WJC Group B: Dec 28 GDT - Canada vs. Switzerland (7-2)

An interesting game. Canada defeated Finland 3-0 in their opening game and Switzerland outplayed Ukraine 11-0 yesterday.
I don't expect Switzerland to win this one, but it could be pretty close.


Prediction: 4-1 Canada

6-1 Canada

I think the Canadians could be much too strong for a relatively small Swiss team.

Let's Go Switzerland!!! :handclap:

It's blind optimism on my part, but I'll predict a 4-2 Swiss win. Bartschi with the hat trick, Ramholt with a goal. Stewart and Crosby for the Canadian team.

Interesting match-up. If Switzerland can get a transition game going and finish their chances this could be closer than one might think. I'll go 6-2 Canada, although the game won't be decided until the second half of the 3rd period where Canada's size and physicality will wear yet another small team into the ground..

Agreed: It'll be closer than the Canadians think. I say Canada, 3:1 but the Suisse will score first. Stewart with the winner. Go, go Canada!

5-0, Canada.

Canada 4-2. Crosby gets 2 assists and plenty of chances, but the Swiss play us hard. The Swiss always scare me at the Juniors. I'd hate to play them in a quarter final match. The other group should be weary of them.

6-1 Canada. Bartschi with the only goal for the Swiss.

Oh and Dion Phaneuf will be a MONSTER :p
Don't get me started... :)

4-1 Canada

7-0 Canada.I think Crosby will finally put is name on the scoring sheet.

5-2 Canada

4-1 Canada

5-2 Canada but it will be a close one

Richards 1g & 1a
Phaneuf 2a
Paillé 2a

Bartschi 2g
Ramholt 2a

3-1 Canada (Burns, Dawes, Coburn, Bartschi)

6-2 Canada.

Crosby (2), Carter, Burns, Dixon and Stewart with the goals for Canada. Peter Guggisberg with both Swiss goals.

6-0 Canada.

4-2 Canada

The Swiss don't have their best team this year. They are missing several key players due to injury. Prediction: 5-0 Canada

Who's playing goal for the Swiss?

I'm pretty sure you will see manzato in the net tomorrow.

Oh boy 7:0 ? 6:1 ? Hmmmmmm I go with 4:1 Can it will be closer than you think

0:1 Swiss

Manzato throws his stick on the PK, penalty shot for Canada. Richards takes it and scores to tie it at 1. I don't know who scored the Swiss goal yet.

Canada still is on the PP I believe.

Edit: No they aren't. Back to five on five.

1:1

Goals so far...

Switzerland:

13. GRAUWILER, Lukas
(11. BARTSCHI, Patrik)
(2. BAUMGARTNER, Lukas)

Canada:

18. RICHARDS, Mike

Sounds like the Swiss team is playing Canada well so far.

Canada scores, this one will take the air out of Switzerland, because they were playing with some confidence. 2-1 Canada now.

Latest Canadian goal:

I believe Phaneuf scored it, they don't have it up on IIHF yet.

COBURN scored ?

Yes Coburn scored.

29. COBURN, Braydon
(22. BURNS, Brent)

There's the box from the last goal.

I'm listening to the game on the net, btw, I can provide a link if anyone wants it.

Another penalty on the Swiss, on Lukas Baumgartner for holding. Power play for Canada, this could be bad for the Swiss.

Edit: Getzlaf puts it in right when the PP starts. 3-1 Canada, Switzerland is going to need to mount a comeback.

3-1 cANADA Getzlaf on pp

Here's the box score from the first period.

Swiss First Goal:

13. GRAUWILER, Lukas
(11. BARTSCHI, Patrik)

Canada ties it up:

18. RICHARDS, Mike (penalty shot)

Takes the 2-1 lead:

29. COBURN, Braydon
(22. BURNS, Brent)

Getzlaf makes it 3-1 on the power play:

15. GETZLAF, Ryan
(32. SEABROOK, Brent)
(5. GORGES, Josh)

3-1 after one period of play. Switzerland was playing well, but the penalty shot seemed to turn the tide for Canada.

Here's the box score from the first period.

