World under 20 Div 2A 2B

[HungryFrank]

Bruno Idzan is a kid that could be drafted high next year too. Exiting prospects moving forward.

do it, Joe (Sakic), I dare you!

 

[SoundAndFury]

Congrats Croatia - not often that a team earns a double promotion in back to back years. Well deserved too.

I mean it was and it wasn't. They lost in OT to the Netherlands, won against us in SO, and barely saved themselves against Romania with 3 minutes left. Hardly the most convincing of wins so they deserved it as long as the other teams clearly sucked even worse

It was also quite funny when at the start of the game, I was one of maybe 30 people in the arena and by the start of the third, there were ~200 I also talked the ref into giving Croatian a major penalty since he was set on giving 2 at the start. Well it was me or the linesman anyway

 

[SoundAndFury]

Regarding Croatia, Alic really needs to move to a more competitive league. He has nice puck skills for a big man just needs to keep developing.

They are also going to miss V. Idzan and Bebek next year, I feel these guys were really underrated by the stat-watching community (that's me).

I was also quite underwhelmed by Bodiroga, he really hasn't shown much. He might have been pretty overrated by that same community on behalf of U18 Mestis stats that evidently don't mean all that much even at this level.

 

[SoundAndFury]

Regarding Lithuania, Jukna (the older brother of the more famous Swiss-based prospect) was great in goal finishing with .958 Sv%, we definitely started out with the wrong goalie in the net in the first game against GB. Who knows how the tournament would have shaken out if not for this seemingly minor detail. At the time, it seemed like no big deal and 1 goal loss against GB a good result. In the end, it turns out GB was actually very vulnerable and with a goalie who only allows 1 goal on 20 shots we had good chances to get points from them. What-could-have-beenery aside, he rekindled small hope in him as a pro goalie going forward although it is still very small. But a solid Latvian league option for one of the Lithuanian teams at least going forward, it seems, if he decides to stick with hockey.

Seniut was great but I mean the dude has played in Liiga, so nothing really surprising. He has a lot of work to do when it comes to offense and transition but people say the world actually has a place for Ds that can defend and that he can do.

Belicenka was probably the biggest revelation for me, he is surprisingly good. Maybe/likely the most improved guy on the team, surprisingly decent at all facets of the game. Can make a pass (very rare at this level), physical in front of the net, held his own on the top pair and I'm definitely happy or even excited to have him back next year.

Grybauskas, Laimutis, Dumcius all delivered what was expected so not gonna talk about them much. Hopefully, Grybauskas commits to improving and being a good Latvian league player isn't his end goal. He can shoot but he needs to develop into more than just that.

Baltrunas was the other big revelation although he has more word of mouth going around him and the youngest kid on the team, obviously. But the guy just has no chill, if he grew at least 5 cm more he would become a true menace with skill and tons of grit. But his older brother is the exactly same height, so I'm not holding my breath. Anyway, a very good prospect for our level and a pro player in the making if only he wants to be one.

 

[ozo]

Regarding Lithuania, Jukna (the older brother of the more famous Swiss-based prospect)

"More famous" is a bit generous for a player that probably 2 people (you and me) are aware of. Anyhow, on a somewhat related (pun intended) note - it is nuts how many family relations there are in Lithuanian hockey, literally every player has a parent that himself played hockey back in the day and one or more brothers that also play the game.

 

[HungryFrank]

though some important players won't be able to play next year due to their age, they are less than 1 line (Cavlovic, Bebek, Dimitrijevic and Idzan). Croatia would have had the youngest team on average in both D1B and D2A this year.
Additionally, there are 4 other players that were mostly good enough to make the team this year and are eligible to play next year: Kumanovic playing in Alps league for Jesenice, Gorsic from HV71, Banek from Olimpija and Matijevic from Graz. There are also some other interesting names playing abroad too, but in general, depth for the next WC is pretty nice for Croatian standards. Usually bigger problem is weird team selection / unexpected invitation declines and so on, but if D1B motivates the staff and the players to take it seriously, I believe the team will be stronger than this year.

That being said, avoiding relegation would be a miracle on ice.

 

[SoundAndFury]

it is nuts how many family relations there are in Lithuanian hockey, literally every player has a parent that himself played hockey back in the day and one or more brothers that also play the game.

That's true and at the same time it's even slightly weird we still only had Baubas playing together on the senior NT. Cetvertaks and Krakauskas bros came very close but it still was not to be.

 

[crobro]

This Croatian team core has a chance to run amok against the competition in the next under 18 tourney

 

[SoundAndFury]

It certainly is going to be interesting as GB will have an almost entirely new team at the U18 level with next to no international experience, our hopes are also largely in the hands of 16-year-olds so Croatians might be considered favorites there at this point.

