Pool: Statsy’s WJC Pool: 9th Edition

[Statsy]

After Day 6

There were some pretty competitive games on Day 6, including the event we thought we'd never see again... a preliminary round loss for Sweden! Khabby has a huge day with 11 points, backed by Tim Stuetzle's five point game, an accomplishment that is happening surprisingly frequently in this year's tourney. The race at the top continues to be a nail-biter with Statsy edging into the lead at 37 points. WeThreeKings picks up four points on the day (along with Statsy) to overtake Tomsburninghat by virtue of the goals tiebreaker. A good battle in the middle between the aforementioned Khabby and Christien, who had a decent six point day, collected during the Russia/Sweden game. GrandLarseny, coming off a day so bad that it can only be described as unspeakable (I mean really, you should have seen it!), rebounds nicely with six points, mostly from JJ Peterka's five point game. Yes, another one! FightinSioux picks up a single assist from Soderstrom, although most of his team was inactive today. He'll need a big day tomorrow to get back into things, but we've seen many point explosions so far, so it remains quite possible.

New Year's Eve always brings the cream of the crop for match-ups in the opening round and tomorrow sees first place in both groups up for grabs with Canada vs Finland and the USA vs Sweden. The Czechs take on Austria in what could be a good night for people that have Czechs in the pool.

Today's numbers:
Khabby - 11 pts
Christien - 6 pts
GrandLarseny - 6 pts
Canada4Gold - 4 pts
Statsy - 4 pts
WeThreeKings - 4 pts
Tomsburninghat - 3 pts
FightingSioux - 1 pt

 

[Khabby]

@Statsy I think you are missing a couple points from Khusnutdinov, I should have 33 total

 

[Tomsburninghat]

Tonight's games are where we start cooking!

 

[WeThreeKings]

Look for Mysak against Austria

 

[Statsy]

@Statsy I think you are missing a couple points from Khusnutdinov, I should have 33 total

I have updated the standings Khusnutdinov points were added to Khabby's total.

 

[Statsy]

After Preliminary Round

Sorry for the late update, but I had big New Year's plans last night... by which I mean going to bed at 9:30!

As the preliminary round comes to a close, it was a bit of a quiet day in the pool for everyone except FightingSioux who has been overdue for a big day. FS gets 9 points from a Spencer Knight shutout and a multi point effort from Alex Turcotte. He jumps both Grand Larseny and Canada4Gold to exit the standings basement. WeThreeKings is the only other guy to have a particularly productive day as his Trevor Zegras backed roster picks up six points to jump past Statsy into top spot with 42 points. The rest of the pool got somewhere around 3 points and no other standings movement occurred.

Today's numbers:
FightingSioux - 9 pts
WeThreeKings - 6 pts
Canada4Gold - 3 pts
GrandLarseny - 3 pts
Statsy - 3 pts
Tomsburninghat - 3 pts
Khabby - 2 pts
Christien - 1 pt

We now have a day off before the Quarterfinals, where we separate the men from the boys. The Finland/Sweden match-up is of particular intrigue, with one of those team's tournaments coming to a sudden end.


Oh, and one last thing.... Happy New Year everyone!!!

 

[Tomsburninghat]

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2021!

Now I'm hoping 2021 can help a healthy Alnefelt keep his starting G job against Finland tomorrow.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2021!

Now I'm hoping 2021 can help a healthy Alnefelt keep his starting G job against Finland tomorrow.

Even if he does, they will lose with him. Wallstedt is better.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Even if he does, they will lose with him. Wallstedt is better.

Bump.

 

[Statsy]

Going to work tonight so I won’t be able to update until afternoon tomorrow.

 

[Statsy]

After Quarterfinals

We're now through the Quarterfinals and the number of games remaining in this WJC are at a premium. The action we saw yesterday was in stark contrast to the free-wheeling point bonanzas of earlier in the tourney, with all the underdogs putting up a great battle and sticking around for the entirety of the game.

The margin remains razor thin at the top of the pool with WeThreeKings holding on to a narrow one point lead after picking up 5 points on the day, including another multi-point effort from the unstoppable Trevor Zegras. Statsy pulls to within one point of the lead as he gets two from Connor McMichael as well as another win and shutout from the Canadian goaltending machine, Devon Levi. Just behind Statsy is Tomsburninghat who continues to get great production from Dylan Cozens as well as a pair of helpers from Bobby Brink. However, he may have been dealt a blow as his goaltender, Alnefelt, exits the tournament after a stunning QF loss. Khabby remains in striking distance but has lost his biggest producer in Tim Stuetzle. The rest of the pool is bunched up within four points of one another starting with Christien at 34. Canada4Gold has a solid day picking up 6 points to leapfrog GrandLarseny out of the basement. It'll be an interesting battle to see who can avoid the dreaded lat place finish.

