Germany defeated Hungary and Denmark won over Austria in the last two games of the Relegation Round.  Denmark stay in the top division along with next year's hosts Germany.  In the afternoon games Sweden dispatched France 6-3 and Slovakia and Norway had to go to overtime before Slovakia could emerge victorious.   The evening games between USA - Switzerland and Canada - Finland turned out to be close affairs.  Switzerland needed a win in regulation time to advance to the quarter finals but could not manage that feat.  Canada and Finland played for the top spot in Group F and although Finland won after a shootout, Canada claimed the top position there.

Quarterfinal pairings will be:  Russia - Belarus, Finland- USA, Canada - Latvia, Sweden - Czech Republic

GROUP E

Sweden - France 6-3 (3-0, 2-3, 1-0)
4 May 2009, Postfinance Arena, Berne, Att: 5,051
1-0 01:33 Kristian Huselius 4 (Strålman)
2-0 04:26 Marcus Nilson 3 (Oduya, Huselius)
3-0 05:56 Dick Tärnström 1 (Nilson) PP1
4-0 21:28 Carl Gunnarsson 1 (Mårtensson, Johansson) PP1
4-1 23:21 A Lussier 2
4-2 29:25 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare 2 (Treille, Hecquefeuille) PP1
5-2 30:55 Johnny Oduya 2 (Persson, Åkerman)
5-3 36:41 Sacha Treille 1 (Rozenthal, Roussel) PP1
6-3 45:40 Kenny Jönsson 2 (Strålman, Omark) PP1
SWE 6x2, FRA 10x2, SOG 31:19 (13:5, 10:10, 8:4)

SWE: Stefan Liv; Magnus Johansson, Tony Mårtensson, Carl Gunnarsson, Loui Eriksson, Mattias Weinhandl - Nicklas Grossman (2), Johnny Oduya, Rickard Wallin, Marcus Nilson (4), Kristian Huselius - Martin Thörnberg, Linus Omark, Johan Harju (2), Kenny Jönsson, Anton Strålman - Johan Åkerman, Johan Andersson (4), Niklas Persson, Dick Tärnström.
FRA: Fabrice Lhenry; Vincent Bachet (2), Yorick Treille (4), Baptiste Amar, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Kevin Hecquefeuille - Stephane da Costa, Benoit Quessandier, Luc Tardif (4), Thomas Roussel, Sacha Treille (2), Francois Rozenthal (2), Anthoine Lussier (2), Laurent Gras, Antonin Manavian, Gary Leveque - Jonathan Zwikel, Cyril Papa, Mathieu Mille, Kevin Igier, Damien Fleury.
Refs: Vladimir Baluska (SVK) / Vladimir Sindler (CZE)
Linesmen: Christan Kaspar (AUT) / Tobias Wehrli (SUI)

United States - Switzerland 3-4 OT (0-1, 3-1, 0-1, 0-1)
4 May 2009, Postfinance Arena, Berne, Att: 10,317
0-1 09:42 Andres Ambühl 2 (Blindenbacher, Streit) PP2
1-1 25:57 Ron Hainsey 1 (Pavelski) PP1
1-2 31:03 Romano Lemm 2 (Jeannin, Wick)
2-2 35:08 Christopher Higgins 1 (Ballard)
3-2 39:48 Ron Hainsey 2 (O'Sullivan) PP2
3-3 49:42 Martin Plüss 3 (du Bois, Ruthemann)
3-4 60:13 Roman Wick 2 (Seger, du Bois)
USA 4x2 + 1x5 + 1x20 (Backes), SUI 7x2, SOG 24:25 (6:10, 14:3, 4:11, 0:1)

USA: Robert Esche; Ron Hainsey, Ryan Suter, Dustin Brown (2), David Backes (25), Jason Blake - Jack Johnson, Kyle Okposo (2), Patrick O'Sullivan (2), John Michael Liles, TJ Oshie - Keith Ballard, Matt Niskanen, Joe Pavelski, Christopher Higgins, Ryan Shannon - Zach Bogosian (2), Nick Foligno, Drew Stafford, Lee Stempniak, Colin Wilson.
SUI: Martin Gerber; Severin Blindenbacker, Mark Streit (2), Roman Wick, Sandy Jeannin (2), Romano Lemm - Thomas Deruns, Thibaut Monnet, Raffaele Sannitz, Goran Bezina (2), Julien Sprunger - Felicien du Bois (2), Martin Plüss, Mathias Seger, Ivo Ruthemann, Kevin Romy - Andres Ambühl (2), Thierry Paterlini (2), Thomas Ziegler, Yannick Weber (2), Roman Josi.
Refs: Peter Orszag (SVK) / Daniel Piechaczek (GER)
Linesmen: Eric Bouguin (FRA) / Andrii Kicha (UKR)

Switzerland came out looking like a completely different team tonight, intent on winning a much coveted quarter final berth. They managed to get the puck deep in the US defensive zone and generated traffic around US goalkeeper Robert Esche. When they got an opportunity to play a full 2 minutes in 5-on-3, Switzerland scored and the Postfinance Arena exploded in Swiss flags. Despite two rapid penalties in the final minutes of the first period giving USA excellent scoring opportunities, the score was 1-0 after the first period.

