Thanks to Mike Zak for posting the Sweden-United States summary from the
World Hockey Championships. Here are all the scores from Wednesday's and
Thursday's games:
Wednesday, 5/1:
Consolation Bracket:
Czechoslovakia 4, Germany 1
Finland 6, Switzerland 2
Thursday, 5/2:
Medal Round:
Sweden 8, United States 4
Canada 3, Soviet Union 3 (tie)
Standings:
Medal Round
Team W L T Pts. GF GA
-----------------------------------------------
Sweden 1 0 1 3 11 7
Soviet Union 1 0 1 3 9 7
Canada 0 0 2 2 6 6
United States 0 2 0 0 8 14
Consolation Bracket (includes preliminary round)
Team W L T Pts. GF GA
-----------------------------------------------
Finland 5 3 1 11 32 19
Czechoslovakia 4 5 0 8 26 24
Switzerland 2 7 0 4 19 35
Germany 0 8 1 1 16 48
The team that finishes with the lowest record in the consolation bracket
gets dropped from the A group that plays for the medals and gets replaced by
whoever wins the B group. Since they have only one game remaining, the
Germany team cannot overtake Switzerland for seventh place, so they'll be
back in the B bracket next year.
In the medal round, the United States can still get the bronze medal if they
beat Canada on Saturday. I think the tie-breaker is head-to-head record,
but if, as someone posted on rec.sports.hockey, it is net goals, Team USA
will need to win by more than three goals to pick up a medal. The other
three teams are still alive for the gold, although Canada's hopes are pretty
slim. The winner of the Sweden-Soviet Union matchup will take the gold
medal (both teams are undefeated in the tournament, with the Soviet Union
going 7-0-2 and Sweden 4-0-5), but if the game ends in a tie, as it did the
first time these two met, then Canada could win the gold. In that case, if
Canada were to beat the United States by more than four goals, they would
take first on the basis of net goals.
History note: In looking up some information about the World Hockey
Championships, I came across a couple of results from the 1987 tournament
that might serve as a little consolation the next time your favorite team
loses in a blowout. In the Group D bracket that year, Australia defeated
New Zealand by the somewhat inflated score of 58-0, a world championship
record. Not surprisingly, the Aussies went on to win Group D that year, but
New Zealand did not wind up to be the worst of the four teams in that
bracket. That honor went to Hong Kong, which finished with an 0-6-0 record,
having scored a total of one goal in the six games while allowing (gulp)
185. Hong Kong hasn't fielded a team since, by the way.
Bill Fenwick
Cornell '86
LET'S GO RED!!
"The referee is stopping the fight! I can't believe this!! Whatever happened
to... the kind of ref that would let fighters go at it until one guy was flat
on his back -- out cold."
"They're working in the National Hockey League."
-- "Jump Start"
|
