 0.1% favorites over the surging Finns, but it might turn either way after the performances witnessed in the quarter finals.

The top three still remains the same as before the games: Canada sitting on the throne once again over Russia, and Finland getting their revenge from last years quarterfinal exit by Czech Republic.

For expert analysis and forecasts to every game in the World Champs, check out www.accuscore.com!