Previewing the IIHF World Championships

Via: zimbio.com

It's that time of year again. As the NHL playoffs are getting started up, so too is the IIHF World Championships, where the top hockey nations compete for the right to be called world champion. Though not a truly best on best competition as the Olympics is, the WC is still a prestigious event that features some great hockey. This year's event will take place between May 3rd and May 19th in Helsinki and Stockholm. Let's take a look at some of the rosters offer some brief analysis for this year's contending teams.

Canada 
Key Forwards: 
Steven Stamkos, Eric Staal, Jordan Staal, Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Claude Giroux, Matt Duchene.
Key Defensemen:
Brian Campbell, Stephane Robidas, Luke Schenn, Justin Schultz.
Goaltenders:
Devan Dubnyk, Mike Smith, Michael Garnett.
Head Coach: 
Lindy Ruff
Analysis: With Stamkos leading the way, Canada boasts probably the deepest forward group in the entire tournament. While offense will be no problem for them, the defense might. It's a fast, mobile, puck-moving group on the back end, but young and may need to rely on veterans Campbell and Robidas to do much of the heavy lifting in their own end. Smith and Dubnyk form a good one-two punch in net and overall it's another strong Team Canada this year.

USA
Key Forwards:
Paul Stastny, Nate Thompson, Nick Bjugstad, Bobby Butler, Ryan Carter, Stephen Gionta, David Moss.
Key Defensemen: 
Erik Johnson, Jamie McBain, Jeff Petry, Jacob Trouba, Chris Butler, Matt Carle, Justin Faulk.
Goaltenders: 
Ben Bishop, John Gibson, Cal Heeter.
Head Coach:
Joe Sacco
Analysis: The Americans have had little success at the World Championships, with only one medal (a bronze in 2004) in the last sixteen years. This year looks to be no different. The forward corps lacks any true top-end talent, but will be a hard working group that hopes to wear the opposition down. The strength of the American team will be their defense, with Johnson and Carle leading a young group, but one that has international experience and can move the puck well. Bishop, who had a great season in the NHL, should get most of the starts in goal. He'll be backed up by Gibson, who won gold at this year's world junior's tournament. If the Americans can employ strong team defense and get quality performances from their goaltending, they should have a chance, however it may not be enough against the more skilled and experienced teams.

Russia
Key Forwards: 
Ilya Kovalchuk, Sergei Mozyakin, Alexander Radulov, Artem Snisimov, Viktor Tikhanov, Andre Loktinonov, Alexander Perezhogin.
Key Defensemen:
Fedor Tyutin, Denis Denisov, Evgeni Medvedev, Nikita Zaitsev.
Goaltenders:
Ilya Bryzgalov, Semyon Varlamov, Vasili Koschechkin
Head Coach:
Zinetula Bilyaletdinov
Analysis: The defending champion Russians are without the 2012 tournament MVP Evgeni Malkin, and Pavel Datsyuk but still boast a dynamic offense as usual. With Kovalchuk, Mozyakin and Radulov, the Russians will score their fair share of goals. But it's the same story as usual on defense, where there is little depth and no NHLers beyond Tyutin. The Russians can't entirely trust their goaltenders Bryzgalov and Varlamov either, as both were very inconsistent in the NHL this season, though Varlamov was brilliant in last year's tournament. For the Russians to compete in this tournament, they're going to have to score their way out of trouble and hope from a huge performance from one of their goalies.

Sweden
Key Forwards:
Loui Eriksson, Gabriel Landeskog, Joel Lundqvist, Par Arlbrandt, Simon Hjalmarsson, Oscar Lindberg.
Key Defensemen:
Henrik Tallinder, Staffan Kronwall, Erik Gustafsson, Daniel Rahimi.
Goaltenders:
Jhonas Enroth, Jacob Markstrom, Johan Gustafsson.
Head Coach:
Par Marts
Analysis: Though most of Sweden's top players are currently in the NHL playoffs, including last year's team scoring leader Henrik Zetterberg, the Swedes still boast some talent up front. Eriksson and Landeskog will be supported by some of the top scorers in the Elitserien this season. The defense will be lacking some scoring punch, but will be a physical, punishing group. Look for Enroth to start in goal, as he had a very good season with Buffalo this year. Overall this year's tournament co-hosts bring a balanced squad with a good mixture of offense, defense, toughness and quality goaltending.

Czech Republic:
Key Forwards: 
Jiri Tlusty, Jakub Voracek, Radim Vrbata, Jiri Hudler, Martin Hanzal, Tomas Fleischmann.
Key Defensemen: 
Jan Hejda, Zbynek Michalek, Ladislav Smid, Jakub Krejcik.
Goaltenders:
Ondrej Pavelec, Alexander Salak, Pavel Francouz
Head Coach: 
Alois Hadamczik
Analysis: Though the Czechs will be without Ales Hemsky, they've still received a huge influx of offensive talent since last year's tournament. Voracek and Vrbata will lead a deeper forward group than they've had in years. The defense will similarly get a boost with the addition of Michalek, Smid and Hejda. Winnipeg Jets goaltender Pavelec will get most of the starts and the team will put a lot of faith in him to steal a few games if they want to medal for a 4th consecutive year. Considering how much more NHL talent the Czechs have this year compared to last, they should have a good opportunity to do so.

Other teams and players to watch out for in this year's tournament include Finland (Niklas Hagman, Lauri Korpikoski), Slovakia (Tomas Kopecky, Andrej Sekera), Switzerland (Roman Josi, Nino Niederreiter, Martin Gerber), Germany (Marcel Goc, Christian Ehrhoff), France (Cristobal Huet), Austria (Thomas Vanek), and Denmark (Mikkel Bodker). Latvia, Belarus, Slovenia and Norway have no NHL talent and will likely fight at the bottom to avoid relegation. With the first round of the NHL playoffs ending as late as May 13th, it's still possible that a few nations will get a boost of players coming over before the medal round beings.

Okay, I've gone too long with this post so let's get right to my bold prediction:
Gold:Canada
Silver:Russia
Bronze: Czech Republic

That's all for now, thanks for sticking with me and reading the whole thing! I'd love to hear your comments on who you think will win the gold, and please share if you like the content here at WAAP. Keep checking back as I'll provide daily updates during the tournament.