International Ice Hockey Federation

Four classics and a premiere

Four classics and a premiere

Exciting pairings await fans in quarter-finals

Published 31.12.2014 23:29 GMT-5 | Author Martin Merk
Four classics and a premiere
A re-match of last year’s gold medal game between Sweden and Finland is among the match-ups for the quarter-finals. Photo: Francois Laplante / HHOF-IIHF Images
2015 will start with a bang at the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship with classic match-ups in both the final round and the relegation battle on 2nd January.

Host Canada, which finished on top of its group in Montreal, will face the surprise team from Denmark at 20:00 in Toronto. The Danes finished the Toronto group in fourth place to make their first-ever quarter-final appearance, thanks to their first-ever win at the top-level World Juniors, against Switzerland, and two extra points from reaching overtime against the Czech Republic and Russia.

Also, the other group winner, Sweden, will play its game in Toronto at 15:00 and welcome the Finnish team for a re-match of last year’s gold medal game. Last year in Malmo the Finns won the game on their neighbour’s ice but in Toronto it was the Swedes who dominated the group and, like Canada, they finished the preliminary round with a perfect record.

Team USA will stay in Montreal for a classic match-up against Russia at 13:00 with fond memories from emotional clashes in the past. One year ago the two nations met in the quarter-finals, with the Russians prevailing.

The Czech Republic and Slovakia will provide fans in Montreal with a quarter-final clash between neighbours at 17:00. In the battle between the brotherly nations who formed Czechoslovakia until the end of 1992, the Czechs have won all seven games played at the World Juniors over the last 11 years.

The semi-finals on 4th January in Toronto will be seeded as follows:
Winner CAN/DEN vs. Winner CZE/SVK
Winner SWE/FIN vs. Winner USA/RUS

And the relegation round will involve another clash between neighbours. Switzerland and Germany will battle for survival in the best-of-three series. The games will be played in Toronto on January 2nd, 3rd and (if necessary) 5th. The winner will be qualified for the 2016 World Juniors in Helsinki, while the loser will be relegated and replaced by Belarus.

 

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