World Cup of Hockey Update: 3 Flyers Remain as Semi-Finals Begin

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

The Round Robin portion of the World Cup of Hockey came to a close on Thursday and marked the conclusion of the tournament for four of the seven Flyers participants.

Team Canada, Team Europe, Team Sweden and Team Russia all advanced to the semi-finals of the tournament, eliminating Team USA, Team North America, Team Finland and Team Czech Republic.

This means that Flyers Jake Voracek, Sean Couturier, Shayne Gostisbehere and Michal Neuvirth will be returning to the Flyers much sooner than originally anticipated. Claude Giroux, Mark Streit and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare remain in the tournament.

Team Canada stormed through competition, earning three wins in convincing fashion. Giroux only played in one of the three games and did not record any points.

Team Europe won two of their three games in the Round Robin. Streit had no points in the three games, while Bellemare notched a goal and an assist in the three games.

Team North America gave it everything they had, winning two of three games in the Round Robin, including an overtime thriller over Sweden to stay alive in the tournament and a hard-fought loss to Russia. By virtue of a tiebreaker, Russia advanced despite both teams earning four of a possible six points in three games.

Gostisbehere was particularly a standout, tying for the team lead in points with four, all assists, including three in North America's final game on Wednesday. Couturier was used more as a defensive specialist on the team and had no points in the three games.

Czech Republic suffered two tough losses, a 6-0 blowout to powerhouse Canada and a 3-2 overtime loss to Team Europe, eliminating them before their third game. They did rebound in their final game on Thursday, defeating Team USA, 4-3, to salvage a win in the tournament. 

Voracek scored a goal and added an assist in the three games for two points, tied for second on the team. Neuvirth's only game of the Round Robin was a forgettable one. Against Canada, he played all 60 minutes in the 6-0 loss, stopping 44 of 50 shots.

Surprisingly, Team USA was among the worst teams at the tournament, one of two to go winless. Team Finland not only failed to win a game, but managed just one goal in their three games. 

The semi-finals begin on Saturday night when Canada hosts Russia at 7 p.m. Sweden will host Europe on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.

The tournament will then shift to a best-of-three series between the two winning teams on Saturday and Sunday. The Final Series will begin on Tuesday, Sept. 27.