Swiss First Goal:

13. GRAUWILER, Lukas
(11. BARTSCHI, Patrik)

Canada ties it up:

18. RICHARDS, Mike (penalty shot)

Takes the 2-1 lead:

29. COBURN, Braydon
(22. BURNS, Brent)

Getzlaf makes it 3-1 on the power play:

15. GETZLAF, Ryan
(32. SEABROOK, Brent)
(5. GORGES, Josh)

3-1 after one period of play. Switzerland was playing well, but the penalty shot seemed to turn the tide for Canada.
Are you watching the game?

Are you watching the game?

Nope, listening on fan590 (Toronto Radio). http://www.fan590.com/

Is anyone watching the game? The announcers just said Bartschi made a nice drop pass on the first goal, I was wondering if anyone saw it. I didn't have the computer on until after the goal, so I didn't even hear the Swiss goal. :dunno:

Nope, listening on fan590 (Toronto Radio). http://www.fan590.com/

Is anyone watching the game? The announcers just said Bartschi made a nice drop pass on the first goal, I was wondering if anyone saw it. I didn't have the computer on until after the goal, so I didn't even hear the Swiss goal. :dunno:
Yes i saw it,The swiss capitalized on the an error.The Canadian look shaky in their own zone,they play softly imo.But they dominate the swiss so far.

Manzato throws his stick on the PK, penalty shot for Canada. Richards takes it and scores to tie it at 1. I don't know who scored the Swiss goal yet.

Canada still is on the PP I believe.

Edit: No they aren't. Back to five on five.

Just learned a rule : if you get a penalty shot on the PP and you score PP is over.

Yeah, it seems that Canada has dictated most of the play since the penalty shot goal. Must have just got off to a rough start, but it'll be interesting to see how the Swiss come out.

Just learned a rule : if you get a penalty shot on the PP and you score PP is over.

Yeah, same here. The announcers found out too, which is why I said the wrong thing in the first place! :joker:

Game back on!

Yes i saw it,The swiss capitalized on the an error.The Canadian look shaky in their own zone,they play softly imo.But they dominate the swiss so far.

well it was a failed wrap around move (by Canada in the swiss zone) that crossed the ice and ended up on the stick of Bartschi in the neutral zone. He then crossed our blue line and made a nice drop pass to ....

4-1 CANADA Getzlaf strike again.

Well, I'm going to by lying down away from the computer still listening, so I won't have the updates for a while.

If anyone watching could give me a small scouting report on how Bartschi is playing I'd really appreciate it. I have heard a few good things so far. If not, it's fine.

Getzlaf just puts it in for Canada as I am speaking. 4-1 Canada, I'm a believer now, Canada is really playing well.

Bartschi made another smooth drop pass on the PP. Only time I noticed him.

Thanks. fan590 is going in and out on me now.

Sounds like Switzerland is playing them pretty close, but not getting any sustained pressure or chances. Canada has capitalized on their chances.

goal Stewart 5-1 Canada

5-2. Defense is horrible against the Swiss. USA will kill us if we continue this play.

Goal changed to Stewart 6-2.

Sidney's first goal of the tournament! :handclap: 7-2 Canada

Crosby scored, maybe the boards will crash now... ;)

Finally he's been close to getting it and now he's got it. CONGRATS!

Omg what a beauty by Crosby,this kid is unreal!

Crosby scored, maybe the boards will crash now... ;)

I was thinking the same thing when I saw it.

Poor HFboards :(

the kid is sick that goal was sweet!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Boards are still working for me. Interesting...heh

Nice, quick shot bt Sid. Impressive work getting behind the Swiss dman and around the other sprawling one.

Decent game by Canada. Pretty interesting to see some of those soft calls again this year. The charging call in the 2nd and the high stick in the 3rd looked weak but resulted in nothing.

A quick question though. Does the IIHF count Mike Richards' penalty shot goal as a PP goal? Canada was on the PP when he was awarded the shot but I don't know what the rules are.

Great game by Canada. They're starting to gel.

Cherry says : Crosby rubbing it in in the dying seconds ;)

Boards are still working for me. Interesting...heh

Nice, quick shot bt Sid. Impressive work getting behind the Swiss dman and around the other sprawling one.

Decent game by Canada. Pretty interesting to see some of those soft calls again this year. The charging call in the 2nd and the high stick in the 3rd looked weak but resulted in nothing.

A quick question though. Does the IIHF count Mike Richards' penalty shot goal as a PP goal? Canada was on the PP when he was awarded the shot but I don't know what the rules are.

I'm almost certain that it count for a PP goal.... Or maybe it just a Penalty shot goal .. dont really know...

