Blazing Belarusians knock out Ukraine

Belarus outskated, outhustled, and outskilled Ukraine tonight at Skonto Arena, earning a well deserved 9-1 win to remain in the thick of things in Group F. The power play factored in again as the team scored four times with the extra man, two of those goals coming on 5-on-3 situations.

Montreal Canadiens prospect Mikhail Grabovsky had a hat trick and Andrei Skabelka had a goal and five assists. Andrei Kostitsyn, also a potential future Canadiens star, added three assists.

"The key to our success is that we have to score on the power play, and the Grabovsky line has to produce," said Belarus Head Coach Glen Hanlon. "Both of those things happened tonight."

Belarus now has four points, while Ukraine is officially eliminated from possible quarter-final participation. Russia and Sweden lead the way with six and five points, respectively, and the Swiss have four along with Belarus, but have a game in hand. For now, Belarus sits above the Swiss because of a superior goals differential (+5 to +1). The top four teams in the group move on to the quarter-finals.

"Our goal was to try to improve from last year, where we placed 12th," said Hanlon.

Belarus plays Switzerland on Tuesday in a game that will likely decide that fourth and final spot.

Belarus opened the scoring at 10:36 while enjoying a two-man advantage made possible by a careless play on the part of Ukraine goalie Kostyantyn Simchuk. With the team down a man, Simchuk inadvertently fired the puck into the players' bench, resulting in a minor penalty and putting his team in a hole. Mikhail Grabovsky converted a nice pass from behind the net by beating Simchuk through the legs from in tight.

Belarus upped its lead to 2-0 at 2:11 of the second with Sergei Klymentiev in the penalty box. He was back in the lineup tonight after having his suspension reduced from two games to one, but Viktor Kostyuchenok made him pay the price by ripping a low shot in the slot past Simchuk in much the same way Grabovsky scored in the first.

The Belarusians blew the game open 26 seconds later by scoring again, this time on a scramble in front of Mezin, with Oleg Antonenko doing the damage.

They added a fourth goal, third on the power play and second while 5-on-3, at 15:47 when Grabovsky counted his second of the game, banging home a loose puck in another scramble around Simchuk's net. Klymentiev was one of he players in the box for Ukraine.

The second period was dominated by Belarus, so Ukraine was lucky to score at 19:47 when Yuriy Gunko drifted a point shot on goal that Mezin couldn't see.

Belarus made it 5-1 at 5:06 when Dmitry Dudik barged his way to the goal and managed to get a shot off while being weakly checked by Klymentiev, who was hardly having the kind of impact on the game he had hoped to upon being given the chance to play.

The romp was on when the Belarusians drew two more penalties off their speed on the rush and on another 5-on-3 chance they converted to make it 6-1. Kopat added a goal at 16:40 and Grabovsky completed the hat trick at 17:26. While he celebrated the goal, Ukrainian D-man Andrei Sryubko jumped Andrei Kostitsyn and started punching him in the head. Dudik closed out the scoring at 17:48. Then, with one second left in the game, Andriy Mikhnov started punching another Belarus player, trying to start a fight. It was not a pretty way for the Ukrainians to go out.

Ukraine plays its final game against Slovakia on Tuesday.

Grabovsky's hat trick in the game tied him with Sidney Crosby for the tournament lead in goals, with five apiece. Skabelka's six points launched him into a tie for second place in tournament scoring with Patrice Bergeron--both have eight points. Crosby leads the way with nine points.

Historic win over Swiss puts Belarus into quarter-finals

Second only to beating Sweden in the 2002 Olympics, what happened Tuesday afternoon at Skonto Arena was a huge moment in Belarusian hockey history. With a 2-1 win over Switzerland, Belarus clinched third place in Group F with six points and a quarter-final berth versus Finland.

"I've been an athlete, and I know what it feels like when you're on the ice and you have everything to lose and the other team doesn't," Belarus Head Coach Glen Hanlon said of the pressure the Swiss team faced. "In this situation, a loss would have been disheartening, but we've accomplished a fair amount up to this point. So I think we came out and we weren't as tense, and we were better able to play our game."

Switzerland's fate, meanwhile, depends on the outcome of the Ukraine-Slovakia game: a Slovak win or tie puts the Swiss out and gives Slovakia the fourth and final quarter-final berth.

It is the first time Belarus has ever cracked the Playoff Round at an IIHF World Championship. The nation finished eighth in its 1998 elite division debut, but that was before the current playoff format was instituted.

In this tight-checking affair, Andrei Skabelka led the Belarusian attack with a goal and an assist, while Sergei Zadelenov also scored. Martin Pluss replied for Switzerland.

Goalie Andrei Mezin made 29 saves for Belarus, while David Aebischer countered with 19 stops in the Swiss nets.

"We found ourselves in a hole for the fifth time in this tournament," said Swiss Head Coach Ralph Krueger. "But we had a strong reaction after falling behind. Looking at Belarus, they had the most exceptional tournament they've ever played. They're outstanding with the lead, they have Mezin, and they play great defense."

The victory continued a remarkable run for Belarus, which has only been definitely outclassed once so far in this tournament with a 4-1 loss to Sweden.

In the early going, the teams played cautiously with the majority of the play along the boards, and when the goalies were tested, it was only with harmless long-range shots.

The Belarusians opened the scoring at 9:04 when Andrei Skabelka circled out of the corner to Aebischer's left and fired a shot from the faceoff circle over the goalie's glove.

At the other end, Mezin alertly blocked an Ivo Ruthemann wraparound attempt and picked off a high Mark Streit drive from the point just over a minute later.

Working with a two-man advantage for 1:14, Switzerland couldn't cash in as Mezin blocked another Streit blast and the Belarusian penalty-killers maintained a disciplined box formation.

