After knocking out the Calgary Flames in the sixth match of their series, Chicago Blackhawk President John McDonough likened the situation to a group of college students taking their graduation. Well, these graduates have now advanced another round after knocking out Vancouver after six games and are facing "old boys" Detroit in the Western Conference final. In the team, Chicago has eleven players that are 23 or younger while Detroit is the oldest team in the NHL with an average age of just over 31. In the first match last night, the graduates were taught a lesson with old boys Detroit taking the game 5-2. Tonight will stage the first match in the Eastern Conference final between Pittsburgh and Carolina.

Four days after the 2009 World Championship final, it was decided that Germany's opponents at the opening game of the 2010 World Championships in front of an expected record 75,976 spectators in the Gelsenkirchen Veltins-Arena will be Team USA. The complete list of teams competing for the 2010 World Championships is as follows:

Group A: Russia, Belarus, Slovakia and Kazakhstan
Group B: Canada, Switzerland, Latvia and Italy
Group C: Sweden, Czech Republic, Norway and France
Group D: Finland, USA, Germany and Denmark

All the best.