MeHateHe
Registered User
- Dec 24, 2006
- 2,751
- 3,156
The IIHF Division IIIB tournament starts tomorrow (Dec. 11) and given that I doubt there will be a ton of interest in these two tournaments, I thought a combined thread would be appropriate.
Division IIIB runs Dec. 11-14 in Bangkok, with Kyrgyzstan, Luxembourg, South Africa and the host Thailand. Kyrgyzstan were relegated last year. This looks like Thailand's first entry in a U-20 tournament, and the second in a row for Luxembourg, which hadn't participated at this level since 2003 (where they scored once in four games, and gave up 48). You can't have a successful senior team without a junior program, so it's good to see development happening (to some extent) in these countries. Added to that, three of the teams (excepting Thailand) have a bunch of 2009-born players in the lineup; that could be a blessing or a curse. It could be that they don't have enough older players to fill out their roster, but on the other hand, those 15-year-olds today can play for another four years,
The Division IIIB tournament website is here:
www.iihf.com
As for players, it's a lot of what you expect for a tournament like this. Kyrgyzstan has a couple of kids playing high school hockey in the US. Luxembourg has one kid who's playing in Germany. South Africa has a player from the CSSHL U17 club in Notre Dame and Thailand looks to be icing a lineup with all domestic players.
FTR, based on nothing, I would expect Kyrgyzstan to win this. Former Soviet republic's gotta count for something.
It might be too much to hope for streams. I guess we'll find out in 11 hours when the puck drops.
Just to add: I love these lower level tournaments. The hockey is pretty scrambly, but it's great to watch the non-European markets especially come to life in these things.
Division IIIB runs Dec. 11-14 in Bangkok, with Kyrgyzstan, Luxembourg, South Africa and the host Thailand. Kyrgyzstan were relegated last year. This looks like Thailand's first entry in a U-20 tournament, and the second in a row for Luxembourg, which hadn't participated at this level since 2003 (where they scored once in four games, and gave up 48). You can't have a successful senior team without a junior program, so it's good to see development happening (to some extent) in these countries. Added to that, three of the teams (excepting Thailand) have a bunch of 2009-born players in the lineup; that could be a blessing or a curse. It could be that they don't have enough older players to fill out their roster, but on the other hand, those 15-year-olds today can play for another four years,
The Division IIIB tournament website is here:
IIHF - Home 2025 IIHF ICE HOCKEY U20 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Division III, Group B
IIHF - Home 2025 IIHF ICE HOCKEY U20 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Division III, Group B
As for players, it's a lot of what you expect for a tournament like this. Kyrgyzstan has a couple of kids playing high school hockey in the US. Luxembourg has one kid who's playing in Germany. South Africa has a player from the CSSHL U17 club in Notre Dame and Thailand looks to be icing a lineup with all domestic players.
FTR, based on nothing, I would expect Kyrgyzstan to win this. Former Soviet republic's gotta count for something.
It might be too much to hope for streams. I guess we'll find out in 11 hours when the puck drops.
Just to add: I love these lower level tournaments. The hockey is pretty scrambly, but it's great to watch the non-European markets especially come to life in these things.
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