Penguins’ World Cup of Hockey: Group Stage Results

In earlier parts, we laid out our format and the early teams. Here they are, broken out in the groups:

And here

Group A

Mario Lemieux’s Team Canada
Team USA
Team World
Team Finland

Group B

Sidney Crosby’s Team Canada
Team Russia
Team Czech Republic
Team Sweden

As mentioned, there has been one roster change — James Neal has been a late scratch From Mario’s Team Canada for undisclosed reasons with Jarome Iginla stepping in for the RW spot on that team...

And now....Some results for the group stages, thoughtfully simulated out, in an iron man style 10 minute running clock periods.

Lemieux Team Canada 5 - Team USA 3

A big game for Mario (2G+2A) who helped his team coast out to a 5-1 lead early that the Americans chipped back at with a pair of third period goals, but never really put the Canadians in trouble.

Team World 2 - Team Finland 1 (OT)

Marian Hossa (1G+1A) helped the World come back from a 1-0 hole to get the OT win.

Lemieux Team Canada 8 - Team Finland 1

This one got ugly, Jarome Iginla scores 4 goals, all assisted by Mario as the Canadians light the lamp early and often and aren’t seriously tested.

Team USA 4 - Team World 2

Bill Guerin and Kevin Stevens each score two goals as the Americans use their might and size to gut out a competitive game.

Team USA 3 - Team Finland 2 (OT)

A bit of a surprise, it takes a late Stevens goal to win the game after Jussi Jokinen tied the game up late in the third.

Lemieux Team Canada 6 - Team World 3

Chris Kunitz strikes for two goals and Mario racks up four points (1G+3A) as his team yet again coasts to a win.

Standings, Group A
(3 points for reg win, 2 for OT win, 1 for OTL, 0 for reg loss):

#1A: Lemieux Team Canada: 3-0-0-0 (9 points)
#2A: Team USA: 1-1-0-1 (5 points)
#3A: Team World: 0-1-0-2 (2 points)
#4A: Team Finland: 0-0-2-1 (2 points)

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Group B stage results:

Team Czech 4 - Crosby Team Canada 3 (OT)

The upset of the tournament so far! Tomas Vokoun makes 37 saves. Paul Coffey scores 2 goals on Sidney Crosby assists, but a Martin Straka third period goal sends the game to overtime and Jaromir Jagr scores on Ken Wregget to give the Czechs the surprise win.

Team Russia 5 - Team Sweden 3

Alexei Kovalev scores a hat trick, Evgeni Malkin has a goal and three assists as the Russians romp to a win. Markus Naslund scores twice for the Swedes who exploit the goaltending as much as they can, but Russia tends to hog the puck and play keep-away for most of the game.

Crosby Team Canada 6 - Team Sweden 2

Sid’s crew rallies back with authority here as they get a bit more cohesion and chemistry. Rick Tocchet tallies twice, as does Mark Recchi, Crosby gets a goal himself (to go along with 4 assists) and Larry Murphy gets on the board too for a very balanced team effort. Patric Hornqvist scores both the Swedes’ goals, including one early, but they just can’t keep up in this game.

Team Russia 4 - Team Czech 3

Despite Russia giving up only 19 shots, 3 are goals which makes this game tight throughout and the Czechs clinging to a lead. Malkin scores twice but so does Jagr as the superstars duel to a draw. Sergei Zubov shoots late that beats Vokoun to give Russia a hard-earned win.

Crosby Team Canada 7 - Team Russia 3

The Russian Achilles’ heel in net bites them hard here as Mark Recchi and Rick Tocchet combine for five goals via the playmaking of Crosby and this one gets out of hand before Russia knows what him them.

Team Czech 4 - Team Sweden 2

Naslund has two more points but the rest of his team gets outclassed by the skill and ability of Marty Straka (1g+2a) and Jagr (2g+1a).

Standings, Group B
(3 points for reg win, 2 for OT win, 1 for OTL, 0 for reg loss):

#1B: Crosby Team Canada: 2-0-1-0 (7 points)
#2B: Team Russia: 2-0-0-1 (6 points)
#3B: Team Czech Republic: 1-1-0-1 (5 points)
#4B: Team Sweden: 0-0-0-3 (0 points)

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After group stages, we have the following single-elimination tournament to crown the Penguins’ World Cup of Hockey:

#1A Lemieux Team Canada vs. #4B Team Sweden
#2B Team Russia vs. #3A Team World

#1B Crosby Team Canada vs. #4A Team Finland
#2A Team USA vs. #3B Team Czech Republic

The top seeds don’t provide a lot of drama with powerful Team Canadas overmatching their European foes. But the 2v3 battles on each side are pretty interesting. Let’s get a vote going: