2014 IIHF World Championship Preview - Group A

This year, the World Championship is held in Belarus, with Minsk as the host city. Group A has the reigning Olympic (Canada) and World Championship (Sweden) winners. The Czech Republic and Slovakia highlight the challengers in the group. Denmark, France, Italy, and Norway round out the rest of the teams in the group, and will all look to upset the heavy-hitters.

Note: Most information from the IIHF website. Rosters are early registered ones, so players may be missing.

Teams

Canada

Goalies:

Name	Club
James Reimer	Toronto Maple Leafs
Ben Scrivens	Edmonton Oilers

Defense:

Name	Club
Kevin Bieksa	Vancouver Canucks
Ryan Ellis	Nashville Predators
Jason Garrison	Vancouver Canucks
Erik Gudbranson	Florida Panthers
Tyler Myers	Buffalo Sabres
Morgan Rielly	Toronto Maple Leafs

Forwards:

Name	Club
Alex Burrows	Vancouver Canucks
Troy Brouwer	Washington Capitals
Jason Chimera	Washington Capitals
Cody Hodgson	Buffalo Sabres
Jonathan Huberdeau	Florida Panthers
Nazem Kadri	Toronto Maple Leafs
Nathan MacKinnon	Colorado Avalanche
Sean Monahan	Calgary Flames
Mark Scheifele	Winnipeg Jets
Brayden Schenn	Philadelphia Flyers
Kyle Turris	Ottawa Senators
Joel Ward	Washington Capitals

World Ranking: 3rd
Last Years Result: 5th
Top Threat: Down the middle looks dangerous, pretty good combo in net (the Leafs could use a tandem like that).
Weakness: I'm probably more skeptical of the defense than I should be.
Predicted Finish: Gold Medal

Czech Republic

Goalies:

Name	Club
Jakub Kovar	Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg
Alexander Salak	SKA St. Petersburg

Defense:

Name	Club
Jakub Kindl	Detroit Red Wings
Jan Kolar	Donbass Donetsk
Ondrej Nemec	Lev Prague
Roman Polak	St. Louis Blues
Martin Sevc	Lev Prague
Ondrej Vitasek	Bili Tygri Liberec
Petr Zamorsky	HC Zlin

Forwards:

Name	Club
Roman Cervenka	SKA St, Petersburg
Tomas Hertl	San Jose Sharks
Jiri Hudler	Calgary Flames
Jaromir Jagr	New Jersey Devils
Jakub Klepis	Lev Prague
Jan Kovar	Metallurg Magnitogorsk
Jiri Novotny	Lev Prague
Jakub Petruzalek	Ak Bars Kazan
Tomas Rolinek	Sparta Praha
Jiri Sekac	Lev Prague
Vladimir Sobotka	St. Louis Blues
Martin Zatovic	Karlovy Vary

World Ranking: 7th
Last Years Result: 7th
Top Threat: New coach, and this looks more like the team they should have taken to Sochi.
Weakness: Nothing overly obvious, they look like a legit medal threat.
Predicted Finish: Bronze Medal

Denmark

Goalies:

Name	Club
Patrick Galbraith	Karlskrona HK
Simon Nielsen	Lukko Rauma

Defense:

Name	Club
Phillip Brugisser	Kristianstad IK
Emil Kristensen	IK Oskarshamn
Jesper B. Jensen	Rogle Angelholm
Philip Larsen	Edmonton Oilers
Stefan Lassen	Graz 99ers
Markus Lauridsen	Lake Erie Monsters
Oliver Lauridsen	Philadelphia Flyers

Forwards:

Name	Club
Patrick Bjorkstrand	KHL Medvescak Zagreb
Mikkel Boedker	Phoenix Coyotes
Mads Christensen	Eisbaren Berlin
Morten Green	Schwenniger Wild Wings
Jannik Hansen	Vancouver Canucks
Julian Jakobsen	Hamburg Freezers
Jesper Jensen	Karlskrona HK
Nicklas Jensen	Vancouver Canucks
Morten Madsen	Hamburg Freezers
Morten Poulsen	IK Oskarshamn
Kim Staal	Starbulls Rosenheim
Frederik Storm	IF Malmo Redhawks

