3 Minute Minor
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- Sep 29, 2009
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WC: 2015 — Divisions I-II-III
- Thread starter Systemfel
- Start date
No idea what GB have done to offend you, but you are negative at any opportunity about them.
They probably went into the tournament third favourites and as it ended up they threw it away, after earning the right to play for promotion.
They lack guys who can step up and be the leader of their line, since most play as a secondary player on their line in the EIHL, or on limited minutes. Ben O'Connor is the only real leader in the team, and showed it in the tournament. The forwards just don't have that cutting edge.
We could possibly get it by playing naturalised players, or guys like Matt Keith - but we've chosen to play the guys we have for now. The debate on whether that is the right call is one that's overdone.
We played a good underdog in the tournament, scrapped to win all of our games and were unlucky in the end. Yeah, Korea will probably fare better in 1A than we would have next year - but they're lucky we gifted them the opportunity to be there.
Korea were the best team at the tournament and deserved promotion. End of. GB played well, thanks to their march to their penalty box, in stopping the Korean offence and exploiting Park, who isn't a very good goalie.
They got a LOT of luck during the week, and you can only edge one goal games for so long before one goes the other way.
They got a LOT of luck during the week, and you can only edge one goal games for so long before one goes the other way.
SoundAndFury
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- May 28, 2012
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It's not that they offended me it's just that they are supposed to be professionals and they play in a league which has teams in the Champions League, one would think they are good, because they should be good, but they are not and I think they deserve a good bit of bashing because of it. Same as big-headed Cronadian KHL "stars".
To be fair Korea was helped in large part by naturalised players like Michael Swift, Brock Radunske, and Michael Testwuide, all of whom are going to finish in the top ten for scoring. Just unlike Croatia, the Korean's naturalised players showed up for this tournament and actually helped the team win.
SoundAndFury
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- May 28, 2012
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The difference, in my mind at least, is that I remember those games against Korea back from the day when they had none of the import players and they were still a very, very good hockey team. I believe they absolutely could have achieved the same result in D1B without those Canadian guys albeit in less spectacular fashion.
With Croatia, situation is completely different, obviously.
By the way, the real sensation is yet to come, Estonians are ahead 2-0.
Definitely, I mean you can look to the Asian League where a Korean was named MVP this year, becoming the first Asian player to win the award. They are actually putting money into their program seeing how they don't want to be totally embarrassed at the 2018 Olympics.
And in the final Division IB game, Estonia leading Netherlands 2-0 after the first period. Would be an upset if the Estonians hold on, though the Dutch have had a terrible tournament this year.
I get your point, but they're definitely not a 'very, very good team'. They lost to Spain and only managed to beat the Netherlands back in 2011. Conceded 4 goals against Australia, barely beat the Netherlands in 2012, etc.
Yes, Korea minus the North American additions would be a much better team than Croatia without the Cronadians, but they would still be a mediocre team that could lose on any given day. So, no, they probably wouldn't have been promoted to DivIA if they played an all-Korean line-up this year.
One thing is certain (in my opinion); Koreans have made massive progress in the last couple of years. You mentioned Spain. I am sure that in 2015 they would beat Spain by a BIG margin (even without Radunske, Swift, Testwuide). They have made really big progress in just a couple of last years. At least that is my impression.
Estonia still ahead of NL. 2-1 is the result.
Makarov gets hat-trick and Estonia leads 3:1.
59:49 10 min NED 27. HAGEMEIJER Diederick Abuse of Official by Players/Team Officials
And it is over for the Netherlands.
59:49 10 min NED 27. HAGEMEIJER Diederick Abuse of Official by Players/Team Officials
And it is over for the Netherlands.
They promoted to 1A before most of those players were on the team...
2011 was a long time ago when talking about Korean hockey, it's completely pointless to compare results from back then to today, even without the new imports. No team in international hockey has improved as much as Korea has in the past 5 years, and that was the case before this tournament as well. They would absolutely steamroll Spain and Australia if they played today, even without the imports as Slohockey said.
Korea made big strides in their development. Best example is victory over Croatia who used 9 players whom all of them would be all star players in Asian league, while 10 years ago in game for Division 1 they lost from Croats 5:2 and we used completely domestic roster.
4-0 for Kazakhstan against Hungary...they look very strong. Should be easy promotion back to Elite Division.
It looks like you haven't followed the DivIB tournament this year. They were extremely lucky to win. Take out their leading players, and it's likely they would be playing in the 3rd tier again in 2016.
Poland shut out Japan, who with two losses is probably out of the running for promotion now; however as last year showed, anything can happen here. Kazakhstan also got a shutout, against Hungary, and looks like a safe contender for both promotion and the gold medal.
Korea were the best team in Division IB and deserved promotion. Their loss to Great Britain was purely because they lost their heads, and the refereeing was incredibly kind to the British.
The only area I think that holds Korea back is their goaltending. They need a better goalie than Park if they want to become a solidified Division IA nation (like Hungary and Japan), although, Japan are looking a little shaky this year.
The only area I think that holds Korea back is their goaltending. They need a better goalie than Park if they want to become a solidified Division IA nation (like Hungary and Japan), although, Japan are looking a little shaky this year.
Matt Dalton is projected to be their goaltender: http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=33244
It is funny though that even with foreigners South Korea only got promoted because Great Britain couldn't finish off Lithuania, while Croatia severely underperformed. And Italy with its new policy of (mostly) native Italians is undefeated while the Hungarians, complete with some Canadians, has not looked good at all. If this trend continues and the addition of foreigners doesn't actually provide any benefits, teams may be more reluctant to pursue that option.
I don't understand why it bothers people so much. While I wouldn't be surprised if some federations are throwing money at players to entice them to sign up (which would explain why imports don't seem to be helping anybody since they don't have the motivation beyond their paycheck) and that I would agree is unfortunate.
But the fact of the matter is that we live in a globalized world where people move from place to place. Humans are not stagnant objects, their homes and identities can change. Sometimes I feel people place too much importance on bloodlines such as the people who think the Cronucks with actual Croatia heritage "aren't as bad" as the others (what's the difference?) or how some people even think Wolski should be eligible to play for Poland just because he was born there though he has only ever played 6 games of hockey in the country. Nationality has little to do with surnames and ethnic heritage.
I also don't buy the argument that they don't reflect the quality of hockey in the country. Medvescak play in Croatia, Anyang Halla and the other Korean teams play in Korea. If these players play for these teams, then they clearly do reflect the quality of hockey in that country.
Howe Elbows 9
Registered User
Kazakhstan leads 3-0 against Japan after the first period, and it indeed looks like they are heading back to the top division.
Because national teams should be made out of players BORN AND RAISED in the country that they play for. It takes time and PATIENCE to build something from scratch from what you are given. Not just buy whatever you can. It devalues the competition. This crap korea team is worthless without their imports. Same goes for Cronada. And now even the Hungarians have started doing this, why I don't know. They have a proper development program. And people think that korea is good enough to compete in the Olympics. By adding imports. Yeah, great.
National teams are not hockey clubs.
And the way they are heading back is incredible. Total dominance. A couple of early goals and then just sitting back and almost relaxing.
Japan dared to score a goal. So Kazakhs scored three extra goals in 6 mins.
EDIT:
But the second place is still open. Italy did not convince me, they were really lucky, especially in the 2nd period, in the first game against Poland and they already lost a point to Ukraine. Neither did Hungary.
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