The Official website for the tournament.
TSN.ca's World Cup Section, some good info, rosters and reports.
ESPN's site, of all the major American sports sites they seem most into the tourney. CNNSI is all but ignoring it at this point, but CBS Sportsline also has a decent hockey section with previews and actual reporters writing about it instead of just posting a few AP wire stories.
FOXsports North America pool preview
FOXsports European pool preview
Code:
Preliminary Round
Date Venue, City Matchup Time Nat'l TV
Mon, Aug 30 Hartwall Arena, Helsinki Cze vs. Fin 1:00 PM EDT ESPN,CBC
Tue, Aug 31 Globe Arena, Stockholm Ger vs. Swe 1:00 PM EDT ESPN,CBC
Tue, Aug 31 Bell Centre, Montreal USA vs. Cda 7:00 PM EDT ESPN2,CBC
Wed, Sep 1 Globe Arena, Stockholm Cze vs. Swe 1:00 PM EDT ESPN,CBC
Wed, Sep 1 Bell Centre, Montreal Cda vs. Slv 7:00 PM EDT ESPN2,CBC
Thu, Sep 2 Cologne Arena, Cologne Fin vs. Ger 1:30 PM EDT ESPN2,CBC
Thu, Sep 2 Xcel Center, St. Paul Rus vs. USA 7:00 PM EDT ESPN2,CBC
Fri, Sep 3 Sazka Arena, Prague Ger vs. Cze 1:00 PM EDT ESPN,CBC
Fri, Sep 3 Xcel Center, St. Paul Slv vs. USA 7:00 PM EDT ESPN2,CBC
Sat, Sep 4 Hartwall Arena, Helsinki Swe vs. Fin 8:00 PM EDT CBC
Sat, Sep 4 Air Canada Centre, Toronto Rus vs. Cda 7:00 PM EDT CBC
Sun, Sep 5 Air Canada Centre, Toronto Slv vs. Rus 7:00 PM EDT CBC
Team Capsules from the Canadian Press:
Canada
Head coach: Pat Quinn.
IIHF world ranking: No. 1.
Record in '96: 5-3-0, placed second, lost to U.S. in final.
Key players: F Mario Lemieux, F Joe Sakic, F Dany Heatley, G Martin Brodeur, D Scott Niedermayer.
Notable absences: D Rob Blake, D Chris Pronger, F Steve Yzerman.
The skinny: Defending Olympic and back-to-back IIHF world champions, Canada has recaptured its place atop the hockey world. Only 10 returning players from 2002 Olympic team. Youth is being served on this World Cup team, with the likes of Heatley, F Vincent Lecavalier, F Brad Richards, F Martin St. Louis, D Wade Redden and D Robyn Regehr making their debuts on Canada's elite team. Losses of Blake and Pronger cannot be overlooked, but Brodeur's netminding and Canada's superstar offence makes them strong favourites along with Sweden and the Czech Republic.
Czech Republic
Head coach: Vladimir Ruzicka.
IIHF world ranking: No. 4.
Record at '96 World Cup: 0-3-0, last in tournament.
Key players: G Tomas Vokoun, F Jaromir Jagr, F Martin Havlat, F Patrik Elias, D Roman Hamrlik.
Notable absences: D Pavel Kubina, F Robert Lang.
The skinny: Czechs will be motivated by tragic death of head coach and national hockey hero Ivan Hlinka, which could mean Jagr plays with the kind of passion that has been sorely lacking in his game over the last few seasons. The team was already hungry for this tournament after embarrassing quarter-final loss to U.S. at IIHF world championship in Prague in May. If Jagr is flying and Vokoun plays like he can, watch out for this team.
Finland
Head coach: Raimo Summanen.
IIHF world ranking: No. 5.
Record in '96: 2-2-0, placed fifth.
Key players: G Miikka Kiprusoff, D Janne Niinimaa, F Olli Jokinen, F Saku Koivu, F Teemu Selanne.
Notable absences: F Sami Kapanen.
The skinny: The Finns play a tough, physical game and have the goaltending to go far. But unless Selanne enjoys a renaissance, goals will be hard to come by on this team. Koivu needs a huge tournament for his team to have a chance.
Germany
Head coach: Franz Reindl.
IIHF world ranking: No. 8.
