It's that time of the year again when the best of the second-best slug it out for the IIHF World Championships. This year the tournament is held in Finland.

I don't know what the word "Finland" does to the average American, but to us Swedes it means "hostile territory." I've said it before, and I'll say it again: It's the duty of every Swedish citizen to piss on the grave of every Finnish person's dead mother. (And of course, vice versa.)

Usually, the teams consist of cast-off NHL'ers and teams' top scorers from every other non-NHL league. It's a tournament where the average everyday P.J. Axelssons and Tyler Wrights become prominent leaders on their squads.

And the fact that they're played at the very same time the Cup of Lord Stanley is being contested for means that in the Americanized world we live in, we just don't give a (sunshine).

But thanks to a few upsets in the first round, and the fact that this year's tournament is played in the country of moustaches (female mostly) and hostile territory (yes, most countries hate the Finns), it is probably the best tournament played ever. Honestly!

Why? Because Foppa is here! And Mats Sundin! And "Z" too!

The turnout of NHL stars this time around is amazing. Teemu Selanne, Olli Jokinen, Saku Koivu and Janne Niinimaa for Team Finland. Ryan Smyth, Sean Burke, Anson Carter, Dany Heatley, Shane Doan and Daniel Briere for Team Canada. Jozef Stumpel, Peter Bondra, Miroslav Satan, Pavol Demitra and Ziggy-Jiggy Palffy for Team Slovakia. Jiri Hudler, Ilya Kovalchuk, Alexander Frolov for Team Russia and Martin Straka, Milan Hejduk, Jaroslav Spacek and Josef Vasicek for the Czech Republic to name a few.

Now that's as close as you'll ever get to the Olympics with full NHL-cooperation.

The tournament consists of three stages. The first round consisted of four groups of four teams each. The top three teams of every group make another two groups of six teams each.

The groups for for the first stage were:

Group A: (Teams are placed in order of finish)
Slovakia, 6p
Germany, 4p
Ukraine, 2p
Japan, 0p

Scores:
Ukraine-Slovakia: 3-9
Germany-Japan: 5-4

Slovakia-Japan: 10-1
Germany-Ukraine: 3-1

Slovakia-Germany: 3-1
Japan-Ukraine: 1-5

This and that:
Group A was considered the easiest group from the start. The reigning World Champs Slovakia strolled trhough this group by beating Ukraine 9-3, Japan 10-1 and Germany 3-1. Ziggy Palffy had 5 goals and 4 assists in his first two games, while Jozef Stumpel had 2 goals and 5 assists in his first two games. Both players were held pointless in the victory against Germany. The Slovaks looked really impressive with Palffy, Stumpel, Visnovsky, Zednik and Nagy running an awesome power play. Germany are the Mighty Ducks of the Worlds, they are a patient (but oh so boring) team that usually has four or five scoring chances a game and they usually score on almost all of them. Ukraine, well, they advanced by simply having to beat Japan. Let's just say they are no hockey super-power just yet.

Group B
Russia, 6p
Switzerland, 4p
Denmark, 2p (More on them later)
USA, zip

Scores:
Switzerland-Russia: 2-5
USA-Denmark: 2-5

Russia-Denmark: 6-1
USA-Switzerland: 0-1

Russia-USA: 3-2
Denmark-Switzerland: 2-6

This and that:
On paper, this group should have been won by Russia and Team USA, while Switzerland would place third and Denmark would just be humiliated. They have, after all, the most dubious record of the Worlds by losing to Canada by the score of 47-0 in 1949. They haven't played in the A Worlds for more than 40 years. What do they do? They beat the US 5-2 in their first game. The Danes are now considered National Treasures in the state of Denmark. And it ain't something rotten.

Russia was very impressive in this round, relying on its younger players such as Pavel Datsyuk, Ilya Kovalchuk, Alexander Frolov, Igor Grigorenko and Calgary's Oleg Saprykin, of all people. The line of Datsyuk, Kovalchuk and Grigorenk has been awesome so far. Datsyuk has been the best player of the tournament, and it is safe to say that the future of the NHL (unfortunately) lies in the hands of the Red Wings. Datsyuk is playing like few players have played during the Worlds for a very, very long time. He has a very long future ahead of him. Then there's Igor Grigorenko. He's very much like a nastier version of Ilya Kovalchuk. He's already fought, had tons of shots on goal and hit the post two times. They can go really far if goalie Maxim Sokolov continues to play as excellent as he has.

Group C
Canada, 6p
Sweden, 4p
Latvia, 2p
Belarus, 0p
Scores:
Latvia-Sweden: 1-3
Canada-Belarus: 3-0

Sweden-Belarus: 2-1
Canada-Latvia: 6-1

Sweden-Canada: 1-3
Belarus-Latvia: 0-4

This and that:
Team Canada looked good on paper from the start. Sean Burke, Eric Brewer, Jay Bouwmeester, Daniel Briere, Dany Heatley, Kirk Maltby, Kris Draper, Anson Carter, Shane Doan, Ryan Smyth and Steven Reinprecht were just some of the stars heading over to Finland.

