First, some good news: all six Vancouver Canucks participating in the World Cup of Hockey have advanced to the tournament's semifinal.

Team Sweden and Team Europe will face each other in a one-game knockout to determine who gets to face the winner of Canada vs. North America or Russia for the coveted (?) World Cup of Hockey trophy. That means, no matter who wins, the Canucks are guaranteed at least two players in the best-of-three final.

This is what they're playing for. Here it is - the World Cup of Hockey Trophy! #WCH2016 pic.twitter.com/X4w3poIvh0

— NHLPA (@NHLPA) September 16, 2016

It doesn't exactly carry the noble history of the Stanley Cup, but the players seem committed to trying to add it to their list of achievements. I don't imagine there's enough time for everyone on the winning team to get their "Day with the World Cup" before the real NHL season kicks off.

If you missed it on Wednesday, Team North America's 4-3 overtime win over Team Sweden was a barnburner, especially the first minute of the game and the 3-on-3 overtime. The kids had their jets turned up to 11, but the Swedes did an impressive job of getting their skates back under them and asserting enough of their will on the game to guarantee the single point that they needed to finish first in Group B.

No points for any of the Canucks on Wednesday. The twins were on the ice against North America's ferocious first shift, which resulted in Auston Matthews' goal 30 seconds into the game.

The best part of the Matthews goal is watching him and McDavid make Victor Hedman and Anton Stralman look like beer leaguers. pic.twitter.com/osUXFio0lE

— Scott Wheeler (@scottcwheeler) September 21, 2016

Daniel had a chance to end it in overtime, but breakaways just aren't his thing.

Gibson save on Sedin pic.twitter.com/Ip5ZpT84on

— Stephanie (@myregularface) September 21, 2016

Seconds later, the play went the other way, and the Sedins got caught blowing the zone after a big backcheck from Johnny Gaudreau that set up Nathan MacKinnon.

Nathan MacKinnon with a filthy goal to win it for @TeamNA_WCH pic.twitter.com/MOiiIepkbD

— Sons of Penn (@SonsofPenn) September 21, 2016

A wildly entertaining game ended with perhaps the best 3-on-3 I've seen to date.

That OT was %^%&^*%* unreal

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) September 21, 2016

Or, to put it another way...

Like I said before, how do we watch #NHL pre-season after that? #WCH2016

— Brad Ziemer (@BradZiemer) September 21, 2016

On the other side, Luca Sbisa was back in the lineup and Jaro Halak laid down another strong performance, but Team Europe lost 4-1 to Team Canada in the "afterthought" game on Wednesday.

so let me get this straight, Luca Sbisa advances to the semi-finals and Ryan Kesler does not. that means we won the trade, right?

— nobody (@petbugs13) September 21, 2016

The only goal for Team Europe came when Marian Hossa undressed his Chicago Blackhawks teammate, Corey Crawford.

Europe and Sweden will play in Sunday's semifinal, which goes at 10 a.m. PT. Canada's game will run in the Hockey Night in Canada timeslot, Saturday at 4 p.m., but their opponent has yet to be determined.

The North Americans thought they'd played their way into the next round when MacKinnon scored on Wednesday.

MacKinnon thought TNA was in. "I said to AMatt (Matthews) 'Maybe we shouldn't have celly'd that hard." Kids. pic.twitter.com/P3adjcMoYL

— Mike Harrington (@BNHarrington) September 21, 2016

If Russia beats Finland today, they go through and the kids go home to training camp. Second place is determined based on head-to-head matchups, and the Russians beat the North Americans.

Russia/Finland runs at noon PT today, then the meaningless game between the Americans and the Czechs wraps up the round robin at 5 p.m.

Meanwhile, back in Vancouver, this is my favourite image from Wednesday's Jake Milford Charity Invitational:

First time play golf⛳️️🎱🎱 оказывается, это не так просто, как кажется🏌

A video posted by nikita_tryamkin #88🇷🇺 (@nikita_tryamkin88) on Sep 21, 2016 at 8:38pm PDT

Tryamkin will be one of the players to watch as training camp opens tomorrow. His contract basically guarantees that he won't be sent down to Utica.

Been skating here for weeks. Looks fitter, faster. Slotted as No.7. English still a challenge. https://t.co/3W7NPGYZus

— Ben Kuzma (@benkuzma) September 21, 2016

I'm hoping he can surprise and push his way into the top six...but I'm also hoping that Sbisa can come in strong and that Stecher can surprise and that Philip Larsen turns out to be a hidden gem and that Andrey Pedan can realize his potential. So I think I have about six players pencilled in for the third pairing alone?

If you haven't seen the veteran roster for training camp, click here for that list.

And click here for the on-ice schedule at the Meadow Park Sports Centre in Whistler. Sessions kick off Friday morning at 8:30 a.m. and the highlight, as usual, will be the intrasquad game, which is scheduled for Sunday at 11:15 a.m.

Vancouver's first preseason game will be at home against Calgary next Wednesday.

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