Slovakia is a team whose main challenge in the tournament is avoiding relegation. They are the other side of the coin to the storybook rise of Denmark and the solidifying success of Switzerland.
The Slovak team is made up of a few Canadian junior players, a couple from the Swedish leagues, but it is mostly drawn from HK Orange 20. This is a team that plays in the Slovak Extraliga and was created to develop junior players to play in the WJC, when they became concerned about facing relegation.
The Finns needed a nice clean win to make up for their disappointing loss to Russia.