In the second period Switzerland was dogged by penalties and USA was effective in taking advantage of them, scoring two powerplay goals. This was definitely USA's period with Switzerland being pushed back and looking a bit demoralized after each US goal.

The third period started with Switzerland again playing an energetic game with quick puck movement deep in the US zone. Switzerland needed two goals to win the game in regulation, or their quarter final dreams would be gone. Half way through the period Martin Plüss scored a beautiful equalizer, a goal that reenergized the Swiss players and added more pressure on the US defense. Swiss goaltender Martin Gerber left the crease to make room for a sixth skater. USA scored an empty net goal that was disallowed as an offside was called.

The full-time score was 3-3, ending Switzerland's dreams of a home ice quarter final game. The following overtime was short, only 13 seconds into overtime, Roman Wick scored the winning goal for Switzerland, but there was no joy and no celebrations over this win.

			GP	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF:GA	P
1		Russia	5	4	1	0	0	27:11	14
2		Sweden	5	2	1	2	0	23:18	10
3		USA	5	2	0	2	1	19:18	87
4		Latvia	5	1	2	0	2	15:14	7
5		Switzerland	5	1	1	1	2	9:13	6
6		France	5	0	0	0	5	8:27	0

GROUP F

Slovakia - Norway 3-2 OT (2-0, 0-1, 0-1, 1-0)
4 May 2009, Arena Zürich-Kloten, Att: 2,901
1-0 07:22 Stefan Ruzicka 2 (Handzus, Obsut) PP1
2-0 09:09 Peter Smrek 1 (Nagy, Baranka) PP1
2-1 27:21 Anders Bastianen 2 (Ask, Lund) PP1
2-2 45:27 Lars Erik Lund 1 (Jakobsen) PP1
3-2 62:07 Ladislav Nagy 1 (Sekera) PP1
SVK 9x2, NOR 11x2, SOG 38:27 (11:9, 13:5, 12:13, 2:0)

SVK: Jaroslav Halak; Stefan Ruzicka, Lubos Bartecko (2), Michal Handzus (2), Jaroslav Obsut, Andrej Sekera (2) - Jiri Bicek, Peter Smrek (2), Rene Vydareny, Juraj Mikus, Marcel Hossa - Ivan Baranka (2), Ladislav Nagy, Peter Olvecky (2), Boris Valabik (2), Branko Radivojevic - Milan Bartovic (2), Ivan Svarny, Dominik Granak, Michal Macho, Juraj Stefanka (2).
NOR: Pål Grotnes; Per-Åge Skroder, Mats Trygg (2), Tore Vikingstad (2), Patrick Thoresen, Anders Myrvold (2) - Jonas Holos, Tommy Jakobsen (4), Mads Hansen, Lars Erik Spets, Peter Lorentzen - Anders Bastiansen, Morten Ask (4), Lars Erik Lund, Alexander Bonsaksen, Mats Zuccarello Aasen (4), Juha Kaunismäki, Martin Roymark, Kristian Forsberg, Martin Laumann Ylven (4).
Refs: Rafail Kadyrov (RUS) / Rick Looker (USA)
Linesmen: Ivan Dedioulia (BLR) / Daniel Wirth (SUI)

Canada - Finland 3-4 (1-2, 1-1, 1-0, 0-0, 0-1)
4 May 2009, Arena Zürich-Kloten, Att: 5,970
0-1 04:02 Tuomas Pihlman 2 (Kapanen, Immonen)
0-2 07:54 Anssi Salmela 1 (Ruutu, Komarov)
1-2 16:02 Jason Spezza 6 (St. Louis, Weber) PP1
1-3 37:22 Niko Kapanen 6 (Miettinen, Niskala) PP1
2-3 38:16 Dany Heatley 4 (Roy, Weber) PP1
3-3 49:20 Dany Heatley 5 (Spezza, St. Louis) PP1
3-4 GWG H Hyvönen 1
CAN 11x2, FIN 8x2, SOG 32:54 (10:18, 12:21, 8:9, 2:5, 0:1)

Shootout:  1-0 Stamkos (CAN), 1-1 Immonen (FIN), 2-1 St. Louis (CAN), Sami Kapanen (FIN) miss, Spezza (CAN) miss, 2-2 Ruutu (FIN), Roy (CAN) miss, Immonen (FIN) miss, 3-2 St. Louis (CAN), 3-3 Ruutu (FIN), St. Louis (CAN) miss, Ruutu (FIN) miss, Stamkos (CAN) miss, 3-4 Hyvönen (FIN).

