Yesterday was the quarterfinals at the World Junior Championship. You can read up on the Swedish victory in the recap of some NHL team getting outplayed right here:

Recap: Tampa shuts out the Maple Leafs in every possible way - Pension Plan Puppets
Meanwhile, Timothy Liljegren played well as Sweden beat Slovakia in their quarterfinal.

The USA also won their game, and these two teams play off tomorrow.

Olli Juolevi’s best game isn’t enough, as Finland is eliminated at World Juniors
Despite the dominance in possession, Juolevi had just two assists through four games in the round robin stage of the tournament. It was enough to make me wonder if “quietly effective” was enough for the Canucks’ fifth overall pick in the 2016 draft. Canucks fans were hoping to see a little more than some efficient work in the defensive zone and a good first pass.  Juolevi was just as effective on Tuesday against the Czech Republic, but there was nothing quiet about his game. In their quarterfinal matchup, Juolevi was Finland’s best player on the ice and was voted so by his teammates after the game.

World juniors: Canadians crush Swiss, will meet Czechs in semis | CBC Sports
Drake Batherson scored twice as Canada earned an 8-2 quarter-final win over Switzerland on Tuesday at the world junior hockey championship in Buffalo.

Team USA beats Russia in World Junior quarterfinals thriller, will face Sweden next - CBSSports.com
The Americans got two goals from Kieffer Bellows to knock out Russia in the first game of the medal round

Other things we wrote:

The Leafs as candidates for The Bachelor, ranked - Arvind
Goldenhawk asked, we delivered

Freddy the Goat stands Big and Tall in Marlies 5-1 win - HardevLad
Marlies end 2017 as top team in North Division.

The Toronto Maple Leafs should trade for Max Pacioretty - ElSeldo
The Montreal Canadiens captain is on the trade block. Would they move him to Toronto?

Other things other people wrote:

What it's like to be a linemate of Daniel and Henrik Sedin
What Daniel and Henrik Sedin have accomplished on the ice their entire lives is the stuff of legend. We talked to former linemates to find out more.

Maple Leafs unable to see the bigger picture after loss to Lightning - Sportsnet.ca
In his latest Netflix special, standup comedian Dave Chappelle talks about our tendency to rush analysis of a situation we’re too close to see. That analogy sums up the Maple Leafs after falling the the NHL-best Lightning Tuesday night.

Maple Leafs pay tribute to Bower
TORONTO -- Johnny Bower was No. 1 in the hearts of an entire city Tuesday.Seeing the Toronto Maple Leafs step onto the ice prior to their game against the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Air Canada Centre simply underscored that fact.


One bit of news too small for a post: With Calvin Pickard sent back to the Marlies, Cal Heeter has been sent back to Orlando along with defender Jeff King. The Solar Bears sent their fill-in goalie back to his original team too.

And that’s about all I’ve got for today. We’ll have a preview of the WJC semifinals tomorrow.