GDT: Group B - May 21 - Norway vs Latvia

[stv11]

2019 IIHF World Championship
Group B

May 21
10:15 AM ET • 4:15 PM CET

Norway vs Latvia

Norway
Last game's lineup

Goaltenders:
38 Henrik Holm
33 Henrik Haukeland

Defensemen:
6 Jonas Holøs - 47 Alexander Bonsaksen
5 Erlend Lesund - 17 Stefan Espeland
4 Johannes Johannesen - 21 Christian Bull
49 Christian Kåsastul - 10 Mattias Nørstebø

Forwards:
41 Patrick Thoresen - 46 Mathis Olimb - 13 Sondre Olden
8 Mathias Trettenes - 85 Michael Haga - 93 Thomas Valkvæ Olsen
61 Alexander Reichenberg - 18 Tobias Lindström - 27 Andreas Martinsen
22 Martin Røymark - 26 Kristian Forsberg - 28 Niklas Roest

Scratched:
G 31 Jonas Arntzen
F 51 Mats Rosseli Olsen
F 15 Tommy Kristiansen


Latvia
Last game's lineup

Goaltenders:
50 Kristers Gudļevskis
30 Elvis Merzļikins

Defensemen:
29 Ralfs Freibergs - 27 Oskar Cibuļskis
32 Artūrs Kulda - 11 Kristaps Sotnieks
72 Janis Jaks - 26 Uvis Balinskis
77 Kristaps Zīle

Forwards:
71 Roberts Bukarts - 70 Miks Indrašis - 10 Lauris Dārziņš
21 Rūdolfs Balcers - 23 Theodor Blueger - 91 Ronalds Ķēniņš
87 Gints Meija - 95 Oskars Batņa - 14 Rihards Bukarts
49 Emīls Ģēģeris - 96 Māris Bičevskis - 12 Rihards Marenis
17 Mārtiņš Dzierkals

Scratched:
G 31 Gustavs Grigals
D 58 Guntis Galviņš
F 18 Rodrigo Ābols


​

Click to read more...

 

[Eye of Ra]

game of the day

 

[GX]

If Latvia comes out focused and motivated, I doubt Norway has a real chance here. Still, knowing how these late tournament games, where nothing really matters anymore, usually go, it is more likely to be a close game. Norway also had 2 days off.

 

[Namejs]

game of the day

It's nearly pointless. Both teams are likely finishing 10th and 11th. The winner ends up being 10th. A game fir 20 IIHF ranking points and pride(?)

 

[BalticWarrior]

It's nearly pointless. Both teams are likely finishing 10th and 11th. The winner ends up being 10th. A game fir 20 IIHF ranking points and pride(?)

He was being salty from yesterday

 

[Sofaw]

The looser of this game will meet Denmark (and probably Slovenia) in the OG qualification. I know that Denmark didn't do well last time with almost all the NHL'ers, but Denmark played the game against Belarus with no sense at all. That might not happen again, and then Denmark could be a dangerous opponent - especially if the NHL-guys could be in a better shape than last time.

 

[ozo]

As good as this tournament has been, a loss in pointless game today would take some gloss of the overal picture in my eyes for some reason.

 

[GotTheMovesLikeJagr]

While both Latvia and Norway have been eliminated this game has some importance for the Olympic qualification for 2022. If the format is the same as for the 2018 Olympics, then the IIHF ranking following the 2019 IIHF World Championship will decide the seeding for the qualification tournaments (as the 2015 IIHF World Championship was for the 2018 Olympics). As such, the final qualification tournaments will be played in September 2020.

The IIHF Ranking as of today is the following:
7 SUI 3325 (not decided, will advance to the quarterfinals)
8 GER 3315 (not decided, will advance to the quarterfinals)
9 NOR 3005 (not decided, eliminated)
10 LAT 2985 (not decided, eliminated)
11 SVK 2980 (not decided, eliminated)
12 DEN 2905 (not decided, eliminated)
13 FRA 2840
14 BLR 2735
15 AUT 2635
16 ITA 2620
17 KOR 2620
18 SVN 2620
19 KAZ 2570
20 GBR 2480

The calculation is based on Switzerland and Germany having received 1000 points for this tournament (more points is obtainable depending on their placement in the playoffs) while Norway, Latvia, Slovakia and Denmark have received 900. The placement decides how many more points they can get:
8th place: 1000
9th place: 960
10th place: 940
11th place: 920
12th place: 900

________________________________________
If Slovakia and Latvia wins their games in regulation or OT:
SVK − 12/11 points − 3040
LAT − 9/8 points − 3025
NOR − 6/7 points − 3025
DEN − 5/6 points − 2905

the seeding for the Olympic qualification tournaments will be the following:
9 SVK − 10 LAT − 11 NOR
14 BLR − 13 FRA − 12 DEN
15 AUT − 16 ITA − 17 KOR
TBD − TBD − TBD

_________________________________________
If Slovakia and Norway wins in regulation or OT:

SVK − 12/11 points − 3040
NOR − 9/8 points − 3045
LAT − 6/7 points − 3005
DEN − 5/6 points − 2905

the seeding for the Olympic qualification tournaments will be the following:
9 NOR − 10 SVK− 11 LAT
14 BLR − 13 FRA − 12 DEN
15 AUT − 16 ITA − 17 KOR
TBD − TBD − TBD
_________________________________________
If Denmark and Latvia wins in regulation:

