On May 21, 2019, the group stage of the 2019 World Hockey Championship ended. The four teams that took first places in the Bratislava group were joined by four more teams from the Kosice subgroup. These eight best teams will compete for the main trophy of the tournament and the title of world champion.
According to the regulations of the 2019 Ice Hockey World Championship, the quarterfinals will be played on 23 May. Two meetings will take place in the capital of Slovakia, Bratislava, and two more ¼ final matches will be played in Kosice. At the end of the group stage, all pairs of the quarterfinalists were formed. Some signage confrontations are worthy of a gold medal match.
The first quarterfinal pair was made by the national teams of Canada and Switzerland. The Canadians, as the winners of Group A, will play with the fourth place from Group B. The Canadian national team looks like the favorites of the meeting, however, European hockey players can surprise. In the history of the world championships, the Swiss have already beaten Canadians in the playoffs. In anticipation of the game, the Swiss national team was significantly strengthened by the arrival of one of the country's main hockey stars - the Carolina Hurricanes forward Nino Niederreiter. This match will take place in Kosice. The meeting starts at 17:15 Moscow time.
In parallel with the Canada - Switzerland match in Bratislava, the Russian national team will start their way to the playoffs. Despite the fact that the Russians confidently took first place in their subgroup, the rivals in the first round of the playoffs to Ilya Vorobyov's charges got very serious. The fourth place in Group A was taken by the US team, which includes many NHL stars in the tournament. This position of the Americans is sensational. Many experts call this team one of the main favorites of the entire tournament. Therefore, the Russia-USA match already at the quarterfinal stage is of great interest and seems to be one of the most intriguing confrontations at the ¼ final stage of the 2019 World Cup.
In the evening session in Kosice, the national teams of Finland and Sweden will play. Finnish hockey players finished second in Group A, and the Swedes in their subgroup let the Russians and Czechs go ahead, taking the final third position. The quarterfinal match Finland - Sweden also claims the title of one of the brightest confrontations not only in the ¼ final, but in the entire playoffs. A special intrigue is also whether the NHL stars from Sweden will be able to break the resistance of the Finnish players, who play for the most part in the European championships. That being said, the Finnish national team cannot be underestimated. This team has already managed to beat the Canadians at the preliminary stage. The match will start at 23:15 Moscow time.
The final pair of quarterfinalists are the national teams of the Czech Republic and Germany. The Czech team, which has many leaders from the National Hockey League clubs, took second place in Group A. The German national team, led by their leader Leon Dreiseitl, managed to bypass the Americans at the end of the group stage, taking the third position. On paper, the Czech national team seems to be the favorite. However, do not forget that the Germans showed a very balanced hockey at this tournament. This team is well-managed by a coach and has a man who has scored 50 goals in an NHL season. In the quarterfinal pair Czech Republic - Germany, one thing is clear - in Bratislava, the favorites will clearly not be easy. The start of the game is scheduled for 23:15 (Moscow time).
