HELSINKI – What goes up … must try to stay there. That’s the attitude that the French team brings to Helsinki. Led by goaltender Cristobal Huet, a Stanley Cup winner, who played his first World Championship in Helsinki in 1997, Les Bleus will fight tooth and nail for their spot in the top division.

If they manage to do that, next year France will play in its sixth consecutive top division World Championship, they’re longest streak since 2000 when the team was relegated to Division I, ending a nine-year long presence in the top pool of hockey nations. France only played in the top division once between 2000 and 2008, in 2004.

France has alternated good years with bad years. In 2008, their first year back in the top division after a seven-year absence, they had to play in the relegation round. In 2009, France finished twelfth without the stress of having to play for their spot. In 2010, they were back in relegation round, and last year, avoided it again.

This year? Well, there is no relegation round. France will have to get it done in the eight-team round-robin.

Goal

Coach Dave Henderson knows it, you know it, Cristobal Huet knows it. If France wants to have any chance to grab some points in games against the big nations, Huet has to be on top of his game, and probably the best player on the ice, like he did in Quebec City four years ago.

In 2008, Huet posted the tournament’s sixth-best save percentage while facing more shots (per 60 minutes) than any other goalie. Last year, Huet faced 40 shots per game again, and turned away 91.26 of them, ninth best in the tournament. If the 36-year-old veteran can post similar numbers this time around, France will be more than safe.

The backups are Fabrice Lhenry, who will turn 40 in July, and Chamonix’s Florian Hardy.

Defence

When coach Henderson put together his power-play unit for the tournament, one familiar face was quarterbacking it on the blueline, once again: Baptiste Amar. The 32-year-old Grenoble defenceman will be playing in his 12th World Championship, and his fifth in the top division. In other words, Amar is a part of the core that has managed to keep France in the top division. He missed last year’s tournament due to an injury, but the Grenoble Brûleurs de Loups player is now back, and ready to play big minutes.

This year’s Finnish champion Yohann Auvitu will also carry a heavy load, as will Genève-Servette’s Kévin Hecquefeuille and Amiens Gothiques’s Vincent Bachet.

Forward

Pierre-Édouard Bellemare has taken big strides forward in his three seasons in the Swedish Elitserien. In his first season, in 2010, he collected 14 points in 49 games, and added nine in 12 playoff games. Last season, he scored ten goals and 18 points in 53 games, five in 16 playoff games, and this season, he was one of Skellefteå’s key players when he scored 19 goals and 36 points in 55 games, and 12 points in 15 playoff games. His 19 goals were tied for ninth in the league.

The Ottawa Senators prospect Stéphane Da Costa scored 36 points in 46 AHL games this season, and the 22-year-old Paris native is expected to ignite the French offence, together with his older brother Teddy, who scored 41 points in 37 games in the Polish league.

Sacha Treille, who led France in scoring in last year’s tournament, is back, as is his brother Yorick, also a member of the generation that has kept France in the top division. He scored 18 points in 52 games playing for Sparta Prague in the Czech league.

Coaching

Dave Henderson took over the French junior program in 1999, and then, five years later the men’s national team. During his tenure, France has never been relegated from the top division, once they got promoted in 2007, in Henderson’s third year behind the bench.

He has his core intact, and is now also guiding a new generation onto the world stage, players he’s known for a decade.

Projected Results

“We’ve had a good competition for roster spots, we haven’t had many injuries, and the core players are back. We’re ready,” Huet told IIHF.com on the eve of the tournament. Coach Henderson has had a good month to put his team together - the camp opened on April 9 - and the players know what is expected of them.

“We’ll play hard. That’s our strength. That’s what got us here, and we try to improve every year,” said Huet.

Improving last year’s 12th place would be a dream come true.

RISTO PAKARINEN