Pirate Galaxy » oud9, Luminosity excels at winning engages

STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- Canada will face Sweden in Thursdays quarter-final at the IIHF World Championship. That matchup was confirmed Tuesday when Switzerland defeated Belarus 4-1 to finish first with 20 points atop Canadas pool. Canada (5-1-1-0) ranked second with 18 points. Sweden (5-2, 15 points) had third locked up before beating Denmark 4-2 in its final preliminary-round game. The top four countries in each group of eight advance to the quarter-finals with first playing fourth and second facing third. The Czech Republic hammered Norway 7-0 to claim the groups fourth and final playoff berth Tuesday. The Czechas meet unbeaten Switzerland in Thursdays other quarter-final in Stockholm. Finland finished atop the Helsinki pool after a 3-2 win over Latvia and will face Slovakia in the quarter-finals. Slovakia clinched fourth place in the group with a 4-1 win over the United States. Russia and the Americans will meet in the other Helsinki quarter-final. Also Tuesday, Germany edged France 3-2 in overtime. The Canadians had a day off from the ice Tuesday after a 4-3 overtime win over Slovenia to conclude the round robin the previous night. Some players were already expecting the host country to be their next opponent in the tournament. Canada defeated Sweden 3-0 last week, but that was before the arrival of forwards Henrik and Daniel Sedin and defenceman Alex Edler from the Vancouver Canucks. "Theyve added some key players and they gave us a tight game already in front of their home fans," Canadian forward Steven Stamkos said. "Its going to be a hostile environment." The quarter-final is a game Canada couldnt get past the last three years in this tournament. Canada last won a world title in 2007 and its last medal was a silver in 2009. Defenceman P.K. Subban of the Montreal Canadiens was scheduled to arrive in Stockholm on Tuesday. The finalist for the Norris Trophy that goes to the NHLs top defenceman will skate with the Canadian team Wednesday and play Thursday. "P.K. is going to come and help us thats for sure," Canadian assistant captain Stephane Robidas said. "You cant rely on just one guy to do all the work or on one line or one set of defencemen. You need the whole group. You need everybody to pull together in the same direction. Everybody has to chip in in different ways. I think thats what weve had the last couple of games." Wholesale NFL Store . The Redskins announced Monday that the quarterback who led the team to the Super Bowl championship in the 1987 season will serve as a personnel executive. Cheap NFL Shop . Defenceman Yannick Weber scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and the Canucks breathed a sigh of relief with a 2-1 win on Saturday night. http://www.jerseyschinanfl.com/ . The Oilers come in having lost five in a row (0-4-1) and 16 of their last 20 games, dropping a 2-1 decision to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday. Wholesale Jerseys NFL . Irving scored 23 points, Tristan Thompson had 20 points and 10 rebounds and the Cavaliers beat the Denver Nuggets 117-109 on Friday night. Cheap Football Jerseys . Already owning gold from competition in Vancouver in 2010, Loch posted a combined four-run time of 3:27.526. That included a track-record third run of 51. The Call of Duty World League (CWL) Pro Division Stage 2 playoffs are upon us, with the eight best teams in North America fighting for a piece of the $250,000 prize. Also up for grabs is a handful of the all-important World League Points, which can guarantee a prospective team a spot in the Call of Duty World Championship in September. In the more immediate future, on July 14-17, the careers of some of the greatest Call of Duty players in the world will be on the line at the ESL Studios located in Burbank, California.Lets break down some of the opening matchups:#1 Team EnVyUs vs. #8 H2KTeam EnVyUs record: 15-6 | Maps W/L ratio: 61.9 percentRoster: Bryan Apathy Zhelyazkov, Jordan JKap Kaplan, Johnathan John Perez, Austin SlasheR LiddicoatH2Ks record: 11-11 | Maps W/L ratio: 49.4 percentRoster: Damod FEARS Abney, Andres Lacefield Lacefield, Tyree LegaL Glover, Phillip PHiZZURP KlemenovThanks to a litany of lag-filled games that gave it a cushy record, EnVyUs likely didnt deserve the No. 1 seed and certainly are not the best team in the CWL, but you cant really fault it for following the match schedule. While its roster is littered with seasoned professionals, it was the move to bring in John just before Stage 2 that pushed this team to new levels; the former Luminosity Gaming player has been exceptional, posting a 1.09 KD ratio and a 20.3 kill-per-round (K/R) ratio, both top-ten figures in the CWL.Meanwhile, H2K rallied into the playoffs after a mid-season lull saw it drop six consecutive contests. While EnVyUs should defeat it, John might be the deciding factor for whether the team can advance further. In the best-of-seven format, each team must play three Search and Destroy rounds, which is a game mode that EnVyUs just so happens to struggle with. In order for it to succeed, John must step up his game in the sniper role, providing enough cover for his teammates to work on the objectives.