World Ranking: 13th
Last Years Result: 12th
Top Threat: Have a pretty strong roster compared to the second tier of this group.
Weakness: May need stronger goaltending if they want to move up the rankings.
Predicted Finish: Round Robin

France

Goalies:

Name	Club
Florian Hardy	Lausanne HC
Cristobal Huet	Angers Ducs

Defense:

Name	Club
Baptiste Amar	Grenoble Bruleurs de Loups
Yohann Auvitu	JYP Jyvaskyla
Nicolas Besch	KH Sanok
Florian Chakiachvili	Briancon Diables Rouges
Benjamin Dieude-Fauvel	Quad City Mallards
Jonathan Janil	Rouen Dragons
Antonin Manavian	Rouen Dragons

Forwards:

Name	Club
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare	Skelleftea AIK
Stephane Da Costa	Binghamton Senators
Teddy Da Costa	Hokki Kajaani
Julien Desrosiers	Rouen Dragons
Damien Fleury	Lausanne HC
Anthony Guttig	Hokki Kajaani
Brian Henderson	Angers Ducs
Laurent Meunier	Straubing Tigers
Damien Raux	Briancon Diables Rouges
Nicolas Ritz	Dijon Ducs
Antoine Roussel	Dallas Stars
Luc Tardiff	Grenoble Bruleurs de Loups
Yorick Treille	Grenoble Bruleurs de Loups

World Ranking: 12th
Last Years Result: 13th
Top Threat: Huet in net, still have a decent offense (on paper), can pull off an upset.
Weakness: Have a bad habit of hovering above relegation, need to beat similar-ranked teams.
Predicted Finish: Round Robin

Italy

Goalies:

Name	Club
Daniel Bellissimo	Lulea HF
Anton Bernard	SaiPa Lappeenranta
Alex Caffi	HC Neumarkt

Defense:

Name	Club
Christian Borgatello	Pustertal Bruneck
Alex Egger	Bolzano Foxes
Armin Hofer	Pustertal Bruneck
Trevor Johnson	HC Valpellice
Thomas Larkin	Muskegon Lumberjacks
Davide Nicoletti	Bolzano Foxes
Daniel Sullivan	Asiago Hockey
Alex Trivellato	Eisbaren Berlin

Forwards:

Name	Club
Anton Bernard	Bolzano Foxes
Patrick Bona	Pustertal Bruneck
Dave Borrelli	Asiago Hockey
Nathan di Casmirro	Sheffield Steelers
Luca Felicetti	SG Cortina
Nicola Fontanive	Milano Rossoblu
Markus Gander	Bolzano Foxes
Brian Ihnacak	IF Malmo Redhawks
Marco Insam	Bolzano Foxes
Diego Kostner	HC Lugano
Joachim Ramoser	EC Red Bull Salzburg
Vince Rocco	IF Troja-Lungby
Giulio Scandella	Pustertal Bruneck
Daniel Tudin	Ritten Sport

World Ranking: 18th
Last Years Result: 2nd (Division I Group A)
Top Threat: Goaltending might be their best position.
Weakness: Still not a good enough team to keep up at this level.
Predicted Finish: Relegated

Norway

Goalies:

Name	Club
Lars Haugen	Dinamo Minsk
Steffen Soberg	Valerenga Oslo
Lars Volden	Espoo Blues

Defense:

Name	Club
Alexander Bonsaken	Valerenga Oslo
Stefan Espeland	Valerenga Oslo
Jonas Holos	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
Henrik Odegaard	Missouri Mavericks
Daniel Sorvik	Valerenga Oslo
Mats Trygg	Lorenskog IK

Forwards:

Name	Club
Morten Ask	Valerenga Oslo
Anders Bastiansen	Farjestad BK
Robin Dahlstrom	Orebro HK
Kristian Forsberg	MODO Ornskoldsvik
Mads Hansen	Storhamar Dragons
Jonas Djupvik Lovlie	Sparta Sarpsborg
Andreas Martinsen	DEG Dusseldorf
Sondre Olden	Valerenga Oslo
Ken Andre Olimb	DEG Dusseldorf
Mathis Olimb	Frolunda Indians
Nicklas Roest	BIK Karlskoga
Martin Roymark	Farjestad BK
Per-Age Skroder	MODO Ornskoldsvik
Andreas Stene	Sparta Sarpsborg

