Ice Hockey 2015 - 2016 Discussion Thread

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Power Rankings

Will anyone ever push Canada out of first place?

 

The defending champs with the red Maple Leaf still lead the pack in our third 2016 Power Rankings. The Czechs move ahead of Finland for second place.

 

1.		Canada:	McDavid! McDavid! (Trying to keep up with NHL.com.)
2.		Czech Republic:	Birner has his own festival: Birning Man
3.		Finland:	Poor Americans – they never dance naked in fountains
4.		Russia:	No Panarin, no gain
5.		Sweden:	Whoa, our team is very not famous
6.		United States:	That’s not how you make America great again
7.		Germany:	Our psychologist said, “Guys, pretend it’s football”
8.		Slovakia:	Is that smoke coming out of Ciger’s ears?
9.		France:	Monsieur Fleury, vous êtes très sneaky
10.		Switzerland:	Krokus - “Long Stick Goes Blum”
11.		Norway:	There must be a lab here that can clone Zuccarello
12.		Denmark:	At least we didn’t get called for too many Jensens
13.		Kazakhstan:	In Soviet times, we had no Nigel
14.		Latvia:	Elvis is at Heartbreak Hotel
15.		Hungary:	We’re here for a goulash time, not a long time
16.		Belarus:	9-0, 8-0...7-0 is in sight, boys!

 

Previous editions:

• 6 May
• 8 May

 
The Power Rankings are for the enjoyment of IIHF.com readers, and reflect the progress of teams during the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. They are distinct from the official standings and IIHF World Ranking.

 

[hckošice 15,547]

Scores after 1st period

 

A

Switzerland - Latvia  0-0 (0-0, -, -)

 

B

Slovakia - Belarus  0-0 (0-0, -, -)

abcabc

[hckošice 15,547]

Scores after 2nd period

 

A

Switzerland - Latvia  3-3 (0-0, 3-3, -)

23:33 Nino NIEDERREITER 1-0

26:06 Nino NIEDERREITER 2-0

28:30 Gregory HOFMANN 3-0

33:24 Mikelis REDLIHS 3-1

37:23 Mikelis REDLIHS 3-2

38:36 Ronalds KENINS 3-3

 

B

Slovakia - Belarus  2-0 (0-0, 2-0, -)

20:47 Andrej SEKERA 1-0

36:26 Tomáš JURČO 2-0

[hckošice 15,547]

ok, guys time to return back home..

[hckošice 15,547]

Scores after 2nd period

 

A

Switzerland - Latvia  5-4 (0-0, 3-3, 2-1)

23:33 Nino NIEDERREITER 1-0

26:06 Nino NIEDERREITER 2-0

28:30 Gregory HOFMANN 3-0

33:24 Mikelis REDLIHS 3-1

37:23 Mikelis REDLIHS 3-2

38:36 Ronalds KENINS 3-3

45:56 Sven ANDRIGHETTO 4-3

46:22 Aleksejs SHIROKOVS 4-4

58:31 Eric BLUM 5-3

 

B

Slovakia - Belarus  2-4 (0-0, 2-0, 0-4)

20:47 Andrej SEKERA 1-0

36:26 Tomáš JURČO 2-0

42:22 Kiril GOTOVETS 2-1

48:34 Artur GAVRUS 2-2

54:42 Andrei STEPANOV 2-3

57:16 Charles LINGLET 2-4

[hckošice 15,547]

lol those faces after the match. I knew that they are loosers, but really I didn´t know that so much luckily I don´t believe on them so thanks god I do not feel any emotions. The good point is that we should be safe (at least I hope) and will avoid the relegation. Now the federation hope will finally start to work, because WE DO NOT WANT SEE THOSE "PLAYERS" ANYMORE IN OUR TEAM. god we have so much great players, but some lords of the federation will probably never call them...and thats the result. bunch of lazy loosers will retrograde our ranking each year more and more..

 but cool, I don´t care about this team, really I´m very surprised that I´m not angry or sad at all. I just don´t care. funny. I would never think that I´ll say something like that about hockey in my life

[intoronto 6,474]

Slovakia 

[hckošice 15,547]

Just now, intoronto said:

Slovakia 

 

  well without Laco, Halák, Budaj, Chára, Marián Hossa, Pánik, Tatár, Záborský, Gáborík, Hrivík, Radivojevič, Baranka, Nagy, Kopecký, Marcel Hossa, Bližňák, Ďaloga..you can not expect anything about SVK hockey.

