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The pre-tournament games are over and its finally time for the World Cup of Hockey to begin on Saturday. Now the big question: How do the teams match up?The tournament not only features Olympic-like rosters for Canada, Sweden, Russia, Finland and the Czech Republic, but it also includes the most intriguing group in Team North America, which is made up of all under-24 stars from Canada and the U.S.The addition of North America and Europe (players from European countries not named Sweden, Russia, Finland or the Czech Republic) adds a layer of competitiveness that does not always exist in the Olympics. It also makes the tournament a much tougher call than just assuming Team Canada will run away with the best-in-the-world title.Of course, the Canadians are still the favorites, but in order to get a clearer view on how well other teams stack up, lets look at Hockey Prospectus author Tom Awads projected 2016-17 goals versus threshold (find more information on GVT here) for each roster:Note: Players who did not play primarily in the NHL in 2015-16 do not have projected GVTs.Group ATotal GVT per player: 11.5The players left off of Team Canada could form a team and still be among the favorites in this tournament. Canada has the worlds best player, Sidney Crosby, in a familiar position of top-line center, and whoever they play alongside him will be a superstar. Matching lines against Canada is a fools errand, as they can use the most dynamic scorers in the sport like John Tavares and Steven Stamkos in offensive situations, and elite shutdown two-way players like Patrice Bergeron and Jonathan Toews in defensive situations.Canada also sports defending Norris Trophy winner Drew Doughty and the defenseman with the best shot in the world in Shea Weber. Oh, and they have the 2015 Vezina Trophy winner, Carey Price, in goal. Good luck, world.Total GVT per player: 9.9Many have noted some of the surprising roster decisions made by Team USA when it came to adding players like Justin Abdelkader and David Backes to create a strong defensive roster. The only true one-dimensional player is last seasons Hart Trophy winner Patrick Kane. Everyone else in the forward group is known for being able to slow down opponents offensive attacks.Its a strategy that worked back in the 2010 Olympics, but it may be a tough road to travel here against the blazing speed and skill of other clubs. The USA defense group lags behind the other top teams, too. Jonathan Quick is a terrific goaltender, so that is the only area where USA matches up with the top teams.Total GVT per player: 5.1The team that will likely struggle the most to keep up with the pace is the Czech Republic. Fans in their respective markets understand how under-appreciated Michael Frolik, Martin Hanzal and Ondrej Palat are, but they are excellent complementary players, not play-driving stars. And those three, outside of Jakub Voracek and Tomas Plekanec, are the best forwards the Czechs have.Their defense would be well below average by the standards of an NHL team, as they dont sport a single top-four NHL blueliner; obviously, this is a problem when other teams are stacked with multiple All-Stars. The bright spot is the goaltending; Michal Neuvirth nearly stole a playoff series last spring, and Petr Mrazek is one of the NHLs top young rising netminders.Total GVT per player: 6.3Great idea for a team, but still not enough talent. Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar has a little more to work with than when hes played for his home country of Slovenia, but its not going to be enough to win the World Cup. Edmonton center Leon Draisaitl looks like he could soon become a top-end player, and Roman Josi is a star on defense, but the rest of Team Europe is made up of well-past-their-prime stars like Marian Hossa, Marian Gaborik and Zdeno Chara, and complementary players like Mats Zuccarello and Nino Niederreiter.There isnt enough skill or speed to keep up in a best-of-the-best format. And Europe definitively has the worst goaltending in the tournament, even if Thomas Greiss is coming off a solid playoff run with the Islanders.Group BTotal GVT per player: 8.3If we were ranking which teams had the best forward group, defense and goaltending, Team Sweden would be close to Canada on defense and goaltending. They sport the most mobile and skilled blue line in the tournament, with former Norris winner and top-scoring defenseman in 2015-16 Erik Karlsson to go along with two defenders who should soon win a Norris of their own, in Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Victor Hedman. And they are back-stopped by Henrik Lundqvist, who has not fully turned the Best Goalie in the World title over to Price.Unfortunately for the Swedes, their forwards arent close. An NHL team featuring all of these players would be dominant, but in this tournament of star-laden sides, they will have a tough time getting the job done.Total GVT per player: 8.5If the young guns are motivated to show the world they are the next wave of NHL talent, Canada might have a challenge on their hands. The next generational player Connor McDavid leads the team -- which could make for an awesome McDavid vs. Crosby matchup in the medal round -- and he is flanked by blazing-fast stars all over the ice. Jack Eichel, the second overall pick in 2015, and 2016 No. 1 overall selection Auston Matthews will be difficult matchups, even for the best in the world.The defense group is made up of players who could all soon be No. 1 franchise defensemen, outside of Aaron Ekblad, who is already a top-pairing star for Florida. But given the relative inexperience, this D group may have its ups and downs. Goaltending was a question when we first learned of this tournament two years ago, but it