ESPN

All the Dallas Stars playing at the 2012 World Championship are now finished as the USA, Canada and Sweden were all eliminated in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

Stars forward Loui Eriksson had one goal and one assist, but Sweden lost 4-3 to Czech Republic. Czech forward Milan Michalek scored the game-winner with 29 seconds remaining. Eriksson finished with 13 points (five goals, eight assists) in eight games, leading Sweden in goals and finishing second on the team in points.

Defenseman Alex Goligoski had no points in Team USA’s 3-2 loss to Finland. Finland’s Jesse Joensuu scored two goals, including the game-winner with just nine seconds remaining. Goligoski ended the tournament with five points (one goal, four assists) and a plus-seven rating in eight games.

Stars goalie Richard Bachman, who played in one tournament game, was the backup to Jimmy Howard for Team USA on Thursday.

Forward Jamie Benn had no points in Canada’s 4-3 loss to Slovakia. Slovakia’s Michael Handzus scored a power play goal with 2:28 left, snapping a 3-3 tie. Benn ended up with five points (three goals, two assists) in eight games.

Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen is out for the rest of the tournament for the Finns due to a minor knee injury.

Forward Tomas Vincour, who was on the Czech's travel roster for the tournament, was not among the 25 players his country registered to play in the tournament, so he is not eligible to play any games.

Thursday’s results (quarterfinals)

Slovakia 4, Canada 3
Russia 5, Norway 2
Finland 3, USA 2
Czech Republic 4, Sweden 3

Saturday’s games (semifinals)

Russia vs. Finland, 6:30 a.m.
Czech Republic vs. Slovakia, 10:30 a.m.

Alex Goligoski scored a goal as Team USA defeated Switzerland 5-2 in its final game of the preliminary round at the World Championship on Tuesday. Team USA finished second in Group H and will play Finland in the quarterfinal on Thursday.

Forward Jamie Benn had no points and one shot on goal in Canada’s 5-1 victory over Belarus. Canada, which finished first in Group H, will play Slovakia in the quarterfinals.

Forward Loui Eriksson scored a goal for Sweden, which ended preliminary play with a 4-0 victory over Latvia. The Swedes finished second in Group S and will take on Czech Republic in the quarterfinals.

Defenseman Philip Larsen picked up an assist in Denmark’s 6-2 loss to Norway on Tuesday. Larsen ended the tournament with two assists and minus-six rating in seven games. He led Denmark, which finished 13th in the tournament, with 25:05 of ice time per game.

Wednesday is a day off at the tournament. The quarterfinals are on Thursday.

Tuesday’s games

Canada 5, Belarus 1
Norway 6, Denmark 2
Slovakia 5, France 4
Czech Republic 8, Germany 1
USA 5, Switzerland 2

Thursday’s games (quarterfinals)

Canada vs. Slovakia, 5:00 a.m.
Russia vs. Norway, 7:45 a.m.
USA vs. Finland, 10:30 a.m.
Sweden vs. Czech Republic, 1:15 p.m.

Jamie Benn had one assist, two shots and was a plus-1 in Canada’s 8-0 win over Kazakhstan. Benn, who centered a line with Teddy Purcell and Alex Burrows, won seven of 13 faceoffs in the game.

Loui Eriksson had one assist, two shots and was a plus-1 in Sweden’s 4-0 victory over Italy. Eriksson has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in 10 games for Sweden in the tournament.

Philip Larsen played a game-high 27:00 for Denmark, which lost 2-1 to Germany. Larsen had no points, four shots on goal and was a minus-1 for Denmark, which is 0-4-1 in the tournament.

Saturday’s games

Slovakia 5, Belarus 1
Norway 3, Latvia 0
France 4, Switzerland 2
Germany 2, Denmark 1
Canada 8, Kazakhstan 0
Sweden 4, Italy 0

Sunday’s games

Finland vs. USA, 8:15 a.m.
Russia vs. Czech Republic, 9:15 a.m.
Switzerland vs. Slovakia, 12:15 p.m.
Germany vs. Norway, 1:15 p.m.