I think they count it as as PP goal

some random thoughts -

where are the fans? The only people there were parents of Canadians and the odd (odd-looking, anyway) guy dressed up with red and white (look like Canadians who might be playing over in Europe?).

Gorges is turning into something of a missed story - probably the best Canadian D today.

Crosby-Dixon-Tambellini had better puck control than the other lines throughout the game and will score more as the tournament proceeds.

Crosby is a great opportunist and the shot was perfect - he is playing solid for a 16 year old.

Fleury looked pretty average on the second goal.

Phaneuf looks like he is coasting out there - but you really have to wonder where Belle's head is at with some very poor choices along the way.

If it wasn't for some sloppy play in our own end, that game would have been a complete domination.

Once again, the size and skill of the canadian forwards completed ran over an opposing defense corp.

The Richards, Dawes and Stewart line was again very solid.

The Carter, Burns and Getzlaf line was a lot better today and really stepped it up offensively. Brent Burns in particular was very solid. I think a lot of people really underestimate Burns ability, and not just at this tournament. He's very quick, he's one of the best stickhandlers on the team, he's strong on the puck, he's physical. I think this guy's upside in the NHL is a lot higher than we are giving him credit for.

Sidney Crosby was absolutely outstanding today. This kid, I mean, he's going to be a good one. There is no overhyping. He's quick, he's elusive and he's playing a much larger role than Spezza did as a 16 year old. Was great to finally see him getting a goal.

Marc Andre Fleury is looking a little shaky, he really hasn't been all that stellar so far, but I'm sure when we really need him most, he'll be there.

Peter Guggisberg was the most impressive Swiss player for me. Holy crap is this guy quick. He was beating Canada's defense to the outside all day.

Just a quick thought on the officiating. What an absolutely HORRID job. Maybe the worst officiating I've ever seen at any game at any level. I don't even know if these guys knew the rules. And it's not just about the charging penalty to Burns. That was only one instance. There was the penalty call on the Swiss and the fact that they had touched the puck numerous times and play wasnt whistled.......and when it finally was, they didn't even touch the puck. Then all the weird icing and offside calls which were just baffling. I pray to god that these guys don't ref a meaningful game in this tournament.

where are the fans? The only people there were parents of Canadians and the odd (odd-looking, anyway) guy dressed up with red and white (look like Canadians who might be playing over in Europe?).

It's always like this in many European cities. The host team and their main rivals always put up great attendance numbers but any games that are viewed as possible blowouts see poor showings.

There are very few countries in which a Canada/Swiss game will draw more than 25% capacity. I wouldn't expect the Fins to be very interested in this matchup but didn't think the attendance would look as poor as it did.

I think Fleury was by far the worst player for Canada today. He was not sharp and his concentration was little to none. I'm sure he will continue the tournament with stellar performance.

BTW, The Crosby goal was great and he could have finish the game with 2 or 3 goals.

but you really have to wonder where Belle's head is at with some very poor choices along the way.


That was the knock on Belle when he was drafted. Million dollar skills and a two cent brain. Very similar IMO to Tim Gleason.

I think Fleury was by far the worst player for Canada today. He was not sharp and his concentration was little to none. I'm sure he will continue the tournament with stellar performance.

BTW, The Crosby goal was great and he could have finish the game with 2 or 3 goals.
Phaneuf wasn't great too ...
I was hoping more from him !!
Burns was very solid !! ... Richard too!
and crosby is so talented !!! :p

Fleury wasn't sharp today but I don't think the coaching staff will be overly concerned. He knows what he has to do for his next start.

My guess is that Harding will be in nets for the game against the Ukraine.

I think Fleury was by far the worst player for Canada today. He was not sharp and his concentration was little to none. I'm sure he will continue the tournament with stellar performance.

BTW, The Crosby goal was great and he could have finish the game with 2 or 3 goals.

Yeah and I'm sure Crosby will definitely get 2 or 3 goals against Ukraine, tomorrow :handclap:

quick note I donno if anyone else saw it but John Muckler was there at the game.

I want to see the crosby goal, you think TSN will have it as a video highlight on their site later?

I want to see the crosby goal, you think TSN will have it as a video highlight on their site later?
Yeah for sure or just watch sportcentre tonight.

Man this sucks I taped the game but I only got the first period and then the power went out. Canada played a goood first period but their defence wasn't that good. Good to hear that Canada won 7-2.

