Ice Hockey IIHF World Championships 2017

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MEN'S

DIVISION II GROUP A

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

2017

 

 

 

 

 

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Romania rising

Hosts celebrate instant return to Division I

  The Romanian national team celebrates after winning the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division II Group A on home ice in Galati and an immediate return to Division I B.

 

A disciplined Romanian team barged ahead to win the top spot at the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division II Group A on home ice in Galati.

In front of an atmospheric home crowd of 3,200 the hosts emphatically brushed aside Spain 6-0 during the final day to win promotion to the 2018 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division I Group B. While Romania rejoiced in front of their fans, Spain bowed out with their head down as their final-day defeat sent them down to Division IIB. Newly promoted Australia celebrated a surprise silver, while Serbia built up steam after a shaky start to get their hands on the bronze medals.

Having the best scorers and the tightest defence was the combination for success as Romania racked up four wins and a sole defeat. Romania's Ede Mihaly topped the scoring charts with nine points (8+1), teammate Botond Flinta was joint leader in plus-minus with +9 and right at the back while netminder Zoltan Toke conceded the least amount of goals. Martin Lacroix, who made his debut as head coach for Romania, was in full of praise of his players who stuck to the outlined game plan to the letter.

"We conceded five goals in five games, but we were not playing defensive hockey," said Lacroix. "We kept it very simple and not taking too many risks in the defensive and neutral zone. We scored a lot of goals in the tournament, and the players were very responsible throughout the tournament," he continued.

Pre-tournament favourites Romania got themselves in the driving seat from the outset at the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division II Group A. Mihaly had led the way and netted five goals as the hosts raced past Belgium in their opener, 9-1. They overcame their next hurdle, a physical encounter with neighbours Serbia, 4-1 before their course set straight for promotion temporarily derailed by a valiant Icelandic team. Despite being bombarded by 41 Romanian shots, the hosts were blanked as the Nordic nation recorded a historical 2-0 win with goals from Kristjan Kristinsson and Aron Knutsson. By the time round four came around, Romania required a must-win against newcomers and undefeated Australia in order to have fate in their own hands ahead of the final round of games.

Australia's captain Lliam Webster picked out Jozef Rezek, who came flying down the left side to break the deadlock as his shot flied past Toke's glove and into the net to silence the home crowd with 2:36 to go of the first frame. But Lacroix's recent line changes immediately paid dividends for Romania. Csanad Fodor's line with Norbert and Szilard Rokaly sparked Romania back to life and only 30 seconds after Australia's opener, the hosts were back on level terms. Hugo Gecse flipped in a shot from the blueline with Szilard Rokaly netting the rebound left by Anthony Kimlin.

Romania got back into control and brushed off their first period scare by adding a pair of goals in each of the two remaining frames. All four lines were on target as Romania ran out as comfortable 5-1 winners. It was to be Australia only defeat during the tournament and one their head coach Brad Vigon sportingly credited a better opponent.

"I was awake at night after that game and wondered I had chosen the wrong strategy or the wrong game plan. In the end I must say they were better than us in every single facet of the game. I can live with myself when you get beaten by a team that had a better night than you," said Vigon, who had plenty of positives to say on his battling team who finished just a point behind Romania.

"Character is our number-one criteria. We have a group of guys who are playing for each other and that is our biggest strength," said Vigon, a former national team player for Australia who now is working wonders with a team built on strong foundations starting from the back.

"When we have a goalie like Anthony Kimlin we have a chance in every game, but I also knew coming into this tournament that any team would be capable to beat you in this division which has proven to be the case. But we have a lot more depth going forward back in Australia that we hope to add to our team next year which also could strengthen up our lower end lines," he continued.

While Australia will be looking ahead for next year as a possible contender for promotion, another team wanting to step up a division will be Serbia. Arriving in Galati with as roster where 14 players this year competed in the Hungarian-Romanian MOL Liga, they had hopes that 2017 might have been their year. But an overtime loss against Australia and succumbing to Romania during the first two round of games dented any hopes of promotion.

"We had very high expectations coming into this tournament and we wanted to play for the first spot," said head coach Nemanja Jankovic on his team that throughout the week combined highs such as a 9-2 win against Belgium and beating Iceland 6-0 with lows such as losing on overtime against relegated Spain.

