Congratulations to Kari Lehtonen and the Finnish national team who will be facing Team Canada in tomorrow's IIHF World Championship gold medal game. By all reports Lehtonen was outstanding between the pipes today for Finland, turning aside 28 of 29 shots to earn a 2-1 win over the previously undefeated Russian squad. Russia was favored going into the tournament and was trying to be the first host team to win gold since the Soviet Union did it back in 1986. No such luck. Ilya Kovalchuk and his compatriots came up short at home and will face Sweden in the bronze medal game.

What does this mean for Thrashers fans? It means at least to players will e going home with medals. Lehtonen is guaranteed at least silver and could finish with gold if Finland can knock off the last undefeated team (Canada) in the tournament. Then in the bronze medal game Thrasher fans can keep an eye on Ilya Kovalchuk and Ilya Nikulin from Russia and Tobias Enstrom from Sweden. You can be sure the Thrashers brass will be monitoring that game as well since there has been talk of Nikulin and/or Enstrom coming over from Europe to compete for spots on the Atlanta blueline.

The best case scenario for the Thrashers' medal haul is a gold for Lehtonen and bronze for Kovalchuk and Nikulin. Worst case is silver for Kari and bronze for Enstrom. Both medal games are tomorrow.

As for individual awards, Kari Lehtonen was named one of Finland's top three players in the tournament. Ilya Kovalchuk received the same honor for the Russian team.

The latest from the IIHF World Championship in Moscow, compliments of our PR staff:

-Russia beat Sweden 4-2 today in the final qualifying round at the 2007 World Championships, being held through May 13 in Moscow, Russia.

-Russia faces the Czech Republic and Sweden takes on Slovakia on Wednesday, while Canada plays Switzerland and USA faces Finland on Thursday in the quarterfinals … The semifinals of the 16-team tournament will be played on May 12, with the gold-medal and bronze-medal games slated for May 13.

-Kari Lehtonen, who stopped 20 of 21 shots in Finland’s 1-0 loss to Sweden on Sunday, has posted a 2-1 record and ranks third among all goalies at the tournament with a 1.00 goals-against average and a .948 save percentage … Finland finished the qualifying round with a 4-2-0 record.

-Marian Hossa, who collected two assists in Slovakia’s 4-3 win over Belarus on Sunday, has earned five points (one goal, four assists) in five games … Slovakia has posted a 4-2-0 record.

-Ilya Kovalchuk has earned five points (two goals, three assists) in six games for Russia (6-0-0), including a goal in Sunday’s 6-3 win over Switzerland … Thrashers prospect Ilya Nikulin shares first among Russia’s defensemen with two goals in six contests.

-Thrashers prospect Tobias Enstrom has notched one assist in six games for Sweden (5-1-0), which beat Finland 1-0 on Sunday.

Apparently it's a good time to be a goalie in the Thrashers organization. Kari Lehtonen picked up his second win of the World championship today, blanking Switzerland 2-0 and turning aside 18 shots in the process. Last night Michael Garnett earned a shutout of his own in Chicago, holding the Iowa Stars scoreless on the way to a 7-0 Wolves win (highlights are here). Colin Stuart had a four-point night for the Wolves and Jordan Lavallee potted a pair of goals. Don Waddell has mentioned Stuart by name when speculating about prospects who could compete for spots with the Thrashers next season and with his solid performance so far in the AHL playoffs I have to think that Lavallee will get a serious look too. At 6'3" and 210 lbs he should be able to crash and bang in the NHL, and given that he played for Patrick Roy last year in the QMJHL you can be sure that Bob Hartley knows all about him.

Speaking of the QMJHL, unfortunately things didn't go well for Ondrej Pavelec and the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles this week as they got bounced from the QMJHL playoffs on Monday night. Pavelec was the top goalie in the "Q" this year though, and we expect big things from him when he starts his pro career this fall.

In other World Championship news, Slovakia lost 4-2 to the United States today. Marian Hossa was even with no points in the loss. He had a goal yesterday in Slovakia's 5-4 loss to Canada. Ilya Kovalchuk has earned two assists with Russia and defensive prospect Ilya Nikulin has two goals. Defenseman Tobias Enstrom has one assist for Sweden and was pointless today in a 5-2 Swedish win over Denmark.

Finland and Russia resume play tomorrow while Sweden and Slovakia each play on Saturday.

Today marks the end of round-robin play at the IIHF World Championship. Ilya Kovalchuk had an assist yesterday to help Russia beat Finland 5-4 and finish the opening round in first place in their group, thanks to a 3-0-0 record. Thrashers defensive prospect Ilya Nikulin who is also on the Russian squad has two goals through the opening round.

Today's big matchup sees Marian Hossa and Slovakia take on Canada in a battle of undefeated teams. Slovakia has a whole lot more firepower than Canada now that they have Hossa, Marian Gaborik and Pavol Demitra in the lineup and I won't be surprised if they pull out a win.  As they are prone to doing, the Canadian squad has struggled in the opening round and has had trouble putting away weaker opponents.

Prospect Tobias Enstrom will hit the ice in today's other game as his Swedish countrymen take on Switzerland.

Here's a taste of we're missing at the World Championships since no American broadcasters are carrying the games. Having all of the games during North American office hours would make it pretty tough for most people to watch anyway though, so I guess I can't blame them.

Anyway- here's what Marian Hossa and Marian Gaborik were up to yesterday in Moscow:

As you probably already know, a trio of Thrashers are over in Moscow competing at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship. Kari Lehtonen and Ilya Kovalchuk each have two games under their respective belts (though Lehtonen rode the bench in Finland's first game) while Marian Hossa played his first game with Slovakia today, picking up an assist in the process. Defensive prospects Tobias Enstrom and Ilja Nikulin are also participating in the tournament, representing Sweden and Russia respectively. Below are some handy links for the tournament (friendly warning: the game summaries on the tournament site all launch PDF files).

Official Site | Schedule | Standings | Scores | Teams

Today's update from Thrashers PR:

Marian Hossa made his tournament debut and recorded an assist today to help Slovakia down Germany 5-1 at the 2007 World Championships, being held in Moscow, Russia, through May 13 … Former Thrashers defenseman Uwe Krupp serves as Germany’s head coach.

Slovakia (2-0-0) blanked Norway 3-0 on Saturday, and closes out the preliminary round against Canada on Wednesday.

Kari Lehtonen stopped 17 of 19 shots to help Finland (2-0-0) skate past Denmark 6-2 on Sunday … Lehtonen served as a back-up goaltender in Friday’s 5-0 win over Ukraine for Finland, which takes on Russia on Tuesday.

Thrashers prospect Ilya Nikulin leads Russia’s defensemen and shares second on the team with two goals … Ilya Kovalchuk has recorded an assist in two games for Russia, which beat Ukraine 8-1 on Sunday to improve to 2-0-0 at the tournament … Russia plays Finland on Tuesday.

Thrashers prospect Tobias Enstrom, a defenseman, helped Sweden improve to 2-0-0 with an 8-2 win over Latvia today … Enstrom is scoreless in two games for Sweden, which beat Italy 7-1 on Saturday and faces Switzerland on Wednesday.

All 16 countries participating in the tournament will play three preliminary-round games, with the top 12 teams advancing to the qualifying round scheduled for May 3-7 … Following the qualifying round, the top eight teams move on to the quarterfinals from May 9-10 … The semifinals will be played on May 12, with the gold-medal and bronze-medal games slated for May 13.