Man this sucks I taped the game but I only got the first period and then the power went out. Canada played a goood first period but their defence wasn't that good. Good to hear that Canada won 7-2.
If you want to see the rest of the game, TSN is replaying the game at 4:30 pm ET

If you want to see the rest of the game, TSN is replaying the game at 4:30 pm ET
Thanks I was just going to ask if they show it again.

For anyone that cares, the game is being repeated at 4:30EST.....

I thought it was a good game...The Swiss were freakin' quick, and played the transition game VERY well. Basically how they scored both of their goals.

I couldn't help but notice, that on both Swiss goals however, there is a Team Canada Dman almost directly in the way. I would need to see the goals from different angles, but the first one, it almost looked like Fleury didn't find the puck until it was too late.

Crosby was excellent this morning. The guy has major league skill, and it looks great. He BLEW by Swiss dmen numerous times, and his goal I thought he was gonna dish the puck of to Tambilinni, but instead shot and sniped the corner above the tenders shoulder. GREAT GAME! Like Mcguire said....first EVER 16year old MONSTER! :D

The Wild have themselves a player in Burns, he impressed me a lot.

Canada was just truly overpowering them it seemed. The Swiss didn't get much sustained pressure, unlike Canada, who was able to put pressure on and get chance after chance and bury it.

Let's hope that somehow no one on HFBoards gets to hear or see the Ukraine game, because Crosby could have a huge day... and there goes the boards. ;)

Yeah for sure or just watch sportcentre tonight.

I don't live in Canada :(

Finland beat the Czechs so now Canada needs a win against Ukraine and a tie against the Czechs to get the bye.

I thought that the two goals were both a result of a bad call by a Canadian defenceman, particurly the second where Phaneuf made a terrible choice and was far out of position trying to take out a man that wasn't important while the Swiss scored.

Overall, I was impressed with the Swiss, who played significantly better than I was expecting of them, and demonstrated that they had a lot of speed.

Once again, Stewart was simply dominant in the offensive zone, as was the big line for Canada. Getzlaf played very well in general, and Burns continnues to shows why he's in the NHL right now.

Solid game today. The boys capitalized on most of their chances really took the play to the Swiss. The top 2 lines continue to impress me with their size and strength and work down low in the corners. Great to see Crosby get his first and get the monkey off his back. He is starting to get use to the difference between this tournament and the Q in which there is a huge difference. I think he'll start scoring now on a regular basis. I'll say he'll pot 3 or 4 tomorrow against Ukraine :D

Man a Canada Crosby jersey would be so sweet right about now :_)

Finland beat the Czechs so now Canada needs a win against Ukraine and a tie against the Czechs to get the bye.

How does tie break work if the Czechs beat Canada and a 3 way tie is set up with Finland, Czechs and Canada? Is it total goal differential? That could make each teams game against Ukraine very important; Best team at running up a score wins a bye. Not a very satisfying result or healthy goal to enter a game with...or does goal differential for the 3 games (Canada/Finland, Finland/Czechs, Canada/Czechs) count first?

I may be horribly biased to Phaneuf, but other than the blown play on the one goal I didn't think he was all that bad, really he had a bad give away just like it last game but got bailed out, just this time his play helped along a goal. But other than that I really wasn't that disappointed with his play, I was more disappointed with Ramholt's play, I guess not hearing a d-man's name can be a good thing, but I really thought he'd do more, not too shabby though, my expectations may be too high.

BTW Emaneul Peter rocks :yo:

Was the game on earlier today? It started here after the Thrashers/Sens game finished on TSN at around 1:45 PM PST. I checked my TV Times last night, and it didn't say it was on this morning.. am I wrong?

Anyways, watching the game now. Just finished the first, it's 3 - 1. The best Swiss player I think has been the goal scorer. Name escapes me, but he's made a few savvy offensive moves, and the shot was a nice one.

Coburn shocked the crap out of me with that shot. Richards prooved again why he is going to be much better than people think. Getzlaf's goal went off the goalies blocker, but that is a good coaching play. Right-shot, right side from the D going left side on the goalie (blocker side), you're pretty much guarenteed a rebound, and with Burns and Getzlaf (both huge guys) around there, there's no way they can stop that.

Excellent coaching by Marios DesRoches.

