Hello everyone! How are you? It is a beautiful day here in Vancouver BC and the only thing better then writing about hockey on this fine day would be if I had a laptop so I could type outside! I know I said I would get some info up about the Men's World Championships yesterday and I am sorry I didn't get it done. Busy writing and planning the next season of Hockey Talk! What fun! Plus I did do some reading about the World Championships. They are actually a lot of fun but I have managed to find what is important to know, what is fun to know and which cute players are on each team!
Like any sport there are certain countries that dominant. In the world of Hockey I would say Canada, USA, Russia, Finland, Czech Republic and Sweden are the strongest countries. Canada and USA went to the gold medal round in the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. Sweden won the World Junior's this past year and beat Russia. Canada placed third. Russia won gold at World Juniors year prior in a game against Canada.
The World Championships started in 1920. Canada won gold, USA silver and Czechoslovakia bronze. The host country was Antwerp, Belgium.
Like any sport there are certain countries that dominant. In the world of Hockey I would say Canada, USA, Russia, Finland, Czech Republic and Sweden are the strongest countries. Canada and USA went to the gold medal round in the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. Sweden won the World Junior's this past year and beat Russia. Canada placed third. Russia won gold at World Juniors year prior in a game against Canada.
The World Championships started in 1920. Canada won gold, USA silver and Czechoslovakia bronze. The host country was Antwerp, Belgium.
Canada's Gold Winning World Championship team in 1920. Unlike today's tournament were players are chosen for different teams to represent their country, as a whole back in the early days one whole team was chosen to represent their country. In 1920 it was the Winnipeg Falcons who went. This picture was taken on the way to the games. Notice how the players are traveling via boat and not plane! My how things have changed!
Canada actually won gold for 6 years straight until a gold medal game loss to the USA in 1933. Canada won the next 2 years until a gold medal game loss to Great Britain in 1936. Canada went on to win gold the following 3 years.
Canada is the leader in Medals overall with
24 Gold
13 Silver
9 Bronze
24 Gold
13 Silver
9 Bronze
The USA has won
2 goal
9 silver
5 bronze
2 goal
9 silver
5 bronze
Sweden with it's cold cold winters is a strong record with
8 gold
19 silver
16 bronze
8 gold
19 silver
16 bronze
 Before the Soviet Union became Russia they had a medal record of 22 gold 7 silver 5 bronze |  Russia has managed to collect 3 gold 2 silver 3 bronze |
Czechoslovakia and Czech Republic have a strong record
The former Czechoslovakia recorded Czech Republic has recorded
6 gold 6 gold
12 silver 1 silver
16 bronze 4 bronze
The former Czechoslovakia recorded Czech Republic has recorded
6 gold 6 gold
12 silver 1 silver
16 bronze 4 bronze
Finland rounds out the top placing countries with
2 gold
6 silver
3 bronze
2 gold
6 silver
3 bronze
Great Britain and Slovakia have won gold once. Germany, West Germany, Switzerland and Austria have never won gold but have all picked up silver or bronze over the years. The World Championship tournament always seems to take place somewhere in the eastern hemisphere. The Championship did take place in the USA in 1932, 1960 and 1962 but oddly enough didn't touch down on Canadian soil till 2008 where is was played in Halifax and Quebec City!
This year's games are being played in 2 countries. Helsinki, Finland and Stockholm, Sweden. The tournament is divided into tow pools A and B. Each pool has 8 teams and the top 4 finishing teams in each pool advance from the quarterfinals. The points system in the WCS is slightly different then the NHL. A team gets 3 points for a win in regulation and 0 points for a loss. But for an overtime win the team collects 2 points and with a overtime loss they get 1 point.
This year's games are being played in 2 countries. Helsinki, Finland and Stockholm, Sweden. The tournament is divided into tow pools A and B. Each pool has 8 teams and the top 4 finishing teams in each pool advance from the quarterfinals. The points system in the WCS is slightly different then the NHL. A team gets 3 points for a win in regulation and 0 points for a loss. But for an overtime win the team collects 2 points and with a overtime loss they get 1 point.
 Team Russia! Pool A Russia with 5 wins 0 lost and 15 points Sweden with 4 wins 1 loss and 12 points Czech Republic with 3 wins 1 loss and 11 points Norway with 2 wins 2 loses and 7 points Latvia with 2 wins 3 loses and 6 points Germany with 2 wins 3 loses and 6 points Italy with 0 wins 4 loses and 2 points Denmark with 0 wins 4 loses and 1 point |  Team Canada! Oh Canada, Oh Canada! Pool B Canada with 4 wins 0 lost and 13 points Finland with 4 wins 1 loss and 12 points USA with 2 wins 1 loss and 10 points Slovakia with 3 wins 2 loses and 9 points France with 2 wins 3 loses and 6 points Switzerland with 2 wins 3 loses and 6 points Belarus with 1 win 4 loses and 3 points Kazakhstan with 0 wins 4 loses and 1 point |
On tomorrow's post I will let you know who is playing on what teams after the history lessons you got today! But real quick Evgeni Malkin is leading the points race with 6 goal and 6 assists! 12 points total! But are we really shocked? I mean Malkin did win the points race this year in the NHL by a landslide! WIth 109 points including 50 goals and 59 assists. Steven Stamkos finished 2nd in the NHL with 97 points. Loui Eriksson of Sweden is 2nd on the World points race with 9 points total including 3 goals and 6 assists. Russia is again on top with their goalie Semyon Varamov playing 4 games, winning all 4 games and a .943 save percent. Check back tomorrow and I will let you know what NHL hot shots are playing for their countries! It is fun seeing NHL teammates battling it out on the ice for different countries like watching Detroit Red Wing Henrik Zetterberg play for Team Sweden and takes shots on Detroit and Team USA goalie Jimmy Howard! Team Canada consists of a Vancouver Canuck, a few Anaheim Ducks, at least one Dallas Star, a New York Islander and a Winnipeg Jet and 2/3s of the Edmonton Oilers Kids line!! What Fun!
Remember today is the last game in the 2nd Round of the NHL:
The New York Rangers take on the Washington Capitals in Madison Square Gardens at 4:30! Enjoy
And don't forget to register for the Scotiabank marathon and support the Canucks Autism Network. Info at http://canucksautism.ca/get-involved/scotiabank-half-marathon-and-5k-charity-challenge/.
The New York Rangers take on the Washington Capitals in Madison Square Gardens at 4:30! Enjoy
And don't forget to register for the Scotiabank marathon and support the Canucks Autism Network. Info at http://canucksautism.ca/get-involved/scotiabank-half-marathon-and-5k-charity-challenge/.
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