Sweden beats Finland; medal round set

So this appears to be the rankings after the preliminary round:

(Note: It's 3 a.m., so pardon any misspellings.)

To verify what I'm reading, check out the official rules here.

1. USA
2. Sweden
3. Russia
4. Finland
5. Czech Republic
6. Canada
7. Slovakia
8. Switzerland
9. Belarus
10. Norway
11. Germany
12. Latvia

The top four teams get a bye. And, the rest play a play-in game

Those games will be:

5. Czech Republic vs. 12. Latvia
6. Canada vs. 11. Germany
7. Slovakia vs. 10. Norway
8. Switzerland vs. 9. Belarus

These games take place Tuesday. And let's be honest, none of them are particularly interesting. But they set up a few interesting scenarios.

Good news for US
It looks like they'll play the winner of Switzerland-Belarus. The Switzerland gave the United States a little bit of trouble in the first game of the tourney. But, that was only for a period. With the chemistry the Americans have built, it looks like they're a shoe-in for the semis.

Start the hype
Canada will surely beat Germany. And, that will set up the much-anticipated Canada vs. Russia (Crosby vs. Ovechkin matchup).

Look for a lot of NBC hype, even though the two are completely different players and will barely be on the ice together the entire game. (By the way, although I'm always hyping up Ovechkin and my love for the Caps, NHL MVP has got to go to Crosby at this point of the season.)

But the fact is: Neither one of these teams wants to see each other this early. It could be an ugly game.

Finland vulnerable
Finland got the No. 4 seed instead of Czech Republic, but only because it had a weaker preliminary group. If the two meet in the quarters (which is almost guaranteed), I'd expect a Czech rout of Finland.

The United States has one thing going for it though if everything goes by the book and it makes the semis. Youth. Finland and Czech Republic are both aging teams, and the tournament might be taking its toll by then. I certainly don't want the U.S. to have to face the Czechs though.