"We are still young and most of the guys play in the MOL Liga so they will improve with time and experience. Overall you have to be happy, but we underachieved a bit, especially in crucial moments of certain matches, such as our overtime losses against Australia and Spain," said Jankovic.

For fourth-placed Belgium, Gil Paelnick was back in his second spell as their head coach. Having previously guided Belgium to three silver medals in a row, his return was hampered by the team's lack of preparation which saw his Belgium finish fourth with plenty of room for improvement ahead of next year.

"The first practice I had with the entire team was here in Romania. The level of the players is good, but you cannot gel as lines by just throwing them together," he said.

The biggest surprise of the tournament was undoubtedly Iceland's victory over Romania. A historical first for the Nordic team, whose goaltender Dennis Hedstrom was in inspirational form, saved 41 Romanian shots as Iceland blanked the hosts 2-0. Two debutants at this level were the scorers, 18-year-old Kristjan Kristinsson backhanded Iceland's opener during the second frame, before Aron Knutsson doubled the lead with 5:53 left of the game.

"Romania did not think we would compete at all with them. We had a bit of luck, but also fought for every centimetre out there. That sums up the guys we have here on the team. When they know it is impossible, they go out of their way to prove you wrong. But then when things are fully possible, they seem to make it harder than it actually is," said Iceland head coach Magnus Blarand as in their next game after toppling Romania, they came down to earth again with a bang, losing against Belgium 9-3. In the end Iceland had to settle for fifth place with six points but with the added youngsters to the roster passing the baptism of fire at this level bodes well for the future.

Spain, who last year finished second in this division on home ice, got off to a bad start in Galati. Beginning with three straight defeats they were unable to reverse the trend. They got their sole points on board following an overtime win against Serbia and will drop down to the 2018 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division II Group B.

"Our goal was to stay in the division, but we knew it was going to be a tough task and we needed to play at our best. During our game against Iceland, we outplayed them but just couldn't score and that cost us. Now we got to regroup, and try to win the Division IIB next year," said Spain's head coach Mauricio Mansi.

 

 

Results Thread

 

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MEN'S

DIVISION II GROUP B

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

2017

 

 

 

 

 

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DAY 5

 

Israel 5 - 0 Turkey
Period-by-Period: 1-0, 1-0, 3-0
April 10th 2017, h. 13:00, Paradise Ice Skating Rink Botany Downs, Auckland

 

China 4 - 3 Mexico
Period-by-Period: 2-0, 2-3, 0-0
April 10th 2017, h. 16:30, Paradise Ice Skating Rink Botany Downs, Auckland
 

New Zealand 8 - 1 North Korea
Period-by-Period: 2-1, 4-0, 2-0
April 10th 2017, h. 16:30, Paradise Ice Skating Rink Botany Downs, Auckland

 

Round-Robin Final Standing

 

Nation	P	W(OTW)	L(OTL)	GF	GA	+/-	Pt.
China	5	5(0)	0(0)	29	12	+17	15
New Zealand	5	4(0)	1(0)	23	11	+12	12
Israel	5	3(0)	2(0)	24	14	+10	9
North Korea	5	1(0)	4(0)	18	33	-15	3
Mexico	5	1(0)	4(0)	12	16	-4	3
Turkey	5	1(0)	4(0)	7	27	-20	3

 

 

 

China  Dominated the tournament from the start and with a perfect 5-0 record won fully deserved gold and advance quickly back to the next years Division II Group A where they will replace Spain, surprising relegated from this years Division IIA tournament which ended yesterday in Romania.

 

The host New Zealand won silver, The Ice Blacks collected 12 points thanks 4 regular time wins, they lost only once, against China.

 

Bronze belong to Israel. with 3 wins and 2 defeats they exactly repeated their last years achievement.