CAN: Dwayne Roloson; Dan Hamhuis (2), Shea Weber, Derek Roy, Dany Heatley, Jason Spezza - Drew Doughty, Chris Phillips (2), Steve Stamkos (2), Shane Doan (6), Marty St. Louis - Shawn Horcoff, Mike Fisher, Travis Zajac, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Braydon Coburn (2) - Luke Schenn, Scottie Upshall (2), Matthew Lombardi (2), Colby Armstrong (4).
FIN: Pekka Rinne; Petteri Nummelin, Niklas Hagman, Antti Miettinen (2), Mikko Lehtonen, Niko Kapanen - Lasse Kukkonen (2), Janne Niskala, Sami Kapanen (2), Jarkko Immonen, Tuomas Pihlman - Topi Jaakola (2), Hannes Hyvönen (2), Anssi Salmela, Juha-Pekka Hytonen, Ville Vahalahti (2) - Tommi Santala, Kalle Kerman, Leo Komarov (2), Janne Niinimaa, Jarkko Ruutu (2).
Refs. Vyachelsav Bulanov (RUS) / Marcus Vinnerborg (SWE)
Linesmen: Peter Feola (USA) / Konstantin Gordenko (RUS)

After two difficult games against defensive teams Finland found their legs against Canada. Finland outshot Canada by a wide margin throughout the game but Canada was superior with special teams. They scored three powerplay goals and only let in one short handed. After the tying goal by Heatley in the third period Finland tried hard to score one more goal in order to clinch the group win with three points. Pekka Rinne was pulled out in the last seconds but Canada held on and kept the top spot in Group F. The extratime and shootout were only about honor for both teams. While the extratime was nothing special, there were some nice goals scored in the penalties. Especially two goals by Jarkko Ruutu, one by Martin St. Louis and the game winning goal by Hannes Hyvönen were highlight reel material.

			GP	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF:GA	P
1		Canada	5	4	0	1	0	26:10	13
2		Finland	5	2	2	1	0	16:9	11
3		Czech Republic	5	3	0	0	2	20:11	9
4		Belarus	5	0	3	0	2	8:13	6
5		Slovakia	5	0	1	2	2	8:21	4
6		Norway	4	0	0	2	3	7:21	2

RELEGATION ROUND

Hungary - Germany 1-2 (1-1, 0-1, 0-0)
4 May 2009, Postfinance Arena, Berne, Att: 3,497
0-1 03:11 Moritz Müller 1 (Hackert, Gogulla) PP1
1-1 17:09 Andras Horvath 1 (Ladanyi, Tokaji) PP2
1-2 33:23 Michael Bakos 1 (Wolf) PP1
HUN 10x2 + 1x10, GER 9x2, SOG 16:43 (5:14, 9:19, 2:10)
Best players: HUN: Zoltan Hetenyi, GER: Moritz Müller

HUN: Zoltan Hetenyi; Balazs Ladanyi, Bence Svasznek (2), Marton Vas (2), Tamas Sille (12), Imre Peterdi - Andras Horvath (2), Viktor Tokaji (2), Daniel Koger (2), Krisztian Palkovics, Daniel Feketi - Csaba Kovacs (2), Viktor Szelig, Omar Ennaffati (2), Artyom Vaszjunyin, Gergo Nagy - Csaba Janosi, Rasistlav Ondrejcik (2), Gergely Majoross, Roger Holecsy, Balazs Kangyal (2).
GER: Dimitri Patzold; Christopher Schmidt (2), Michael Wolf, Michael Bakos (2), Michael Hackert, Philip Gogulla - Sven Butenschon, Jochen Hecht (2), Andre Rankel (2), Christoph Ullmann (2), Nicolai Goc - Sebastian Osterloh, Sven Felski, Daniel Kreutzer, Alexander Barta, Moritz Müller - Travis Mulock, Kai Hospelt, Andreas Renz (2), Frank Hordler (2), Patrick Hager (2).
Refs. Ole Hansen (NOR) / Thomas Sterns (USA)
Linesmen: Peter Sabelström (SWE) / Miroslav Valach (SVK)

