We’ve turned the calendar from 2017 to 2018, which means it’s time for the knockout stage of this year’s world junior hockey championship tournament.
Canada will play in the second game of the day beginning at 1 p.m. PT against Switzerland and is going in as heavy favourites, even according to Swiss coach Christian Wohlwend.
Wohlwend went on a rant on Sunday when asked about his team’s chances in the quarter-finals and made it very apparent that his expectations for Tuesday’s game are not high.
This is Team Switzerland #WorldJuniors Coach Christian Wohlwend talking about his teams chances again Canada in the quarterfinals.
This is also the words of a defeated man, who has lost all hope in his job. 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/YW15pgKPzB— Bar South N Celly™ (@BarSouthNCelly) December 31, 2017
“We are far away from them still,” he told reporters. “They’re faster, they’re bigger, they’re stronger, they can shoot better, they can pass better, they can do everything better.”
Before the Canadians and Swiss take the ice, Finland and the Czech Republic will face off in the first quarter-final matchup of the day beginning at 9 a.m PT.
If Canada wins, they’ll take on the winner of that Finland - Czech Republic game on Thursday.
GAME DAY! Canada sees the Swiss in quarter-final match this afternoon. #WorldJuniors
— #WorldJuniors (@HC_WJC) January 2, 2018
🇨🇦 vs. 🇨🇭 at 4 p.m. ET
📺 @TSN_Sports
📻 https://t.co/omPaNuTkA7
➡️ https://t.co/ChbO82oFlh pic.twitter.com/nKRAvpT86R
At 3 p.m., Sweden, the top team from the round robin, will take on Slovakia, who finished fourth in Canada’s group.
The day will finish with a game that should be quite competitive, as the United States will take on Russia at 5 p.m.
