Ice Hockey 2015 - 2016 Discussion Thread

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ROAD TO

IIHF MEN´S ICE HOCKEY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2016

 

FRIENDLY MATCHES

 

Slovakia  0 - 6  Russia    

(Score by Period: 0-0, 0-3, 0-3)

14th April 2016, h. 17:30 (GMT +2)

 

Latvia  1 - 3  Belarus    

(Score by Period: 0-1, 0-2, 1-0)

14th April 2016, h. 17:30 (GMT +3)

[NikolaB 432]

And another disappointing year for Serbian ice hockey team on WC. I believed that we can made  promotion for first division, or at last try to do it but 4th place will be our highest position this year (if we won China tomorrow). It's not easy  to be ice hockey fan in Serbia

[NikolaB 432]

 

FRIENDLY MATCHES

 

 Poland  8 - 2  Lithuania    

(Score by Period: 3-0, 4-2, 1-0)

13th April 2016, h. 19:45 (GMT +2)

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Latvia - Switzerland  4-5 (OT)

 

 

 

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Swiss outgun Latvia

Volejnicek gets OT winner for Switzerland

Switzerland's Yannick Lerch #18 gets ready to shoot while Latvias Gustavs Grigals #29 tracks the action during preliminary round action at the 2016 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship.

 

 

Dominik Volejnicek scored with seven seconds left in overtime as Switzerland beat Latvia 5-4 to open the World U18 Championship in Grand Forks.

 

The power play goal came with Latvian captain Tomass Zeile in the penalty box for tripping Swiss star Nico Hischier. Volejnicek cruised into the slot and let one go that squeezed past goalie Gustavs Grigals' blocker side.

Axel Simic scored twice, and Philipp Kurashev and Tobias Geisser also tallied for the Swiss. Nico Hischier added three assists in what was a true see-saw battle.

"We played well, but we took many penalties," said Kurashev. "But we still won, so it’s good."

Renars Krastenbergs had a goal and two assists for Latvia, Erlends Klavins added a goal and an assist, and Vlads Vulkanovs and Emils Ezitis added singles.

Grigals was busier than his Swiss counterpart Matteo Ritz, as Switzerland outshot the Baltic boys 36-20. The gap could have been even higher if not for Latvia's diligent shot-blocking.

"We just have to shoot more on the net," said Latvia's Deniss Smirnovs. "If you don’t take shots, you can’t score."

Swiss head coach Thierry Paterlini emerged victorious in his World U18 debut behind the bench. Paterlini, 40, played at two Olympics, including the historic wins over Canada (2-0) and the Czech Republic (3-2) in Turin 2006. He also suited up at eight top-level IIHF World Championships.

Looking ahead to Switzerland's next game against Russia on Saturday, Paterlini said: "I think we can take a lot out of this game for our system. If we keep on going against the Russians like this, we have a good chance to have another success, which would be very, very nice for us."

In a spirited first period, Latvia drew first blood despite being outshot 13-4. Krastensbergs came down the right side and surprised Ritz with a wrister that beat the goalie on the blocker side at 3:55.

It took just 40 seconds into the second period for the Swiss to tie it up. Simic’s excellent snap shot from the hash marks got under the cross bar.

At 4:05, Switzerland went up 2-1. On the rush, Hischier skimmed a pass right over to Simic and his quick shot beat Grigals.

"We had problems scoring at first, but we started well in the second period, which was important," said Paterlini.

Just 1:42 later, Latvia fought back to even the score. Ritz made a nice pad save on Erlends Klavins but couldn’t stop Vulkanovs, parked in front, on the rebound.

The Latvians had a chance to go ahead as Switzerland took three straight minor penalties, but couldn't capitalize on the power play.

Switzerland regained the lead with 16 seconds left in the middle frame, as Geisser’s low shot to the stick side from the slot found the twine.

But the Latvians showed a never-say-die attitude. At 5:55 of the third period, Ezitis whooshed down right wing and unleashed one that slipped past the Swiss goalie's glove.

At 10:33, Switzerland went back up as Kurashev cruised down the middle and took a pass from Thomas Lust before whipping it high into the net.

Still, coach Eriks Miluns's team refused to wilt.

Latvia made it 4-4 with 5:58 remaining in regulation, as an unguarded Klavins pushed it home on the doorstep. Klavins missed a glorious opportunity for the go-ahead marker with one minute left.

"We didn’t have luck today," said Smirnovs. "It wasn’t our time. That’s it."

The Latvians are right back in action on Friday versus Sweden.

Paterlini was happy with the way his Swiss team handled the opener overall: "For them, it’s quite big to be here in this nice, big arena. It was the first game of the tournament, so we coaches had to calm them down a little bit to make sure their emotions didn’t go too high or too low. It’s important to find a good balance."

It was the third World U18 meeting of all time between these two nations. In 2012, Latvia beat Switzerland 4-2. The Swiss won 3-2 in overtime in 2015 to send the Latvians to the relegation round.

Local schoolchildren, many of them colourfully attired in neon green, enlivened the proceedings with their vigorous cheering in the lower bowl at the Ralph Engelstad Arena.

 

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Slovakia - Denmark  5-4

 

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Slovaks rally to down Danes

Solensky keys Slovakia's comeback with pair

Slovakia's Samuel Bucek #23 skates with the puck while Denmark's Casper Mortensen #18 defends during preliminary round action at the 2016 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship.

 

 

Slovakia allowed three goals in 56 seconds in the first period, but bounced back to defeat Denmark 5-4 in Thursday's second game at the Ralph Engelstad Arena.

