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Olympics 2026 qualification

So, apparently the Latvian coaches are resting Šilovs as he has overtrained and the risk of injury is high. FFS. That's why Grigals (third goalie) was in the net yesterday in the exhibition vs Danes. We have Gudļevskis as a solid option PLUS if we do our job, goalies should not be the difference makers, but this is just silly...

GoogleTranslated coach comment from our media, I am lazy today:

"He is ready to start the tournament. If I'm not mistaken, he had his first training session already on June 12, he is overworked. Since then, he has been training four times a week. Arthur is in good physical condition, he is currently overworked and the medical staff determined that the danger limit of turning this situation into a chronic injury is high. We decided to protect him a little, let's see,"
 
Blueger was not able to join the Latvian camp, so our roster is not going to be as stacked as I hoped. Locmelis will likely slot into that 2C role. I think highly of Locmelis, but there's a major difference between a collegiate player with almost no pro experience and a Stanley-cup winning two-way forward.

So instead of having 2 dominant lines Latvia has a clear cut top line with Balcers, Abols and Daugavins, while the remaining 3 lines are still going to be a constant scoring threat. It's going to be hard for Slovenia or Ukraine to keep the pace up for 60 minutes. Even if they shut our top line down, we're going to score eventually.
 
Why does nobody care about this on social media? Like I know some of you will say hockey is a niche sport etc but still you would think all those diehard NHL fans would be pretty excited to follow the qualifications for the biggest international stage in Hockey.
 
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Habsforever14 said:
Why does nobody care about this on social media? Like I know some of you will say hockey is a niche sport etc but still you would think all those diehard NHL fans would be pretty excited to follow the qualifications for the biggest international stage in Hockey.
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Even if there are a few NHL players on those rosters, most NHL fans will only care for them to not injure themselves right at the start of the season. Unless you are a fan of a specific national team, hard to be engaged in games against Hungary or Japan.
 
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aquaregia said:
GB-Men-OQ-August-2024-1024x1024.jpeg


Training Camp squad for GB, good to see Waller back from injury, still no Conway but not too shocked about that, otherwise business as usual for the team. Clements/Shudra/Duggan/Norris probable cuts when the squad trims down to 23.

Olympic qualification likely a bridge too far but as we saw in the WC it's still a side good enough to play potential spoiler for one of Norway and Denmark, and I'd be disappointed if we can't at least keep those games somewhat competitive.
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Remember you are facing at least a better Denmark team here than the last WC, which was only Euro players, plus a few from the Danish league in the WC. This team will have a good few players from NA. - Also, one of our club teams, had no issue dismantling you guys...

That said, this is, imo, Denmarks last chance. Will never reach the "heights" they have had the last decade again. Danish Hockey is falling, and fast at that. Would not be suprised to see them go to froup B in the next few years.

Bjorkstrand is out btw, wants to rest because of season long injuries.

With all this said, I still think Norway takes it. We always play like scared kids against Norway.
Yes, I have VERY little faith in Danish hockey.
 
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QuietContrarian said:
Remember you are facing at least a better Denmark team here than the last WC, which was only Euro players, plus a few from the Danish league in the WC. This team will have a good few players from NA. - Also, one of our club teams, had no issue dismantling you guys...

That said, this is, imo, Denmarks last chance. Will never reach the "heights" they have had the last decade again. Danish Hockey is falling, and fast at that. Would not be suprised to see them go to froup B in the next few years.

Bjorkstrand is out btw, wants to rest because of season long injuries.

With all this said, I still think Norway takes it. We always play like scared kids against Norway.
Yes, I have VERY little faith in Danish hockey.
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Denmark are still going to be slight favorites.

Norway does seem to have way more prospects than Denmark. I just looked it up, you guys only have 3 draftees over the last 7 years, with 2 of them being goalies.

I did not realize your program was so deep in the weeds. Any ideas on why is that happening?
 
Namejs said:
Denmark are still going to be slight favorites.

Norway does seem to have way more prospects than Denmark. I just looked it up, you guys only have 3 draftees over the last 7 years, with 2 of them being goalies.

I did not realize your program was so deep in the weeds. Any ideas on why is that happening?
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Federation just dropped the ball - Low interest from the public, Football/Handball is king here.
VERY few rinks (only 28 rinks spread in only 16 cities/towns) So also low interest in funding from the state. And, the good years were propelled by "Dynasties", many of our top players are sons or, nephews or cousins of hockey players.

Ehlers, Eller, Bjorkstrand, Hansen, Andersen, Nielsen, True, all have fathers who played pro hockey for example.

Hockey in Denmark is very closed off as well. Hockey Families take a lot of rink time, and it can be hard to enter the scene in Denmark, if you don't come from a hockey family.


Biggest issues though are:

Federation failed to use momentum, to create interest/ And Football and Handball dominate here.
 
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PanniniClaus said:
Youngsters Steen and Vesterheim out but it looks like they have the strongest team they have put out in some time.
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Noah Steen is in the roster.

Thomas Berg Paulsen(Malmø, SHL), Petter Vesterheim(Malmø, SHL) and Philip Granatah(Tappara, Liiga), players with strong club/league adresses are not in the final roster. We've gotten better forward depth the later years.
 
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One interesting aspect is also that the best 2nd ranked team in the three groups also will advance to the olympics. Goal difference can be very important.

I assume no Russia as the US election is not before November, and Trump want be able to settle a peace deal in Ukraine in time if he wins.

It could also be a very tactical game Norway-Denmark in the last if both teams stand with 6 points which is very likely. A draw might after regulation might send both teams to the olympics. Same thing for the other groups.
 
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If I really call correctly, I heard that if Russia isn't allowed in its the highest ranked team who would qualify instead.
 
Silovs out.

Likely due to him being the Nucks 1st option with the Demko situation. I don't think they're allowed to pressure national teams like that, but I see no other explanation.
 
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