Ice Hockey 2015 - 2016 Discussion Thread

[hckošice 13,646]

1 hour ago, hckosice said:

ok, this was much better ! but still we are far from what we want see...

 

 

much better because thursday in Košice it was something horrible a true nightmare, I wish never see anymore in my life such unacceptable performance from our NT..

 

 

[hckošice 13,646]

ROAD TO

IIHF MEN´S ICE HOCKEY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2016

 

FRIENDLY MATCHES

 

Germany  1 - 3  Sweden    

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

16th April 2016, h. 15:30 (GMT +2)

 

Slovakia  1 - 2 (GWS)   Russia    

(Score by Period: 0-1, 0-0, 1-0, OT: 0-0, GWS: 0-1)

16th April 2016, h. 15:30 (GMT +2)

 

Austria  1 - 3  Hungary    

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

18th April 2016, h. 19:00 (GMT +2)

 

 

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Switzerland - Russia  1-2  (OT)

 

 

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Dyomin gets it done

Russians get first win in OT over Swiss

Russia's Pavel Dyomin #8 scores a game winning over time goal against Switzerland's Matteo Ritz #30 during preliminary round action at the 2016 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship

 

 

Pavel Dyomin scored at 1:55 of overtime as Russia beat Switzerland 2-1 for its first win of the 2016 tournament on Saturday.

 

Dyomin cut in, fought off the checking of Switzerland's Simon le Coultre, and lifted a shot past goalie Matteo Ritz's stick.

Yaroslav Alexeyev scored for Russia in regulation time, and Nico Hischier replied for Switzerland.

"In the first couple of periods we played a good game, but in the third period we kind of got away from it," said Russian assistant captain Mikhail Sergachyov. "We were passing a lot and shooting. Overall, it was good."

HIschier said: "In OT we had a breakaway and then they went back the other way and scored. OT is 50/50. It’s hard, but we have to keep our heads up and keep going."

Russia's Danil Tarasov got his first start in goal and win of the tournament. Shots on goal favored Russia 28-22.

From a historical angle, there was an extra whiff of intrigue to this game, because last year Switzerland upset Russia 5-0 in the quarter-final, played in the Swiss city of Zug. That was just the second Swiss win over Russia in U18 history, dating back to the first tournament in 1999 (4-1).

This was a different scenario, though, since Russia's team this year consists primarily of U17 players. It was a good recovery after their 8-2 loss to the U.S. to start the tournament.

"Obviously today was a better game," said Sergachyov. "We got experience against the States, and the boys were more confident against Switzerland."

It was a fairly tepid, tactical affair. The best chance in the scoreless first period went to Russia’s Vladimir Kuznetsov, who missed on a breakaway.

At 13:21 of the second period, Alexeyev broke the deadlock with his second goal of the tournament. He took a nice back pass in the neutral zone from Klim Kostin, bore down on Swiss defenceman Colin Gerber, and whipped a high shot over a surprised Ritz’s left shoulder.

The teams traded chances in the last minute of the middle frame. Kostin had a partial break, with Switzerland’s Axel Simic checking him from behind, but Ritz stopped his backhand deke. Simic put one off the post, and then Russia’s Mikhail Bitsadze missed an open net just before the siren.

Neither team was effective with the man advantage. The Russians had a good chance to go up by two when they went to the power play after Switzerland's Yannick Lerch ran Dmitri Zaitsev into the boards from behind at 6:44 of the third period. But they couldn't finish.

Switzerland finally tied it up with 10:53 left in regulation. Hischier took his time in the right faceoff circle before unleashing a wrister that eluded Tarasov high on the stick side, as Dmitri Samorukov attempted to pokecheck him in vain.

"I got a pass from Marco Miranda and I skated," said Hischier. "At first I wanted to make a play, but then I had a good scoring chance, so I shot."

The 1999-born Hischier, who played 15 NLA games with SC Bern this season, is considered one of his country's brightest forward prospects in years.

With under five minutes left in the third, Ivan Chekhovich deked his way past Swiss blueliner Elia Riva, but couldn't fool Ritz with his backhand attempt.

Showing how closely the hockey world is interconnected, Swiss forward Philipp Kurashev is the son of former Soviet U20/U18 national team player Konstantin Kurashev, who emigrated to Switzerland as a coach in the 1990’s.

Russia takes on Latvia on Monday, while Switzerland battles Sweden.

"Next game, we’re going to be ready and we’re going to win, I’m pretty sure," said Sergachyov.

 

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United States - Sweden  6-1  

 

 

 

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America happy, Sweden sour

Six different scorers as U.S. stays perfect

Sweden's Filip Larsson #30 makes the save against USA's Logan Brown #27 during preliminary round action at the 2016 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship.

