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WC: 2023 IIHF World Championship Division II

Idžan will get going, there was some overrating, but I still hope he will be the first croatian player to get drafted.

It is great to see Croatian generations investing in themselves, going to play abroad and now being respectable forces on their level.
 
crobro said:
Talking about the senior teams
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Bottom two of the division are probably historically weak yeah, but Japan [beating Poland and Romania] and Ukraine [beating Hungary] have had some pretty positive results in the warm-up games before the tournament, and of course China could be a wildcard depending on how many naturalised/heritage players accept the call this time and how seriously they take the competition.
 
aquaregia said:
Bottom two of the division are probably historically weak yeah, but Japan [beating Poland and Romania] and Ukraine [beating Hungary] have had some pretty positive results in the warm-up games before the tournament, and of course China could be a wildcard depending on how many naturalised/heritage players accept the call this time and how seriously they take the competition.
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The Netherlands are also "historically weak" mostly because Tilburg players, which include like 3/4 of the country's best, are almost never able to play. Taking that into account, Japan and Ukraine definitely being stronger than some of the nations currently in the 1A (without pointing any fingers), 1B is probably a division that changed the least due to the whole Russia affair.

Of course if China can't get their Olympic roster to play then yeah, that's different.

wetcoast said:
What kind of player is he like, any chance of getting drafted?
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People were talking about him being in the conversation for the first round so I feel he would have to blow it big time to not get drafted at all. Of course it has happened before but not very likely.
 
SoundAndFury said:
Losing sucks. Getting hammered game after game sucks even more.

So tomorrow 13 CET the main event. I probably won't be able to watch it, somewhat unfortunate.
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Almost at the same time relegation decider in 1B will be taking place between South Korea and Estonia. It sort of feels that Estonian time in 1B will come to an end.
 
Lithuania was better and deserved the promotion, nice generation which will basically stay together next year
 
Yeah. I will try not to gloat too much but for those following Lithuanian hockey more closely it was known this is probably our best generation ever so with all due respect to Croatian hockey, the best Lithuanian generation ever should be able to handle them, even if it is their best generation as well. The question marks were just Croats being significantly older and, they did have what is at this point undoubtedly the best player in the tournament.

Also to go along with the talent, this Lithuanian team seems to be very well coached. After a nervous and a bit all-over-the-place 1st game, allowing 1 goal in 3 games at the U18 level is a spectacular feat (and even that one was just goalie misplaying a nothing shot), no matter what your opponents are. I know Durocher coached Canadian U20 before and is a pretty decorated coach by the standards of this tournament but often it doesn't mean anything. In this particular case, he has done a great job. He showed 0 bias toward older kids, wasn't afraid to take the talented but maybe a bit wild ones, made adjustments mid-tournament. Frankly, a stark contrast to how our U20s were coached this year. It's wild to think Baltrunas not only made that team but also was a stand-out performer while he is just a regular bottom-6er with 0 points on this one.

But I digress. Definitely a great job all around and super glad our kids seized the opportunity to play against some real hockey countries next year.
 
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I took a quick glance at Korea's roster, all their leading players are graduating, we actually have excellent chances to stay up at 1B next year. Both Poland and Korea feel beatable.
 
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SoundAndFury said:
Yeah. I will try not to gloat too much but for those following Lithuanian hockey more closely it was known this is probably our best generation ever so with all due respect to Croatian hockey, the best Lithuanian generation ever should be able to handle them, even if it is their best generation as well. The question marks were just Croats being significantly older and, they did have what is at this point undoubtedly the best player in the tournament.

Also to go along with the talent, this Lithuanian team seems to be very well coached. After a nervous and a bit all-over-the-place 1st game, allowing 1 goal in 3 games at the U18 level is a spectacular feat (and even that one was just goalie misplaying a nothing shot), no matter what your opponents are. I know Durocher coached Canadian U20 before and is a pretty decorated coach by the standards of this tournament but often it doesn't mean anything. In this particular case, he has done a great job. He showed 0 bias toward older kids, wasn't afraid to take the talented but maybe a bit wild ones, made adjustments mid-tournament. Frankly, a stark contrast to how our U20s were coached this year. It's wild to think Baltrunas not only made that team but also was a stand-out performer while he is just a regular bottom-6er with 0 points on this one.

But I digress. Definitely a great job all around and super glad our kids seized the opportunity to play against some real hockey countries next year.
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Tip of the cap to the Lithuanian team.
 
according to the Croatian hockey federation's facebook, seems like Bruno Idzan will indeed play for the men's team this year. Rendulic will be there too, but no Katic
 
HungryFrank said:
according to the Croatian hockey federation's facebook, seems like Bruno Idzan will indeed play for the men's team this year. Rendulic will be there too, but no Katic
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Ah cool, should be a good platform for him without too much pressure to integrate into the seniors in a tournament they should stroll to gold in.
 
kaiser matias said:
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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Forgot to follow up here, but the Georgian team played the Latvian club Tukums on April 10 and 12, winning both games (9-3 and 9-4).

A shame I'll miss all their games this year due to timezone differences.
 
aquaregia said:
Ah cool, should be a good platform for him without too much pressure to integrate into the seniors in a tournament they should stroll to gold in.
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Not really sure when did Croatian hockey gain such pedigree. Their two most recent games against Spain went to the shootout and were legitimately close (35-31 shots in the one played last year, 26-29 in 2019). Sure they are heavy favorites with Rendulic on board but I wouldn't call it a stroll.
 
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