IIHF WC Update: Russia surges as Canada falters
Photo by Natalia Fedosenko\TASS via Getty Images
Canada still haven’t won a game. On the eve of day four of the IIHF World Championships, taking place in Riga, Latvia, the standings don’t look as many had predicted.
At the top of each group stands Russia in A and Germany in B, par for the course, especially considering the hockey talent Germany has produced in recent years. In particular, Lukas Reichel, a player we were personally high on, has stood out with five points in his first two games.
However, Canada have not won a game yet (their goal differential sits at -6!) and the USA find themselves in 5th place at 1-1 with a +3 goal difference.
What a day! Here are the standings after today’s six games at #IIHFWorlds. pic.twitter.com/2LHp5racQk— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) May 23, 2021
The surprise teams of the tournament have been Kazakhstan and Latvia, the former of which are being coached by former Avalanche, Thrashers, and Flames head coach Bob Hartley. They beat Canada 2-0 in each side’s opening match, the first time they had ever defeated Canada. It was safe to say the home fans were ecstatic.
Following Latvia's first-ever win over Canada at the World Men's Hockey Championship, fans in Latvia filled the streets in celebration. pic.twitter.com/lhSXtWaw53— TSN (@TSN_Sports) May 21, 2021
As for Flyers’ specific news, the only player participating in the tournament currently is Ivan Provorov, who has one assist and is a plus one on an incredibly dominant team.
The action continues today, with perhaps the highlight match being Canada vs Germany. A win for Germany and they would become 3-0 and take firm control of group B. If Canada lose, they would have been put in an incredibly difficult position and likely a relegation fight. However, there will be no relegation featured at this year’s tournament, so there is nothing at stake other than national pride.
Back to 4️⃣ games today in #IIHFWorlds action. Order your food with @woltapp! Get 5 FREE deliveries with ICEHOCKEY! https://t.co/j6iedWK1hY Promo valid for new users until 06.06.21 for 5 base deliveries in FIN, LVA, SWE, DNK, NOR, DEU, CZE, SVK, KAZ pic.twitter.com/6duUdRJ2UR— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) May 24, 2021
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