U20: D1B in Tychy, Poland (8/12 - 14/12 2018)

[SoundAndFury]

It's midway through the game and Slovenia has already given Poles 6 PPs while having 0 themselves and Drozg got 2+10. I feel it's safe to say not their best performance.

Nice jinx by me as Poland takes 3 penalties in a row. Drozg in the box really bit Slovenia in the ass here.

 

[Gianpaolo]

Well it's not only about the league people play in it's also about how they perform in it. Playing for something like Fassa which has 1 regulation win in 19 games isn't the same as playing for Slovenian teams that are in the upper mid-tier so to speak. Berger is the only one really solid Alps league player on the team meanwhile Slovenians have a few of those (Svetina, Urukalo, etc.) plus Drozg.

Most Italian clubs are not interested at all in prospect development. The fact that 2 Slovenian teams from Alps Hockey League have more valuable prospects than 8 Italian from the same league is just remarkable.

 

[ozo]

Ukraine winning is one thing, but this trashing of Japan is a big surprise to me. Japan indeed have brought a very young and quite poor team, I wonder what has changed in their hockey system and their philosophy of never bringing underagers to tournaments.

 

[SoundAndFury]

I wonder if they are related to the changes in men's NT. They got a new, young coach as well who didn't bring a lot of veteran players maybe this new line of thinking is coming from the top and affects all age groups.

 

[swissexpert]

Tonight's the big game, can Slovenia and Jan Drozg stop the mighty Hungarians?

I personally think they've got a chance, but they gotta keep themselves away from the penalty box, unlike yesterday...

 

[SoundAndFury]

1-4 Hungary. They ensure promotion with 1 game remaining. Well done, they deserve it. By far the best team and by far the best hockey system at this point. They are the only ones with a chance to stay up as well.

 

[SoundAndFury]

Man I need to stop talking before the game is over. It's 4-4.

 

[kabidjan18]

Man I need to stop talking before the game is over. It's 4-4.

Nah, you're good, it really do bee like that sometimes

 

[swissexpert]

Funny how Hungary was dominant at the beginning and the score could've become ugly but suddenly Slovenia became more dangerous in the 2nd half of the game.

 

[kaiser matias]

Poland doing their best to keep Hingary from getting promoted, leading 4-1 at end of second. Worth Slovenia winning earlier, Hungary would need a crazy third to move up. Want to say it's for sure, but as we've seen nothing is certain here.

 

[Canada4Gold]

Poland doing their best to keep Hingary from getting promoted, leading 4-1 at end of second. Worth Slovenia winning earlier, Hungary would need a crazy third to move up. Want to say it's for sure, but as we've seen nothing is certain here.

Isn't the first tiebreaker the h2h? So even if Hungary won by 100 then SLO ad HUN are tied and since SLO beat HUN they're promoted?

 

[kaiser matias]

Isn't the first tiebreaker the h2h? So even if Hungary won by 100 then SLO ad HUN are tied and since SLO beat HUN they're promoted?

Oh probably. I always get this mixed up, post something like I do, and get called out for being incorrect. Youd think by now I'd figure it out, but here we are.

 

[kaiser matias]

Regardless Poland won so Slovenia is going up to Division IA for 2020.

 

[SoundAndFury]

Yeah, Hungary was obviously out of it mentally after getting to know they have no chance at promotion anyway. I mean you can understand them, blowing 4-1 lead in the decider is a lot to handle mentally.

 

[Gianpaolo]

This is the final statement by the Italian head coach Giorgio De Bettin about the tournament played by his team: "The last game wasn't easy. After we lost the chance to win a medal the team didn't started good. but we managed to comeback later. I'm not completely satisfied. We missed too many scoring opportunities and the final score didn't reflected the games we played against Slovenia and Ukraine. But we had a great team spirit and we proved how we can compate on ice skating and on the physical side with all the other teams. We have a lot to work for the next tournament. Thanks to the players for the effort put". Honestly with an average Italian prospect in the net instead of Davide Fadani (he was selected as the best goalkeeper and is going to have a great career in Switzerland) Italy would have barely avoided relegation.

 

[Scouter]

What a surprise that the supposed clear favs and best team Hungary did not go up.