What: Ice Hockey World Cup, Group B.
Where: Nokia Arena, Tampere.
When: Sunday, 7.20 pm.
TV and Radio: Viaplay / TV6, SR P4.
+ Nylander strengthens Sweden
The last piece of the puzzle is now in place in Tre Kronor’s World Cup puzzle and forwards star William Nylander makes his first match in the tournament. He arrived on Saturday, trained a short ice session and did interviews. In which chain he plays is unclear, but one guess is that he gets Lucas Wallmark next to him as center. Nylander comes from his best NHL season to date and scored 80 points in 81 games, 34 goals and 46 assists.
+ Hunting Finland
Sweden lost ground to group leader Finland after yesterday’s loss, the first in the World Cup, against the USA by 2-3 after extra time. Later in the evening, Sweden was still ready for the playoffs when Norway lost points against the Czech Republic.
Thus, this year’s World Cup will be guaranteed better than the fiasco last year, when Sweden missed the playoffs and the ninth place was Tre kronor’s worst since 1937.
Finland is four points ahead of Sweden, with one match more played. A second place in the group is also important as the two top teams get to play their quarterfinals in Tampere and avoid breaking up and going to Helsinki, which will be the case for the third and fourth in the group. Semi-finals and medal matches are played in Tampere.
+ Norway’s playoff chance small
Norway’s chances of reaching the quarter-finals were radically reduced with the 1-4 loss to the Czech Republic last night. To reach the playoffs, the team must win its two remaining matches, against Sweden and the USA, and at the same time take in five points against the USA or the Czech Republic, which also has two matches left to play.
+ The results so far
Sweden: Austria 3–1, Czech Republic 5–3, Great Britain 6–0, Finland 3–2 after penalties, USA 2–3 after extra time. Norway: Finland 0–5, Great Britain 4–3 after penalties, Latvia 2–3, Austria 5–3, Czech Republic 1–4.
Top of the table, group B: 1) Finland 16 points (6 matches), 2) Sweden 12 (5), 3) Czech Republic 10 (5), 4) USA 10 (5).
Sweden
Goalkeepers: 35 Linus Ullmark, 45 Magnus Hellberg, 63 Marcus Högberg.
Back pair: 26 Rasmus Dahlin, 6 Adam Larsson – 23 Oliver Ekman-Larsson, 56 Erik Gustafsson – 7 Henrik Tömmernes, 8 Marcus Pettersson – 54 Anton Lindholm.
Extraback: 64 Jonathan Pudas.
Chains (preliminary): 42 Joakim Nordström, 32 Lucas Wallmark, 88 William Nylander / 72 Emil Bemström – 74 Rasmus Asplund, 62 Joel Kellman, 88 Nylander / 72 Bemström – 40 Jacob Peterson, 48 Carl Klingberg, 91 Carl Grundström – 17 Oskar Lang , 66 Nils Åman, 12 Max Friberg – 28 Anton Bengtsson, 86 Mathias Bromé.
Norway
Goalkeepers: 31 Jonas Arntzen, 33 Henrik Haukeland, 38 Henrik Holm.
Back pair: 4 Johannes Johannesen, 76 Emil Lilleberg – 10 Mattias Nørstebø, 43 Max Krogdahl – 12 Daniel Rokseth, 49 Christian Kåsastul – 21 Christian Bull.
Chains: 40 Ken Andre Olimb, 46 Mathis Olimb, 51 Mats Rosseli Olsen – 22 Martin Røymark, 85 Michael Haga, 27 Andreas Martinsen – 20 Ludvig Hoff, 8 Matthias Trettenes, 11 Kristian Jakobsen – 19 Erik Salsten, 16 Magnus Brekke, 23 Martin Rønnild – 96 Tobias Fladeby.