 

Milos Roman got the unassisted third-period winner, and captain Samuel Solensky scored twice for Slovakia, Jakub Lacka added a goal and an assist, and Samuel Bucek had a single. Adam Ruzicka had two assists.

"We knew we must win this game," said Bucek. "We were the favorites in this game. But we started off slowly. Denmark played very well and scored on their shots."

Nikolaj Krag tallied a goal and an assist, and Jacob Schmidt-Svejstrup and Magnus Molge also scored for Denmark.

Slovakia outshot Denmark 33-16.

The newly promoted Danes are hoping to keep their place in the top division. They finished eighth in 2004, but have come 10th and last at every other top-division U18 they’ve played since then (2005, 2008, 2012, 2014).

Slovakia's goal is to improve on last year’s seventh-place finish. The Slovaks have finished one spot higher than the previous year at each of their last three World U18 Championships.

While reduced scoring is a concern for some people in NHL circles, clearly no such problem exists in international U18 hockey.

Especially in the first period, these Group B teams were scoring at a rate that would put 1986 to shame, and glove saves were not in abundance.

Lacka opened the scoring for Slovakia at 2:43 with a power-play one-timer from the left faceoff circle.

Then the Danes suddenly and briefly opened the floodgates.

Just 42 seconds later, Schmidt-Svejstrup tied it up when he snared the puck above the hash marks and teed up a wicked wrist shot past Slovak starter David Hrenak.

Denmark grabbed a 2-1 lead 33 seconds later. On the left side, Molge slipped past defenceman Martin Krempasky and curled in to roof one past the goalie’s glove.

When Krag stretched Denmark’s lead to two 23 seconds after that, the Slovaks, sensing that this game was spiralling out of control, called their timeout to regroup and pulled Hrenak in favor of David Durny.

The move bore fruit. Solensky danced into the slot and whizzed a backhander along the ice past Krog’s left skate just 34 seconds later.

Slovakia made it 3-3 at 10:59. Bucek stickhandled past Danish defenders in the left faceoff circle and zinged one high to the glove side.

At 17:45, Slovakia took a 4-3 lead when Solensky zapped one through Krog’s five-hole on a nice set-up from the goal line by Adam Ruzicka.

"He played good," said Bucek of Solenskky. "His line was very good. He got a lot of passes, played physical and was strong on the puck."

Reflecting Slovakia’s dominance after the goaltending change, the Danes wound up with three first-period goals on just four shots. They wouldn't get another one until past the four-minute mark of the second period.

"We got a timeout and our coach talked about how we must be better on defence," said Bucek. "We did a great job. We got three goals in a row, so it was very good for us."

Denmark made its own goalie swap to start the second period, but while Mads-Emil Gransoe played well, it wouldn't turn the tide ultimately.

The Danes got the 4-4 equalizer on the power play at 5:51 of the second. From the left faceoff circle, Blichfeldt lasered a perfect short-side shot over Durny's glove.

Ruzicka hit the post on a mid-game breakaway.

In the third period, the play was more tentative. Roman finally broke the deadlock at 8:11 when he waltzed into the middle of the ice with Danish defenders backing up and scored on a high glove-side wrister.

"The third period, I think, was our best," said Slovak coach Martin Struzinski. "We were satisfied with our game, at least a little bit."

The Danes had no reply, despite pulling Gransoe for the extra attacker with a minute to go.

Denmark’s next game is Friday against Canada, while the Slovaks will wait till Saturday to take on Finland.

"Of course, Canada is one of the best teams in the world," said Krag. "We just need to go out and skate and try to get some pucks to the net."

 

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Czech Republic - Finland  3-4 (GWS)

 

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Finns shoot down Czechs

Kuokkanen's shootout goal saves the day

Finland's Otto Somppi #24, Robin Salo #4, and Eeli Tolvanen #20 celebrate a first period goal against Czech Republic during preliminary round action at the 2016 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship.

 

 

Finland blew a 3-1 first period lead, but came away with two points against the Czechs. Janne Kuokkanen scored the only goal in the shootout in a 4-3 victory.

 

The Finns, who won the silver medal in 2015, scored two power play goals in the first period en route to the win.

It was a reasonably successful debut for Finnish head coach Jussi Ahokas. The best coach for this Nordic nation's U18 squads in recent years has been Mika Marttila, who helmed not only the 2015 silver team, but also bronze-medal teams in 2009 and 2013.

Shots on goal favored Finland 47-29.

The Czechs last medaled in 2014, with a surprising silver. Prior to that, they took bronze in 2002, 2004, and 2006.

Eeli Tolvanen opened the scoring midway through the first period with the man advantage. But Filip Zadina promptly tied it up for the Czechs at 12:31.

Finland went ahead again less than two minutes later when Kristian Vesalainen scored. And with Czech forward Daniel Kurovsky off for holding, Emil Oksanen gave the Finns a 3-1 lead.

The Czechs had a great chance to get back in the game with a two-man advantage for 1:57 midway through the second. However, they failed to cash in.

But a two-goal cushion wasn't enough to guarantee Finland a victory. The Czechs worked hard and focused on puck control, and it paid dividends.

Radovan Pavlik brought the Czechs to 3-2 at 5:41 of the third on a Zadina set-up. The Czech bench rejoiced when Petr Kodytek knotted the score with 7:49 left.

Finland got a chance to win it in overtime when David Kvasnicka went off for holding with 10 seconds remaining, but nothing transpired.

The Finns will take on the Slovaks on Saturday, while the Czechs face Canada that day.

 

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Russia - United States  2-8