"A lot about this tournament comes down to special teams," said Hanlon. "That's what it takes to be successful. The 5-on-3 kill was tremendous for us."

At 16:37, Belarus got a power play opportunity after Swiss defenseman Goran Bezina hauled down Dmitri Meleshko cutting around Aebischer's net. On one shift, the Belarusians managed to hobble both Julien Vauclair and Martin Pluss with hard shots off the ankle, but couldn't penetrate the net for their second goal.

Mezin continued his heroics on a Swiss power play in the sixth minute of the second, turning away tough Streit and Sandy Jeannin shots from the line with traffic in front.

Just seconds after a Swiss penalty to Thierry Paterlini ended, the Belarusians capped two minutes of intense pressure when Sergei Zadelenov tried to convert a pass from Skabelka and then snared his own rebound at the left side of Aebischer's net before popping it high over the fallen goalie for a 2-0 lead at 9:58 of the middle frame.

"It's critical that [Belarus] got the lead," said Krueger. "Andrei Mezin is one of the best, if not the best, goaltenders in the tournament."

Another Swiss power play saw Mezin foiling Valentin Wirz on a close-range shot with two seconds left before the minor to Sergei Erkovich.

At 8:17 of the third period, the Swiss finally broke through to make it 2-1 when the Belarusians turned it over in their own zone and Ruthemann whacked it toward the goal, where Martin Pluss deftly tipped the puck past Mezin.

"We gave it everything we had in the third when we scored," said Swiss forward Kevin Romy. "We were close to another goal, but couldn't score. We should have had a much better start to this game."

Zadelenov stripped Mark Streit of the puck inside the Swiss blueline with just over six minutes remaining and swept in on goal for a great chance, but Aebischer averted his deke attempt.

The Belarusian checking became even more tenacious down the stretch. Mezin was there to prevent occasional opportunities like Thomas Deruns's backhand at the side of the net with 2:32 remaining.

Aebischer was pulled for the extra attacker in the dying moments as the Swiss battled for the equalizer with pressure in the Belarusian end, but to no avail.

"We owe our success to Glen Hanlon," said Belarus forward Dmitri Dudik. "He came all the way from North America to coach this team again. He is the reason we are successful, and he has us believing in ourselves."

Attendance was 3,170.

Don't underestimate Belarus

Betawin.com is currently taking $1 to $10.50

Belarus has been performing brilliantly with their new coach and should not be underestimated in their next game agains Finland. Only time will show who is better out of those two teams. Right Now I would bet on Belarus. Thats my prediction.

My overall prediction is that Russia would win the IHWC this year, their performance at Euro tour was really impressive.

Swedes ease frustrations of past in win vs. Swiss

By Helene St. James, Detroit Free Press

TORINO — Their recent history was brought up in meetings, not that anyone needed a reminder.

After two bitterly disappointing Olympics, the Swedes leaped toward redemption Wednesday by battering Switzerland 6-2. The Swedes will face the Czechs, who ousted Slovakia 3-1.

"I think it means a lot for people in Sweden," Detroit Red Wings defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom said after contributing two assists. "It's another big hurdle that we passed."

The Swedes haven't been in contention for a medal since 1994, when Peter Forsberg scored the game-winning shootout goal to win gold. After a quarterfinal loss to Belarus in 2002, a Swedish newspaper ran the Olympic team's mug shots beneath a headline that screamed, "Traitors."

Four years later, the Belarus blunder was brought up to remind players never to underestimate any opponent. "I thought it helped us, because we knew if we don't come out hard, you can be outbattled and outplayed (by) any team," Forsberg said.

The second period began badly for the Swedes when top defenseman Mattias Ohlund was checked from behind by Patric Della Rossa, leaving Ohlund sliding across the ice before hammering his left shoulder into the boards. Ohlund did not return.

"He jammed the chest, shoulder," coach Bengt Gustafsson said. "He went for an X-ray to see if anything's broken."

Afterward, the Swedes answered as many questions about that day's game as the one the previous night. Gustafsson told Swedish TV it would be more favorable for his team to play Switzerland in a quarterfinal than either Canada or the Czech Republic, and that scenario presented itself when Sweden lost 3-0 to Slovakia on Tuesday. Players dismissed the comments again Wednesday.

"He kind of said it jokingly when he said it, and it came out the wrong way, I think," Lidstrom said. "We had pressure from the previous tournaments that we've lost in quarterfinals. I think that was more of a pressure point than what was said."

World No. 1, Philly No. 2:

Finland's Antero Niittymaki could end up proving he's one of the world's best goaltenders before he proves he's the Philadelphia Flyers' best goaltender.

Niittymaki, 25, still is theoretically a backup to Robert Esche on Philadelphia's depth chart, and yet his 1.25 goals-against average and .956 save percentage are major reasons why the Finns will have two shots at winning a medal this weekend.

"It is pretty amazing that the Finns are down to their fourth and fifth guys in goal and they keep winning," said U.S. forward Mike Knuble, who plays in Philadelphia. "But Niitty has played a lot of hockey for us this year, and he's a (fine) goaltender."

The Finns expected to have quality goaltending but thought it would come from the Calgary Flames' Miikka Kiprusoff or the Atlanta Thrashers' Kari Lehtonen. Both pulled out with injury concerns. Niittymaki is not without credentials. Last season, he outplayed Lehtonen to help the Philadelphia Phantoms beat the Chicago Wolves for the American Hockey League title.

Florida Panthers forward Olli Jokinen said the Finns should surprise no one. "This is the second tournament in the last two years that we have been able to use our best lineup, and the only game we lost was to Canada in the World Cup finals," he said.