LEKSAND, Sweden (CP) - The world junior hockey championship opened with major upsets Tuesday as Germany defeated the U.S. 2-1 in overtime and Belarus edged Finland 4-3.
Germany and Belarus were promoted to this tournament by winning their respective second-tier world championships last year.
The U.S. came into the tournament one of the favoured teams in Pool A, while Finland was considered a contender to finish first in Pool B.
Marcel Muller scored the winner at 1:51 of overtime for the Germans, who got stellar goaltending from Sebastian Stefaniszin as the Americans outshot them 38-15.
''If you work hard, they are not much better than us,'' Stefaniszin said. ''They are hockey players too. They have the best players of the world. We are one of the 10 best teams in the world and everybody has a chance.''
<table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><!--drop width--><tbody><tr height="8"><td>
</td></tr><tr><td> <!-- Begin Ad --> <script type="text/javascript"> if(!sops){if(p.sops){var sops=p.sops;}else{var sops="";}} if(dUnitBox==true){boxAd=true;} if(boxAd){if((!dUnitSky)||(!dUnitSuper)||(dUnitBox)){place300x250();}} </script> <!--- End Ad --> </td></tr><tr><td> </td></tr> </tbody></table> Sergei Kos
yn of the London Knights led the Belarusian upset with a goal and two assists and goaltender Valeriy Pronin stopped 32 shots.
The teams with the best records in each pool earn byes to the semifinals while the runners-up and third-place teams cross over to meet in the quarter-finals.
Belarus threw Pool B wide open with their victory and the Germans have put a dent in the Americans' aspirations of gaining the bye in Pool A.
''I think we took them a little lightly and I think we underestimated them a lot,'' U.S. forward Peter Mueller said. ''We did this last year with Switzerland and it bit us right in the butt.''
The Americans tied Switzerland 2-2 in the 2006 tournament en route to a fourth-place finish.
The U.S. meets Canada on Wednesday in Mora and the Slovaks on Saturday.
The round-robin format was revamped this year. Games can no longer end in ties and will be decided by overtime or a shootout, if needed.
A win in regulation time is worth three points, an overtime or shootout victory is worth two and a loss in overtime or a shootout earns a team one point.
Christopher Giebe scored a power-play goal for Germany at 13:45 with an off-speed shot over the shoulder of American goaltender Jeff Zatkoff.
The U.S. had ample opportunity to tie the game, but not until Mueller countered with a power-play goal at 8:56 of the third period with a shot through traffic from the blue-line.
Several of the German players seemed unaware of the change to the round-robin format as they came off the bench to celebrate the tie when the buzzer sounded to end regulation time. They were called back to the bench to prepare for the extra period.
The U.S. failed to capitalize on a couple of golden opportunities.
Jack Skille hit the crossbar on a breakaway in the second period. In the first period, Stefaniszin fanned on a rolling puck that was headed for the net behind him, but there were three Germans back to clear it and no Americans to pounce on the mistake.
The Germans are aiming to stay in the top-tier world championship and avoid relegation again.
''It would be a great accomplishment if we are able to stay up,'' said assistant coach and former NHL player Uwe Krupp. ''That's the goal we set out and everything else past staying in it is sort of a bonus.''
Belarus 4, Finland 3
At Mora, Sweden, Belarus scored three unanswered goals in the third period to defeat Finland.
Yuriy Ilin, Kosyn and Mikhail Stefanovich scored as part of a Belarus rally. Mikko Lehtonen got one goal back for the Finns with 33 seconds left when goaltender Tuukka Rask was pulled for a sixth attacker.
Stefanovich opened scoring for Belarus at 6:45. Finland's Leo Komarov scored a power-play goal with three seconds left of the first period to tie the game.
Finland went ahead 2-1 midway through the game when Mikko Lehtonen got another power-play goal.
Germany and Belarus were promoted to this tournament by winning their respective second-tier world championships last year.
The U.S. came into the tournament one of the favoured teams in Pool A, while Finland was considered a contender to finish first in Pool B.
Marcel Muller scored the winner at 1:51 of overtime for the Germans, who got stellar goaltending from Sebastian Stefaniszin as the Americans outshot them 38-15.
''If you work hard, they are not much better than us,'' Stefaniszin said. ''They are hockey players too. They have the best players of the world. We are one of the 10 best teams in the world and everybody has a chance.''
<table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><!--drop width--><tbody><tr height="8"><td>
</td></tr><tr><td> <!-- Begin Ad --> <script type="text/javascript"> if(!sops){if(p.sops){var sops=p.sops;}else{var sops="";}} if(dUnitBox==true){boxAd=true;} if(boxAd){if((!dUnitSky)||(!dUnitSuper)||(dUnitBox)){place300x250();}} </script> <!--- End Ad --> </td></tr><tr><td> </td></tr> </tbody></table> Sergei Kos
yn of the London Knights led the Belarusian upset with a goal and two assists and goaltender Valeriy Pronin stopped 32 shots. The teams with the best records in each pool earn byes to the semifinals while the runners-up and third-place teams cross over to meet in the quarter-finals.
Belarus threw Pool B wide open with their victory and the Germans have put a dent in the Americans' aspirations of gaining the bye in Pool A.
''I think we took them a little lightly and I think we underestimated them a lot,'' U.S. forward Peter Mueller said. ''We did this last year with Switzerland and it bit us right in the butt.''
The Americans tied Switzerland 2-2 in the 2006 tournament en route to a fourth-place finish.
The U.S. meets Canada on Wednesday in Mora and the Slovaks on Saturday.
The round-robin format was revamped this year. Games can no longer end in ties and will be decided by overtime or a shootout, if needed.
A win in regulation time is worth three points, an overtime or shootout victory is worth two and a loss in overtime or a shootout earns a team one point.
Christopher Giebe scored a power-play goal for Germany at 13:45 with an off-speed shot over the shoulder of American goaltender Jeff Zatkoff.
The U.S. had ample opportunity to tie the game, but not until Mueller countered with a power-play goal at 8:56 of the third period with a shot through traffic from the blue-line.
Several of the German players seemed unaware of the change to the round-robin format as they came off the bench to celebrate the tie when the buzzer sounded to end regulation time. They were called back to the bench to prepare for the extra period.
The U.S. failed to capitalize on a couple of golden opportunities.
Jack Skille hit the crossbar on a breakaway in the second period. In the first period, Stefaniszin fanned on a rolling puck that was headed for the net behind him, but there were three Germans back to clear it and no Americans to pounce on the mistake.
The Germans are aiming to stay in the top-tier world championship and avoid relegation again.
''It would be a great accomplishment if we are able to stay up,'' said assistant coach and former NHL player Uwe Krupp. ''That's the goal we set out and everything else past staying in it is sort of a bonus.''
Belarus 4, Finland 3
At Mora, Sweden, Belarus scored three unanswered goals in the third period to defeat Finland.
Yuriy Ilin, Kos
yn and Mikhail Stefanovich scored as part of a Belarus rally. Mikko Lehtonen got one goal back for the Finns with 33 seconds left when goaltender Tuukka Rask was pulled for a sixth attacker. Stefanovich opened scoring for Belarus at 6:45. Finland's Leo Komarov scored a power-play goal with three seconds left of the first period to tie the game.
Finland went ahead 2-1 midway through the game when Mikko Lehtonen got another power-play goal.
