ZURICH-KLOTEN – If scoring is a problem in today’s game someone has forgotten to tell Lindy Ruff and his Canadians. The unbeaten country is averaging nearly seven goals a game and leads the tournament in almost every offensive category. At the low end, Germany and Hungary have averaged only one goal per game in their first four games.

The highest-scoring team in the tournament has four players in the top seven of scoring honours as well. Martin St. Louis leads the way with four goals and eleven points, while Steve Stamkos, Jason Spezza, and Shea Weber have seven. Russia’s Ilya Kovalchuk has nine points and Finland’s Niko Kapanen and Czech Jaromir Jagr have eight.

Canada also leads the power-play rankings as well, having scored a whopping 12 goals in just 24 opportunities. Hungary, meanwhile has but one extra-man goal in only eleven power plays.

It is the Finns, however, who hold a slight advantage over Canada in the penalty-killing department. Suomi has surrendered only one goal on 25 chances against and Canada has given up two in 24. Only five short-handed goals have been scored. Czech Republic, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and Finland each have one.

As for goaltending, Canada is again tops, having surrendered just five goals in four games and posting a 95.90 save percentage. Chris Mason leads the tournament with a save percentage of 98.36, having given up just one goal on 61 shots. Belarus goalie Andrei Mezin is second with a mark of 96.43 on 166 shots and five goals.

Boris Valabik (Slovakia) and Jonathan Zwikel (France) lead the minor penalty parade, having taken seven penalties in four games. Right behind them is Mads Hansen (Norway) and Andre Lakos (Austria), both with six. Benoît Quessandier of France, Martins Karsums of Latvia, and Vitali Vishnevsky of Russia have the only game misconsuct penalties and Canada’s Scottie Upshall has the only match penalty to date.

ANDREW PODNIEKS