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WJC: 2022 IIHF WM U20 D2A/D2B

ChaiTiefling said:
Some do definitely, usually the less-heralded players. This year look at Hopkins, Howells, McKenzie, the Endicott/Russell/Goodchild energy line. All putting a shift in every game and getting rewarded. Then you have the Alex Grahams - all the talent in the world but looks like he doesn't want to be there, drifting when the puck's not on his stick and reluctant to give it up when it is.

I would also echo the Grubb sentiment, a fantastic coach at club level but his international record is dire. Every tournament plays out the same.
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The moment that summed it up for me was when Graham scored from the point on the PP in the Korea game and just skated away without celebrating with anyone
 
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Grubbs GB coaching record

2013-14 - U18 D2A - 5th place - (1-3-1) 16GF 25GA
2014-15 - U18 D2A - 3rd place - (3-2-0) 18GF 13GA
2015-16 - U18 D2A - 4th place - (2-3-0) 18GF 23GA
2016-17 - U18 D2A - 5th place - (2-2-1) 18GF 17GA
U20 D1B - Relegated - (0-3-2) 8GF 19GA
2018-19 - U20 D2A - 3rd place - (3-2-0) 30GF 16GA
2019-20 - U20 D2A - 2nd place - (4-1-0) 23GF 17GA
2021-22 - U20 D2A - Choked - (2-1-1) 19GF 14GA

The year he stopped being the U18 coach, they got promoted to D1B

It's the same story every year, plenty of individual talent but they never look like a team. Whatever secret sauce Pete Russell has, Grubb doesn't know the recipe
 
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SoundAndFury said:
Travel expenses and political situation. Even Dinamo Riga is really a corpse on life support so what is there to say about us. Estonia could maybe realistically dream about the team in Mestis but hockey there is probably not quite popular enough and travel expenses would still be relatively huge.
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A bit late to the party, but if I'm not mistaken there were talks of establishing a Liiga team in Tallinn in the past. However, this was quickly shut down as it would more or less act as a Finnish KHL farm team. I couldn't find a source for this unfortunately, but I am quite sure this was the case.
 
kabidjan18 said:
Wow, looks like Lithuania is just better. No other possible explanation.

I just discovered the VHL has no conferences. Why? That's so stupid. Everyone's travel costs go up like, multiples times. I was thinking if they did have Conferences, it'd be cool if there was a Baltic VHL team that doubled as a farmteam for Riga. Contractually obligated to play half its home games in Tartu and the other half in Vilnius. And required to have 8 members from each country at each time. That would be neat. I mean, I'm sure it's been thought of and there was some reason not to but still. The situation makes me sad to think about.
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I think you're a little confused about the role KHL plays in Latvian hockey. Or, you know, geography. Or the logistics and the costs of it.

It's a bit like saying Team GB should join the ECHL.

Furthermore, Dinamo Riga is:
a) a net importer of talent, it has not really produced anything on its own
b) devoid of any leading prospects or leading pro talent
c) not contributing to the development of hockey in Latvia in general
d) merely a political project not capable of generating income, and it would simply not exist without direct state funding from Russia (you read that right)

That entire team including its junior section, is an artificial, frankenstein of a creation that is not by any means a template to be used by Estonia or Lithuania for the growth of the sport in their countries.

If anything, it's an example of what to avoid doing.
 
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Exarz said:
A bit late to the party, but if I'm not mistaken there were talks of establishing a Liiga team in Tallinn in the past. However, this was quickly shut down as it would more or less act as a Finnish KHL farm team. I couldn't find a source for this unfortunately, but I am quite sure this was the case.
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Yes, there has been projects like Golden Lions, Tallinna Ilves, Crowns...
 
Pardus said:
Yes, there has been projects like Golden Lions, Tallinna Ilves, Crowns...
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And there have been attempts of creating a Baltic league, Baltic Cup, Estonian teams playing in the Latvian hockey league, Lithuanian teams playing in the Latvian hockey league. Everything's been tried out.

It just looks like there's not enough money in the sport in Estonia or Lithuania for something like that to be a self-sufficient long-term kind of a thing. But there definitely is some potential in growing the sport. It's just a matter of making some baby steps in the right direction and being patient with expectations. I highly doubt that just creating a pro team would do much good.

