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WC: 2017 Division I, II, III

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Austria lost to Sweden today by a score of 6-2. We play them again tomorrow but we get our top defenseman. Our playoffs aren't over so we're still missing a lot of good players, another in the NLB promotion fight, and we have two guys tied up in the SHL semis and of course the three NHL guys but one made the playoffs, but I don't think any of them will be at Worlds.
 
Serbia winning against Belgium for the first time in their history. Sign of Serbian hockey level actually rising with MOL team in place?
 
SoundAndFury said:
Serbia winning against Belgium for the first time in their history. Sign of Serbian hockey level actually rising with MOL team in place?
Click to expand...

Beograd is good project, with core of the team made by Serbian players (unlike Medvescak), but Serbs looked much more fresh at MOL games than they are looking now in Galati. I don't know reason, maybe they are tired after majority of players played their first full pro season, maybe they are rusty, because Beograd played last game in mid february and Serbia didn't play any pre-tournament games. Frankly, I expected more from them (win against Australia and better resistance against Romania).
 
I thought they did pretty well against Romania, all things considered. Losing to Australia is obviously bad but they did play better just got unlucky. And lets face it, they do have a pretty garbage goaltender to add more randomness to their game.

Crushing a decent D2A team like Belgium is huge step forward as it is. I mean they basically have same players as the years before and getting so much better results.
 
SoundAndFury said:
I thought they did pretty well against Romania, all things considered. Losing to Australia is obviously bad but they did play better just got unlucky. And lets face it, they do have a pretty garbage goaltender to add more randomness to their game.

Crushing a decent D2A team like Belgium is huge step forward as it is. I mean they basically have same players as the years before and getting so much better results.
Click to expand...

Rankovic was good prospect when he was younger, but never reached his potential. Red Star Belgrade's U12, U14, U16, and U18 are playing really well in slovenian leagues. Their future looks good if they can keep Belgrade in MOL.
 
There is such a long way to go from where they were to being a creditable hockey nation but it's nice to see some countries are taking step forward. And not just by getting loads of Canadians to play for you.

9-2 though. Who saw that coming.
 
It would be really cool if Australia would get promoted, but it probably won't happen. If they win against Spain today, then there is a chance.
 
Romania will steamroll them. Lets be real, Australia neither deserves nor is capable of being in D1B.
 
End of the second period:
Romania - Iceland
0:1


edit: 0:2 Iceland won. :handclap:

Has Iceland ever won a game against a better ranked team than Romania?
 
Last edited:
Romania better wake up if they want to get promoted. They need to beat Australia now in order to control their own fate, so it hopefully will be a decent match to watch.

Nice to see Serbia coming around now, hope this isn't just a one-time thing and continues in the future.
 
ZT said:
End of the second period:
Romania - Iceland
0:1


edit: 0:2 Iceland won. :handclap:

Has Iceland ever won a game against a better ranked team than Romania?
Click to expand...

That is indeed the highest ranked team Iceland has ever won against. Previously their best result was against Belgium in 2015.
 
Interesting fact, Spain has won the D2A silver medals twice and both times got relegated year after.
 
I have an aunt in Australia, always good to see their national hockey team doing good. Big game today vs. Romania, probably decides 1st.
 
tony d said:
I have an aunt in Australia, always good to see their national hockey team doing good. Big game today vs. Romania, probably decides 1st.
Click to expand...

I'd say they aren't doing better or worse than usual, in a must win game against Romania they never stood a chance.

Below the elevator team the division is complete gong show, Australia has a game against Belgium remaining and their 2 most recent results against them are 7-1 win and 10-4 loss. Same with Spain, 2nd place one year 6th next. It's kinda like in a beer league, you can beat anyone if they are having a bad day and lose to anyone if you are having a bad day.
 
China has won promotion to Division IIA next year with their win over Turkey. New Zealand can tie them for points, but China wins the head-to-head.

The race for relegation to Division III is close, with four of the teams tied at 3 points, though Turkey is the leader with 4 games played. However North Korea and Israel are playing each other shortly, and unless they go to overtime, one of them is joining Turkey in a tie for last.
 
To bad for Australia but yeah Romania's the better hockey nation. Still think it's good to see that country doing well in the lower levels of international hockey.
 
Interesting first day of Division III. A thrilling game between South Africa and Georgia, with Georgia winning 6-5. And a great debut game by Chinese Taipei as they only lost 3-0 to the favorites Bulgaria. I was expecting another 17-0 like the Luxembourg UAE game. Amazing goalkeeping by Taipei's goalies as they had 52 saves!! Chinese Taipei need to improve on their attack though with only 7 shots in the game.
 
This is the lowest level tournament isn't it? Luxembourg beat Georgia earlier today 6-4. If I had to pick a favorite here it would be Bulgaria for sure.
 
So Bulgaria outshot Hong Kong 84-13 and were only leading by one until late in the 2nd period. Hong Kong even scored the first 2 goals of the game.
 
Bulgaria still won and have clear sailing to the next playoff round. The next group plays tomorrow with lots to be decided there.
 
Luxembourg are the group winners for Group B. Going to the semis on Saturday are Bulgaria, Georgia, Luxembourg and Hong Kong.
 
For Korea, I will be just be happy if we stay alive in the group again.
Two-game series against the second-to-third string Russian squad back in mid-March should help us when we prepare for the tournament.
I'd rate those Russians are on par with the elevator teams if not better.
 
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