Team Sweden's roster looked very bleak with just a few days to go. Consisting mostly of domestic stars such as Niklas Kronwall, Ronnie Sundin, Niklas "Mr AHL" Andersson and a few NHLers such as Mattias Norstrom, Dick Tärnström, Daniel Tjarnqvist, P.J. Axelsson and Tommy Salo. Nothing to get all worked up about.

But over the course of a day, all that changed when Minnesota and Philadelphia beat Colorado and Toronto. Peter Forsberg called coach Hardy asking if he was interested in his services. Of course Hardy Boy Nilsson wanted the greatest player on earth to play. A day later he received confirmation that Mats Sundin felt like playing the Worlds, too. And Mikael Renberg. And Jonas Hoglund. And of course, Henrik Zetterberg!

The odds looked very much in favour of the Swedes after this. But as usual they almost choked. 3-1 against Latvia and 2-1 against Belarus and 1-3 against Canada isn't exactly what was expected. But they'll have time to get their act together. But as it is now, nothing works.

Team Canada though looks very good. Dany Heatley has been the best player besides Pavel Datsyuk so far and with Kirk Maltby and Kris Draper playing as gritty as they ever have, well, they'll go far.

Group D
Czech Republic, 6p
Finland, 4p
Austria, 2p
Slovenia, 1p

Scores:
Austria-Finland: 1-5
Czech Republic-Slovenia: 5-2

Finland-Slovenia: 12-0
Czech Republic-Austria: 8-1

Slovenia-Austria: 2-6
Finland-Czech Republic: 1-2

This and That:
All I can say is curse them damn Finns all the way to Minsk!

The Next Round:
The top three teams from group A and D then became Qualification Round Group E, while group B and C became Qualifying Group F. The last-placed teams in each group became Relegation Round Group G. Each team carries with them the records against the teams they've already met. If your television habits consist of "I hate my sister-bootcamps" on the Ricki Lake Show, then this might seem a bit confusing.

Qualification Round Group E
Slovakia
Czech Republic
Finland
Germany
Ukraine
Austria

Qualifying Round Group F
Canada
Sweden
Russia
Switzerland
Latvia
Denmark

Relegation Round Group G
USA
Belarus
Japan
Slovenia

HIGHS OF THE QUALIFYING ROUNDS:

* Denmark beating Team USA 5-2. When a roster loaded with internatoinal stars such as Jesper Daamgard, Lars Molgaard and Michael Madsen beat a team loaded with international stars such as Ted Drury, Peter Ferraro, Nikos Dimitriakos and Kevin Miller...well...ehm, I guess really bad hockey must be played. But this is bigger than we realize. For a small nation like Denmark to beat Team USA in hockey, well that's like people watching Jerry Springer suddenly getting the urge to learn how to read and stop dating their cousins. Yeah, it's that big!

* The amazing turnout of NHL stars. I dont know what it is, but I tell myself it's because everybody really hates the Finns. That's why so many NHLers are taking part in this year's World Championships. On paper, it's the best ever. And to me, it's really more interesting than this year's Stanley Cup. Sorry, but that's the truth.

* The play of the Next One. I know it's old by branding someone the heir to Wayne Gretzky. It can't be done. No one will ever play the game like Gretzky did. But that doesn't mean there aren't great players who will lead the NHL for many years to come. I'm talking about two players who have really stood out with their play. Team Canada's Dany Heatley & Team Russia's Pavel Datsyuk. Datsyuk is controlling the game whenever he's on the ice. He sets the pace and makes some of the most wonderful passes I've ever seen. Most of the times they catch linemates Ilya Kovalchuk and Igor Grigorenko off guard. I know you read a lot about Dany Heatley in the papers over there, but Pavel Datsyuk is the king of the hill so far.

LOWS OF THE QUALIFYING ROUNDS:

* The future lies in...Detroit. Just when everybody hoped the Detroit Red Wings players would die of old age, their young players showcase themselves. First you've got Pavel Datsyuk, who just might be one of the better puckhandlers in the NHL today. Then you've got Henrik Zetterberg, who is doing everything he can to emulate the gritty/scoring combo of Peter Forsberg. Here's an interesting tidbit on Zetterberg by Mats Sundin after the Canada game: If Forsberg is Martin Straka, then Zetterberg is Robert Lang. Woa! As poetic as it'll ever get. Beautiful.

Then there's russian Igor Grigorenko, who's so far looked like a grittier version of Ilya Kovalchuk. He's been truly awesome. And finally there's the Czech Republic's whiz kid Jiri Hudler. This 19-year-old stud has been playing in the A-level Czech Extra-Liga since he was 16, and he's scored 46 points two straight years (15g + 31a in 46 games in 2001-02 and 19g + 27a in just 30 games this year). He's been the Czech Republic's best penalty killer so far, scoring both his goals shorthanded. So it's safe to say that Team (Sunshine) will continue to pile up points and bore the hell out of the rest of us.

* The referees.

* It's played in Finland.

The next World Championships update will be posted in a couple of days when it's time for the playoffs.

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