U18: Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup 2017

[Kshahdoo]

Zavgorodniy again, 7th point for him, 1-0 Russia

 

[Kshahdoo]

Lol, Zavgorodniy again, what a steal! 2-0 Russia. 1st goal was scored by Rotenberg, btw. This billionaire son can play hockey.

 

[Hockeyfrilla]

SWE-SUI 2-1 after 1st. Very boring game.

4-2 after 2nd. Low-tempo game.

 

[Kshahdoo]

2-0 Russia after the 1st. Overall, Russia looks way better, but it's just 1/3 of the game.

 

[Yakushev72]

Russia seems to be in control so far.

 

[Fonzieleaf]

You would think Jan Mysak or Nick Malik would be a good add for the Czechs. Is it because they are 15? Is there a limit to how young you have to be to enter the tournament?

 

[Vimpelin Voima]

Kokkonen aint playing around 2-1

 

[Wooren]

You would think Jan Mysak or Nick Malik would be a good add for the Czechs. Is it because they are 15? Is there a limit to how young you have to be to enter the tournament?

Don't think there's a limit, but they are just way too young. Mysak hasn't even played in national jersey yet, Malik is already playing a year up (U17 this year). Better question is why 01's Teply, Barinka, Prikryl or Lang haven't been even invited to some U18 camp. Overall the Czech national team's coaches seem pretty averse towards playing underagers for whatever reason. Nick Malik is the only one. (Not counting U20, since there's always some underager)

 

[VictorLustig]

Eliteprospects.com are the best. Here are the unofficial stats (with the corrected assists) from the tournament:

http://www.eliteprospects.com/league.php?leagueid=Hlinka Memorial&season=2017

 

[Yakushev72]

Russia still holds a 2-1 lead after 2 periods. Russia really fell asleep in that period, and Finland came on strong. Overly relaxed play and unbelievably careless turnovers by the Russians make the next goal critical in who gets the win in this game. The Russians better play with some passion!

 

[Alex K]

3-1!!!

 

[Erikfromfin]

oh well better luck next year

 

[DoingItCoolKiwi]

What I learned from Finland's Hlinka: Kupari is amazing

 

[ijuka]

Well, I think that after Kokkonen was moved next to Utunen, Finland was absolutely dominant every time they were on the ice. You could really see that Kokkonen could play with more freedom and play more to his strengths when he didn't have to make up for the other defenseman's defensive lapses all the time.

Shame that this change(Like some others) was made so late.

 

[IceHockeyDude]

Only saw the games against Canada and Russia and that didn't really convince me.

 

[Gigantor The Goalie]

What I learned from Finland's Hlinka: Kupari is amazing

Justus Annunen also showed lots of promise. Really like his composed and patient he is. Knows he's a big guy but doesn't play on his knees like other big goalies default to. Needs to improve on his leg strength to give him a better chance on those Royal Road passes. Otherwise those he's an exciting goalie prospect.

 

[Yakushev72]

Hard fought match by Finland. For Russia, the win wasn't pretty, but we'll take it (unless we end up with Canada or Sweden in the Semi).

 

[JJTT]

So Finland is out? Tough format.

 

[Gigantor The Goalie]

Hard fought match by Finland. For Russia, the win wasn't pretty, but we'll take it (unless we end up with Canada or Sweden in the Semi).

You won the group so you play the winner of Czech/USA

 

[Filthy Dangles]

that flashing light behind the slovaks goal is near seizure inducing

 

[North Country]

USA has a couple players that almost score every single time they're on the ice. But they're almost never on the ice.

 

[wisssh]

USA has a couple players that almost score every single time they're on the ice. But they're almost never on the ice.

Got to stop the puck first... 14G against in three games

 

[Thebesthockey]

USA
show up with the best or dont show

next !

 

[Tomas W]

Russia seems to be in control so far.

So you got the home side, do you have a good PK?

 

[tade]

Really happy with the way Czechs played against USA yesterday. Except for some parts, we were the better team for the whole game. Indeed, it is visible that USA does not have their top players there, but still very, very solid performance by Czech Republic. Glad to see that.

I have watched 2 USA games (vs Sweden, and vs Czech rep), and it is hard for me to pick one player who really stood out from them... guess I liked Lapointe, McLaughlin, Donovan & Ch. Krygier... Otherwise this USA team looked more like collection of hard-working grinders, and as a team not enough talented for this tournament.

Back to Czech players...there are plenty of forwards who really impressed me through the tournament and in yesterday's game.

I would probably expect a bit more from Jakub Lauko, but he's good and likely just as advertised, I would like to see him skate faster in some moments, and see better 2way play.

Adam Gajarsky to me is a player to watch. I really like him, he's flashy, skilled, he knows where to be on the ice, is not afraid to play physical, really fun player to watch.

Jan Jenik, Vojtech Strondala, Matej Blumel aro other forwards who impressed me.

On the other side, defense is once again the area of weakness for us... Zabransky is good due to his offensive side, and Klejna is solid, too, then it gets a bit rough. Basically, there is no one else who I liked when it comes to defensemen, a lot of unnecessary mistakes from defensemen which led to USA pressure. Players like Adamek, Kowalczyk are not good enough for this level.

Dostal (G) is legit. He looks great, athletic, always in position and sees the puck well through traffic.

Kometa Brno provides so much talent to this team - Dostal, Zabransky, Gajarsky, Plasek, Strondala, Kowalczyk - these are all players from Kometa. A good job is being done there.

Line-up in yesterday's game vs USA (although lines were often mixed up)

Blumer-Pekar-Lauko
Jenik-Strondala-Plasek
Cajka-Gajarsky-Kvasnica
Matiasek-Arnost-Sedlak
Pavel

Klejna/Dluhos-Zabransky
Adamek-Malik
Klejna/Dluhos-Seemann
Kowalczyk

Dostal