Ice Hockey IIHF World Championships 2017

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WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

2017

 

 

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DAY 1

The BEST OF

 

Spoiler

 

 

Top 3 Goals of the Day 1

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Top 3 Saves of Day 1

Spoiler

 

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Results after 1st Period

 

Group A in Cologne

Latvia - Denmark  0-0 (0-0,-,-)

 

Group B in Paris

Switzerland - Slovenia  4-0 (4-0,-,-)

10:49 Andres AMBUHL 1-0

11:01 Gaetan HAAS 2-0

16:59 Romain LOEFFEL 3-0

17:47 Simon BODENMANN 4-0

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Results after 2nd Period

 

Group A in Cologne

Latvia - Denmark  1-0 (0-0, 1-0,-)

23:08 Gints MEIJA 1-0

 

Group B in Paris

Switzerland - Slovenia  4-1 (4-0, 0-1,-)

10:49 Andres AMBUHL 1-0

11:01 Gaetan HAAS 2-0

16:59 Romain LOEFFEL 3-0

17:47 Simon BODENMANN 4-0

38:31 Jan MURSAK 4-1

[mihamiha 124]

come on slovenia.

 

very bad 1st 20 minutes,but now we are playing better

[mihamiha 124]

yes, 4:4

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Final Results

 

Group A in Cologne

Latvia - Denmark  3-0 (0-0, 1-0, 2-0)

23:08 Gints MEIJA 1-0

41:50 Miks INDRASIS 2-0

52:40 Miks INDRASIS 3-0

 

Group B in Paris

Switzerland - Slovenia  5-4 After GWS (4-0, 0-1, 0-3, OT: 0-0, GWS: 1-0)

10:49 Andres AMBUHL 1-0

11:01 Gaetan HAAS 2-0

16:59 Romain LOEFFEL 3-0

17:47 Simon BODENMANN 4-0

38:31 Jan MURSAK 4-1

45:50 Ziga JEGLIC 4-2

54:02 Jan URBAS 4-3

55:23 Robert SABOLIC 4-4

Winning Shoot-out Scored by Damien BRUNNER 5-4 (GWS)

 

 

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Preliminary Round

DAY 2

 

Group A
Central European Summer Time (GMT +2)

Latvia 3 - 0 Denmark
Period-by-Period: 0-0, 1-0, 2-0
May 6th 2016, h. 12:15, LANXESS Arena, Cologne

 

 

 

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Preliminary Round

DAY 2

 

Group A
Central European Summer Time (GMT +2)

Latvia 3 - 0 Denmark
Period-by-Period: 0-0, 1-0, 2-0
May 6th 2016, h. 12:15, LANXESS Arena, Cologne

 

Elvis is alive

Netminder shuts the door on Denmark

 

Gints Meija's second period goal and Elvis Merzlikins strong goaltending propel Latvia to an improbable but well earned first win.

 

Latvia began the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in fine fashion, defeating Denmark 3-0 at LANXESS arena. Gints Meija’s second period goal would prove the winner while goaltender Elvis Merzlikins stopped all 27 of Denmark's shots on goal to register the shutout. 

 

Coming into this game, Denmark defeated Latvia three of the four times they’ve met, including a 3-2 penalty shots win in St. Petersburg in 2016.

 

Latvia weathered an active first period when Denmark threw significant pressure on Merzlikins. Danish skaters kept Merzlikins busy as possible, producing 18 shots in the period from all angles, the point and in front of the net.

 

"Elvis came up with some big plays and shut the door." Bob Hartley said. "Our box play was good and we applied good pressure, which was the plan. But without Elvis making key saves they would have taken the lead and we might not have won."

 

Merzlikins, who is making his second straight appearance on the national team, was tapped by head coach Bob Hartley to start.