 

[Pardus]

2023 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship Div II Group B

Interesting to see China play after a three year break. How much has their youth been playing during the covid period and China's strict limitations?

China - Taiwan will also be a game to keep an eye on, oh boy.

 

[swissexpert]

Well last time, they had a lot of players out of their Czech league 'golden dragon' team, so they could be available. But looking at their entry list, I only see Bejing and a few playing in NA.

Anyway, I guess it's up to the final rosters before we can make predictions. Should be Taiwan vs. Mexico for relegation.

 

[ozo]

Looks like it is very likely that China will get promoted to 2A this year, they just need not slip up against Iceland and Taipei, which seems very doable.

 

[HungryFrank]

How on Earth did Serbia manage to F up so terribly?

 

[ozo]

Without much research, I want to say this is best China lineup ever. Almost every single member of this roster has at very least played a season or two in NA, not at the best level, but this is pretty much unheard luxury not only for China, but for 2B level as a whole.

 

[MeHateHe]

Without much research, I want to say this is best China lineup ever. Almost every single member of this roster has at very least played a season or two in NA, not at the best level, but this is pretty much unheard luxury not only for China, but for 2B level as a whole.

Looks like China is ramping up just in time for the Olympics a year ago.

 

[Albatros]

They used to have a partnership project with the New York Islanders and as a part of it were trained by NHL coaches in New York with access to pro facilities.

 

[GermanSpitfire]

Iceland has a 2008 November born player on their roster by the name of Ymir Haflidason. He isn’t NHL draft eligible until 2027 lol

 

[GermanSpitfire]

 

[MeHateHe]

Just gonna gloss over the fact that the Chinese Taipei goalie got a major+game for fighting?

Just watched it. Not a fight by any stretch of the imagination. The kid probably deserved the major, though. Icelandic player was digging for the puck and fell at the goalie's feet. The goalie stood up and with his blocker hand came down with all his weight on the head of the Icelandic player.

These tournaments are wild sometimes.

 

[GermanSpitfire]

Just gonna gloss over the fact that the Chinese Taipei goalie got a major+game for fighting?

It was a wild game - I went in wanting to see how the 2008 born Iceland kid looked - but came away with the upmost appreciation for the lower divisions of hockey. I genuinely think that Chinese Taipei tied the game up at the end there and the Iceland goalie pulled a Carey Price where he sneakily got out of the net before the refs came over and went for a lap since there likely isn’t any advanced replay functions at the event.
Great game all around.

 

[MeHateHe]

It was a wild game - I went in wanting to see how the 2008 born Iceland kid looked - but came away with the upmost appreciation for the lower divisions of hockey. I genuinely think that Chinese Taipei tied the game up at the end there and the Iceland goalie pulled a Carey Price where he sneakily got out of the net before the refs came over and went for a lap since there likely isn’t any advanced replay functions at the event.
Great game all around.

As an old referee, I mostly check out these tournaments to look at the major penalty calls and argue with myself about whether they're justified. (Referees can be geeks too.)

I've watched that last play a few times. First of all, the Taipei coach has balls of steel to set up for a draw in his own end with the goalie pulled and the team short-handed. I might give him the goal just for that kind of audacity. But it looks to me that the goalie locked his foot on the post and kept his pad above the goal line. The call on the ice stands.

 

[MeHateHe]

It was a wild game - I went in wanting to see how the 2008 born Iceland kid looked - but came away with the upmost appreciation for the lower divisions of hockey. I genuinely think that Chinese Taipei tied the game up at the end there and the Iceland goalie pulled a Carey Price where he sneakily got out of the net before the refs came over and went for a lap since there likely isn’t any advanced replay functions at the event.
Great game all around.

And also, that penalty against Chinese Taipei with 16 seconds left was turrrrrrrrrrible. The kid in white was gliding long before contactwas made and never left his feet. No way that's worth a charging minor. It was the blue player who left his feet before contact.

 

[MeHateHe]

It was a wild game - I went in wanting to see how the 2008 born Iceland kid looked - but came away with the upmost appreciation for the lower divisions of hockey. I genuinely think that Chinese Taipei tied the game up at the end there and the Iceland goalie pulled a Carey Price where he sneakily got out of the net before the refs came over and went for a lap since there likely isn’t any advanced replay functions at the event.
Great game all around.

Turns out the Chinese Taipei goaltender got suspended after his one-man "fight" yesterday so they went into their game with Belgium with just one tendy on the lineup.

Belgium is currently leading 4-0 early in the third.

Gonna say it again. These tournaments are wild.

 

[Hallzy]

How can I watch these games??

 

[MeHateHe]

How can I watch these games??

www.iihf.com and follow the links. There are livestreams for all the games, archived.