Toggle sidebar

U18: Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup 2016

  • Xenforo Cloud will be upgrading us to version 2.3.5 on March 3rd at 12 AM GMT. This version has increased stability and fixes several bugs. We expect downtime for the duration of the update. The admin team will continue to work on existing issues, templates and upgrade all necessary available addons to minimize impact of this new version. Click Here for Updates
Kalle Miketinac might've been the best player on the ice for Team Sweden this game. I'm positively surprised by him. Didn't know a whole lot about him going into this tournament but he's been good in both games. Creative, smart player. Good playmaker.
 
Zaddy Zads said:
Kalle Miketinac might've been the best player on the ice for Team Sweden this game. I'm positively surprised by him. Didn't know a whole lot about him going into this tournament but he's been good in both games. Creative, smart player. Good playmaker.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I like him too.

Liljegren however needs to step up. Made a few nice plays but his overall game has been terrible these two games. Hopefully it's just rust but it looks like he's lost his hockey sense over the summer.

Semifinal spot secured. Must win game for both Canada and Russia this afternoon.
 
Last edited:
Zaddy Zads said:
Kalle Miketinac might've been the best player on the ice for Team Sweden this game. I'm positively surprised by him. Didn't know a whole lot about him going into this tournament but he's been good in both games. Creative, smart player. Good playmaker.
Click to expand...

I thought that was the case in their first game..just watching the second one now. Kid has some skill, works hard, smart. Walfridsson looked okay on the blueline in the first game as well.
 
Huffman said:
Yeah, I like him too.

Liljegren however needs to step up. Made a few nice plays but his overall game has been terrible these two games. Hopefully it's just rust but it looks like he's lost his hockey sense over the summer.

Semifinal spot secured. Must win game for both Canada and Russia this afternoon.
Click to expand...

I don't think Liljegren has been bad per se, but I definitely expect more out of him. He does show flashes of his ability every now and then though. I think he's delivered some really crisp passes these two games, but he's fumbled the puck a little, tried to do too much at times and just in general had some poor decision making every now and then. He's being judged by a pretty high standard though.

Grant McCagg said:
I thought that was the case in their first game..just watching the second one now. Kid has some skill, works hard, smart. Walfridsson looked okay on the blueline in the first game as well.
Click to expand...

Coincidentally I didn't like Walfridsson in the first game at all. Thought he looked very mistake prone and out of place. He's the only swedish d-man that have stood out to me in a negative way so far. He was better against Slovakia though and demonstrated a physical presence around the net.
 
Streams for day 2

SWE.png
Sweden vs
SVK.png
Slovakia Stream LiveBlog Just highlights, this game was played so early I couldn't post the stream in time.
CAN.png
Canada vs
RUS.png
Russia Stream LiveBlog
USA.png
USA vs
SUI.png
Switzerland Stream LiveBlog
CZE.png
Czech Republic vs
FIN.png
Finland Stream LiveBlog
 
Wow, Canada is about to be eliminated. Slovakia has to beat RUS while CAN has to beat SWE for Canada to move to the semifinal.
 
Ah well, looks like Canada'a streak at this tournament is finished. Had to end at some point.

A shockingly weak team this year. Very uncharacteristic.
 
Last edited:
What the hell has happened to our youth teams? Hockey Canada needs to get its **** together.
 
Canuckistani said:
Ah well, looks like Canada'a streak at this tournament is finish. Had to end at some point.

A shockingly weak team this team. Very uncharacteristic.
Click to expand...

And here I thought this year Canada is stacked.

Also, even Slovakia could still make the playoffs. Canada loses to Sweden and Slovaks beat Russia. Not impossible :).
 
I've been saying for years that Hockey Canada is run by an old boys club who refuse to adapt to the changes in the game.

The US in 1996 took an unique approach and started their NTDP. That program has been hugely successful.

Ironically they took our training system(s) and improved on them. We didn't.

The US and now Sweden and Finland are putting far more emphasis on skating, passing and puck control. And more importantly off ice training.
I'm not just talking of the under 17 and 18 programs but all the way down to their kids programs.

Take in a few practices and games of some of the top US kids teams and then take a look at GTHL teams. There is a huge difference in skating speed, passing and puck control. And the US is getting more kids involved in hockey which doesn't bode well for Canadian hockey. (exactly what Bettman wants)

Can we do anything? Of course but it starts at the grassroots and more practices, off ice training and LESS games.

I'd love to see a full time National under 17 and 18 team in Canada, but that isn't going to happen.

Hopefully the embarrassing loss to the US at the under 18's will wake up the old farts at Hockey Canada and then again last week at the summer showcase.
 
UsernameWasTaken said:
What a disaster.
Click to expand...

Why is it a disaster? Since winning 9 in a row and 19 out of the last 20 doesn't really impact the results for the IIHF U18 or U20 tournaments, losing it shouldn't matter either. I expected last year the streak would end as I have said here and in every other thread, the 1998 group is the weakest in decades. Maybe the 1999 is even weaker than 1998. Although I didn't think that was the case, perhaps they are.

It's a meaningless summer tournament that gets no play in Canada outside of the hardcore hockey geeks.

There are problems at Hockey Canada which need to be addressed and I've been saying that for years. perhaps now people will start paying attention. Salmond and his polices have got to go, but unfortunately that bureaucrat has designs on the top job at HC. And if that happens....well, the only gold we'll see is the golden thread woven in to the maple leaf on the TC jerseys that they sell for 450 a pop. That's really the only thing Hockey Canada is interested in, winning tournaments is not that important.
 
Grassroots Hockey is more or the less the same in all parts of the World now in the methods of skill development.

Players are trained so similarily. Just type it up on youtube and you can see how everyone trains from the early ages.

A weak birth year is not a signal that Canadian Hockey is in danger lol.
 
Mr Writer said:
Why is it a disaster? Since winning 9 in a row and 19 out of the last 20 doesn't really impact the results for the IIHF U18 or U20 tournaments, losing it shouldn't matter either. I expected last year the streak would end as I have said here and in every other thread, the 1998 group is the weakest in decades. Maybe the 1999 is even weaker than 1998. Although I didn't think that was the case, perhaps they are.

It's a meaningless summer tournament that gets no play in Canada outside of the hardcore hockey geeks.

There are problems at Hockey Canada which need to be addressed and I've been saying that for years. perhaps now people will start paying attention. Salmond and his polices have got to go, but unfortunately that bureaucrat has designs on the top job at HC. And if that happens....well, the only gold we'll see is the golden thread woven in to the maple leaf on the TC jerseys that they sell for 450 a pop. That's really the only thing Hockey Canada is interested in, winning tournaments is not that important.
Click to expand...

I was referring to their play in the final minutes of the game.

It's hard to know whether 98 or 99 is worse. The forward group last year was a bit deeper, I think.

Will McLeod be making an appearance at the tournament, I wonder. He was MIA at U17 as well.

In any event, barring a miracle, Canada is looking at going 0-3 medals-wise at its junior level tournaments so far this year. Perhaps U17 world challenge will go better.
 
Just a down year results wise. Canada is almost always the better team, even in games they lose.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Top Bottom