 

If Hartley’s name rings a bell, it is because he’s the very same head coach who spent many years behind NHL benches from Colorado to Calgary. In fact, when the World Championships were in Germany in 2001, Hartley was preparing his Colorado Avalanche team for the NHL playoffs. They would go on to win the Stanley Cup that spring. 

 

While Denmark put a lot of pressure on Latvia in the first period they were not able to score. Forward Mads Christensen was active in the period, creating space for himself and getting off four shots but was unable to get on the scoreboard. 

 

"I thought we played a strong first period." Head coach Jan Karlsson said after the game. "We came out and worked really hard and playing at a top level. Latvia played a good box but we needed to create more scoring than we did. Overall, very good first period. We should have scored one or two goals."

The tide turned in the second period when Latvia reversed their fortunes and began to apply more force in the offensive zone. At 3:08 Gints Meija put his team on the board. Arturs Kulda cycled the puck in the Danish zone and found Meija in front of the net. Meija’s initial shot was saved but he continued to keep his skates moving forward and fought past defenseman Markus Lauridsen to pick up his own rebound and deposit it into the net. 

 

Latvia had several more scoring opportunities in the period but were unable to convert. Still, they had changed the momentum and put it squarely on their side. Denmark was forced to play back on its heels. 

 

Latvia opened up a two goal lead when Miks Indrasis rifled a shot past Denmark netminder Sebastien Dahm. Indrasis was set up thanks to a nifty slot pass from Janis Sprukts. The goal came at 1:48 of the third period.

 

Later, Denmark found themselves down two men when Mads Christensen was called for tripping and Peter Regin for high sticking. Latvia did not let the advantage slip. Indrasis added a power play goal to make it 3-0 and put the game well out of reach. 

 

Prior to this tournament Hartley has said his focus is to keep things simple and take one step at a time. Hartley has brought in, like Ted Nolan before him, a keen sense of doing the little things right that will lead to good habits in games that count. The approach seems to have worked as Latvia was strong over the final forty minutes of play. 

 

Denmark must now go back to the drawing board and reassess. The tournament is still young but the Danes will have to work to improve their game, which started strong but seemed to fall flat by the third period when they managed only three shots on goal.

 

The first of three games today at LANXESS arena, Latvia-Denmark was well attended as 13,453 took in the game.

 

 

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Preliminary Round

DAY 2

 

Group B
Central European Summer Time (GMT +2)

Switzerland GWS5 - 4 Slovenia
Period-by-Period: 4-0, 0-1, 0-3, OT: 0-0, GWS: 1-0
May 6th 2016, h. 12:15, AccorHotels Arena, Paris

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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MEN'S

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

2017

 

 

 

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Preliminary Round

DAY 2

 

Group B
Central European Summer Time (GMT +2)

Switzerland GWS5 - 4 Slovenia
Period-by-Period: 4-0, 0-1, 0-3, OT: 0-0, GWS: 1-0
May 6th 2016, h. 12:15, AccorHotels Arena, Paris

 

Switzerland nips Slovenia

Swiss blow four-goal lead, but win in shootout

 

Damien Brunner scored the shootout winner as Switzerland blew a four-goal first-period lead but came away with a 5-4 tournament-opening win over Slovenia.

 

In regulation time, Andres Ambuhl, Gaetan Haas, Romain Loeffel, and Denis Bodemann scored for Switzerland. Vincent Praplan had two assists.

 

Robert Sabolic had a goal and an assist, and Jan Mursak, Ziga Jeglic and Jan Urbas also scored for Slovenia.

"They took some penalties, and we took advantage and came back," said Urbas. "Too bad we got just one point, but we'll take it."

Switzerland is historically known for its solid defensive play. To put it mildly, this isn't the style coach Patrick Fischer wants his men to execute. Meanwhile, Slovenia almost succeeded in completing a comeback of historic proportions at the AccorHotels Arena on Saturday.

