I am not underestimating anyone. France is a decent team and they could beat us 3 out of 10 times. Which makes it unlikely for them to win the round robin (20% or less).Wow, easy there
Latvia is clearly the favourite, and I'm well aware of who most of those players are. But this is ice hockey, a game full of bounces, power plays and goaltending deciding games. Anything can happen in one game. I agree Italy and Hungary should be easy games. I'm just saying if it's one team potentially upsetting Latvia, it's gonna be France.
France having all of Bellemare, Roussel, Texier, Auvitu, Da Costa and Bertrand on the same team is a big deal for them. It's not something we typically see at the World Championships. Again, Latvia is the clear favourite, but France has beaten Canada and Russia in modern history with worse teams. If Latvian players enter that game with the mindset you seem to have, underestimating their opponent, that could turn out to cost them.
Latvians are usually extremely modest and usually lacking in confidence, and that also is a theme among pro athletes and various team sports, including hockey. And you can also notice that whenever Latvian posters on hfboards discuss their national team - they sound like whiney, beaten dogs, always assuming the worst.
It's exactly that - confidence - we need. That's what you need to score goals in any sport. So if eveyone else has the same mindset I do, this is going to be smooth sailing.