Record in '96: 1-3-0, placed sixth.
Key players: G Olaf Kolzig, D Dennis Seidenberg, F Marcel Goc, F Jochen Hecht, F Marco Sturm.
Notable absences: F Jan Benda.
The skinny: As Canadian fans learned from Canada's difficult 3-2 win over Germany at the 2002 Winter Olympics, the Germans play a tight, defensive game and allow very few scoring chances. Scoring the first goal has a huge impact on their chances of winning a game at this tournament. A red-hot Kolzig gives them a chance for the upset. But realistically, the Germans are clearly the eighth team in this tournament behind the elite seven hockey countries of the world, although the gap is narrowing.
Russia
Head coach: Zinetula Bilyaletdinov.
IIHF world ranking: No. 7.
Record in '96: 2-3-0, placed fourth.
Key players: D Sergei Gonchar, F Pavel Datsyuk, F Ilya Kovalchuk, F Alex Kovalev, F Sergei Samsonov.
Notable absences: G Nikolai Khabibulin, G Evgeni Nabokov, F Sergei Fedorov, F Alexei Zhamnov, D Alexei Zhitnik.
The skinny: There will much focus on the absences of Fedorov and Zhamnov, but the reality is that the Russians will miss Khabibulin and Nabokov the most. The No. 1 goaltending job will fall to Ilya Bryzgalov, whom the Anaheim Mighty Ducks are high on and that's why they traded Martin Gerber in the off-season. There's still tonnes of offence on this team, including this June's first overall NHL draft pick Alexander Ovechkin. If Bryzgalov can stop the puck, the Russians are still a dangerous team.
Slovakia
Head coach: Jan Filc.
IIHF world ranking: No. 3.
Record in '96: 0-3-0, seventh place.
Key players: D Zdeno Chara, F Marian Hossa, F Miroslav Satan, F Pavol Demitra, F Marian Gaborik.
Notable absences: F Ziggy Palffy, F Michal Handzus, D Ivan Majesky.
The skinny: Losing Palffy hurt but the loss of Handzus is a crippling blow. The Slovaks are deep on wingers but weak at centre and Handzus was counted to play some major minutes in this tournament as a key penalty killer and faceoff specialist. Montreal winger Richard Zednik is recovering from hernia surgery and doesn't know when he'll play. The core of this team led Slovakia to its first-ever IIHF world title in May 2002. The blue-line is average at best after Chara, and the goaltending is questionable with former Nashville Predators farmhand Jan Lasak the No. 1 man. Not quite the darkhorse team most had predicted after losing Handzus and Palffy.
Sweden
Head coach: Hardy Nilsson.
IIHF world ranking: No. 2.
Record in '96: 3-1-0, third place.
Key players: F Peter Forsberg, F Mats Sundin, F Markus Naslund, F Daniel Alfredsson, D Nicklas Lidstrom.
Notable absences: None.
The skinny: A roster that rivals Canada in star quality. Other stars including F Henrik Zetterberg, F Fredrik Modin, D Kim Johnsson, D Mattias Norstrom and D Mattias Ohlund. The jury is out on how effective Forsberg will be as he battles a stomach problem. But the real question mark is in goal, where Toronto Maple Leafs farmhand Mikael Tellqvist will need to shine. Still, the Swedes are a big-time contender in this tournament.
United States
Head coach: Ron Wilson.
IIHF world ranking: No. 6.
Record in '96: 6-1-0, won tournament.
Key players: F Mike Modano, D Brian Leetch, F Bill Guerin, F Doug Weight, F Keith Tkachuk.
Notable absences: D Derian Hatcher, D Hall Gill, D Jordan Leopold, D Mathieu Schneider.
The skinny: Don't expect a repeat of the '96 victory. The blue-line corps was depleted by losses of Hatcher, Schneider, Leopold and Gill, and the Americans simply don't have the depth to replace them as testimony by the additions of NHL rookies John-Michael Liles and Paul Martin. The goaltending is also a question mark although Robert Esche is coming off a breakthrough year in the NHL.
For you gambling types:
Odds from oddschecker.com
Proline odds for any Canadians who want to throw some money away at Sportselect.
Hehe I found a site called centrebet.com where you can bet on WC games. You can also gamble on Norwegian league preseason exhibition games - now that's hardcore.
