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Switzerland’s Roman Josi won three honours at the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. The Nashville Predators defenceman was Most Valuable Player, Best Defenceman and selected for the All-Star Team.

Josi became the first Swiss player ever to earn MVP honours and an award at an IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. He led all defencemen in scoring with four goals and five assists in ten games. He’s joined on the defence of the All-Star Team by fellow countryman Julien Vauclair.

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Apparently there were a handful Swedes who had full confidence in their team before Sunday’s final. One of them was Carl XVI Gustaf. The real king of Sweden.

“I was pretty calm,” His Majesty told the players when the newly-crowned world champions paid a visit at the Royal Palace in central Stockholm just 12 hours after they had beat Switzerland 5-1 in the final.

As the team presented the royal family with an autographed sweater, the players probably already heard the Poodles play their official tournament song - “En för alla för en”, or “one for all for one” - in the background because meanwhile, thousands and thousands of people gathered in Kungsträdgården, a recreational park that can be seen from the castle.

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With Ryan Miller’s future in Buffalo in limbo, Sabres fans were able to get a better look at the man who would be Miller’s likely replacement should he be moved on a grander stage.

Jhonas Enroth was given the reigns to lead team Sweden into the IIHF World Championship tournament as its number one goaltender, and didn’t disappoint. With a 26 saves on 27 shots, Enroth backstopped the Swedes to gold at the 2013 World Championship with a 5-1 win over Switzerland on Sunday.

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Finland overcame a slow start against France to earn a 3-1 victory Monday night at Hartwall Arena. The host Finns remain unbeaten through three games.

Juhamatti Aaltonen had a goal and an assist, and Janne Pesonen and Ville Viitaluoma also tallied for Finland. Team scoring leader Petri Kontiola added two helpers.

"We made it a little too difficult for ourselves," said Kontiola. "It wasn't anything they did, we made it difficult. Something's still missing from our game."

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Germany had the lead in the game twice, but not when it mattered the most: after 60 minutes of play. Tomas Zaborsky’s two third-period goals carried Slovakia to a 3-2 win over Germany.

Last year, it took 15 points in to make the final four in the Helsinki group. In Stockholm, the fourth-pace team had 13 points after the preliminary round’s seven games.

Germany got one point in their first game against Finland, which they lost in overtime, but were left without a point in their second game against Russia. Slovakia, in turn, beat France in its first game, and has those three points in the bank.

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Latvia’s highest-drafted player ever, Zemgus Girgensons, arrived in Helsinki today and has been registered prior to tonight’s game against the U.S.

It will be the first IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship for the 19-year-old forward, who represented Latvia in U20 competition in 2011 and 2012, and in the 2010 U18 World Championship.

The centre was picked by the Buffalo Sabres 14th overall in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft and became the highest-drafted player from the Baltic country.

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The 2013 IIHF World Championship Disciplinary Panel has suspended Norway’s Ole-Kristian Tollefsen and Marius Holtet for one game for two separate incidents in Sunday’s game against Denmark. Both players will miss Norway’s game against Canada on Thursday, May 7.

The first incident occurred at 14:10 of the first period when Norway’s Ole-Kristian Tollefsen checked Denmark’s Mikkel Bødker from behind. A two-minute boarding penalty was called on the play. Bødker suffered a light thigh injury.

The second incident occurred at 5:59 of the second period when Norway’s Marius Holtet boarded Denmark’s Daniel Nielsen. A two-minute boarding penalty was called on the play. The Danish national team reports that Nielsen suffered a dislocated shoulder and he will not return to the championship.

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It was an unforgettable night for one Antti Raanta who played his first game in a Finnish national team sweater, ever.

The 23-year-old goaltender hadn’t played in any of the junior national teams coming up the Lukko Rauma system and he hadn’t been tested in the Euro Hockey Tour when he skated onto the Hartwall Arena ice on Saturday, to the cheers of 13,000 people.