Stars goaltender Richard Bachman made his first appearance at the World Championship on Friday, stopping 17 of 19 shots as Team USA defeated Kazakhstan in overtime, 3-2.

“I had a lot of things going through my head -- I was excited to throw on the USA jersey and be a starter for a game,” Bachman told USAHockey.com. “I hadn’t played in 10 days -- since I had a little game action in the exhibition against Sweden. For me, I was just trying to get comfortable with my surroundings and just settle in.”

Kazakhstan, which came into the game with an 0-4 record, gave the U.S. all it could handle and forced Bachman to make some quality saves throughout the game.

Stars defenseman Alex Goligoski had an assist, a game-high eight shots on goal and was a plus-three for the USA, which outshot Kazakhstan 50-19.

Carolina’s Justin Faulk scored two goals for the USA, including the game-winner with 22 seconds left in overtime.

Canada defeated Finland 5-3 on Friday. Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen had 21 saves on 25 shots for the Finns, who lost for the first time in the tournament. Stars forward Jamie Benn had no points, one shot and two penalty minutes for the Canadians.

Stars forward Loui Eriksson had two assists, a game-high 10 shots on goal, but Sweden fell to Russia 6-3 in a battle of unbeaten teams. Russia is now the only unbeaten in the preliminary round at 5-0-0.

Eriksson now has nine points (three goals, six assists) in five games and ranks second in scoring at the tournament to Russia’s Evgeni Malkin, who had five points (three goals, two assists) in Friday’s game and now has 12 points (six goals, six assists) in five games.

Vincour won’t play at tournament

The Czech Republic made it official Friday that Stars forward Tomas Vincour won’t play at the World Championship. The Czechs registered their final three players for the tournament to bring their active roster to the 25-man limit and Vincour wasn’t among them.

Friday’s games

USA 3, Kazakhstan 2 (OT)
Czech Republic 6, Italy 0
Canada 5, Finland 3
Russia 7, Sweden 7-3

Saturday’s games

Slovakia vs. Belarus, 4:15 a.m.
Norway vs. Latvia, 5:15 a.m.
Switzerland vs. France, 8:15 a.m.
Germany vs. Denmark, 9:15 a.m.
Kazakhstan vs. Canada, 12:15 p.m.
Italy vs. Sweden, 1:15 p.m.

Stars forward Loui Eriksson picked up an assist as Sweden improved to 4-0-0 with a 5-2 win over Germany at the World Championship on Wednesday.

Eriksson, who is playing on a line with Detroit’s Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen, leads the tournament in scoring with seven points (three goals, four assists) in four games.

Stars forward Jamie Benn had no points, no shots and was even in Canada’s 3-2 victory over Switzerland. Benn again played on a line with Chicago’s Patrick Sharp and Edmonton’s Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

Forward Tomas Vincour is still with the Czech Republic team at the World Championship, but his chances of playing in the tournament appear to be dwindling. The Czech’s have been adding players to their roster as teams get eliminated from the NHL playoffs. Martin Erat of the Nashville Predators is the latest. Philadelphia’s Jakub Voracek could be next, and if he is added the Czech’s 25-man active roster for the tournament would be filled and there would be no room for Vincour.

Wednesday’s games

Slovakia 4, Kazakhstan 2
Norway 6, Italy 2
Canada 3, Switzerland 2
Sweden 5, Germany 2

Thursday’s games

USA vs. Belarus, 8:15 a.m.
Denmark vs. Russia, 9:15 a.m.
France vs. Finland, 12:15 p.m.
Czech Republic vs. Latvia, 1:15 p.m.

Dallas Stars forward Loui Eriksson had two goals and one assist in Sweden’s 6-4 victory over Denmark at the World Championship on Monday.

Eriksson leads the tournament with six points (three goals and three assists) in three games and is tied for first in goal scoring with three other players, including Canada's Jamie Benn.

Benn had two goals, one assist and a plus-4 rating in Canada’s 7-2 win over France on Monday.