World Ranking: 9th
Last Years Result: 10th
Top Threat: A lot of players from their Olympic team are on this squad.
Weakness: Missing a few key players (most notably Patrick Thoresen and Ole-Kristen Tollefsen) due to injury.
Predicted Finish: Round Robin

Slovakia

Goalies:

Name	Club
Jaroslav Janus	Slovan Bratislava
Jan Laco	Donbass Donetsk

Defense:

Name	Club
Jan Brejcak	Slovan Bratislava
Peter Ceresnak	Dukla Trencin
Marek Daloga	HC Pardubice
Martin Marincin	Edmonton Oilers
Karol Sloboda	HC Vitkovice Steel
Ivan Svarny	KHL Medvescak Zagreb
Juraj Valach	HC Slavia Praha

Forwards:

Name	Club
Marek Hrivik	Hartford Wolf Pack
Tomas Marcinko	HK Kosice
Michel Miklik	Slovan Bratislava
Juraj Mikus	Slovan Bratislava
Ladislav Nagy	Jokerit Helsinki
Richard Panik	Tampa Bay Lightning
Martin Reway	Gatineau Olympiques
David Skokan	HC Slavia Praha
Miroslav Satan	Slovan Bratislava
Tomas Tatar	Detroit Red Wings
Radoslav Tybor	HC Pardubice
Marek Viedensky	Worchester Sharks

World Ranking: 8th
Last Years Result: 8th
Top Threat: Nice mix of young and old.
Weakness: No Halak (he was invited, but declined since he does not have a contract) and Chara (playoffs).
Predicted Finish: Quarter Finals

Sweden

Goalies:

Name	Club
Joacim Eriksson	Vancouver Canucks
Anders Nilsson	New York Islanders

Defense:

Name	Club
Jonas Ahnelov	Frolunda Gothenburg
Mattias Ekholm	Nashville Predators
Tim Erixon	Columbus Blue Jackets
Johan Fransson	Lulea HF
Erik Gustafsson	Philadelphia Flyers
Magnus Nygren	Farjestad BK
Daniel Rahimi	Linkopings HC

Forwards:

Name	Club
Dick Axelsson	Frolunda Gothenburg
Mikael Backlund	Calgary Flames
Nicklas Danielsson	Rapperswill-Jona Lakers
Jimmie Ericsson	Skelleftea AIK
Simon Hjalmarsson	Linkopings HC
Calle Jarnkrok	Nashville Predators
Linus Klasen	Lulea HF
Joakim Lindstrom	Skelleftea AIK
Joel Lundqvist	Frolunda Gothenburg
Oscar Moller	Skelleftea AIK
Gustav Nyqvist	Detroit Red Wings
Mattias Sjogren	Linkopings HC

World Ranking: 1st
Last Years Result: 1st
Top Threat: Nyqvist and Backlund highlight a pretty good offense.
Weakness: Goaltending is questionable, plus this doesn't look like a normally strong Swedish squad.
Predicted Finish: 4th Place

Schedule

May 9
France - Canada
Slovakia - Czech Republic

May 10
Italy - Norway
Sweden - Denmark
Canada - Slovakia

May 11
France - Italy
Norway - Denmark
Sweden - Czech Republic

May 12
Slovakia - France
Czech Republic - Canada

May 13
Italy - Denmark
Norway - Sweden

May 14
Czech Republic - Italy
Slovakia - Norway

May 15
Canada - Denmark
Sweden - France

May 16
Canada - Italy
Sweden - Slovakia

May 17
France - Norway
Denmark - Czech Republic
Slovakia - Italy

May 18
Canada - Sweden
Czech Republic - Norway

May 19
Denmark - France
Italy - Sweden

May 20
Norway - Canada
Denmark - Slovakia
Czech Republic - France