World champions the Czech Republic lose their final group game against the USA 2:5, meaning Switzerland finish the preliminary round of the World Cup in Denmark and Sweden as group winners and will face Austria in the quarter-finals.
It is now clear: the Swiss national team finishes the group phase of the Ice Hockey World Championship in first place and will face outsiders Austria in the quarter-finals! In addition, Patrick Fischer's team will remain in Herning for the quarter-final on Thursday and will not have to travel to Stockholm.
While the Swiss did their duty in the final group game with a 4:1 win against Kazakhstan, the Czechs suffered their first defeat of the tournament at the end of the preliminary round.
The defending champions squandered a 2:1 lead against the USA in the final third and thus missed out on their seventh win in their seventh game. Instead of advancing to the quarter-finals in first place in Group B, the Czechs dropped to third place in the table behind Switzerland and the USA.
Against Austria in the quarter-finals
Because a possible quarter-final duel between co-hosts Sweden and Denmark was ruled out, Switzerland also had to wait for the last group matches on Thursday evening to find out their next opponents. However, as Sweden missed out on first place in Group A and thus the clash with Denmark, nothing stands in the way of the quarter-final clash with Austria on Thursday in Herning.
Austria's ice hockey team, led by Swiss coach Roger Bader, qualified for the World Championship quarter-finals for the first time in 31 years thanks to a 6:1 victory over Latvia. Three forwards from the National League played a decisive role in Austria's surprising victory in the final group game in Stockholm. Dominic Zwerger from Ambri-Piotta and Vinzenz Rohrer from the ZSC Lions both scored twice. Benjamin Baumgartner of SC Bern was also among the scorers.
