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U18: WC DivIA and DivIB

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And Italy in the midst of relegation-battle to Div II.

In the meantime JPN already clear as Div IB-member in 2025 while GER needs to win vs. Denmark to win promtion to WC next year (which should not be a problem).

Strong showing by Ukraine nevertheless, especially given the circumstances.
 
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Pretty even first period but Slovenia far and away the better team in the 2nd, no complains about the result. Funny that after the French loss to Estonia we still have a reasonable shot at promotion although this game makes me wonder if we even want it. Campaigns where you play to miraculously hang in for one more year aren't fun.
 
Okay, Slovenia moves up to IA very deservedly, answering all the questions. A strong team with a couple of NHL draft-worthy prospects that was caught off guard in the first game. In hindsight, we played 2 good periods against them so overall I'm taking that game as a positive.

Estonia, with a win against us, would be 2nd in the division. Italy - South Korea is an actual relegation game. Crazy tournament this one.
 
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Well Ukraine pulled it out in a pretty close game, I guess Austria needed to win in regulation so the game winner was a PP EN goal, which was weird to see. Lets go Denmark!
 
Hindsight is always 20/20 but having Cepov play all the games is doing us no favors, 3 goals on 8 shots.
 
Once again the golden rule of the IIHF tournaments, absolutely braindead 5 minute penalty. This one at a crucial moment too.

But well, at the end of the day, we win. Nice positive is the game-winning goal being scored by our only 2008-born, Deimantas Sulinskas.
 
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Congrats Korea on staying up. Italy down to Div 2A.

And Denmark is leading Germany after 20 minutes. Ukraine still got hope. Germany needs a win (after regulation or OT/SO).
 
I'm wondering if all the Ukrainian refugee activities and teams welcoming Ukrainian kids has had an effect on the Ukrainian success
 
Another final thought - this tournament probably kills any chance of Maxim Burkov being viewed as draft worthy, right?
 
ozo said:
Another final thought - this tournament probably kills any chance of Maxim Burkov being viewed as draft worthy, right?
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I don't think he was too disappointing - I think he brought all that's expected from him and will almost certainly make the senior team. I wouldn't be completely shocked if some madman spends his 7th rounder on him. Of course, I'd say it's a waste of a pick but anyone in the 7th round appears to be.

We can also reserve judgment until he plays on the senior NT, I think that was integral for guys like Kirk or Veinbergs to be drafted, albeit at the higher level, but still, if Burkov does well there it will get noted.
 
SoundAndFury said:
I don't think he was too disappointing - I think he brought all that's expected from him and will almost certainly make the senior team. I wouldn't be completely shocked if some madman spends his 7th rounder on him. Of course, I'd say it's a waste of a pick but anyone in the 7th round appears to be.

We can also reserve judgment until he plays on the senior NT, I think that was integral for guys like Kirk or Veinbergs to be drafted, albeit at the higher level, but still, if Burkov does well there it will get noted.
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You are 100% correct, but I just look at the top Slovenian kids and what numbers they produced, and this is sort of the production I expect from draft worthy kids at this level. Yes, maybe Burkov's supporting cast is weaker, but still.
 
ozo said:
You are 100% correct, but I just look at the top Slovenian kids and what numbers they produced, and this is sort of the production I expect from draft worthy kids at this level. Yes, maybe Burkov's supporting cast is weaker, but still.
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You can find a lot of excuses for Burkov if you like him: weak supporting cast, late birthday, him still weighing only 70 kg. Not being able to dominate your opponents physically hurts your stat line a lot in these tournaments and vice versa. Like Simas Ignatavicius and Nik Christian Petrovic have basically the same PPG in the Swiss league but one scored 6 points against this kind of opposition and the other 13. Or Titas Krakauskas being our 2nd leading scorer despite doing next to nothing in the Swiss league. But both him and Petrovic are 18 and it shows against this kind of opposition.

If you draft Burkov you do it for his puck skills alone and the puck skills he did bring. Then pray he adds 15 kilos of muscle eventually.

Just an interesting aside, Slovenians had a huge team averaging 185 cm while Estonians, for example, only stood at 179,7.
 
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