Benn had new linemates Monday, playing with Chicago’s Patrick Sharp and Edmonton’s Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. The trio combined for 11 points (five goals, six assists) in the game.

Benn has three goals in three games. His four points are tied for fifth in the tournament.

Defenseman Alex Goligoski had no points, no shots and an even rating in Team USA’s 4-2 loss to Slovakia. Richard Bachman did not play for the Americans. He was the backup to Jimmy Howard for the third straight game.

Defenseman Philip Larsen had one assist for Denmark in Monday's loss to Sweden.

Tomas Vincour did not play for the Czechs, who defeated Norway 4-3 on Monday.

Monday’s results

Canada 7, France 2
Czech Republic 4, Norway 3
Slovakia 4, USA 2
Sweden 6, Denmark 4

Tuesday’s games

Belarus vs. Kazakhstan, 8:15 a.m.
Latvia vs. Italy, 9:15 a.m.
Finland vs. Switzerland, 12:15 p.m.
Russia vs. Germany, 1:15 p.m.

Dallas Stars forward Loui Eriksson had two assists as Sweden defeated Czech Republic 4-1 Saturday at the World Championship.

Eriksson, who again played on a line with Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen, has three points (one goal, two assists) in two tournament games.

Forward Tomas Vincour did not play for the Czechs.

Team USA beat Canada 5-4 in overtime. Alex Goligoski had no points, five shots on goal and a plus-one rating for Team USA.

Goaltender Richard Bachman served as the backup to Jimmy Howard for the Americans.

Jamie Benn had no points and was even for Canada.

Saturday’s results

Switzerland 5, Kazakhstan 1
Russia 5, Latvia 2
USA 5, Canada 4 (OT)
Sweden 4, Czech Republic 1

Sunday’s games

France vs. Kazakhstan, 4:15 a.m.
Denmark vs. Italy, 5:15 a.m.
Finland vs. Slovakia, 8:15 a.m.
Russia vs. Norway, 9:15 a.m.
Switzerland vs. Belarus, 12:15 p.m.
Germany vs. Latvia, 1:15 p.m.

Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen opened the 2012 World Championship with a shutout, stopping all 21 shots he faced as Finland defeated Belarus 1-0 in the first day of games at the tournament.

Lehtonen faced just two shots in the opening period but stopped 12 in the second and then seven in the third in posting the shutout.

Here’s a look at how the other Dallas Stars players fared on day one of the World Championship:

*Forward Jamie Benn scored the first goal of the game in Canada’s 3-2 win over Slovakia. Benn began the game on a line with Anaheim’s Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry.

*Forward Loui Eriksson had a power play goal in Sweden’s 3-1 victory over Norway. Eriksson played on a line with Detroit’s Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen. Joining that line on the power play unit when Eriksson scored his goal were Ottawa’s Daniel Alfredsson and Erik Karlsson.

*Defenseman Alex Goligoski had two assists and a plus-two rating in the USA’s 7-2 victory over France. Goligoski, who was second on the USA in ice time with 22:06, was paired with Carolina’s Justin Faulk.

*Richard Bachman served as the backup to Detroit’s Jimmy Howard, who stopped 21 of 23 shots for the Americans.

*Defenseman Philip Larsen had no points, three shots and a minus-two rating as Denmark lost 2-0 to Czech Republic. Forward Tomas Vincour did not play for the Czechs.

Friday’s results

USA 7, France 2
Germany 3, Italy 0
Canada 3, Slovakia 2
Czech Republic 2, Denmark 0
Finland 1, Belarus 0
Sweden 3, Norway 1

Saturday’s games

Switzerland vs. Kazakhstan, 7 a.m.
Latvia vs. Russia, 9:15 a.m.
Canada vs. USA, 11 a.m.
Sweden vs. Czech Republic, 1:15 p.m.

The 2012 World Championship gets underway Friday in Sweden and Finland, and seven Dallas Stars players are at the tournament.