 

4th finished North Korea and 5th Mexico, In a extremely tight battle for the maintain all 3 teams from 4th to 6th place finished with same record 1-4 and 3 points, so the mini-table from the matches of the 3 teams was needed to rank them. North Korea as the highest ranked team in this tie breaker finished 4th, Mexico 5th and Turkey 6th. New Zealand, Israel, North Korea and Mexico will stay in this division also next year. Turkey will be relegated after only 1 year in this division back to the next years Mens Divison III and will replace the winner of this years Div III edition played this week in Bulgaria.

 

 

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MEN'S

DIVISION III

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

2017

 

 

 

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DAY 1

 

Group A
 

Bosnia and Herzegovina 0 - 5 Hong Kong
Forfeited
April 10th 2017, h. 10:00, Winter Sports Palace, Sofia

 

Bulgaria 3 - 0 Chinese Taipei
Period-by-Period: 0-0, 2-0, 1-0
April 10th 2017, h. 20:00, Winter Sports Palace, Sofia

 

Group A Provisional Standing After Day 1

 

Nation	P	W(OTW)	L(OTL)	GF	GA	+/-	Pt.
Bulgaria	2	1(0)	0(0)	8	0	+8	6
Hong Kong	1	1(0)	0(0)	5	0	+5	3
Chinese Taipei	2	1(0)	1(0)	5	3	+2	3
Bosnia and Herz.	3	0(0)	3(0)	0	15	-15	0

Group B

 

Luxembourg 17 - 0 United Arab Emirates
Period-by-Period: 4-0, 6-0, 7-0
April 10th 2017, h. 13:00, Winter Sports Palace, Sofia

 

South Africa 5 - 6 Georgia
Period-by-Period: 1-1, 1-2, 3-3
April 10th 2017, h. 16:30, Winter Sports Palace, Sofia

 

Group B Provisional Standing After Day 1

 

Nation	P	W(OTW)	L(OTL)	GF	GA	+/-	Pt.
Luxembourg	1	1(0)	0(0)	17	0	+17	3
Georgia	1	1(0)	0(0)	6	5	+1	3
South Africa	1	0(0)	1(0)	5	6	-1	0
United Arab Emirat.	1	0(0)	1(0)	0	17	-17	0

 

 

 

 

 

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Mens

 

Under 18 Division I Group A World Championships 2017 in Bled (SLO)

Day 3 (10th April 2017)

GMT +2

 

13:00  Hungary vs France  3-6

16:30  Denmark vs Norway  3-2

20:00  Germany vs Kazakhstan  2-6

 

[hckošice 14,839]

Mens

 

Division III World Championships 2017 in Sofia (BUL)

Day 2 Schedule (11th April 2017)

GMT +3

 

Group A

10:00  Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Chinese Taipei  0-5 Forfeited

20:00  Hong Kong vs Bulgaria

 

Group B

13:00  Luxembourg vs Georgia

16:30  United Arab Emirates vs South Africa

 

Livestream

 

 

Mens

 

Under 18 Division I Group A World Championships 2017 in Bled (SLO)

Day 4 Schedule (11th April 2017)

GMT +2

 

13:00  Kazakhstan vs Denmark

16:30  Germany vs Hungary

20:00  France vs Norway

 

Livestream

 

 

Womens

 

Division I Group B World Championships 2017 in Katowice (POL)

Day 3 Schedule (11th April 2017)

GMT +2

 

13:00  Slovakia vs China 

16:30  Latvia vs Kazakhstan 

20:00  Poland vs Italy

 

Livestream

 

[DaniSRB 899]

On 4/9/2017 at 21:38, hckosice said:

MEN'S

DIVISION II GROUP A

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

2017

 

 

 

 

 

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DAY 5

Belgium 0 - 3 Australia
Period-by-Period: 0-1, 0-1, 0-1
April 8th 2017, h. 13:00, Arena Galati, Galati

 

Serbia 6 - 0 Iceland
Period-by-Period: 3-0, 2-0, 1-0
April 8th 2017, h. 16:30, Arena Galati, Galati
 

Romania 6 - 0 Spain
Period-by-Period: 1-0, 2-0, 3-0
April 8th 2017, h. 20:00, Arena Galati, Galati

 

Round-Robin Final Standing

 

Nation	P	W(OTW)	L(OTL)	GF	GA	+/-	Pt.
Romania	5	4(0)	1(0)	24	5	+19	12
Australia	5	4(1)	1(0)	16	13	+3	11
Serbia	5	2(0)	3(2)	23	15	+8	8
Belgium	5	2(0)	3(0)	17	27	-10	6
Iceland	5	2(0)	3(0)	10	20	-10	6
Spain	5	1(1)	4(0)	13	23	-10	2

 

 

 

Romania  won the expected gold in the home tournament, despite surprising lose with Iceland, they were clearly the best team here. Romania will now return to the Mens Division I Group B World Championship next year.