Like, how many potential pro players has Estonia lost due to a lack of a domestic pro team? This is an honest question.
 
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Namejs said:
I think you're a little confused about the role KHL plays in Latvian hockey. Or, you know, geography. Or the logistics and the costs of it.

It's a bit like saying Team GB should join the ECHL.

Furthermore, Dinamo Riga is:
a) a net importer of talent, it has not really produced anything on its own
b) devoid of any leading prospects or leading pro talent
c) not contributing to the development of hockey in Latvia in general
d) merely a political project not capable of generating income, and it would simply not exist without direct state funding from Russia (you read that right)

That entire team including its junior section, is an artificial, frankenstein of a creation that is not by any means a template to be used by Estonia or Lithuania for the growth of the sport in their countries.

If anything, it's an example of what to avoid doing.
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Alright! We got Namejs' support.

Namejs said:
Like, how many potential pro players has Estonia lost due to a lack of a domestic pro team? This is an honest question.
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I'm very much haunted by the fact that Siim liivik never got to represent Estonia.
 
kabidjan18 said:
I'm very much haunted by the fact that Siim liivik never got to represent Estonia.
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He had higher ambitions. Having a shitty pro team in Estonia wouldn't have changed that.

Most Latvian prospects go abroad as well and some have tried making other national teams (such as Treijs). Those things happen.
 
Namejs said:
He had higher ambitions. Having a shitty pro team in Estonia wouldn't have changed that.

Most Latvian prospects go abroad as well and some have tried making other national teams (such as Treijs). Those things happen.
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But he had that as a 19 year old. He clearly changed his mind pretty quickly after. But he's never been able to find a landing spot in Estonia. And because of the tremendously stupid IIHF eligibility rules, he's barred from representing them outside of unofficials.

FIFA's rules allow players to change representation from junior to senior level. I strongly prefer FIFA's rules for the above case. The IIHF's rule makes very little sense, you can cap tie a 15 year old kid if you wanted to.
 
kabidjan18 said:
But he had that as a 19 year old. He clearly changed his mind pretty quickly after. But he's never been able to find a landing spot in Estonia. And because of the tremendously stupid IIHF eligibility rules, he's barred from representing them outside of unofficials.

FIFA's rules allow players to change representation from junior to senior level. I strongly prefer FIFA's rules for the above case. The IIHF's rule makes very little sense, you can cap tie a 15 year old kid if you wanted to.
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He made up his mind and had to pay the consequences. His choice, his responsibility.

The IIHF eligibility rules are stupid because they allow to switch countries so easily. You shouldn't be able to play for a country because it paid you a million bucks. The 2 year rule is absurd and is crippling competition among the 2nd and 3rd tier nations.
 
It has to be said Seniut is performing nicely with goal and assist today taking him to 4 points in 5 games.

Noreika of course gets major penalty because of course...
 
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And Spain does it. Never worried. It's interesting if some of their players actually attempt to have a real hockey career outside of Spain, some of them surely must have talent for it.
 
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So would the cancellation of 2B potentially save Romania from relegation from 2A level? It would make sense, right?
 
ozo said:
So would the cancellation of 2B potentially save Romania from relegation from 2A level? It would make sense, right?
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According to the IIHF 2B will be played later this year, so no free pass for Romanians.
 
China canceled it's paritcipation

Croatian entry roster

www.eliteprospects.com

Croatia U20 - Roster, News, Stats & more

Croatia U20 - WJC-20 D2A - hockey team page with roster, stats, transactions at eliteprospects.com
www.eliteprospects.com www.eliteprospects.com

Training camp starts tomorrow, there are rumors about friendly game against either Triglav or Sisak.
 
If you are going to watch please do share your insights. I skimmed through the Dutch roster, nothing too exciting there.
 
SoundAndFury said:
If you are going to watch please do share your insights. I skimmed through the Dutch roster,nothing too exciting there.
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Pretty much this....they started really slow, but gradually got better as the game went on and won deservedly at the end.
 
That centre for croatia that scored short handed is a player to keep an eye on
 
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