With a slim 2-1 win over Hungary, Germany ended a disastrous IHWC with its first and only victory. Germany dominated the game from start to finish, but once again the German offense was spectacular inefficient. Two powerplay goals were however enough to seal the victory. Moritiz Müller gave Germany an early lead but late in the 1st period, Andreas Horvath converted for Hungary on a two man advantage. After a long uneventful strecth, Germany, on 4-on-3 powerplay, took the lead again at 33:23 when Michael Bakos sent a wrist shot Hetenyi's blocker. Germany held on to the lead the rest of the period and this was the first and  only time in 18 attempts that Germany won a period in the 2009 IHWC. The third period was scoreless. All in all, Germany only scored six goals in six games in the 2009 IHWC, and only managed to win one in six games. The only short-term comfort the German team could take is that the it couldn't be relegated. As the host of the 2010 IHWC, Germany is automatically qualified despite not earning a ticket. In IIHF history, this scenario has only happened once before, namely in the 2001 IHWC: Germany was also the host then!

Denmark - Austria 5-2 (1-2, 1-0, 3-0)
4 May 2009, Arena Zürich-Kloten, Att: 2,798
0-1 00:48 R Kaspitz 2 (Trattnig)
0-2 02:30 O Setzinger 2 (Koch) SH1
1-2 15:14 Julian Jakobsen 2
2-2 27:51 Mikkel Bodker 2 SH1
3-2 45:46 Mads Christensen 2 (Jakobsen, Damgaard)
4-2 51:10 Kasper Degn 1 (Green)
5-2 59:23 Mikkel Bodker 3 ENG
DEN 6x2, AUT 7x2, SOG 33:35 (13:10, 8:12, 12:13)

DEN: Patrick Galbraith; Philip Hersby, Philip Larsen, Morten Madsen, Mikkel Bodker, Peter Regin - Jesper Damgaard, Morten Green (4), Kim Staal, Mads Christensen (2), Nichlas Hardt - Mads Bodker, Daniel Nielsen (2), Kasper Degn, Mads Christensen, Julian Jakobsen - Rasmus Olsen, Kim Lykkeskov, Thor Dresler (2), Alexander Sundberg, Kasper Pedersen.
AUT: Bernd Bruckler; Gerhard Unterluggauer, Thomas Koch, Darcy Werenka (2), Thomas Vanek (2), Oliver Setzinger (4) - Roland Kaspitz, Andreas Nodl, Matthias Trattnig, Jeremy Rebek (2), Martin Oraze - Philippe Lakos (2), Andre Lakos, Markus Peintner, David Schuller, Harald Ofner - Paul Schellander, Andreas Kristler (2), Mario Altmann, Gregor Baumgartner.
Refs: Sami Partanen (FIN) / Sören Persson (SWE)
Linesmen: Antti Orelma (FIN) / Chris de Haan (CAN)

This was one of the most important game2 in the 2009 IHWC. The winner would take it all and keep a place among the elite and the loser would be relegated to the IIHF division I. Would Austria's unhappy status as an elevator team be cemented, or would Denmark's 7 fat years as an elite division team come to an end?

In the early beginning, it looked like Austria would prevail. Denmark's start in this crucial game was nothing else as devastating as Austria scored twice on their first two attempts. First, Matthias Trattning scooped a lose puck, drove fast down on the right and fired a left-hand shot that Galbraith saved, but Roland Kaspitz pushed in the rebound to give Austria the lead less than 1 minute into the game. On minute later, playing shorthanded, Thomas Koch made a blue-to-blue line pass that set Oliver Setzinger free to make it 2-0. The young Danish team, however, showed a tremendous amount of morale and willpower. They knew that they had plenty of time to stage a comeback. They only had to work hard and skate fast, then the chances would come. The Danes didn't even complain that they had a goal annulled when the ref wrongly blow the whistle believing that Bruckler had stopped the puck while it was actually on its way into the net. A couple of minutes later, Austria compensated for this error by making one of the biggest defensive lapses in the tournament. First, defenceman Darcy Werenka lost the puck to the side of his goal, and then goaltender Bernd Brückler, trying to corral the puck, lost his stick and dove way out of position. Julian Jakobsen got to the puck and wrapped it in around the far side to cut the Austrian lead in half. Denmark ran into penalty troubles in the second period by taking four penalties in the first ten minutes. Austria's powerplay, however, was weak and on the fourth attempt, Mikkel Bødker corraled the puck and went on a blistering fast breakaway and roofed the puck behind Bruckler. This goal proved to be the gamebreaker. Denmark dominated the rest of the game and scored three more goals to cap a welldeserved 5-2 victory.

FINAL STANDINGS

			GP	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF:GA	P
1		Denmark	3	3	0	0	0	13:4	9
2		Austria	3	2	0	0	1	9:5	6
3		Germany	3	1	0	0	2	3:5	3
4		Hungary	3	0	0	0	3	2:13	0