certainly isnt now with Stanley Cup winner Matt Murray in net. Speed, skill and effort may give Team North America a shot.Total GVT per player: 7.2The Russians group of wingers is marvelous, with Vladimir Tarasenko, Nikita Kucherov and Alex Ovechkin leading the way. Beyond their best wingers, however, Russia is going to have a difficult time keeping up with Sweden and North America in their group (let alone a matchup against Canada if they make it to the medal round). While Artem Anisimov is a strong two-way center, he isnt an elite player, and Pavel Datsyuk is past the days where he could match up against top-flight opposing centers.The defense corps is well below the level of the other top teams, though Russia does have three strong goalies in Semyon Varlamov, Sergei Bobrovsky and Andrei Vasilevskiy. They will have to hope to convert a high number of power-play opportunities, and lean on great goaltending in order to make noise here.Total GVT per player: 6.0For whatever reason, Finland always seems to make life difficult on the favorites in any international tournament -- if not earn a medal or win the thing outright. They often build the club around hard-working, two-way players, which may play in their favor when every team expects to light up the score board.Finland is far from the most talented at any of the three positions, but they do have a No. 1 center who should be considered the next Jonathan Toews or Anze Kopitar in Aleksander Barkov. The major question is: Where will Finlands offense come from? Though No. 2 overall pick Patrik Laine has had some success on the international stage already, they are otherwise short on big-time point producers. And of course, they will have strong goaltending, with Tuukka Rask in the nets. Wholesale Avalanche Jerseys . Now tied for second in the league in shootout goals, the 24-year-old likes to see what the opposing goaltender has in store before he ultimately lands on a move. Stitched Avalanche Jerseys .C. -- Chris Thorburn thinks one of the reasons the Winnipeg Jets have been successful under new coach Paul Maurice is that theyre playing together as a team. https://www.cheapavalanche.com/ .C. -- Todd Fiddler scored a hat trick, including the overtime goal, as the Prince George Cougars survived an 8-7 win against the Kamloops Blazers in Western Hockey League play Sunday. Colorado Avalanche Pro Shop . Its the second straight game Bell has scored in extra time for Kelowna, which beat the Brandon Wheat Kings 6-5 on Friday, and he now has four game-winning goals on the season. Avalanche Jerseys 2020 . Pierce was ejected in the third quarter of Indianas 103-86 win Monday. George Hill stole a bad pass and was going in for a layup, and Pierce hustled back and appeared to be trying to wrap him up. NEW YORK -- The Colorado Rockies are beginning to believe they are moving toward the cusp of playoff contention. The New York Mets are starting to run out of time to prove they are a legitimate threat to defend their National League pennant.Two teams at the opposite ends of the emotional spectrum will meet Thursday afternoon when the Mets host the Rockies in the opener of a four-game series at Citi Field.The Rockies posted their sixth win in seven games on Wednesday, when Nick Hundley and David Dahl hit a two-run homer and a solo shot, respectively, in the sixth inning of a 3-1 victory over the American League East-leading Baltimore Orioles.The Rockies outscored the Orioles 11-6 during the three-game series. Colorados starting pitchers recorded a 1.86 ERA against Baltimore, which ranks fifth in the American League with 478 runs scored.You look at the series overall, its one of our best series of the year, Rockies manager Walt Weiss aid. Its got to be up there. We got real good starting pitching this series and we had some really clutch hits. Thats what it takes.With nine wins in 13 games since the All-Star break, the Rockies have improved to 49-52 and moved within six games of the Miami Marlins for the second wild card spot in the National League.Thats the type of winning consistency the Mets would like to establish. But theyve been unable to establish any sort of consistency: New York has alternated wins with losses in each of its 12 games after the All-Star break.The Mets appeared ready to finally win a second straight game Wednesday, but closer Jeurys Familia bblew a regular-season save opportunity for the first time in almost a year by allowing two runs in the ninth inning of a 5-4 loss to the St.dddddddddddd Louis Cardinals at Citi Field.Familia had converted 52 straight saves dating to Aug. 1, 2015, though he did blow three saves in the World Series.Its baseball and until the 27th out, you dont know any results, said Mets left fielder Yoenis Cespedes, who gave New York a 4-3 lead with a long two-run homer in the seventh inning. We have a lot of faith in Familia. But things unfortunately didnt work out.The loss dropped the Mets (53-47) 1 1/2 games behind the Marlins and 5 1/2 games behind the NL East-leading Washington Nationals.This is something we havent had happen in quite some time, Jeurys Familia not saving the game, Mets manager Terry Collins said. But youve got to come back early. Youve got an early day (Thursday) and weve got to get ready to play.The Rockies will also be working on short rest after traveling overnight from Baltimore.Its basically like we have a split doubleheader, Weiss said. Thats how Im looking at it.Mets right-hander Jacob deGrom is scheduled to oppose Rockies left-hander Tyler Anderson. DeGrom took the loss in his most recent start last Saturday when he gave up five runs in 3 2/3 innings as the Mets fell to the Marlins 7-2. Anderson posted his third straight win on Saturday when he gave up three runs in six innings as the Rockies beat the Atlanta Braves 8-4. ' ' '