Help with playoff sched please

[mpdman]

Hi Folks,

I bought a pair of tix to the Sept 8 quarter final game in Toronto thinking that it was assured to be a Canada game - no matter what the standings after the opening round.

I've since been told that there is a 1 in 6 chance the game could be Slovakia vs. Russia. This would be the case if US is 1 and Canada is 4, or US is 2 and Canada is 3. There is statisically a 4 in 24 chance of that - probably less in reality as Canada is not likely to finish last. But ya neva know....

The SVK/Rus would be a good game, but...

Has anyone been able to pin down exactly what the playoff structure is?

MP

[Jazz]

Hello mpdman.

It basically works like this:

Canada and USA have a round-robin game which is being played in Canada (in Montreal).

So what has happened is that (for the sake of fairness) if they happen to meet in the QF stage of the tournament, that game will be played in Minnesota - leaving the Russia - Slovakia game to be played in Toronto on Sept 8th.

An your math is correct, the chances of this happening are not good, but there is a chance nonetheless!
If I were you, I'd hold onto to those tickets no matter what. Even a Slovakia-Russia game at this level will be a great match!

Gurj in Vancouver.

[Jazz]

I'll also add that my understanding is that it doesn't matter where Canada and the USA end up in the round robin - their game will be in Minnesota.

Meaning, even if Canada is 1st and the USA is 4th, the game will still be in the US.

[mpdman]

Thanks for the info Gurj - unfortunately, it's not happy info....

This means it is a 1 in 3 chance it will not be Canada. I'm sure the Svk/Rus game will be a good one, but I really wouldn't be cheering too hard either way.

Where did you see this? I've been googling everywhere to no avail.

I guess I'll just be hoping for a 1 - 2, Canada - US finish! Unfortunately, we all know Canada starts slowly in these tourneys.

Cheers.

MP#nosmileys#nosmileys

[Jazz]

I remember reading it when the schedule first came out.

I was curious about this and paid special attention to it after they messed up the schedule last time (1996) when the USA-RUS SF was in Ottawa and the CAN-SWE SF was in Philadelphia.