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2023 Development Cup

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FrHockeyFan

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Dec 25, 2017
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A few weeks to go before the 2023 Development Cup kicks off. Nothing from the tournament's official pages but participating countries have been posting a bit over the past month. Here is what I've gathered up so far from their social media accounts.

The Cup will take place on 2nd-6th May at Ondrej Nepela Arena in Bratislava, Slovakia. Not sure if we are talking here about the main arena or the training rinks.

6 countries will compete. For the first time, a defending champion is back with Colombia looking to keep their crown. Last year's runner-up Liechtenstein will be there as well to challenge them. Ireland and Portugal will still be chasing that elusive title again while Andorra will also make it for the 4th time as they are looking for exemption to gain full IIHF membership. This year's newbie is Argentina who won the Spring Classic Cup before losing to Puerto Rico at the Latam Cup last year.

It will be a round robin tournament. I can't find a full fixtures list but Argentina has posted their games list.

So far only Ireland and Portugal have released their roster. Player eligibility rules are still pretty loose as most of the Northern Irish players wouldn't be allowed in green in WC tournaments. However Liechtenstein has mentioned the IIHF has set an age restriction criteria with average roster age having to be below 30.

Looking forward to follow that tournament.
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The last few editions they played in Germany at the Bundesstützpunkt für Eishockey und Curling in Füssen and used the main arena although there's also a decent secondary arena with more than sufficient seating that is also used by EV Füssen in the Oberliga.
 
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Argentina released their roster. Plenty of Latam Cup experience.

edit: and so did Liechtenstein.
 
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Based on posts from the Colombian, Irish and Portuguese NAs, it looks like Andorra has dropped out of the event. Sad to hear that.

Still no roster from Colombia.

Full fixtures list

nationalteamsoficehockey.com

Development Cup - National Teams of Ice Hockey

ARGENTINA COLOMBIA IRELAND LIECHTENSTEIN PORTUGAL DATE VENUE MATCH RESULTS 05/02/23 Bratislava Argentina - Ireland 11 - 6 Video 05/02/23 Bratislava Portugal - Colombia 0 - 11 Video 05/03/23 Bratislava Ireland - Colombia 4 - 6 Video 05/03/23 Bratislava Portugal - Liechtenstein 0 -21 Video...
nationalteamsoficehockey.com
 
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Best of luck to Ireland. Hoping we get a better quality streams this time around
 

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Unsurprisingly both South American teams took the wins today.

Had a sneak peak while at work on the ARG-IRL game when it was 5-5 and thought maybe the difference between the two teams wasn't as bad as I expected but i guess I was wrong.

Watched a few minutes from the COL-POR match and yep the Colombian were by far the stronger team.

Let's see how Liechtenstein plays but I think the game on Friday between Argentina and Colombia will be the one for gold. The Colombians will have the advantage of a rest day on Thursday.
 
Colombia secures its second win before a rest day while Liechtenstein blasts Portugal.
 
Probably a big upset today with Liechtenstein edging Argentina out 6-5. They didn't sound particularly upbeat before the tournament about their chances this year but they did get that big result they needed to keep them on course. For Argentina, they now gonna face Colombia tomorrow with a big chip on their shoulders.

Meanwhile Portugal records another heavy loss but at least put one in the Irish net this time around.
 
Liechtenstein has some quality imports and also a bunch of domestic players that have went through a legit junior path in Swiss or Austrian hockey, not entirely surprising to see them do well. Joss looking like a beer league Lemieux out there. Argentina with quite the meltdown though.
 
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Great to see Ireland playing. Its been years. I wonder if they have yet any ice rinks on the island(Republic of Ireland area).
 
Albatros said:
Liechtenstein has some quality imports and also a bunch of domestic players that have went through a legit junior path in Swiss or Austrian hockey, not entirely surprising to see them do well. Joss looking like a beer league Lemieux out there. Argentina with quite the meltdown though.
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I know. It's just they were seriously playing down their expectations before this tourney.

They definitely have easier access than the rest to organised hockey so it does help a lot. And for them it's pretty much the highest level they will ever go as an NT as I doubt there will ever be an ice rink built in the country when you have plenty around you.

I guess I was also a bit fooled by Argentina's results last year compared to Colombia.
 
Lartsaman said:
Great to see Ireland playing. Its been years. I wonder if they have yet any ice rinks on the island(Republic of Ireland area).
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They hosted the Division III World Championships in 2007 but the arena has been closed for ten or so years now. It still exists though, just no one's willing to operate it.
 
Lartsaman said:
Great to see Ireland playing. Its been years. I wonder if they have yet any ice rinks on the island(Republic of Ireland area).
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Unfortunately only small temporary ones in the winter months. Aaron Guli mentions every now and again he is working on getting Dundalk Ice Dome reopened but no success so far. Can't imagine in what state that late Celtic Tiger era building is after 13 years.
 
FrHockeyFan said:
I know. It's just they were seriously playing down their expectations before this tourney.

They definitely have easier access than the rest to organised hockey so it does help a lot. And for them it's pretty much the highest level they will ever go as an NT as I doubt there will ever be an ice rink built in the country when you have plenty around you.

I guess I was also a bit fooled by Argentina's results last year compared to Colombia.
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I can actually see them put up a rink at some point, it's mostly a question of funding at the moment. If they can prove that they have a team they can send every year then the government might be more willing to foot the bill. Maybe they can also join a slightly higher level of amateur hockey in Austria or Switzerland then.
 
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Albatros said:
I can actually see them put up a rink at some point, it's mostly a question of funding at the moment. If they can prove that they have a team they can send every year then the government might be more willing to foot the bill. Maybe they can also join a slightly higher level of amateur hockey in Austria or Switzerland then.
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This would be a big boost for them. I guess if Andorra somehow gets that exemption for full IIHF membership, this would also open the WCs doors.

And of course it's not only hockey that would benefit from such an infrastructure.

The curling NT just reached the European Championship Division C final today which is their best result up to date and a serious improvement on last year's last place.
 
Lartsaman said:
Great to see Ireland playing. Its been years. I wonder if they have yet any ice rinks on the island(Republic of Ireland area).
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The only rink we have access to is in Belfast northern Ireland. It is 4 hours each way for me to train and play. No sign of rink coming to ireland yet
 
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The government have no interest in opening a rink. Private investment is not been used. The IIha just need to find land and a council willing to give to go ahead

FrHockeyFan said:
Colombia secures its second win before a rest day while Liechtenstein blasts Portugal.
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What was the score? It seems Portugal is not happy according to a facebook post
 
kev85 said:
The government have no interest in opening a rink. Private investment is not been used. The IIha just need to find land and a council willing to give to go ahead


What was the score? It seems Portugal is not happy according to a facebook post
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So far I see Liechtsenstein 21-0 Portugal and Ireland 10-1 Portugal.
 
The Irish gave a good fight to Liechtenstein while Argentina put themselves in the driver's seat in case of a 3-way tie. Assuming tiebreaking rules are the same as other IIHF events, Colombia would need to win by 4 goals to stop them from taking their crown.
 
20 min left. Colombia looked like they were going to make it in the first period but Liechtenstein are back in control of their fate.
 
I wonder if Liechtenstein would have a rink and a team playing either in the Swiss or the Austrian league, if they'd be allowed to play regular World Championship. The rules are, as far as I know, that you have a domestic league, and Liechtenstein just doesn't have the size for that. Even in football they're playing in the Swiss leagues.
 
Even in Division I there's a country without a domestic league so that's the lesser of their issues, but they do need at least one facility within their borders.
 
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