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WC: 2023 IIHF World Championship Division II

Eye of Ra

Eye of Ra

Grandmaster General of the International boards
Nov 15, 2008
19,325
5,513
Malmö, Sweden
Starts 15 April..


Group A:

Australia
Croatia
Spain
Iceland
Israel
Georgia

Group B:

New Zealand
Turkey
Belgium
Bulgaria
UEA
Mexico

What are you guys predications?


Star players would be:

Mark Katic
Nathan Walker
Borna Rendulić
Nino Tomov

If they even participate.
Click to read more...
 
Hydra links:

Division II A
Division II B

For II A I expect:

1. Croatia (realistically bottomed out after the end of the Cronuck era, too good for this weakened II A section anyhow)
2. Spain (somewhat controversial but they have been on an upward curve the last couple of years)
3. Australia
4. Israel
5. Iceland
6. Georgia

For Croatia I'd also say that the Idžan brothers should be worth keeping an eye on to see how they cope with the transition to senior international level, assuming they're selected of course.

Don't really know enough about II B to make a prediction, though I'll probably catch a few of their games and report back what I see anyway. Am semi-curious to see if the UAE have naturalised a new crop of Russians and how far they'll be able to take them... certainly looks like a more likely bet for any players from there who want a taste of the international game than playing for Russia any time soon!
 
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The Georgian team went to Latvia to train about a week ago, and played at least one game against a local team as a warm up. They have really gone big on naturalizing Russians for the team so could surprise here, but they really do suffer from the lack of a full-sized rink (the one they use in Tbilisi is something like 2/3 regulation size, and has no boards). They are also quite active on Facebook (and other social media I believe), so if you want video of the team there's quite a bit on there.
 
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Under 18 WC div 2 starts tommorow looking forward to see if Bruno idzan will be playing
 
Pity, so just Vito it looks like of the two.

Rendulić and Katić both in Croatia's entry list though if you're excited about seeing them.
Nathan Walker's not played for Australia for over a decade, not in their entry list and probably won't play for them until he's out of the NHL, that'd be my guess.
Think Tomov is in for Bulgaria.
 
aquaregia said:
Pity, so just Vito it looks like of the two.

Rendulić and Katić both in Croatia's entry list though if you're excited about seeing them.
Nathan Walker's not played for Australia for over a decade, not in their entry list and probably won't play for them until he's out of the NHL, that'd be my guess.
Think Tomov is in for Bulgaria.
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Where are you seeing the entry lists? When I look at the Hydra pages, they aren't there like they usually are.
 
Croatia demolishing GB, makes them clear early favorites. Interestingly enough Idzan with only 1 point after 7 Croatian goals.

Eye of Ra said:
This thread is about the seniors, not U18
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Well both I and Crobro are talking about U18. Your fault for not creating an appropriate thread.
 
SoundAndFury said:
Croatia demolishing GB, makes them clear early favorites. Interestingly enough Idzan with only 1 point after 7 Croatian goals.


Well both I and Crobro are talking about U18. Your fault for not creating an appropriate thread.
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My fault? I wrote clearly in the thread title this is not U18. I also wrote this starts 15 April.
 
Someone make a new thread... I watched Croatia yesterday.... They danced all over Spain but Martinez almost won it for Spain... 2-2 late in the game and Spain were gifted a PP which they did nothing with.. Then the inevitable.

Croatia were faster, more skilled, bigger and much better conditioned.
 
PanniniClaus said:
Someone make a new thread...
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I find this thread being "you do it", "no, you do it" kinda hilarious :laugh:

Regarding the tournament itself, I will keep most of my thoughts about Lithuania until the end because I don't want to jinx it but when it comes to Serbia, they played with a lot of heart and the arena itself was almost full (albeit small). Sure it was Sunday, opening day, and fatigue hasn't set in for the players but I was pleasantly surprised.
 
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Lmfao outshot them and still lost 7-0, Are GB goalkeepers just cursed in general when it comes to facing Croatia at age-grade level?
 
aquaregia said:
Lmfao outshot them and still lost 7-0, Are GB goalkeepers just cursed in general when it comes to facing Croatia at age-grade level?
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Frankly going to OT against Romania looked pretty bad as well, just not a good year for GB U18s I assume.
 
Croatia sending their top teenage prospects to Sweden and other European junior leagues is paying off.if I don’t jinx it here all of Croatia from under 18 under 20 and senior team in the span of one year all be competing in div 1B.not sure what’s going on with Bruno Idzan but his scoring seems to have dried up since the under 20 tournament
 
crobro said:
Croatia sending their top teenage prospects to Sweden and other European junior leagues is paying off.if I don’t jinx it here all of Croatia from under 18 under 20 and senior team in the span of one year all be competing in div 1B.not sure what’s going on with Bruno Idzan but his scoring seems to have dried up since the under 20 tournament
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Best team at the U18 ll A div by far... Maybe Lithuania give them a go..
 
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