WC: Divisions I, II, III
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Siamese Dream
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If you were watching the Premier Sports feed, yes, the commentator did seriously copy the "MATTEAU, MATTEAU, MATTEAU!" goal call from the 1994 playoff series between the Rangers and Devils 
"DOWD, DOWD, DOWD!"
He did it in the EIHL playoff semi-final too
"DOWD, DOWD, DOWD!"
He did it in the EIHL playoff semi-final too
If you were watching the Premier Sports feed, yes, the commentator did seriously copy the "MATTEAU, MATTEAU, MATTEAU!" goal call from the 1994 playoff series between the Rangers and Devils
"DOWD, DOWD, DOWD!"
He did it in the EIHL playoff semi-final too
Definitely having fun with the calls, which is nice to see. I remember last year for the Division IIB tournament in South Africa they had a Canadian expat call the tournament with the South African women's team goalie. He clearly was not a pro, but the way the two of them just messed about and enjoyed themselves (and that there was English commentary for games at that level) made it that much more fun.
Siamese Dream
Registered User
Siamese Dream
Registered User
Let's just say I didn't realise how bad Lithuania's back-up goalies are
He let in a few that were stoppable and the first one was entirely his fault but GB have outplayed them in every facet, Lithuania only have 5 shots on goal.
My only rooting interest in this tournament is that my mother's family is Lithuanian, and that I identify more with Lithuania than my Swedish, German, and English ancestry.
That said, how the heck does Lithuania curbstomp Estonia, Estonia take Great Britain to OT, and then GB curbstomp Lithuania? I realize transitive properties don't apply in sports, but these results make absolutely no sense.
I don't know much about the players at this level. I recognize some of the Lithuanian players as I see their names every year, but have no idea where they actually play professionally. The only big names I know are Mantas Armalis (why is he not there?) and Danius Zubrus, who wasn't even on the roster.
Pretty obvious that Romania has no business being at this level, and Croatia is all about one player and a couple Canadians that got them out of beer league international hockey.
That said, how the heck does Lithuania curbstomp Estonia, Estonia take Great Britain to OT, and then GB curbstomp Lithuania? I realize transitive properties don't apply in sports, but these results make absolutely no sense.
I don't know much about the players at this level. I recognize some of the Lithuanian players as I see their names every year, but have no idea where they actually play professionally. The only big names I know are Mantas Armalis (why is he not there?) and Danius Zubrus, who wasn't even on the roster.
Pretty obvious that Romania has no business being at this level, and Croatia is all about one player and a couple Canadians that got them out of beer league international hockey.
Niaure
Registered User
- Nov 26, 2015
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Armalis just signed with San Jose Sharks and decided not to play this year in wc avoiding injuries or any other possibilities that would bring problems joining sharks. Also Darius Kasparaitis is expected to play for NT after 2 years. He needs just 2 more seasons to play in Lithuanian league to be eligible. With Armalis,Zubrus and Kasparaitis Lithuania would be a different team, despite the age of last two
HungryFrank
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- Jun 20, 2015
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Estonia has 1 good line and when they play well they win surprisingly. Croatia has more depth than Estonia or Romania, even without Canadians they would've been on the same level (probably as an elevator team fighting with Estonia), Netherlands is missing and that's why Romania is here.
But that's how IIHF division system works, every division is a mix of different kinds of players, on this level the gap is probably the biggest because there are some teams with (mostly) pro players and some with amateur.
legionista
Registered User
It seems this year there is a big divide within Div. 1B, but not just this year. Out of the six teams two or three could always compete on a level playing field against teams in Div. 1A, however the remaining three or four teams in Div. 1B are very very far behind Div. 1A level.
swissexpert
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- Sep 21, 2009
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There was no streaming.
Despite brutal performances by our goalie, we managed to beat Romania 12:5. Romanians can be thankful to Tomljenović for not being completely embarrassed. Young players like Jarčov and Janković played well, Rendulić 1+3.
cave troll
Registered User
TBH, this year there are only 4 "imports". Glumac, Perkovich, Brine and Macauley.
First two play in KHL. No beer league:
SoundAndFury
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- May 28, 2012
- 12,285
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All things considered, I'd say 1B is going exactly as expected especially considering the Lithuanian and Croatian rosters. It's between Ukraine and GB for promotion, Croatia and Lithuania for the 3rd place, and Estonia and Romania for relegation. I'd Estonia is unlikely to get relegated and can actually get in between Croatia and Lithuania but Croatia has to play some garbage hockey for that to happen.
Anyone know when Ukraine and Great Britain last played in the top division? Feels like it's been a while now. For the last decade it always seem to be Austria, Slovenia, Kazakstan and Italy that goes up and down. But this year Austria, Slovenia and Italy are all in the same group. For a while it felt like Ukraine was in the the top division almost every year.
SoundAndFury
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- May 28, 2012
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Tony Hand wrote in his book that some dual nats in GBR uniform sang Canadian anthem after Can - Gbr game.
Lol, see there's a beauty to following mid-major and mid-minor that you don't get and it's the beauty of the disparity of skill level. I personally find following Team Canada extremely boring. No Connor McDavid? Claude Giroux will have to do. There's no room to move, the ceiling has been reached. With these small programs, every exciting prospect is doubly exciting because he can actually be an upgrade. It's fun compiling rosters and depth charts as well as doing analysis for programs on the rise. So yeah, each of these teams is one player then the rest are pretty bad, but there's beauty there, because each of the small victories in building a program is so much more satisfying than winning your Nth straight game with no trouble.
And believe me no chances that Italy gets up this year again.
This year the division I A will probably be one of the most open and interesting in quite a long time and I would not be surprised if next year in top division there will be some new faces like Poland.
Italy is in the middle of a reconstruction (or maybe not a reconstruction since there has never been anything big, more like a new course), with mostly young italian-formed players.
They are trying to put a stop to the mediocre naturalised players and instead try to grow their own, process that takes time.
There are some small talents appearing, but I would say that they are too young and inexperienced to pose a serious threat to the other teams.
Though I must say that I watched the preolimpic tournament and the last friendly match against Austria and I kinda liked what I saw. Solid goaltending and some good ideas even though the problems are always the same: a lot of stupid penalties and the lack of a real goalscorer.
The team can and will grow, but i doubt it would be a contender for promotion. I would more worry about avoiding relegation since all the teams are quite good.
Austria and Slovenia are getting older and won't probably have their NHL players. Japan has been showing some good stuff in the olimpic qualification tournaments, also. Poland is getting better and better every year. Korea is probably the worst team of the bunch but can still pull out some wins.
I think it is goin to be a great tournament.
The only thing for all that is since both France and Germany are hosting next years World Championships, they can't be relegated. Both are playing in different groups this year, so each stands a chance (not a great one, but still a chance) of finishing last. And if that were to happen, the IIHF has said only one team will be relegated/promoted, so it may just be one of the regular teams going up.
That said, its unlikely both France and Germany finish last, and would be nice to have some fresh teams next year, much like Hungary this year.
They'd take the next lowest team and send them down instead. This happened before in 2009 when Germany finished 15th, but since they were hosts for 2010, Austria (who was 14th) was relegated instead.
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