SVK − 9 points (goal difference) − 3040*
LAT − 9 points − 3025
DEN − 8 points − 2925
NOR − 6 points − 3005
TBD − TBD − TBD

*) Slovakia is currently +8 while Latvia is −2. Unless Norway collapses it is very unlikely Latvia will surpass Slovakia in goal difference.

the seeding for the Olympic qualification tournaments will be the following:
9 SVK − 10 LAT − 11 NOR
14 BLR − 13 FRA − 12 DEN
15 AUT − 16 ITA − 17 KOR

Denmark can not finish better than 12th on the IIHF World Ranking as they will end the tournament in 12th place. Slovakia is (as far as I can see) safe in 9th place and thus secures the 9th place on the ranking. Thus Norway and Latvia will fight for the 10th place in the IIHF ranking. The 10th ranked country will face France, Italy and a as of yet unknown opponent in the qualification tournament, while the 11th ranked country will face Denmark, South Korea and a as of yet unknown opponent. While Denmark has underperformed in the last two Olympic qualifications in 2013 and 2016 (even more dissapointingly in 2016 as they had almost all their NHL players in the roster, and lost to Slovenia and Belarus), I would much rather face France and Italy than Denmark.

Feel free to correct me if I have made any miscalculations.

EDIT: Thanks to baronsforever for noticing a minor mistake in the SVK NOR win scenario!

 

[Retroglyphs]

I wouldn't be surprised if Team Norway wins this, and Patrick Thoresen finally gets on the board. 2:1 win for Norway

 

[baronsforever]

SVK − 12/11 points − 3040
NOR − 9/8 points − 3045
LAT − 6/7 points − 3005
DEN − 5/6 points − 2905

the seeding for the Olympic qualification tournaments will be the following:
9 SVK − 10 NOR − 11 LAT
14 BLR − 13 FRA − 12 DEN
15 AUT − 16 ITA − 17 KOR
TBD − TBD − TBD

Everything looked right to me except you overlooked that Norway is ahead of Slovakia by 5 points in this situation. To me China does not belong in the Olympics so this should have made the Norway/Latvia game very important (for Norway and Slovakia), but what can you do. There should be an announcement soon, and who knows, maybe they will decide that it is the rankings after 2020 that matter.

 

[BalticWarrior]

Everything looked right to me except you overlooked that Norway is ahead of Slovakia by 5 points in this situation. To me China does not belong in the Olympics so this should have made the Norway/Latvia game very important (for Norway and Slovakia), but what can you do. There should be an announcement soon, and who knows, maybe they will decide that it is the rankings after 2020 that matter.

China will get absolutley destroyed. Results like 15:0 and 20:0 would not be surprsing.

 

[GotTheMovesLikeJagr]

Everything looked right to me except you overlooked that Norway is ahead of Slovakia by 5 points in this situation. To me China does not belong in the Olympics so this should have made the Norway/Latvia game very important (for Norway and Slovakia), but what can you do. There should be an announcement soon, and who knows, maybe they will decide that it is the rankings after 2020 that matter.

Correct! Thank you for noticing! So Norway can also end up facing Belarus and Austria. I would still have preferred France and Italy, however.

 

[Namejs]

I'm falling asleep over here

 

[BalticWarrior]

That 4th line of ours is incredibly pathetic to look at. Hope those bums dont return to our NT next year. Fingers crossed.

 

[BalticWarrior]

Jaks speed and puck control stands out among our defensmen. He should be lock next year, i think.

 

[RobRayzor]

That 4th line of ours is incredibly pathetic to look at. Hope those bums dont return to our NT next year. Fingers crossed.

We have anyone better?

 

[BalticWarrior]

We have anyone better?

Well we do. They are all injured.

 

[RobRayzor]

Well we do. They are all injured.

I totally forgot about Daugavins and Karsums lol

 

[BalticWarrior]

I totally forgot about Daugavins and Karsums lol

And Džeriņš and Zemgus and M.Rēdlihs and ofcourse - Ābols.

 

[Nexon]

China will get absolutley destroyed. Results like 15:0 and 20:0 would not be surprsing.

That’s true but at least unlike some other Asian countries they try it with their homegrown players, they had no imports this year for instance.

 

[BalticWarrior]

That’s true but at least unlike some other Asian countries they try it with their homegrown players, they had no imports this year for instance.

Without media interest and fan engagement its all gonna go nowhere.

 

[Namejs]

That 4th line of ours is incredibly pathetic to look at. Hope those bums dont return to our NT next year. Fingers crossed.

Bob's doing it in purpose, plenty of playing time for the 4th line and the 13th forward. The game looks shit accordingly

 

[Nexon]

Without media interest and fan engagement its all gonna go nowhere.

That’s why Olympics are there, who knows, maybe next chinese Gretzky will be watching

 

[BalticWarrior]

Bob's doing it in purpose, plenty of playing time for the 4th line and the 13th forward. The game looks **** accordingly

You have to feel bad for the guy, coaching a team with no-names like Batņa, Ģēģeris and Marenis cant be easy. Every time they touch the puck the offense dies.

 

[BalticWarrior]

That’s why Olympics are there, who knows, maybe next chinese Gretzky will be watching

Right, just like Italy started producing talent left and right after Torino... oh wait no they didnt, they continued to suck and still suck to this day.