TAMMERFORS. Sweden barely overtook Latvia and took at least second place in the group.
But I was even more surprised that Germany took points from Switzerland and took second place in Group B.
This means that everything points to Canada’s nightmare in the quarter-finals.
Yes, a lot can still happen and the Swedes can still win the set here in Tampere and the Czechs get at least one point against Finland tonight.
And it doesn’t feel completely impossible.
The Czechs assembled themselves, bringing star David Pasternak into the squad, beating the Finns twice in just over a week at the two Euro Hockey tournaments prior to this one.
Additionally, they have Finn Kari Jalonen as captain of the national team, who, if anyone, knows what it takes to defeat a nation.
Then you can ask yourself if the Czechs really want to win or rather stay in third place and get Germany in the quarter-finals.
It’s set for the first leg out there, if now you want to be a bit of a conspiracy theorist.
Switzerland are the clear winners of the series after beating the Germans 4-3 after a penalty shootout at the end, but that point after full-time secured the Germans a second place.
Regardless of whether Sweden becomes first or second in the group here in Tampere, there are now three potential quarter-finalists.
Canada, Denmark or Slovakia.
I know which one is best to avoid.
Then I suppose the Canadians will beat France tonight.
The rest is decided by Denmark and Slovakia.
They have everything to play for
But if the Slovaks score at least one point against the Danes, Canada will be in the quarter-finals if the Swedes stay second.
The Slovaks have everything to play for. Their full-time victory is in the quarter-finals and has pushed the Danes down the streak.
No wonder, but there are still plenty of ‘if’ and ‘but’, even though Canada is the most likely opponent at the moment.
In a few hours we will know.
This early match against Latvia was not much written about.
The important thing is that the Swedes won, but that required new strength and a star sniper William Nylander To win this goalless draw 1-0.
It was enough.
And after an almost complete group game, the Swedes are guaranteed to play here in Tampere and that’s already an advantage ahead of Thursday’s quarter-finals.
Sweden has always had the potential to play the quarter-finals elsewhere.
Anyway, the times the World Cup was held were in two different cities.
Most recently in Slovakia in 2019, there was a move from Bratislava to Kosice and a painful extra time loss against Finland.
And 2017 was the longest trip, when the Swedes had to travel from Cologne in Germany to Paris in France for their quarter-final match against Switzerland.
Anyway, there was a victory.
In Moscow in 2016, the same pattern was repeated.
This is the big question
A group match in Moscow and then moved to Saint Petersburg and a match against Canada which crushed the Bar Marts gang 6-0.
So I can move on, but it’s obviously a disadvantage to have to break up and move to a new ice and new locker room.
Albeit temporary.
Now Tre Kronor is guaranteed to stay in Tampere and this increases the chances going forward.
But the big question is of course what the Swedes will face in the quarter-finals on Thursday here at Nokia Arena.
Sweden is in the qualifiers anyway, and given the Corona pandemic and the cancellation of the World Cup in Switzerland 2020, it is actually the first time in three years that the Swedes have played a World Cup final again.
Just such a thing.