Only in three cases in IIHF World Championship history has a team lost after holding a four-goal lead. East Germany led Canada 4-0 in 1963 but lost 11-5; Finland led Canada 4-0 in 1990 but lost 6-5; and in the most famous case, Finland led Sweden 5-1 in the 2003 quarter-final in Helsinki, but lost 6-5.

"We got the start we wanted," said Switzerland's Cody Almond. "Our first period was fantastic, but then maybe we got a little too comfortable and they took over the game. Then we had some penalty troubles. We have to learn from our mistakes and move forward."

The Swiss, who came 11th last year, are seeking their first medal since 2013's surprising silver. Slovenia is newly promoted, and finished 16th and last in its previous top-division stint in 2015. The Slovenians' greatest success ever was coming seventh at the 2014 Olympics. However, nabbing a point here also qualifies as a memorable moment.

 

Swiss goalie Jonas Hiller made his first IIHF appearance since posting a 0.67 GAA and 97.1 save percentage at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia. The 35-year-old netminder, who played 404 NHL games for Anaheim and Calgary, spent this season with Biel of the Swiss NLA. Switzerland outshot Slovenia 33-23.

"It was almost too easy in the beginning," Hiller said. "We got a couple of easy ones, which kind of gave us false confidence. At this level, if you let up by five per cent and the other team plays five per cent better, that's enough to turn the game around."

 

Buoyed by fans chanting “Hopp Schwiiz!”, Tanner Richard set the early tone by bodychecking Urbas into the Swiss bench.

 

Switzerland drew first blood on the power play at 10:49. In the slot, Pius Suter’s checking got the puck to Ambuhl and he stickhandled in to beat Slovenian starting goalie Gaspar Kroselj with a stick-side backhander.

 

Just 12 seconds later, it was 2-0. A forechecking Praplan got the puck to Haas in the faceoff circle, and he whirled to score another stick-side goal.

 

The Swiss took a three-goal lead with 3:01 left in the first. Defenceman Loeffel joined the rush late and winged one off Kroselj’s right post. Bodemann notched the 4-0 goal 48 seconds later, going to the net and backhanding a Damien Brunner rebound home.

 

After 20 minutes, Switzerland had outshot Slovenia 15-5, and it looked like the game was in the bag. But appearances can be deceiving.

Slovenian coach Nik Zupancic pulled Kroselj in favor of Matija Pintaric to start the second period. And at 18:31, Mursak, the Slovenian captain who played 46 games for the Detroit Red Wings before jumping to the KHL, finally broke Hiller's shutout bid with a sassy shorthanded tip.

Jeglic cut the deficit to 4-2 at 5:50 of the third, racing in and squeezing a backhand through Hiller's pads. The Slovenians capitalized on more opportunities as the Swiss ran into penalty trouble.

"We had plenty of scoring chances in the first and not a lot after that," said Hiller. "Playing almost the whole third period on the penalty kill doesn't help."

On an extended two-man advantage, Urbas zinged a shot from the slot past Hiller's blocker to make it 4-3 with less than six minutes left. And with 18 seconds left in Philippe Furrer's cross-checking penalty, Sabolic took a pass from Rok Ticar, pivoted off the goal line, and flipped the puck over Hiller to tie the score at 15:23.

"We knew we could play against them," said Urbas. "In the first, we just watched them play. We respected them too much, but after that we showed that we deserve to play here."

Furrer went off again for hooking with 2:17 left, but this time the Slovenians couldn't cash in. In overtime, Switzerland squandered a glorious 4-on-3 opportunity when Slovenia's Luka Vidmar went off for hooking Haas on a rush to the net. But in the shootout, they got their happy ending.

In the stands, a huge banner read, "TAMARA, EPOUSE-MOI" ("Tamara, marry me") -- so possibly there were two happy endings here.

This was just the second World Championship meeting ever between these nations. Led by Denis Hollenstein’s four-point outing, Switzerland hammered Slovenia 7-1 in the preliminary round in 2013.