With the final round robin game in the books, the quarterfinal matchups are now set at the 2022 IIHF World Championships.
With a surprisingly strong showing, the Swiss team has been the talk of the tournament, winning Group A with 6 regulation wins and an overtime victory in their 7 games. Meanwhile, Slovakia took care of business on the final day of the opening round to secure their berth in the quarterfinals. The Slovaks needed a regulation win to leapfrog their Danish counterparts and did just that, cruising to a 7-1 victory.
The loss is a tough pill to swallow for Denmark who were coming off a thrilling 3-2 win over Team Canada the day prior. It also marks the final international game of 38 year old former NHLer Frans Nielsen’s career as well.
Over in Group B, it was Finland who claimed the top spot after posting 19pts through 7 games played. Nipping at their heels was Sweden who had 18pts, followed by Czechia and the US with 13pts apiece.
The quarterfinal matchups will see Germany take on Czechia, Switzerland play the US, Sweden face Canada, and Finland will host Slovakia.
Teams will enjoy a day off Wednesday, before all 4 quarterfinal games take place on Thursday at the Helsinki Ice Hall & Nokia Arena. Semi-final action then moves to Nokia Arena on Saturday, with the Gold & Bronze medal games taking place on Sunday.
As the field narrows to 8 teams, here’s how the sports books are handicapping each countries odds of winning the 2022 World Championship:
| Finland | +225 |
| Canada | +400 |
| Czechia | +400 |
| Sweden | +400 |
| Switzerland | +500 |
| USA | +1500 |
| Germany | +2500 |
| Slovakia | +4000 |
Photo: Kremlin.ru. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.