U18: Day 3 at the U18's!

[theslatcher]

Poor Germany, couldn't have asked for a worse group.

 

[Antiillafire]

Poor Germany, couldn't have asked for a worse group.

I guess the positive is that they have a very very good chance of staying up

 

[Bonin21]

Starting to think Norway is a bit outmatched in this one

 

[jcbio11]

I still can´t get over the fact that Čobols were much better team than us two days ago.

What?

 

[Marc the Habs Fan]

4 goals for #34.

 

[Czechboy]

About to change after Sweden and Canada so I'll enjoy it for now!lol

 

[BigBadBoar]

CZE-GER 7:1 looks cool, wasn't expecting that after the Slovakia game. But the Czech goal song is something too decadent for me.

 

[Wooren]

CZE-GER 7:1 looks cool, wasn't expecting that after the Slovakia game. But the Czech goal song is something too decadent for me.

No worries, I don't think we will have to suffer through the song that many times from now on.

Seriously though, the coach said there were 3 song candidates and he refused one right away. What could have it been if this atrocity made it?

 

[Old Man Jags]

I don’t get why so many Czechs always worry about playing Germany. Sure, there have been some tight games / some annoying losses over the years, but by and large there is still a considerable gap between the Czechs and the Germans, both at junior and senior level. When we play against Germany, I expect to win and almost always we win. At senior level, the Swiss have caught up with us a lot over the years, but not the Germans. A few elite players like Draisaitl (who coincidentally has a Czech background btw) don’t change the fundamental position. Our U18 here is not very good, I expect some painful spankings from the likes of Sweden, etc., but before this game I thought - “Germany, nice - that will be an easy win”. Many Czechs commenting on hockey have an irrational respect for the German hockey sides at various levels of seniority which I don’t quite get.

 

[Old Man Jags]

I don’t get why so many Czechs always worry about playing Germany. Sure, there have been some tight games / some annoying losses over the years, but by and large there is still a considerable gap between the Czechs and the Germans, both at junior and senior level. When we play against Germany, I expect to win and almost always we win. At senior level, the Swiss have caught up with us a lot over the years, but not the Germans. A few elite players like Draisaitl (who coincidentally has a Czech background btw) don’t change the fundamental position. Our U18 here is not very good, I expect some painful spankings from the likes of Sweden, etc., but before this game I thought - “Germany, nice - that will be an easy win”. Many Czechs commenting on hockey have an irrational respect for the German hockey sides at various levels of seniority which I don’t quite get.

p.s.: Last head-to-head I found on the internet (maybe just the senior team) going back to 2006: Czech Republic 17 wins, Germany 2 wins. Yes, 17-2. Again, I don’t get why so many Czechs worry when we play Germany. I always expect a win and it almost always comes. I know it is possible to lose against them, they are not a bad team at all. But it is rare and unexpected.

 

[Czechboy]

p.s.: Last head-to-head I found on the internet (maybe just the senior team) going back to 2006: Czech Republic 17 wins, Germany 2 wins. Yes, 17-2. Again, I don’t get why so many Czechs worry when we play Germany. I always expect a win and it almost always comes. I know it is possible to lose against them, they are not a bad team at all. But it is rare and unexpected.

I can think of 2 reasons

1. they beat us 3 in a row at U20 (we ended that streak this year)
2. we are capable of losing to anyone (and beating anyone).. we are not a consistent team.lol I'd describe us as bipolar.

 

[pgfan66]

I can think of 2 reasons

1. they beat us 3 in a row at U20 (we ended that streak this year)
2. we are capable of losing to anyone (and beating anyone).. we are not a consistent team.lol I'd describe us as bipolar.

I can tell you that Germans haven’t exactly been scared of facing Czechia anymore either.

At the U18/U20 level, it’s because the 2001/2002 groups had some high-end NHL talent – though I think we’ll quickly go back to understanding Czechia is still far ahead, with games like yesterday’s. We’ll see how that changes in the next few years as Czechs are very excited about their 06 group (as are the Swiss) and Germans are excited about their 07s. We’ll see how many of those potential NHL draft picks actually end up being good at 17 or 19.

