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WC: 2017 Division I, II, III

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Bulgaria and Luxembourg are playing for promotion to Division IIB. Likely that Bulgaria wins this match, though it would be neat to see Luxembourg get promoted for the first time in over a decade.

Georgia will play Hong Kong for third in the group. Win or lose, it is the best result for Georgia since they joined the World Championship in 2013 (of course last year they originally finished second, but were disqualified for using ineligible players; hopefully that doesn't happen again).

The UAE has had a rough tournament, getting shut out in all 4 games, while conceding 48 goals (an average of 12 per game). This is probably because in the past couple months they played in the Asian Winter Games (in Japan) and the Challenge Cup of Asia (in Thailand). It was just too much for them, and hopefully they cut back next year (or the IIHF gets enough teams to have a Division III qualifier). Has to be rough for the team, to go home like that.
 
Final Croatian roster

Goalies:

Mate Tomljenović – KHL Medveščak
Vilim Rosandić – HC Detva

Defenders:

Marko Tadić - KHL Medveščak
Domen Vedlin – KHL Medveščak
Jan Smolec – KHL Medveščak
Marko Ljubić – KHL Mladost
Igor Jačmenjak – KHL Zagreb
Borna Šilović – Annecy
Andy Sertich – Nottingham Panthers

Forwards:

Luka Mikulić - KHL Medveščak
Ivan Brenčun - KHL Medveščak
Ivan Janković – KHL Medveščak
Matija Miličić – KHL Medveščak
Nathan Perkovich – KHL Medveščak
Tomislav Zanoški – KHL Medveščak
Marko Šakić – KHL Medveščak
Tadija Mirić - KHL Mladost
Mislav Blagus - KHL Zagreb
Luka Jarčov – KHL Zagreb
Borna Rendulić – Utica Comets
Dominik Kanaet – HC Dubnica
David Brine – Cardiff Devils

Missing players : Mark Katic (D - Skelleftea), Mike Glumac (F - Medvescak), Ivan Puzić (D - Vitkovice/Šumprek)
 
pukovnik said:
Final Croatian roster

Goalies:

Mate Tomljenović – KHL MedveÅ¡čak
Vilim Rosandić – HC Detva

Defenders:

Marko Tadić - KHL MedveÅ¡čak
Domen Vedlin – KHL MedveÅ¡čak
Jan Smolec – KHL MedveÅ¡čak
Marko Ljubić – KHL Mladost
Igor Jačmenjak – KHL Zagreb
Borna Å ilović – Annecy
Andy Sertich – Nottingham Panthers

Forwards:

Luka Mikulić - KHL MedveÅ¡čak
Ivan Brenčun - KHL MedveÅ¡čak
Ivan Janković – KHL MedveÅ¡čak
Matija Miličić – KHL MedveÅ¡čak
Nathan Perkovich – KHL MedveÅ¡čak
Tomislav ZanoÅ¡ki – KHL MedveÅ¡čak
Marko Å akić – KHL MedveÅ¡čak
Tadija Mirić - KHL Mladost
Mislav Blagus - KHL Zagreb
Luka Jarčov – KHL Zagreb
Borna Rendulić – Utica Comets
Dominik Kanaet – HC Dubnica
David Brine – Cardiff Devils

Missing players : Mark Katic (D - Skelleftea), Mike Glumac (F - Medvescak), Ivan Puzić (D - Vitkovice/Å umprek)
Click to expand...

So how do the Croats stack up this year?
 
3rd or 4th place. I would rank us before Estonia and Tilburgless Netherlands, behind GBR and Japan. Lithuania is slight favourite, but it is beatable.
 
pukovnik said:
Missing players : Mark Katic (D - Skelleftea), Mike Glumac (F - Medvescak), Ivan Puzić (D - Vitkovice/Šumprek)
Click to expand...

I met Katic about five weeks ago. Nice dude. I asked him if he had considered playing for Croatia, and he told me had just been cleared to make the transition from team Canada to team Croatia (because of the 4 year rule).

And it seems Skelleftea are working on a contract extension with him.
 
pukovnik said:
3rd or 4th place. I would rank us before Estonia and Tilburgless Netherlands, behind GBR and Japan. Lithuania is slight favourite, but it is beatable.
Click to expand...

This. Croatia's roster is pretty weak this year but so will be Lithuania's. I wouldn't even say we are slight favorites to be honest, it's dead even.
 
Elvs said:
I met Katic about five weeks ago. Nice dude. I asked him if he had considered playing for Croatia, and he told me had just been cleared to make the transition from team Canada to team Croatia (because of the 4 year rule).

And it seems Skelleftea are working on a contract extension with him.
Click to expand...

He is.

Nobody from federation dare to explain why he and Glumac are not with the squad in Belfast. Considering that people who "leads" MedveÅ¡čak are very influential in NT as well, maybe it has to do with something that happened during KHL campaign.
 
The Division 1 tournaments begin this weekend, will be interesting to see which countries get promoted and which ones get demoted. In the 2nd Division 1 tournament, nice to see a country like Netherlands, not known overly for hockey, be 1 step away from the main Division 1 tournament.
 
tony d said:
The Division 1 tournaments begin this weekend, will be interesting to see which countries get promoted and which ones get demoted. In the 2nd Division 1 tournament, nice to see a country like Netherlands, not known overly for hockey, be 1 step away from the main Division 1 tournament.
Click to expand...

Well they have always participated in the Division 1 in this century except for last year and just as many times in 1A as in 1B so this isn't exactly new or an achievement for them.
 
For those wondering, Alan Lyszczarcyk will not be playing for Poland at the tournament. However former Oilers first round pick Alex Plante (15th in 2007) recently acquired South Korean citizenship and will make his international debut with them. He'll be one of five North American's playing for the South Korean team this year, their last chance to show what they can do ahead of hosting the Olympics next year.
 
Apparently Ukraine has once again failed to attract its best players to join the team, sad since they're the host nation. Still, they are currently tied against Hungary.
 
jonas2244 said:
Anyone able to watch the livestream on iihf.com from Korea-Poland?
Click to expand...

Looks like it's geo-blocked for most of the Europe.

Overall, Ukraine has to try their very hardest to stay in the division (lucky win against Poland most likely scenario for it). Kazakhstan should cruise to promotion, 2nd place battle is quite intriguing.
 
Urbanskog said:
Apparently Ukraine has once again failed to attract its best players to join the team, sad since they're the host nation. Still, they are currently tied against Hungary.
Click to expand...

Not surprising for such a culturally divided country. Did the Civil War even officially end yet?
 
So as of yesterday it's clear Ališauskas won't be joining Lithuanian NT either. So in total losses are him, Armalis and Kumeliauskas bros. That's pretty good from depth perspective, only 4 guys missing isn't bad at all. Coaches actually had to make decisions who to cut for a change. Quality-wise however, that's our by far best goalie, by far best defenseman, by far best forward (who might sadly be forced to retire) and our 3rd-ish best forward. So that sucks.

It is also a little of a throwback version since I can't remember the last time so many bigger (somewhat) names were cut in favor of Energija guys. Hopefully some of them can showcase themselves to a foreign clubs.

Overall, I would actually be thrilled with a 3rd place finish.
 
GB always struggle against Japan's speed.

Japan do not have any real standout players but they have consistency and depth throughout the lineup, they're not the most talented or biggest team but they all skate like the wind, and teams like GB struggle against that.
 
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