Today has been a bit of a blur thanks to this morning's half marathon.

The weather actually settled down at exactly the right time; it was a little windy on the seawall at times, but otherwise, a great day. "The First Half" Half Marathon is a really well-run grassroots race that's always a pleasure—even when it's not.

That means I took a nap when I got home instead of watching the replay of a Canada/Finland game that I hear was not too high on the entertainment scale. I saw a group of runners crowded around the TV after we finished, when it was 1-1, but that was my only glimpse of the game.

Back in January, I took a lot of heat on Bleacher Report when I suggested that Canada could lose this game. A lot of comments like "Canada's B Team could beat Finland." Considering the Finns are ravaged by injury, I'm glad I was wrong but it doesn't look like that prediction was *so* unfounded. The vaunted Canadian offense isn't exactly dominating its opposition so far.

I'm disappointed that Carey Price started today—and that, facing only 15 shots, it still doesn't tell us much about where he's at. I guess he's playing well enough, and it's a good problem to have. Canada's certainly not the only team where the situation in net remains murky.

The next game will be an elimination game. Since Price is playing fine, I'd assume that he'll get the next start as well?

Canuck Dan Hamhuis didn't see a whole lot of action as the seventh defenseman, either. He finished with just 3:58 of ice time—what would Torts say?!?

Over at Team USA, Ryan Kesler continues to be an important cog in their machine. The Americans wrapped up their preliminary round with a 5-2 win over Slovenia. Kesler was pointless, but played 18 minutes and was once again the team's top face-off man.

I did watch Saturday's Russia/U.S. game in its entirely on the CBC webcast—which was extra enjoyable because, for some reason, Glenn Healy's audio was eliminated from the broadcast. It took a little while to get used to the blank spaces where he was talking, and hear Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson's reactions to unknown statements, but overall, I'd say it enhanced the viewing experience.

I also learned that, while he's not necessarily expected to score goals, Kesler's a pretty key part of that team. He's playing in all situations—and he really was playing at times with his nemesis, Dustin Brown. His face-off wins were important, too; he was out there a lot with the game tied in the late stages and in overtime.

Canada's not the only team that's having issues generating offense. Russia's powerful forward lineup was shut out through 65 minutes by Slovakia. The Russians eventually won in a shootout, but that meant they finished the preliminary round with just six points.

Finland's overtime loss earned them seven points in three games, and gives them the bye into the quarterfinal as the fourth-ranked team.

So, teams five through 12 in the standings will face off Tuesday's qualification playoff. Here's how those games will look:

Russia (5) vs. Norway (12)
Switzerland (6) vs. Latvia (11)
Czech Republic (7) vs. Slovakia (10)
Slovenia (8) vs. Austria (9)

A few surprises among this bottom group. Austria impresses in ninth place—largely on the strength of big play from ex-Canuck Michael Grabner. He's currently leading the entire tournament with five goals.

Slovenia has also done better-than-expected, and the Latvians were a fiery opponent against Sweden on Saturday. I can't see Russia losing to Norway, but I think there's room for an upset or two in this round.

The only Canucks who will be competing in the qualification playoff with be Yannick Weber and Raphael Diaz of Switzerland.

After these games are complete, the winners will match up against the top four seeds in Wednesday's quarterfinal as follows:

Sweden (1) vs. winner of Slovenia/Austria
USA (2) vs. winner of Czech Republic/Slovakia
Canada (3) vs. winner of Switzerland/Latvia
Finland (4) vs. winner of Russia/Norway

By beating Finland today, Canada dodges the Russians—for now. But playing Switzerland will certainly be no sure thing. The Swiss have only given up one goal so far—and that was by Reto Berra. You can bet that Switzerland will be riding Jonas Hiller and his two shutouts the rest of the way.

It feels like the tournament has just begun. It won't be long now before the finger-pointing begins as some of the top teams are eliminated.

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