At the men’s level, I think it’s because there’s been a lot of German high-end DEL talent in recent years, with unprecedented depth. The Olympics – while an absolute outlier that doesn’t happen without a large amount of luck – showed that German teams can beat anyone when there’s no NHL talent involved. Germans don’t know anything about Czech hockey, so the confidence is entirely based on who they know in the DEL or what happens at world championships or Olympics. There’s a very fine line between “we’re the best team in the world” and “German hockey is doomed”.

 

[Czechboy]

can tell you that Germans haven’t exactly been scared of facing Czechia anymore either.

I dont blame you! We don't have a Seider and Grubauer is as good as any of our goalies. Drai is equal to Pasta (to me, others may think I'm nuts) but I'm not sure who are Stutzl is?lol

So at a best on best it'd be close
At a Skoda it'd be close for sure (there was a real opportunity for Germany to send a gold contender to the World's this year, hope it happens)
Junior level - those 3 losses in a row were from 2014 to 2022. It was a nice run.

 

[BigBadBoar]

No worries, I don't think we will have to suffer through the song that many times from now on.

Seriously though, the coach said there were 3 song candidates and he refused one right away. What could have it been if this atrocity made it?

I am asking the same question. I know every generation has its own taste as well as sense of humour, but come on...

 

[Old Man Jags]

I can tell you that Germans haven’t exactly been scared of facing Czechia anymore either.

At the U18/U20 level, it’s because the 2001/2002 groups had some high-end NHL talent – though I think we’ll quickly go back to understanding Czechia is still far ahead, with games like yesterday’s. We’ll see how that changes in the next few years as Czechs are very excited about their 06 group (as are the Swiss) and Germans are excited about their 07s. We’ll see how many of those potential NHL draft picks actually end up being good at 17 or 19.

At the men’s level, I think it’s because there’s been a lot of German high-end DEL talent in recent years, with unprecedented depth. The Olympics – while an absolute outlier that doesn’t happen without a large amount of luck – showed that German teams can beat anyone when there’s no NHL talent involved. Germans don’t know anything about Czech hockey, so the confidence is entirely based on who they know in the DEL or what happens at world championships or Olympics. There’s a very fine line between “we’re the best team in the world” and “German hockey is doomed”.

That’s a really helpful explanation, thank you! I think the confidence is misplaced though, despite the good points to the contrary made by Czechboy. I always have a high degree of confidence we’ll beat Germany and it almost always turns out exactly like that. I mean, 17-2 since 2006 at grownup hockey level. That statistic really doesn’t lie. Losing a few times at U20 hardly changes this equation.

 

[Old Man Jags]

p.s.: I wouldn’t even mind if the situation was different and I thought the Germans were right in their confidence when they play against the Czechs. I think it’s very good and very important for the sport of hockey internationally to have as many competitive teams as possible. So countries like Germany, Switzerland or even Denmark becoming stronger over the years is something I very much welcome, even if it complicates things more for my own team. But I really think that objectively, the Germans are not as strong as they think they are compared to the Czechs.

 

[pgfan66]

That’s a really helpful explanation, thank you! I think the confidence is misplaced though, despite the good points to the contrary made by Czechboy. I always have a high degree of confidence we’ll beat Germany and it almost always turns out exactly like that. I mean, 17-2 since 2006 at grownup hockey level. That statistic really doesn’t lie. Losing a few times at U20 hardly changes this equation.

I don’t disagree. It’s just that Czechia is one of the teams Germany aims to be better than and can - in theory - compete with.

Canada, USA, Russia, Sweden, Finland are clearly better and I’m guessing always will be. The teams you have to beat no matter what are Norway, Latvia, Austria, Italy, Kazakhstan or whoever else manages to be in the top-level world championship that year. That leaves Germany, Czechia, Slovakia and Switzerland competing for “best of the rest”. Czechia tends to be at the top of that group and probably wants to compete with Sweden, Canada etc. rather than Germany/Slovakia/Switzerland, but from a German perspective, Czechia is a team you want to beat – even if it usually doesn’t work out.

P. S.: sorry if I forgot to mention your country, I meant no disrespect.