 

Surprising silver went to the new promoted Australia,they were even very close to the total shock of winning this tournament, but the lose with Romania costed them the miracle. However this silver is clearly the biggest success of the Australian ice hockey.

 

Serbia managed thanks 2 comfortable wins against Belgium and Iceland to earn bronze. They were in relegation troubles before the last day, but finally it ended in a good way and this tournament can be count as relatively succesfull in the end for them.

 

4th finished Belgium and 5th Iceland, both ended the tourney with 6 points thanks 2 wins (Iceland even defeated the gold medalist Romania), so the tie-breaker head to head confrontation result between both teams (BEL-ISL 9-3) was needed to rank them. Australia, Serbia, Belgium and Iceland will stay in this division also for next year.

 

Anyway, the biggest surprise of this championship is by far the last 6th place of Spain. Totally disastrous tournament for one of the biggest pre-tournament favorites. Spain won only one match during the whole competition, defeating Serbia after Overtime. 4 regular time loses means for Spain the sad fact of shocking relegation to the Division II Group B world Championship next year. One thing is sure teams of Div IIB will have one unexpected very strong opponent next year in the battle for the promotion.

 

 

we survived

[hckošice 14,839]

6 minutes ago, DaniSRB said:

we survived

 

but it´s really enough of those bronzes and podium places. It´s Time now for gold and promotion higher hopefully next year will be the right one

[DaniSRB 899]

10 minutes ago, hckosice said:

 

but it´s really enough of those bronzes and podium places. It´s Time now for gold and promotion higher hopefully next year will be the right one

every year we hope but something is missing

[hckošice 14,839]

MEN'S

DIVISION II GROUP B

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

2017

 

 

 

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China’s vision

Olympics give new life to Chinese ice hockey

Like two years ago in South Africa, China ended up on top of the standings in the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division II Group B.

 

The Olympic Games has been the spark that has lifted Chinese ice hockey to new heights and helped them gain promotion to the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division II Group A.

China remained unbeaten and was the dominant team at the week-long tournament at the Paradice Ice Rink in the Auckland region in New Zealand.

“China is staging the Olympic Winter Games in 2022,” head coach Jiang Hu said. “To play well at the Olympics we need to put in a lot of effort and improve our team to a very high level. That is very important to us at this time.”

Winning the tournament, China is ranked 35th overall in the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship program and has a lot to improve to be able to compete at an Olympic tournament.

At the Division II Group B level it worked well. In the round-robin competition China beat Israel 5-2, New Zealand 5-2, DPR Korea 8-3, Turkey 7-2 and Mexico 3-2.

The final points were: China 15, New Zealand 12, Israel 9, Mexico 3, DPR Korea 3, Mexico 3, Turkey 3.

The gold medal and promotion to the higher grade was important to China.

“We have put in a lot of effort in training and in all the games,” Hu explained. “The team management and the players are very happy about this and are very satisfied.

“We have received a lot of respect from our opponents, and that is very pleasant for us.”

There is a lot of excitement in China about the 2022 Winter Olympics and the national and local governments are backing the national ice hockey programme.

“Because we are holding the Olympics all the local programmes and the local and national hockey teams are being supported,” Hu said.

“The Olympic Games is bringing more attention to ice hockey.”

But the Chinese head coach and his team are very aware of the responsibility that rests on their shoulders.

“We need to perform to bring rewards back to our local government,” Hu said.

There is little doubt that Chinese hockey is on a steep rising curve. Between 2009 and now the team was ranked 34th to 38th and hopes to get back to higher levels.

Beijing made its mark on world sport when the 2008 Summer Olympics were held in China. Two of these arenas will be used for ice hockey in 2022 one of them already hosting new KHL team Kunlun Red Star.