Defenseman Alex Goligoski and goaltender Richard Bachman are playing for the United States. Forward Jamie Benn is playing for Canada. Loui Eriksson is among the several NHL players on Sweden’s roster. Kari Lehtonen is the Finland’s No.1 goaltender. And Philip Larsen is suiting up for Denmark.

Stars forward Tomas Vincour is with the Czech team, but it’s still not clear if he’ll be playing in the tournament. He apparently won’t be playing Friday since he was not among the players registered by the Czechs on Thursday. The Czechs registered only the 20 players who would dress for Friday’s game against Denmark.

The Teams

Group H (Helsinki, Finland): Belarus, Canada, Finland, France, Kazakhstan, Switzerland, Slovakia, United States

Group S (Stockholm, Sweden: Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Norway, Russia, Sweden

The Format

The preliminary round features round-robin play within each group. The top four teams in each group after the preliminary round will advance to the quarterfinals, which will be played within each group with the first place team playing the fourth place team and the second place team playing the third place team.

In the semifinals the winners will crossover groups. Group H 1st vs. 4th winner will play Group S 2nd vs. 3rd winner. Group S 1st vs. 4th winner will play Group H 2nd vs. 3rd winner.

The two semifinal winners will play for the gold and the two semifinal losers will play for the bronze.

Links

International Ice Hockey Federation (Official tournament site)
IIHF YouTube Channel
USA Hockey
Hockey Canada

Friday’s Schedule (Times are Central)

USA vs. France, 4:15 a.m. (NBC Sports Network)
Italy vs. Germany, 5:15 a.m.
Slovakia vs. Canada, 8:15 a.m.
Denmark vs. Czech Republic, 9:15 a.m.
Finland vs. Belarus, 12:15 p.m.
Norway vs. Sweden, 1:15 p.m.

Today was the final day of exhibition play before the 2012 World Championship and some Dallas Stars players were in action. Here are a few notes.

Richard Bachman stopped 16 of 18 shots, including all 12 shots he faced in the third period, in Team USA’s 3-2 win over Sweden today. Detroit’s Jimmy Howard got the start for the U.S. and stopped all 25 shots he faced. Bachman took over midway through the second period, allowed two goals on six shots in the second and then shut the door in the third as the U.S. protected its 3-2 lead.

Stars defenseman Alex Goligoski had no points, no shots and a plus-two rating for Team USA. Stars froward Loui Eriksson had no points, three shots and an even rating for the Swedes.

Stars center Jamie Benn had no points, three shots on goal and an even rating in Canada’s 4-2 win over Switzerland in exhibition play today. Benn centered a line with Vancouver’s Alex Burrows and Anaheim’s Corey Perry on the wings.

And Stars defenseman Philip Larsen had a power play assist in Denmark’s 4-2 win over Italy.

The World Championship begins Friday in Sweden and Finland.

FRISCO -- Since Kari Lehtonen made the full time jump to the NHL back in 2005 he hasn’t seen much playoff action. Just two Stanley Cup playoff games to be specific. That’s why he’s looking forward to the chance to play for Finland at the 2012 World Championship.

“I want to get used to playing in May and extend the season. That’s what you need to do when you are ultimately in the playoffs and going deep there,” Lehtonen said. “I think that will be great for me to make the summer a little shorter and keep playing.”

Lehtonen’s two NHL playoff games came in 2007, when the Atlanta Thrashers were swept in the first round by the New York Rangers. That year was also the last time he played in May, helping lead Finland to a silver medal at the World Championship, posting a 4-2-0 record with a 1.93 goals against average, and earning best goaltender of the tournament honors.

The Stars netminder sees the tournament experience as similar to the playoffs, where goaltending can be key to a team’s success.

“I’ve done it a few times and you have to try to find your best mode. It’s so short, you have to be on your game totally, because there’s going to be a couple of other goalies that will be for sure,” Lehtonen said. “It’s the same thing probably as a playoff situation. It’s always goalie battles and you try to be the better one. I think that’ll be good for me to get that experience again.”

