I have to say the forwards seems very grey this year... Not a lot of creativity. Berglund is good, but thats really it this time around. It will be a team with defence as the main focus.. (Lilleberg, Solberg, Johannesen is a good trio there)
WC: Team Norway 2025
- Thread starter Eye of Ra
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Fjorden
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It looks like a team that can work hard and skate.
But I don't think we have someone that can play a good PP at this level. At least not against the best teams in the group like, usa, switzerland and the Czechs. We lack a clear 1.line, lines are quite equal.
I hope Brandsegg Nygård's team loses against Texas in ahl soon. His shot can be very useful in PP.
Brandsegg Nygård scored tonight against Texas btw and had 1.ass. His team lost 4-2 and are 2-0 down in matches. Next match May 9th. Best of 5.
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Finished just in time for Christmas, then ;p
Fjorden
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Heia Norge
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Cleveland Monsters knocked out of the AHL playoffs. Ole Julian Bjørgvik Holm could be available for our WC roster. Our D already looks weak so I would like to see him on our team. Replace him with one of the EHL D man. Saxrud Danielsen out, Holm in. IMO.
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Myhre, Saxrud or Hansen out for Holm if I got to choose. But Johansson has a soft spot for both Hansen and Myhre, so maybe Saxrud then.
Fjorden
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As I understand it, Team Norway will keep two spots open.
One back: Ole Julian Holm if he accepts the invitation.
One forward: Michael Brandsegg Nygård or Emilio Pettersen. They face each other in AHL Calder cup. Texas is up 2-0 in matches.
Holder VM-plasser åpne - håper på rask Brandsegg-Nygård-avklaring
New club for Markus Vikingstad. From Fischtown to the german champions Eisbären Berlin. Great transfer for Markus,
One back: Ole Julian Holm if he accepts the invitation.
One forward: Michael Brandsegg Nygård or Emilio Pettersen. They face each other in AHL Calder cup. Texas is up 2-0 in matches.
Holder VM-plasser åpne - håper på rask Brandsegg-Nygård-avklaring
New club for Markus Vikingstad. From Fischtown to the german champions Eisbären Berlin. Great transfer for Markus,
SoundAndFury
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- May 28, 2012
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3-year contract as well. He can truly say he has made it in Germany. Unless now the Bears win nothing over the next 3 years. But that's unlikely.
I 100% agree with you that OJBH should have been added to the squad as he would improve our defence even more. But I dont really agree with you that our defence looks weak, I actually think it looks stronger than in the previous years. We have Lilleberg who is now an NHLer and Stian Solberg is also really good (by Norwegian standards ofc). Johannessen is also decent.
As I see it the big problem is our forwards, as people already have mentioned we do lack a couple of really good forwards on an international level who can create a good first line. Unfortunately players that are good in EHL and HockeyAllsvenskan isnt enough at this level. We have some decent prospects now, so hopefully this will improve in the coming years.
A really positive thing is that our goalie situation looks much better than in a long time.
That completely true. Goalies and defence is alright, its the creative part and goalscorers we need.. All Norwegian games will probably be snoozefests with defence, defence, defence until we win against the 1-2 weakest teams and secure our place again. Zzzzzz
Wish they could hack the power play, just once. Crappy pp has been the most consistent feature of team Norway for as long as I can remember. Gonna be an uphill battle anyways, but if the pp doesn't get beyond 20 % it's gonna be hard. Hope they spend a lot of time practicing on that part of the game. Like, most of the time. Potentially great goaltending with Arntzen and Normann and a much improved pp could actually take them pretty far. Bakke Olsen and Martin Johnsen could do the trick maybe. HockeyAllsvenskan | stats.swehockey.se But Johnsen might not play much, sadly. I would like to see the two of them with Brandsegg Nygaard on a PP.
SoundAndFury
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Hard to blame the team for not having a good PP when they clearly don't have the personnel for it. Not sure about practicing it "most of the time" either because usually it's your strengths that win games, not sinking the time into squeezing blood from a stone.
Well, I hope "Don't try squeezing blood from a stone!" will be the final pep-talk by Johansson. They've been in the top division for 18 straight years, so the personnel should at least be on par with the lower ranked teams. No expert, but trying to improve an obvious weakness can't be a waste of time? Their relative strenghts could maybe be goaltending and physicality (for once), but hard to improve much in the last days of practice? Not sure what else there is ... Bakke Olsen, MBN, Johnsen, Solberg, SVE could all get the pp going with a plan, some drilling and some chemistry, I hope.
