The whole tournament has been building toward this day. Finally the tournament is free of the distractions of medal contenders and big name players, leaving the bottom six in peace to duke it out amongst themselves for supremacy.
Group C Game 3: Switzerland (0-0-1-1) vs. Norway (0-0-0-2) - 3 PM: The Swiss have defense and offense, which should be more than enough to win this game. They should have four points when all is said and done, which may be more than Russia winds up with. Norway looks like a great bet for 12th, sadly, even with the leadership and cojones of two former Flyers. I'm thinking something like 5-0 will be the final tally here.
Group B Game 4: Slovakia (0-1-0-1) vs. LATVIA (0-0-0-2) - 7:30 PM: While they registered the biggest win of the tournament so far by knocking off Russia, the Slovaks still really aren't in the running for a bye, having only earned two points in two games. So they don't really have a lot to play for. Latvia is unlucky that it is the only team who has to play an opponent with a win tonight, but it's probably a good thing in the long run that our pirates have had to brave such a gauntlet. Whether they win tonight isn't especially important, as long as they keep getting better and better every game.
Group C Game 5: Belarus (0-0-0-2) vs. Germany (0-0-0-2) - 11:55 PM: Saturday night's alright for mediocrity, too. Germany hasn't looked terrible during this tournament, but they've really had trouble wrapping their heads around the part of the sport which indicates that scoring is important. Belarus scared Sweden with an almost-comeback, which had to be fun for them. I think their the favorites in this game, but Germany is the better team. Make sense?
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