Wondering what Canada’s up against on Thursday at the IIHF world championship?
Norway beat the odds by edging out Slovakia for the final spot in the qualification round, in large part because of their top defence pairing of Anders Myrvold and Mats Trygg.
Myrvold, a rugged defenceman and the only player on the Norwegian team with NHL experience, and Trygg, a high-scoring blue-liner and former Norwegian player of the year, log a ton of ice time and did a great job shutting down Teemu Selanne and Olli Jokinen in a 3-2 loss to Finland. Tommy Jacobsen also logs a great deal of ice time on the back end.
Goalie Pals Grotnes hasn’t stolen any games yet, but has a respectable 2.47 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage in a pair of starts.
Morten Ask is the team’s offensive leader with two goals and two assists. Marius Holtet, a hard-hitting winger, is another player likely to turn heads.