Lehtonen does have postseason experience besides those two NHL playoff games back in 2007. He led Jokerit to the Finnish Elite League championship in 2002 and was named the playoff MVP. He led the Chicago Wolves to the AHL’s Calder Cup Finals in 2005.

But he hasn’t played beyond the NHL regular season for several years, and the Stars see this chance for Lehtonen to play at the Worlds as a good building block for the Dallas netminder.

“Whenever you get a chance to see what it feels like to playing in May, it’s a good experience,” said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan.

Lehtonen won’t be the only Stars player playing in May. So will Jamie Benn (Canada), Loui Eriksson (Sweden), Alex Goligoski (USA), Richard Bachman (USA), Philip Larsen (Denmark) and Tomas Vincour (Czech Republic).

“I do think it’s important, and I think they’re good experiences,” said Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk. “In the case of some of these guys, they want to make a good impression and get some international experience with the Olympics right around the corner again, and I think that’s all part of it. In the case of Kari, I think it’s important that he plays under that microscope and backstops his country. I think it will be good for him.”

Lehtonen and the Finns will be under a microscope. The tournament is being played in Finland and Sweden. Finland, currently ranked No. 1 in the world and a tournament favorite, will play all of its games in Helsinki.

But it will also be a trip down memory lane for Lehtonen, who played his junior hockey and in Finnish Elite League for Jokerit Helsinki.

“I don’t think that hurts to go back after 10 years since I left, and to go back to the same building,” Lehtonen said. “I think that will be pretty cool.”

And it will be a chance to get some valuable experience as well.

2012 World Championship

When: May 4 – May 20

Where: Helsinki, Finland and Stockholm, Sweden

Who: 16 teams including the United States, Canada, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Slovakia, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Italy and France

Television: NBC Sports Network will carry all the Team USA preliminary round games, all four quarterfinal games, a semifinal game and the gold medal game

Dallas Stars forward Tomas Vincour had to earn a spot on the Czech roster for the World Championship, and he’s apparently done that.

The Czechs announced the roster of players heading to the World Championship after defeating Russia 2-1 in the final game of the Kajobet Hockey Games on Sunday, and Vincour is one of the 15 forwards on the list.

The Czechs said Sunday they are leaving the option to make changes to the current roster if they are able to add NHL players eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Vincour had no points in Sunday’s game, but picked up one goal in four games while playing for Czech national team at the Kajobet tournament and the Euro Hockey Challenge.

Vincour joins fellow Stars Jamie Benn (Canada), Loui Eriksson (Sweden), Kari Lehtonen (Finland), Alex Goligoski (USA), Richard Bachman (USA) and Philip Larsen (Denmark) at the World Championship.

Lehtonen made 26 saves as Finland defeated Sweden 4-1 at the Kajotbet Hockey Games Sunday. Lehtonen, who stopped 57 of 58 shots in two starts, was named the tournament’s best goaltender.

Benn had no points and no shots on goal in Canada’s 2-1 shootout victory over Switzerland in a World Championship exhibition game on Sunday. Canada and Switzerland have another exhibition game on Tuesday.

The World Championship gets underway Friday in Sweden and Finland.

The World Championship begins next week, but teams have been playing exhibition games in preparation for the tournament.

Dallas Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen stopped all 31 shots he faced Thursday as Finland defeated Russia 2-0 at the Kajotbet Hockey Games, a tune-up for the World Championship.

Stars forward Tomas Vincour had no points and one shot on goal in the Czech’s 5-3 win over Sweden in the other tournament game.

Fellow Stars forward Loui Eriksson isn’t playing for Sweden at the tournament. He is expected to join the team early next week.

The tournament, which is being played primarily in the Czech Republic, runs through Sunday.

Stars forward Jamie Benn and Team Canada play Switzerland in an exhibition game Tuesday.

Defenseman Alex Goligoski, goaltender Richard Bachman and Team USA have an exhibition game against Sweden on Tuesday.

Defenseman Philip Larsen and Denmark host Italy in an exhibition match Tuesday.

The World Championship begins May 4 in Finland and Sweden.

