World Junior Hockey Championships- Preliminary Round

The World Junior Hockey Championships are well underway. The round robin part of the tournament has completed. Here are its results:

Group A:
1. Canada They have been the class of this group going undefeated and outscoring opposition by a margin of 14-4. Offensively they have been balanced and lead by Kris Russell (Columbus prospect), Steve Downie (Philadelphia prospect) and defenseman Kristopher Letang (Pittsburgh prospect). Carey Price (Montreal prospect) has offered very good goaltending.

2. Sweden The host team who was handed their only regulation loss in their opener against Canada. If they find themselves winning big in the tournament playoffs it will likely be thanks to Patric Hornqvist (Nashville prospect) and Linus Omark (who is undrafted in the NHL).

3. USA They were handed an opening day loss to Germany and their spot in the playoffs looked questionable, but they battled back. They have been led by Pat Kane (2007 draft eligible), Nathan Gerbe (Buffalo prospect) and Erik Johnson (St Louis prospect).

4. Germany They shocked USA at the beginning of the tournament, but couldn't grab a playoff berth. They were led offensively by Felix Schutz (Buffalo prospect).

5. Slovakia They were outclassed in the tournament, losing all their games and getting outscored 19-6 in the tournament.

Group B:
1. Russia They have been the best team so far in the tournament going undefeated and outscoring opposition 20-3. Offensively, they have been led by Alexei Cherfepanov (2007 draft eligible) and Alexander Bumagin (Edmonton prospect). Semen Varlamov (Washington prospect) has provided top goaltending.

2. Finland This has been a top heavy offensive team with Perttu Lindgren (Dallas prospect) leading the tournament in scoring so far. Mikko Lehtonen (Boston prospect) has also been scoring.

3. Czech Republic The third playoff team in this group. Vladimir Sobotka (Boston prospect) and Tomas Kana (St Louis prospect) have led the way offensively.

4. Switzerland An also ran, led offensively by Juraj Simek (Vancouver prospect).

5. Belarus Shocked Finland on opening day, but was then overmatched. Led by Sergei Kostistyn (Montreal prospect).

Today, Finland plays the US in a quarterfinal and Sweden plays the Czech Republic in the other. The winners meet Canada and Russia respectively tomorrow, with the medal games on Friday.