Was the game on earlier today? It started here after the Thrashers/Sens game finished on TSN at around 1:45 PM PST. I checked my TV Times last night, and it didn't say it was on this morning.. am I wrong?

Anyways, watching the game now. Just finished the first, it's 3 - 1. The best Swiss player I think has been the goal scorer. Name escapes me, but he's made a few savvy offensive moves, and the shot was a nice one.

Coburn shocked the crap out of me with that shot. Richards prooved again why he is going to be much better than people think. Getzlaf's goal went off the goalies blocker, but that is a good coaching play. Right-shot, right side from the D going left side on the goalie (blocker side), you're pretty much guarenteed a rebound, and with Burns and Getzlaf (both huge guys) around there, there's no way they can stop that.

Excellent coaching by Marios DesRoches.
Canada's big line was good in todays game, and they will have to continue to hit, and score and play rough to win some games. Fleury looked shaky out there.

Was the game on earlier today? It started here after the Thrashers/Sens game finished on TSN at around 1:45 PM PST. I checked my TV Times last night, and it didn't say it was on this morning.. am I wrong?

Anyways, watching the game now. Just finished the first, it's 3 - 1. The best Swiss player I think has been the goal scorer. Name escapes me, but he's made a few savvy offensive moves, and the shot was a nice one.

Coburn shocked the crap out of me with that shot. Richards prooved again why he is going to be much better than people think. Getzlaf's goal went off the goalies blocker, but that is a good coaching play. Right-shot, right side from the D going left side on the goalie (blocker side), you're pretty much guarenteed a rebound, and with Burns and Getzlaf (both huge guys) around there, there's no way they can stop that.

Excellent coaching by Marios DesRoches.
Canada's big line was good in todays game, and they will have to continue to hit, and score and play rough to win some games. Fleury looked shaky out there.

Yes Mizral it was on earlier today, I flicked er on early this morning and watched the first period, then the channel went black along with alot of others.. power must of been out somewhere..

So I just finished watching the rest of it.

Was the game on earlier today? It started here after the Thrashers/Sens game finished on TSN at around 1:45 PM PST. I checked my TV Times last night, and it didn't say it was on this morning.. am I wrong?

Anyways, watching the game now. Just finished the first, it's 3 - 1. The best Swiss player I think has been the goal scorer. Name escapes me, but he's made a few savvy offensive moves, and the shot was a nice one.

Coburn shocked the crap out of me with that shot. Richards prooved again why he is going to be much better than people think. Getzlaf's goal went off the goalies blocker, but that is a good coaching play. Right-shot, right side from the D going left side on the goalie (blocker side), you're pretty much guarenteed a rebound, and with Burns and Getzlaf (both huge guys) around there, there's no way they can stop that.

Excellent coaching by Marios DesRoches.

The game was actually played at 7:30 AM EST (I think that was 3:00 PM local time), but TSN shows encores repeatedly on slow days (it will be on again at 12:30 AM EST for those that didn't catch the whole thing).
A couple of my own notes while watching the game (with apologies if I'm repeating what others have said):
As good as Phaneuf and Meech were as a pairing against Finland, they were equally as disappointing today. They weren't actually bad, but disappointing is the right word. On the first Swiss goal, Phaneuf looked very indecisive as to what he was going to do, so he ended up doing his best impression of a crucifix and did nothing but block Fleury's vision of the shooter. In a rush like that, I don't think it's a great idea for both D-men to be back-pedalling that close to the net. Phaneuf also made the common young physical defenceman blunder of taking himself out of position for the big hit. Not only did he not connect, but he ended up half way into the Canadian bench.

Brent Burns is strong. Watching him skate around in the Swiss end with someone hanging off of him while still maintaning possession of the puck was impressive. He wasn't able to get a superb shot off, but it was still great to watch. The line of Burns-Carter-Getzlaf is going to cause trouble for every opponent.

The most effective line today was the Bret-Paille-Talbot line that were extremely strong forechecking and caused a number of turnovers. Although they didn't get any points, the Swiss had all sorts of trouble sorting them out.

Canada needs to start letting some shots get by or Fleury's going to look human. He looked positively bored and rusty when shots did get through. He's used to facing 30-35 shots a game minimum with the Pens.

The Seabrook-Coburn pairing while defensively steady, appeared to be a little slow as to responsiveness and skating speed. Perhaps splitting them up for the Ukraine game wouldn't be such a bad idea. A Phaneuf-Seabrook and Belle-Coburn set-up would even out any kind of defensive liabilities and speed issues. It would also free up Belle to make some serious breaks instead of having him with Klein/Gorges.