“There are a lot of other good players outside this team training inside China,” Hu said. “Players are putting more effort into their work to get selected in national teams and they are very enthusiastic about this.”

It is the support from national and local government that has played an important role in China’s improvement.

“To help us the local government has organised a lot of competitions. We have never had this type of support before,” Hu said.

China’s biggest tests at the championships came in the first two games against Israel and New Zealand. They won both games 5-2.

There was a similar pattern in both games with the scores level at two-all after two periods. China then took control to score three more goals in the final period.

The Ice Blacks were fired up for the game and scored the first goal in each of the first two periods. China only equalized by scoring on power plays at the end of both periods.

“New Zealand was the toughest game for us and gave us a good fight,” Hu said. “But our players did not give up even when we got behind.”

China plays an efficient game at speed and is skilled at making the power plays count. Four goals were scored from power plays against DPR Korea and three against Turkey.

There was a lot of width in the Chinese play and their forwards move at speed to pressure the defence. They had the ability to strike quickly.

During this tournament the Chinese were more physical than they used to be. They played with more intensity and have the ability to move quickly from defence into the attacking zone.

The player statistics illustrate the depth in the Chinese squad. Jiachang Boa, the face-off leader with 76.92 percent, was the only Chinese player to top the list in any key area. But there were enough others in the top-10 to give China the edge.

The highest placed were goalkeeper Zehao Sun in second place with 136 saves from 148 shots at goal and defenceman Mingxi Yang with five scoring points.

Another key Chinese player was captain Ling Chen who was third on the table with four assists.

The Chinese goal scoring leaders were Cheng Zhang and Hao Zhang with four goals and two assists.

The other key face-off player in the team was Rudi Ying, who was the scoring leader at the U20 World Championship Division III that was also held in New Zealand, at Dunedin, with 19 points and was named the best forward by the directorate then. He plays for Kunlun Red Star in the Kontinental Hockey League.

New Zealand

The Ice Blacks probably had its best prepared team since it won the Division III title in 2009. But it was up against a Chinese team that has Olympic aspirations.

“It was one of the best teams we’ve had in my time,” captain Bert Haines, who first played for New Zealand in 2010, said. “We were well prepared and this was shown by the way we matched China for 60 minutes. It was the top ranked team.

“We could have won. There were just a couple of plays that opened up that game. It was much tighter than the final score would indicate.

“We came back well to beat Israel and that was a must win game for us. We were able to dictate play for most of that game.”

The Ice Blacks beat Turkey 4-1, lost to China 5-2 and beat Israel 5-2, Mexico 4-2 and DPR Korea 8-1.

The games against Israel and Mexico were hard fought and brought out the best in the maturing Ice Blacks team under new head coach Maru (Stacey) Rout.

The gold medal had been conceded to China after they beat the Ice Blacks in the second game. The next two games against Israel and Mexico defined New Zealand’s place at the championships.

The team wanted the silver medal and came out with all guns blazing in the first period against Israel and led 3-0 after just 15 minutes.

It was the game in which 19-year-old Jacob Ratcliffe came of age and scored a hat trick of goals. He scored six goals and shared top spot on the championship table.

Ratcliffe has jet propulsion on skates and this enables him to jump on any chance to score goals. He has the potential to become a super star.

He grew up in Canterbury and was in the Red Devils team that won the New Zealand League in 2013 and 2014. He made his senior international debut last year.

Mexico caused the Ice Blacks some grief when they came back from a two goal deficit in the first period to be just one goal behind at the end of the second period.

It was Ratcliffe who came to the rescue by scoring his fifth tournament goal with just five minutes left to give the Ice Blacks a two goal cushion.

The Ice Blacks went to Melbourne for pre-tournament training and honed their skills with games against the Melbourne Ice and Northern Mustangs Australian league teams.

“The biggest benefit of going to Melbourne was pre-tournament games against teams that compared in skill with the teams we faced at the world champs,” Haines said.

“We were a new team coming together and learning new systems and were able to try out our systems and use them.”

Haines instilled his high principles into the Ice Blacks.

