IHWC Update

Canada dealt Finland their first loss of the tournament, and in doing so clinched the top seed in Group E, with Finland grabbing the second seed. The final two seeds from that group, the US and the Czech Republic, play tomorrow. The US can pass the Czechs for the third seed with a win. Latvia and Norway also face off tomorrow in Group E in what is the day's only meaningless game.

In Group F, Russia remained the only undefeated team in the tournament, salvaging a tie against Sweden on a goal by Alexei Mikhnov (it's okay, I don't know who he is either) with just thirteen seconds left in the game. The tie locks Russia and Sweden into the first and second seeds, respectively, in Group F.

Tomorrow, though, is where all the action is in this group, with three teams vying for two spots. Belarus and Switzerland are currently tied in the third spot, with Belarus holding the tiebreaker advantage due to goal differential, and the two teams face each other. Meanwhile, Slovakia is just a point behind them both and has a game against the sixth seeded Ukrainian team. Slovakia is likely to win that game, which means that Belarus-Switzerland will basically be a playoff game for the two teams, with the loser getting knocked out of the tournament (a tie would benefit Belarus, which has a higher goal differential than the Swiss A tie would put both teams into the playoff round, eliminating Slovakia). If Slovakia should get upset by the Ukraine, both teams are automatically in.