The Czechs and Americans secured World Championship quarter-final berths on Sunday, while the Germans were eliminated and the Slovenes relegated.
by Derek O'Brien, with contributions from Staff Writers
PRAGUE and OSTRAVA – On Day 10 of the tournament, eight teams played their penultimate games of the Group Stage.
In Sunday's early action, the host Czechs beat the Germans 4–2 in Prague and the Americans handled the Slovenes 3–1 in Ostrava. As a result, both the Czech Republic and the United States secured their places in the quarter-finals. Meanwhile, the Germans lost their chance to advance to the next round and the Slovenians were relegated.
“We were just missing something in all of our games,” said Slovenia's Blaz Gregorc, a defenceman from HC Pardubice. In the team's last game, he said, “We just want to beat Denmark and restore some pride.”
Germany had leads of 1–0 and 2–1, but ultimately couldn't hold on. The German goals were scored by Daniel Pietta of the Krefeld Pinguine and Michael Wolf of Red Bull Munich. For the Czechs, Michal Vondrka – who finished the season with Sparta Prague – scored on his first shot on goal of the tournament and Jakub Nakladal of TPS Turku assisted on the game-winning goal.
“I didn't even know I was the goal-scorer until I was told in a TV interview,” said Vondrka, who was credited with the first Czech goal after it bounced off his leg.
“I think we had a pretty good start and we had the lead, they tied it up and then on the PK they came back with a 3-on-1 counter and scored, and I think that as the turning point,” said Wolf, the German captain. “At the end of the day, we knew we needed some points and we didn't get any.”
In the evening's games, Canada wrapped up first place in Group A with a 7–2 win over Switzerland, who are nonetheless virtually assured a spot in the quarters, and Russia beat Slovakia 3–2 in overtime. The single point keeps the Slovaks' slim playoff hopes alive, but they'll have to beat the USA in their last game, and hope for a Belarusian loss to Norway.