A few minutes after that, he stood on the blueline and listened to those 13,000 yell out a part of the Finnish national anthem that sounds like his last name, and then he went to work. Sixty minutes later, he had recorded his first national team game – and a shutout.

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It might be an exaggeration to say that tonight’s 2-1 Sweden win over the Czech Republic was a must-win game, but had the hosts dropped to 0-2 to start the World Championship it would have been a decidedly negative development.

The last host nation to lose the first two games was Austria in 2005 and before that Switzerland in 1998. Tonight, both goalies stole the show in the exciting end-to-end game.

As it was, the Swedes came out with greater resolve than its opponents, and the sold-out crowd supported Tre Kronor to its full ability. That crowd included some of Sweden’s finest hockey royalty, namely Nicklas Lidström, Peter Forsberg, and Bengt-Åke Gustafsson.

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There’s no better way for a goalie to debut on the World Championship stage than with a shutout. Antti Raanta delivered the goods with 36 saves as host Finland beat Slovakia 2-0 for its first regulation victory of 2013.

"Of course it was great to get a shutout," said Raanta. "But I just wanted the win, to get a good start for me and three points for the team."

Juhamatti Aaltonen tallied the winner, and Finnish scoring leader Petri Kontiola added a goal and an assist

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Miroslav Satan has tasted success everywhere from the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship to the Stanley Cup final. Based on his opening game against France, the 38-year-old Slovak legend is hungry for more.

Satan scored his team’s fifth goal in a 6-2 romp over Les Bleus, launching a vintage blast from the right faceoff circle that flew past Cristobal Huet’s blocker.

“All in all, we got the result,” said Satan afterwards. “There are some things that we need to improve for tomorrow, because obviously we’re going to play a much better team (in Finland).”

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The Czech Republic is aiming to get back into the gold medal game for the first time since 2010. The Czechs are always dangerous and a contender for a medal at the World Championships.

Sure there was a stretch from 2007-2009 when they finished 7th, 6th and 5th respectively but over the past decade the Czechs have brought some of the best, most cohesive teams (and players) to this tournament.

Four gold medals, silver and two bronze since 2000 show the Czechs to be quite formidable and that they will likely be in contention here in Stockholm.

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Tridsaťosemročný attacker will have Céčko the jersey for the seventh world championship in his career, before he even wore the MS 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2007. Last year was an assistant Zdeno Chara.

Boatmasters Céčko now in the elite category had MS in Slovak team and Oto Haščák (1996), Zdeno Cíger (1997-1999), mentioned Chara (2001, 2012), Marian Hossa (2006), Robert Petrovický (2008), Lubos Bartečko (2009 ), Richard Lintner (2010) and Pavol Demitra (2011).

Informed the assistant national coach Peter Oremus, assistants will captain the World Cup 2013 Branko Radivojevič and Tomas Kopecky. "Tensions in the cabin and predšampionátové enthusiasm slowly increasing. It is felt in the locker room a good mood. I believe that against the French tournament to start off on the right foot and an important step," said Miroslav Satan .

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Talk about going from one extreme to another. Slovakia finished 10th as the host of the 2011 IIHF World Championship. But then, it earned a surprising silver medal in last year’s final against powerhouse Russia in Helsinki.

That achievement was as emotional as it was unexpected, particularly due to Slovakia’s close ties to the tragic September 2011 plane crash that wiped out the KHL’s Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. Former Slovak national team captain Pavol Demitra was on that flight, and as a tribute, Zdeno Chara wore a jersey with Demitra’s name and number (38) at the medal ceremony last year. And head coach Vladimir Vujtek had, coincidentally, guided Lokomotiv Yaroslavl until his resignation in April 2011.

Slovakia’s long-term challenge is to develop more young talent in the post-Socialist era, where there are no longer state-sponsored sports schools geared to turn out elite performers. But this year, it’ll still be relying largely on veterans to carry it through must-win situations.

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