Someone needs to buy Pierre McGuire a thesaurus before he takes the colour out of colour commentary. I'm going to turn off the sound if I hear him use his buzz-phrases again ("Transition defence", "strong on the puck", "strong down low"). He must have used each of those at least 40 times on the night.

Sidney Crosby is a treat to watch.

Where was everyone? I've had better attended basketball games in front of my house . . .

That was the knock on Belle when he was drafted. Million dollar skills and a two cent brain. Very similar IMO to Tim Gleason.

I wouldn't call his brain a two-cent brain. I would call it an "offensive oriented" brain. If he was paired with someone like Brent Seabrook or Braydon Coburn, we'd see a lot more offensive production from Belle and a lot less blame placed on him for rushes going back the other way.
Defensively, Belle looked steady if not impressive. It's just that he's sometimes looking for offensive opportunities when they are not there. He'll always be that kind of player, but let him work with it and he could turn out to be a Bryan Berard with two good eyes; high risk-reward but certainly exciting.

Someone needs to buy Pierre McGuire a thesaurus before he takes the colour out of colour commentary. I'm going to turn off the sound if I hear him use his buzz-phrases again ("Transition defence", "strong on the puck", "strong down low"). He must have used each of those at least 40 times on the night.
[/list]

I think that you'd better throw in a dictionary as well...it doesn't look like Pierre has any idea what the word 'duress' means...

I watched the replay this afternoon and Crosby was the best skater on the ice. I say that without exagerating at all. If his linemates were more capable of gaining position on defenders he would have had 4 assists today. He creates so much and is on the puck every second he's out there. His strength at 16 is amazing and his drive to the net has looked unstoppable, even against the Finns. There have been at least 6 times already where he's driven to the net and created a play (either a pass or a rebound) that would have been buried if his linemates fought for the inside position.

Sid could definitely be finishing better, but he's still so much fun to watch. It is truly a treat.

And his finishing will come with time. He's only 16. He's got what, 3 more years at this tournament? By the time he's 19, he can be finishing all over the place. He also needs better linemates to help him finish. He's going to do well this tourney, next tourney and in the NHL.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO GO BOYS GO :yo:

Try here....

I dunno if the video is good or not...

http://iquebec.ifrance.com/rns/image/Crosby.zip

And his finishing will come with time. He's only 16. He's got what, 3 more years at this tournament?

He'll be drafted after next year, after which he'll probably not be released by his NHL team to play in this tourney. He'll have one more crack at it, that's it.

I may be horribly biased to Phaneuf, but other than the blown play on the one goal I didn't think he was all that bad, really he had a bad give away just like it last game but got bailed out, just this time his play helped along a goal. But other than that I really wasn't that disappointed with his play, I was more disappointed with Ramholt's play, I guess not hearing a d-man's name can be a good thing, but I really thought he'd do more, not too shabby though, my expectations may be too high.

BTW Emaneul Peter rocks :yo:
Ramholt was really really disappointing today. After seeing him play for Cape Breton i know what he can do but other than a couple of strong outlet passes he was an icing machine. Whether there was trouble or not he was going to shoot the puck down the ice and he had one shift where he was trying to ice it but it stayed in twice and canada got good chances. he was awful. Too bad Romy was unable to play as well . If Switzerland is to challenge the big boys the goaltending has to be exceptional. It was far from that in this game- poor rebound control and general hockey sense ** lack of} hurt manzato today. he's a better goalie than he showed as well. I expected more from the Swiss but i guess Canada is quite good, size and strength to burn.

It's always like this in many European cities. The host team and their main rivals always put up great attendance numbers but any games that are viewed as possible blowouts see poor showings.

There are very few countries in which a Canada/Swiss game will draw more than 25% capacity. I wouldn't expect the Fins to be very interested in this matchup but didn't think the attendance would look as poor as it did.

I was there... The Swiss played a good game, but their team was very uneven. Also Manzato looked horrible at times. With Stephan in goal, things could have gotten more intresting(4-2 or something in the lines of that)...

He'll be drafted after next year, after which he'll probably not be released by his NHL team to play in this tourney. He'll have one more crack at it, that's it.

I agree. You don't release a guy in the top 20 in scoring for some "international junior experience".