Today's numbers:
Canada4Gold - 6 pts
Statsy - 6 pts
Tomsburninghat - 5 pts
WeThreeKings - 5 pts
FightingSioux - 4 pts
Khabby - 4 pts
GrandLarseny - 3 pts
Christien - 2 pts

The semis should give us a couple of great games with Finland vs USA and the always classic Canada/Russia match-up! There are only four games left on the schedule so it's now or never people. Good luck!

 

[Tomsburninghat]

Thanks for this! It's going to be an awesome day tomorrow! Let's hope the Fins can somehow slow down that Zegras line with their stingy play. They'll need to play 3 periods as opposed to just the 3rd against the Swedes.

Go Canada Go!

 

[GrandLarseny]

Let this be a reminder that you should always trust your instincts. I've never been a fan of Gauthier but I chose him over Piiroinen just because he's a 19 year old. Ahhh man I'll be back next year, just you watch

 

[WeThreeKings]

Let this be a reminder that you should always trust your instincts. I've never been a fan of Gauthier but I chose him over Piiroinen just because he's a 19 year old. Ahhh man I'll be back next year, just you watch

Probably would have been fine in a normal year, but Canada's schedule has been so easy to this point that Levi hasn't had a chance to stink it up.. fearing it likely comes tomorrow.

 

[Statsy]

Levi. Is. A. Machine!

 

[Statsy]

After Semifinals

The Semis are done and so are the gold medal hopes of the Russians and the Finns, the latter giving a classic Finnish gutsy effort, just falling short of the US. On the penultimate day of the tournament, Statsy's team has a huge day, picking up 9 points from a pair of goals from Kaspar Simontaival and yet ANOTHER shutout win from Devon Levi. He now sits at an astounding 18 points, a record for a goaltender pick in the nearly decade that this pool has existed. The point surge puts Statsy into a six point lead over WeThreeKings who has a quiet day with just a pair of points. Tomsburninghat sits a couple points behind WTK in third after picking up 3 today. He's now looking over his shoulder at Khabby who has pulled to within three of the bronze medal position after a 5 point outing today. FightingSioux and Canada4Gold both have productive semis with 7 points apiece to move themselves up the ladder a bit. Christien and GrandLarseny both sputter towards the finish line, each picking up just a single point.

Today's numbers:
Statsy - 9 pts
Canada4Gold - 7 pts
FightingSioux - 7 pts
Khabby - 5 pts
Tomsburninghat - 3 pts
WeThreeKings - 2 pts
Christien - 1 pt
GrandLarseny - 1 pt

We're now down to two games remaining in this WJC. Best of luck to everyone and the teams fighting for it all tomorrow!

 

[WeThreeKings]

The offside challenge secured the win for Statsy.

If that counts (and it should, I agree with ray Ferraro on that) theres no Levi shutout and I get an assist from Chistyakov, which would put me in close.

 

[Tomsburninghat]

I think it's safe to say that the Stats don't lie...Statsy will finally medal again since 2014! Looking good Commissioner!

All that matters now is a Canada win tonight and secure the back-to-back Golds! It won't be easy, the damn Yanks are tenacious, physical and can score...unlike any team we've played, including the Russians. On that note - I think Russia should Askarov for their money back because he spent more time on his back and stick flying elsewhere than spending time in the goal. He's a stud but that whole team looked way over-matched yesterday.

 

[Statsy]

The offside challenge secured the win for Statsy.

If that counts (and it should, I agree with ray Ferraro on that) theres no Levi shutout and I get an assist from Chistyakov, which would put me in close.

That was a tough call, but I’ll take it. For the record, you’re not the only one that got ripped off in that game as they didn’t count the Connor McMichael assist on the empty netter. The IIHF only counts the previous two touches on the goal instead of the previous two players that touched it, if that makes sense.

 

[Statsy]

I think it's safe to say that the Stats don't lie...Statsy will finally medal again since 2014! Looking good Commissioner!

All that matters now is a Canada win tonight and secure the back-to-back Golds! It won't be easy, the damn Yanks are tenacious, physical and can score...unlike any team we've played, including the Russians. On that note - I think Russia should Askarov for their money back because he spent more time on his back and stick flying elsewhere than spending time in the goal. He's a stud but that whole team looked way over-matched yesterday.

Thanks, Tom, but I certainly do NOT have this thing wrapped up yet. Definitely in good position though.

