All five Chicago Blackhawks players at the World Championship will continue to the quarterfinal round, which begins Thursday.
Forward Nick Schmaltz and defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk won Group A with the United States after a 5-3 win over Artemi Panarin and Russia on Tuesday. Team USA will face Finland in the quarterfinals in Cologne, Germany.
Russia draws defenseman Michal Kempny and the Czech Republic and forward Marcus Kruger and Sweden will face Switzerland in Paris.
HAWKS
**Why the Hawks championship window may already be over (SCH)
**Why the Hawks championship window runs through 2019 (SCH)
**Panarin gets back into groove at Worlds (Chicago Sun Times)
**Darling was Stars first choice, per report (SCH)
CENTRAL DIVISION
**RECAP: Predators overwhelm Ducks for 2-1 series lead (On The Forecheck)
**Preds anthem singer unhappy about being upstaged by country acts (The Tennessean)
**Titans linemen chug beers to pump up Nashville crowd (SBN)
**Blues will overhaul coaching staff; all assistants let go (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
**Blues will share AHL team with expansion Vegas club (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
**MacKinnon reinvigorated at worlds after tough year with Avs (Sportsnet)
**Should Stars consider Ilya Kovalchuk? (Defending Big D)
**Stars will have plenty of cap space for roster upgrades (Defending Big D)
**Jets expected to protect Hellebuyck (Arctic Ice Hockey)
**What will Jets do in goal? (Winnipeg Sun)
NHL
**NHL’s top 17 UFAs of 2017: Latest rumors, reports (Sportsnet)
**30 Thoughts: Should St. Louis target Eberle for scoring help? (Sportsnet)
**GM of the Year finalists: Oilers’ Chiarelli, Sens’ Dorion, Preds’ Poile (PHT)
**Tampa could reportedly host 2018 All-Star Game (Raw Charge)
**Kessel, Malkin care not for Boucher or his 1-3-1 trap (Pensburgh)
**Can Penguins continue to shut down Karlsson? (Pensburgh)
**Senators facing golden opportunity as series shifts to Ottawa (Sportsnet)
**Ralph Krueger turned down two NHL coaching jobs (PHT)
**Oilers’ Sekera out 6-9 months with torn ACL (PHT)
**Russell puts Oilers at the top of his options (Edmonton Journal)
**Maple Leafs ink Swedish D-men Rosen, Borgman to 2-year deals (Pension Plan Puppets)
**Coyotes sign KHL forward Kempe (Five For Howling)
**Rangers overhaul AHL Hartford staff (Blueshirt Banter)
**South Philadelphia will name street after Ed Snider (Broad Street Hockey)
**Philadelphia deserves to host an NHL All-Star Game (Broad Street Hockey)
HOCKEY WORLD
**French star Da Costa drawing NHL interest (TSN)
**KHL thinking of dropping five teams to save costs (Sportsnet)
**Hayes scores twice as U.S. hands Russia first loss at Worlds (PHT)