SoundAndFury
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I think, in general, over those 18 years, but even more so lately, the calling card of the Norwegian team is that they can play well 5v5, especially defensively, which also requires practice time. If you want to make the most out of good goaltending, you need to learn how to support it. You need to learn quick transition because, arguably, the ability to counterattack or stretch the ice in general are going to bring a bigger payback than 1-2 additional PP goals.
And with all due respect, you absolutely do not have the personnel to be on par with lower-ranked teams. Even on teams like Kazakhstan, Denmark, France or Austria the top offensive players are so much better than those of Norway.
By all means, they should practice powerplay, every team should and does but "most of the time" is extreme considering you aren't going to get a lot of return on that investment. Realistically, the difference between ~13% PP that Norway would achieve without much effort and ~18-19% that I would consider to be the ceiling for his group with all the practice time in the world is 1-2 additional goals throughout the WC.
Yeah, "most of the time" was some hyperbolism on my end. Not sure what to expect from this very young Norwegain team. Compared to Denmark, talent wise, I don't think Norway is lagging. More so on experience. Austria has Kasper, so guess. Saturday is gonna give some answers. I know nothing on Kazakhstan other than their National Sport (not being hockey), but these guys are not exactly raking up points in the KHL: Barys Astana 2024-2025 - Roster, Stats & more
SoundAndFury
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Well, I'm not saying Norway is worse than these teams, I'm actually quite certain you are better than Kazakhstan who have no depth, can't play 5v5 and have no goaltending.
But as far as the powerplay discussion goes, Kazakhstan has a championship-winning offensive dynamo in Nikita Mikhailis, who was 5th in the KHL scoring after his best season offensively or Valeri Orekhov who scored 10 goals and 27 points from defense this year.
And the same applies to Denmark. Nicolai Meyer has pretty much identical stats to Eskild Bakke Olsen yet I'm pretty sure Danes don't even consider him to be a top-6 forward for them. I'm not even talking about someone like Phillip Bruggisser who is just of an entirely different class compared to the Norwegian PP options on D.
So yeah, it's probably better to rely on your strengths to beat these teams rather than hope your weakness somehow catches up with them.
When looking at the Norwegian roster again, and again, I tend to agree more and more with you. Like missing a top line at this level. Hope some of them can take a leap forward. Brandsegg Nygaard has been good post-season for some years, and maybe he could show up. I also think Stian Solberg is underrated offensively.
Gone are the days of Knutsen, Olimbs, Skröder, Bastiansen, Thoresen. Norway had some impressing names before.
SirKillalot
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Yeah, unfortunately we are miles away from having a good first-line/first PP on international level atm. Just look at Denmarks top-lines and compare them to Norway, they are just miles ahead of us. And that is even without all their NHLers.
I guess the best first-line we potentially could have if all players was available now is:
Brandsegg Nygård - Emilio Pettersen - Zuccarello.
Hopefully players like Bakke Olsen, Johnsen, Steen etc. continues developing and become solid SHL players, that is what Norway really need now.
Fjorden
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MBN needs to be paired with a good playmaker to shine. If he gets the service he needs he can be very good, using his shot.
I'm not sure if Bakke Olsen has what it takes at this level to be playmaker in the 1.line and in PP. It is a huge step from HockeyAllsvenskan to WC:
The potential 1.line we could have in 2-3 years looks promising though.
(MBN-Mikkel Eriksen-Aaram Olsen) has great potential to be the 1.line we need.
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Fjorden
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Grand Rapids lost tonight against Texas Stars in AHL/Calder cup.
That means that Michael Brandsegg Nygård will be there for match. 3 on Tuesday against Germany. I guess he will be in the 1. or 2nd line. Hopefully we can have him in Denmark by Monday.
Ole Julian Holm is not coming.
Johannes Johannesen will also be there for match. 1
That means that Michael Brandsegg Nygård will be there for match. 3 on Tuesday against Germany. I guess he will be in the 1. or 2nd line. Hopefully we can have him in Denmark by Monday.
Ole Julian Holm is not coming.
Johannes Johannesen will also be there for match. 1
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Fjorden
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Lineup agianst Kaz:
Tobias Normann starting as goalkeeper.
Jonas Arntzen door opener today.
Tobias Normann starting as goalkeeper.
Jonas Arntzen door opener today.
Heia Norge
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SoundAndFury
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