“Everyone embraced the fact that it is an honour to represent your country at home. We were a great group of guys who came together in a supportive culture.”

It was a big step up by a New Zealand side that had finished fourth at Mexico City last year.

Head coach Maru Rout likes winning and coached the Canterbury Red Devils to three titles from 2012 to 2014.

He has co-opted Anatoli Khorosov, who followed him at the Red Devils, to be assistant coach of the Ice Blacks. Khorosov brings a strong style of Russian and European hockey to the table. It is fast passing and utilizes the whole ice

Rout used to like the more physical North American style of hockey but he now uses a mixed combination of physical and European skills with fast passing and shooting.

The best New Zealand player was Rick Parry who topped the goal keeper list by making 125 saves and conceding just nine goals.

His best performances came in the key games against Israel when he conceded just two goals from 39 attempts and against Mexico when he saved 30 shots and conceded just two goals.

Parry, 29, has been a regular in the Ice Blacks since 2008 and now plays for the Adelaide Adrenaline in the Australian Ice Hockey League.

Two experienced 26-year-olds played a key role in the New Zealand forwards. Chris Eaden was third equal on the table with four assists and Paris Heyd hit three goals.

Heyd played a power forward role on defence and had the ability to take control of a game. He is fast on skates and skilled on the breakaway.

Haines and Andrew Hay were solid defenders who made life easier for Parry in goal.

Israel

Israel had to be satisfied with the bronze medal when it was beaten by China and New Zealand with scores of 5-2 in the first and third games. It retained the third spot it filled at Mexico City last year.

Israel beat Mexico 6-2, DPR Korea 9-2 and Turkey 5-0.

The player statistics show that Israel had some elite players but the big problem for American coach Derek Eisler was the lack of depth.

Israel has compulsory military training for two years and eight months and it robs the sport of promising players before they reach their prime.

The best player for Israel at the championship was Elie Klein, 27, who was the scoring leader with 11 points. He scored four goals and had seven assists. He was top of the assist ladder and was runner-up in the face-off table with 76.47 percent.

Ilya Spektor, 20, one of the youngest players, was the joint leading goal scorer with six and was third on the scoring table with nine points.

Daniel Mazour scored a hat trick in the final-round win against Turkey to finish third on the goal-scoring table with five.

Other key players for Israel were defender Michael Kozevnikov and Roey Aharonovich, who is the first Israeli to play in the NCAA College system in the United States. He will play for Neumann University in Pennsylvania. The men’s ice hockey team competes at the Division III.

Outside the medals

The three other teams only gained one win and their play was noted for its inconsistency. They just did not have the depth to have back-to-back top performances.

Mexico’s only win came in its first game against DPR Korea, 5-1. But they had strong performances in its last two games to lose narrowly to New Zealand and China.

Mexico lost 3-2 in its final game and held China scoreless in the final period.

The best player was Luis Alberta de la Vega, who was fourth equal on the goal scoring table and filled the same spot on the defencemen scoring table with four goals.

Goalie Alfonso de Alba made 120 saves and only conceded 13 goals to be third on the table.

DPR Korea looked to be a major threat when it thumped Turkey 11-3 with blitzkrieg tactics. Chun Rim Hong scored a hat trick of goals and Pong Il Ri was runner-up on the assists table with five and topped the defencemen’s scoring table with six points.

The young Turkish team that included 13 players from this year’s championship-winning under-20 team could not match it with the big boys and finished last and will be demoted to Division III next year.

The one bright spot was the 1-0 win over Mexico in the third round. Its best player was goalie Tolga Bozaci.

The Directorates best players of the championships were:

Goaltender: Rick Parry (New Zealand).
Defenceman: Michael Kozevnikov (Israel).
Forward: Hao Zhang (China).

 

 

Results Thread

 

 

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ROAD TO MEN'S

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

2017

 

 

 

DAYS

-24

 

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24 Days to Go, Time to introduce another participating Team of the 2017 World Championships,

the co-host Germany,

The 2017 co-hosts have a lot to play for as they prepare to take to the ice in Cologne,

can Marco Sturm's crew make a storybook run like their fourth-place finish in 2010?

 

 

GERMANY