[hckošice 15,547]

Slovakia - Belarus  2-4

 

 

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Belarus shocks Slovakia

Four third period goals seal win

Belarus' Andrei Stepanov #61 celebrates after scoring the game winning goal during preliminary round action at the 2016 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship.

 

 

Down 2-0, Belarus comes back with four goals in the third period to defeat Slovakia for its first win of 2016 tournament.

 

 

Belarus came back from a two goal deficit to score four unanswered goals and defeat Slovakia 4-2 at Yubileiny Arena.

 

Andrei Stepanov’s third period goal gave Belarus its first lead of the game and one it would not relinquish. It was their first win of the tournament in four tries.  

 

Coming into this afternoon, Belarus scored the second fewest goals at these World Championships and given up the most goals against. This game represented a big improvement in that Belarus put forward its best defensive effort to date. Belarus also offered a forecheck, offense creativity, solid goaltending, and timely scoring.

 

Yesterday, Slovakia did not play well, losing 5-1 to Germany. The loss was significant enough that it prompted head coach Zdeno Ciger to call out his team in the post game press conference. 

 

“After this loss, I hope the team wakes up and starts to play disciplined and as a team again. I hope next game is a totally different game.” 

 

Different team, sure, but another loss.

 

After winning their first two games of the 2016 World Championships, Slovakia is now in free fall having lost its last two.

 

"We played two good periods and then suddenly I don’t know – it’s like a different team out there." Said a bewildered Sekera. "It’s a young, inexperienced team that has to pay for it. Guys need to learn that we need to play 60 minutes, not 40."

 

In the first period, Slovakia allowed Belarus a two-man advantage. Goaltender Julius Hudacek was called for delay of game and Tomas Marcinko for tripping to allow the Belarus power play, ranked 12^th out of 16 in this tournament, a chance at scoring. 

 

Slovakia would kill these off with relative easy, demonstrating why they are tied for the third best penalty kill at this World Championship.

 

Despite a scoreless first, two penalties to end the period would prove crucial in getting Slovakia on the scoreboard. Geoff Platt and Roman Dyukov were both sent off for slashing at 19:21 and 30:00 respectively. 

 

With the two-man advantage to start the second, Slovakia wasted no time in taking the lead. As he has in previous games, Andrej Sekera scored from the point. He whizzed a slapshot on net that went low and beneath Vitali Koval’s left pad at :47 of the middle frame.

 

At 16:26 Tomas Jurco tipped Juraj Mikus wrist shot and Slovakia was up 2-0 and comfortably in the driver’s seat. Or so it seemed.

 

Early in the third Belarus cut the lead in half when Kiril Gotovets put a shot on net that was mishandled by Julius Hudacek and then in the net.

 

"Certainly that first goal built so much momentum for us, just to get us on the board." Platt said. "And then the floodgates opened for us, because we felt we could play. We didn’t sit back at all, which is really important. The confidence just built. That’s sport and that’s momentum. That happens, you know?"

 

In a frightening moment, Michal Sersen suffered an injury that required he be wheeled off on a stretcher in the third period. With the score still 2-1 Slovakia, the tone and tenor of the game changed after Sersen’s injury. 

Belarus continued to press for a tie and got it when Artur Gavrus scored stick side to even the contest at two. It was a new game and Belarus was surging. Slovakia, on the other hand, was back on their heels. Gotovets and Yevgeni Kovyrshin picked up assists.

 

Stepanov then gave Belarus its first lead, which further excited the largely pro-Belarus crowd. Stepanov raced down the wing with the option to pass or shoot, opting to shoot.

 

Ciger tried to calm his team down by calling a timeout but it did not help. 

 

Charles Linglet added his team’s fourth goal. For Linglet, it was his first ever World Championship taking a pass from Platt and going far side. 

 

Belarus scored on four of its ten shots in the period. 

 

After three subpar performances, Belarus found their game in the third period and now hope to carry the momentum when they face Germany.

 

"You know, I watched that game [between Germany and Slovakia] and I can’t say I was surprised by the  Germans’ level, but I was impressed more than anything." Platt offered. "We obviously took them very seriously before, but seeing the performance they put in against Slovakia, now we know the level we’re going to face and we have to respect that tremendously. They’re a club like us that’s looking to jump up rather than go backwards."