WC: 2023 IIHF World Championship Division II

[SoundAndFury]

Oh come on Spain. Don't blow this.

 

[ozo]

Thank God Spain came through at the end. Georgia being in 1B would be simply wrong.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Spain will never be anything than 2A nation (yes they will be relegated from 1B). Not sure why so many hype them. Their best player is a guy who is mediocre in the swedish 4th division.

 

[Albatros]

Young team, domestic player development, fairly decent facilities, long history of participation etc. I don't know why Spain couldn't move up a tier going forward.

 

[SoundAndFury]

Spain will never be anything than 2A nation (yes they will be relegated from 1B). Not sure why so many hype them. Their best player is a guy who is mediocre in the swedish 4th division.

Fully indigenous hockey community and their U18/20 results are comparable or better than low-end 1B nations like Romania or Netherlands. The fact that most of their guys stay in Spain and are probably not fully hockey-focused is the only thing stopping them from gaining more recognition.

I don't see the hype which goes further than that either, must have missed those "Spain is the new hockey hotbed" comments. Of course, holistically, countries with mostly amateur players belong to D2A in the long run.

 

[aquaregia]

Spain will never be anything than 2A nation (yes they will be relegated from 1B). Not sure why so many hype them. Their best player is a guy who is mediocre in the swedish 4th division.

Wouldn't be implausible to see them give NL or Serbia a proper game.