As for Askarov, this is not the guy I watched and marvelled at during the run of U18 games. His WJC has been pretty shaky in back-to-back years now. I’m sure he’ll still be a great pro, however.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Thanks, Tom, but I certainly do NOT have this thing wrapped up yet. Definitely in good position though.

As for Askarov, this is not the guy I watched and marvelled at during the run of U18 games. His WJC has been pretty shaky in back-to-back years now. I’m sure he’ll still be a great pro, however.

Vasilevskiy also had a bad tournament. Hes having trouble managing his nerves on this stage, hes still gonna be one of the best goalies in the NHL for a long time.

 

[Statsy]

Final Standings

Another World Juniors is now in the books, and with it comes the end of the 9th annual Statsy WJC Pool!

I would like to send a hearty congratulations out to this year's winner... ME!

After some wild scoring action early on in the pool, things really dried up on offense in the medal round, culminating with this final day that incredibly only saw three entrants earn any points at all. FightingSioux picked up 5 points on the day on an Alex Turcotte goal and a shutout win for Spencer Knight, who along with Devon Levi put up some truly impressive pool numbers in net this year. C4G netted a pair of goals from Anton Lundell and an assist from Arthur Kaliyev for three points on the day. WeThreeKings received an assist from Topi Niemela as well as a pair of points from the unstoppable Trevor Zegras, who picks up tournament MVP honours. The three points puts him well short of the mark he needed to catch Statsy, but was more than enough to capture the Silver medal. Despite being held scoreless today, Tomsburninghat holds off a hard charging FightingSioux to lay claim to a bronze medal. Pretty impressive considering he tried to draft nearly half his team with ineligible picks!

Today's Numbers:
FightingSioux - 5 pts
Canada4Gold - 3 pts
WeThreeKings - 3 pts
Christien - Zip
GrandLarseny - Zero
Khabby - Zilch
Statsy - Nothing
Tomsburninghat - Nada

I have to say that despite some very early hiccups, the tournament organizing crew did a great job making this event happen. God knows it looked awfully tenuous at the lead up. In the end we still got to see some great hockey and keep the tradition alive!

As always, thanks to everyone for participating and we'll see you all next year!

 

[WeThreeKings]

Pick regrets -

Roby Jarventie who sucked complete donkey water.
Hlavaj over Piiroinen.

 

[Tomsburninghat]

Final Standings

Another World Juniors is now in the books, and with it comes the end of the 9th annual Statsy WJC Pool!

I would like to send a hearty congratulations out to this year's winner... ME!

After some wild scoring action early on in the pool, things really dried up on offense in the medal round, culminating with this final day that incredibly only saw three entrants earn any points at all. FightingSioux picked up 5 points on the day on an Alex Turcotte goal and a shutout win for Spencer Knight, who along with Devon Levi put up some truly impressive pool numbers in net this year. C4G netted a pair of goals from Anton Lundell and an assist from Arthur Kaliyev for three points on the day. WeThreeKings received an assist from Topi Niemela as well as a pair of points from the unstoppable Trevor Zegras, who picks up tournament MVP honours. The three points puts him well short of the mark he needed to catch Statsy, but was more than enough to capture the Silver medal. Despite being held scoreless today, Tomsburninghat holds off a hard charging FightingSioux to lay claim to a bronze medal. Pretty impressive considering he tried to draft nearly half his team with ineligible picks!

Today's Numbers:
FightingSioux - 5 pts
Canada4Gold - 3 pts
WeThreeKings - 3 pts
Christien - Zip
GrandLarseny - Zero
Khabby - Zilch
Statsy - Nothing
Tomsburninghat - Nada

I have to say that despite some very early hiccups, the tournament organizing crew did a great job making this event happen. God knows it looked awfully tenuous at the lead up. In the end we still got to see some great hockey and keep the tradition alive!

As always, thanks to everyone for participating and we'll see you all next year!

Thanks as always to Statsy for putting on this pool and keeping us connected year after year. And congrats on your first Gold!

It's nice to return to the medals which I think I aptly predicted hopefully being close. Honestly I think I got lucky to medal as my team slowed down tremendously in the end but my veterans and leadership strategy gave me the chance I was looking for. Its great to be able to do this pool every year and hope to keep it going for many more. Looking back in the past, where'd BigPapaSmurff go?

Thanks to everyone for keeping us smile with your candid comments and insights to these great hockey prospects.

Have a great year everyone! Hope you stay safe, healthy and are prosperous in whatever you do in your lives.

Hat is still burning!

 

[GrandLarseny]

Thanks, as always, for hosting us @Statsy! And congratulations on winning gold this year, it's nice to see at least one favorite going into the medal game win haha.

Looking forward to competing with y'all again in a year!