FRISCO -- It’s no secret that the Dallas Stars power play was a sore spot this season. The numbers are well documented. It was the worst in the league at 13.5 percent. That percentage was the worst in franchise history and the 33 goals scored set a franchise mark for power play futility as well.

But here are some more numbers. The Stars were 20-6-3 this season when they scored on the power play and 22-29-2 when they didn’t. In their 42 wins they were 24-138 on the power play for a 17.4 percent conversion rate. In games they didn’t win they were 9-106 or 8.5 percent.

The power play was a hot topic the Stars faded away in the playoff race and it was still a topic as the Stars held exit interviews and met with the media this week.

“I am sure that will be number one on Glen Gulutzan’s agenda this summer, breaking that down and analyzing,” Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk said of the power play. “There was a lot of discussion about Jamie Benn not being out there as much as some other guys. There was a time period where Mike Ribeiro, Michael Ryder and Loui Eriksson were kind of carrying this team and having some success, but it didn’t translate on the power play for any of our guys and we’re really going to have dig in hard and figure out why.”

When asked about possible offseason moves, Nieuwendyk mentioned the power play as an area that needed to be addressed.

Gulutzan said the Stars had the personnel to have a better power play this season, but they just didn’t get the job done.

“I don’t think we need to bring in anyone for the power play. As coaches I think we can do a better job,” Gulutzan said. “The power play comes with a little bit of confidence and that got in our kitchens a little bit. I think we’d go about thing somewhat differently with our power play, but we changed it four or five times. Everybody focuses a little bit on the end, but we were getting pressure from day one to game 82 on that thing. We changed it four times and who played with who four times, and I think it just got in our kitchen a little bit.”

Gulutzan has some valid points. The Stars’ power play woes took center stage after a dismal performance in the loss to San Jose that basically doomed its playoff chances, but it was erratic for most of the year. And there were a lot of different combinations of players used over the season, too. The only constant was that it struggled most of the time. There were a few good runs on the power play, but they were offset by some long stretches of low productivity.

“It’s the number one part we have to get better at,” said Stars forward Loui Eriksson. “We have to score more on the power play, that’s the way we can win more games. … We have to outwork them. We’ve been a little too sloppy sometimes. We need to put more pucks to the net, too. I think that’s how you score goals. You have to get traffic in front and put pucks there. Then rebounds will come out and you will score more goals. That’s something we need to do.”

It didn’t help that the Stars had only 244 power play opportunities, the third lowest total in the league, and that they were shorthanded 303 times, the fourth most in the league. Despite having a respectable penalty kill that ranked 13th in the league, they still gave up 19 more power play goals than they scored.

“Certainly we think it’s an area we where we can get four or five more points by having a better power play,” said Gulutzan. “Along with discipline, we can get four or five more points and we’re not minus-60 as far as penalties for and against. But as far as personnel goes, I think we have the personnel here to have a good power play.”

Hockey Canada announced its first 17 players for the 2012 World Championship, and Stars forward Jamie Benn is among that group.

Benn, who has represented Canada at the World Junior Championship, is one of 11 forwards on the roster. Other forwards include Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, John Tavares, Jordan Eberle and Jeff Skinner.

"Whenever you get a chance to play in May, it is a good experience. Plus, they are playing with some elite players over there," Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. "For Benny, it's maybe a chance to play with Getzlaf, Perry, Tavares and those type of players, guys of his caliber. They make each other better, so it will be a good experience."

The announcement on Canada's roster and the list of players is here.

Stars defenseman Alex Goligoski and goaltender Richard Bachman were on Team USA's initial list of players, which was released yesterday. Texas Stars goaltender Jack Campbell is expected to be added to the roster as well.

Goaltender Kari Lehtonen is expected to play for Finland, forward Loui Eriksson is playing for Sweden, defenseman Philip Larsen will play for Denmark and Tomas Vincour is under consideration for the Czech squad.

The tournament, which gets underway May 4, will be played in Helsinki, Finland and Stockholm, Sweden.