Same as it ever was

Off day in the AHL playoffs; four games Wednesday. Dylan Reese is said to remain out for Wilkes-Barre but at least is skating. Neat stuff from Lindsay Kramer on Howard Dolgon and Bruce Landon. The once and future HartfordWolfPack.com is kinda sparse right now unless you’re looking for season tickets, but there it is.

The U.S. finished the round robin at the World Championship with a disappointing loss to Slovakia that knocked it down to third in the pool and a Thursday-morning date with Russia, the only other team that beat the Americans (and now a Russian team fortified with New Haven Open tennis fan Alex Ovechkin), and yipes, Ben Bishop (h/t: Chris Peters. America). Finland wins the pool with a win over Latvia (despite needing overtime after a late Latvian tying goal) and faces Slovakia. (There’s crossover between the two pools come the semifinals.)

Even with the upsets and the close wins and all, the Big 8 make the quarters anyway. Nino Niederreiter was off the scoresheet again, but Switzerland won its pool anyway, the only unbeaten team in the tournament. It’ll face the Czech Republic in the quarters, leaving Canada to face Sweden, which finished up with a win over Denmark with goals for the Sedins. Germany gets ninth overall with its overtime win over France (Christian Ehrhoff early in OT).

And Jack Capuano: Maine Hall of Famer. (H/t: Dan Hickling.)

Michael Fornabaio