#4 Rise Nation vs. #5 Cloud9Rise Nations record: 13-9 | Maps W/L ratio: 59.8 percentRoster: Nicholas Classic Di Costanzo, Daniel Loony Loza, Samuel Octane Larew, Josiah Slacked BerryCloud9s record: 13-9 | Maps W/L ratio: 54.0 percentRoster: Adam Assault Garcia, Nicholas Happy Suda, Colt Havok McLendon, Devin Llama TranThe darlings from Stage 1, Rise Nation limped through the better part of June, managing just a 4-6 record en route to a disappointing fourth place finish in Stage 2. Itll take on one of the more surprising teams from Stage 2, Cloud9, who blitzed through the final few weeks of competition to vault into fifth place.Of the eight teams to qualify for the playoffs, Cloud9 sports the second-lowest DT/R (distance traveled per round) mark, excelling at close combat fights where it forces its opponents to approach. In particular, Assault and Havok have been masterful in the short-to-intermediate zones, racking up a 1.14 and 1.11 KD respectively, both top-10 figures in the CWL. One problem: Rise Nation likes to play the same way. The Stage 1 runner-ups slot in just behind Cloud9 when it comes to distance traveled per round, and are neck-in-neck when it comes to team KD. The tie generally goes to the team that has supplied a proven track record, but I wouldnt be surprised if Cloud9 pulls off the upset. Either way, I expect the winner of this matchup to knock off the winner of EnVyUs/H2K.#3 FaZe Clan vs. #66 Dream TeamFaZe Clans record: 13-9 | Maps W/L ratio: 62.dddddddddddd.4 percentRoster: Dillon Attach Price, James Clayster Eubanks, Ian Enable Wyatt, Thomas ZooMaa PaparattoDream Teams record: 11-11 | Maps W/L ratio: 50.6 percentRoster: Martin Chino Chino, Steven Diabolic Rivero, Adam KiLLa Sloss, Troy Sender MichaelsWith the recent announcement that the CWL/ESL will help facilitate a public sale of Dream Teams CWL slot, an opening round upset over FaZe Clan could have huge ramifications, not just for playoff seeding, but the World Championship scene as well. The 40 World League Points earned by qualifying for the Stage 2 playoffs wont be enough to push Dream Team into the top six in overall points, which is the cutoff for invites to the World Championship. In order to reach the top six, it must knock off FaZe Clan, who has looked like one of the best teams in the CWL for the better part of Stage 2.The stats would tell you Dream Team face an uphill battle, as every single member of FaZe ranks in the top 15 in terms of KD; the team as a whole posts a 1.10 KD, easily the best mark in the league. For Dream Team to have any shot, it must take advantage of the Search and Destroy and Capture the Flag rounds, where the collective slaying power of FaZe Clan could be thwarted by smart, objective-based play. Dream Team are not favored to win, but crazier things have happened in Stage 2.#2 OpTic Gaming vs. #7 Luminosity GamingOpTic Gamings record: 16-6 | Maps W/L ratio: 61.2 percentRoster: Ian Crimsix Porter, Matthew FormaL Piper, Damon Karma Barlow, Seth Scump AbnerLuminosity Gamings record: 11-11 | Maps W/L ratio: 49.4 percentRoster: Anthony NAMELESS Wheeler, Renato Saints Forza, Michael SpaceLy Schmale, Jeremy StuDyy AstacioIf Luminosity were playing any other team, I would have easily picked it to advance to the semifinals. The move to bring in NAMELESS near the end of May has been a spark for the team; its gone 9-5 with him to end the season. Much like Cloud9, Luminosity excels at winning engages after letting the fight come to it. Of the eight teams qualified for the playoffs, it owns by far the lowest DT/R, but still posts one of the better team-KD lines, slotting in with a respectable 1.03.That style of play could be a huge factor against teams that are susceptible to tilting into madness, but it wont have an impact against a veteran team like OpTic Gaming. Its not just that OpTic Gaming have been the best team in Stage 2, with over half of its losses attributable to forfeits or extreme bouts of lag. Its that it has been the best team in Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, winning every major tournament during 2016 with ease.Scump, the Stage 1 MVP, has held fast to that title in Stage 2, once again securing the highest KD in the CWL while ranking near the top 10 in other major categories: K/R (kills-per-round), D/R (deaths-per-round) and SPM (score-per-minute). Teammate FormaL has developed into one of the most feared snipers in all of Call of Duty while Crimsix and Karma continue to do the dirty work necessary to win. Make no mistake: despite its No. 2 seed, OpTic Gaming are still the favorites to win Stage 2, and it would be a shock to not see it in the finals come Sunday. ' ' '