 

 

The United States got three second-period goals in a 6-1 rout of Sweden on Saturday. In their second straight win, the hosts had six different goal-scorers

 

Casey Mittelstadt, Kieffer Bellows, Ryan Lindgren, James Greenway, Keegan Howdeshell and Joey Anderson tallied for the Americans, who continue to get scoring throughout the lineup. Adam Fox, Logan Brown, and Clayton Keller chipped in two assists apiece.

Commenting on the key to America's firepower, defenceman Chad Krys said: "It helps when you can play sound defence and transition quickly."

So far, the defending champions have outscored their opponents 14-3 in Grand Forks. And they may already have faced their toughest tests of the preliminary round.

Looking ahead to the remaining games, Bellows said: "I just want to see us dominate. I want to see us play our USA hockey. We have a saying: ‘Go full 60 minutes, no regrets, no excuses.’ And that’s what we need to do."

Timothy Liljegren replied for Sweden. It was an underwhelming outing for the Swedes, who won the silver medal each year from 2010 to 2012, but looked overmatched here in terms of speed, strength, and skill.

Sweden now has just two U18 wins in 14 tries all-time against the Americans. The last one came in 2010.

Shots favoured Sweden 35-23, but this was a classic case of quality trumping quantity.

"It felt good just keeping things simple and playing our game out there," said Keller. "That’s what we need to do to compete and have a good tournament."

Coach Torgny Bendelin's squad looked good in the early going, firing six shots at U.S. goalie Joseph Woll before the Americans got one. Yet the trend wouldn't last.

Of Woll's solid play, Bellows said: "Once he makes a big save, it really gets the adrenalin going."

The U.S. opened the scoring at 17:51 with a delayed penalty coming up to Swedish captain Jacob Cederholm for crunching Kailer Yamamoto from behind in the Swedish zone. Yamamoto got the puck around the boards to Logan Brown and he moved it to Mittelstadt, who cut through the right faceoff circle and zinged one past Swedish starter Filip Larsson’s glove.

At 2:17 of the second period, Bellows got a breakaway and made no mistake, going high to the glove again for a 2-0 lead.

It was 3-0 just 1:41 later when the Americans completed a dazzling passing play. Graham McPhee did some nice stickhandling before centering the puck to Lindgren, and the American captain tipped it into the gaping cage.

Sweden called its timeout, but the game was already out of reach.

With 2:43 left in the second, Greenway scored arguably the prettiest goal of the tournament to date. After blocking a shot in his own zone, the U.S. blueliner headed up ice, received a blind pass from Keller, and, with a dirty dangle, scored on his backhand while skating backwards -- shorthanded.

"I saw him out of the corner of my eye over there and didn’t expect him to go down and score a goal like that," said Keller. "It was a pretty special goal."

In the third period, Howdeshell capitalized on a turnover at the Swedish blue line, swooped in off right wing, and zipped it past Larsson's right skate to make it 5-0 at 2:42.

The U.S. then took three straight minors, and Liljegren spoiled Woll's shutout bid with a power play marker at 10:32, firing a shot from the right faceoff circle that deflected up off Fox's stick and in. The goal was video-reviewed and ruled good.

Anderson restored the five-goal American lead with the man advantage, banging in a rebound at 12:03.

The U.S. faces winless Latvia on Sunday, while the Swedes battle Switzerland on Monday.

 

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Finland - Slovakia  4-2

 

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Finns double up on Slovaks

Three-point night for Vesalainen keys victory

Finland's Juuso Valimaki #6 celebrates a first period goal against Slovakia while Slovakia's Erik Rajnoha #16 and Michal Ivan #21 look on during preliminary round action at the 2016 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship.

 

 

Finland outshot Slovakia 32-16 in a 4-2 win at the ICON Sports Centre. It was Finland’s second straight win and first in regulation at this U18 tournament.

 

However, in addition to outshooting and outscoring the Slovaks by a 2-to-1 margin, the blue-and-white team also took 16 minutes in penalties to Slovakia's eight, an area they'll have to work on moving forward.

Kristian Vesalainen led the way for Finland with a goal and two assists, while Aapeli Rasanen also starred with a goal and a helper.

The Finns haven't captured U18 gold since winning U18 titles in 1999 and 2000. They were second behind the United States last year.

Slovakia beat Denmark 5-4 in its opener, but couldn't keep up with the Finns in this one.

Rasanen gave Finland a 1-0 lead at 13:20. The Slovaks had a brief two-man advantage at the end of the first, but failed to cash in.

At 2:02 of the second period, Vesalainen notched his second of the tournament to make it 2-0.

However, the Slovaks got back in the game after Janne Kuokkanen, the shootout hero in the opening 4-3 win over the Czechs, took a goalie interference penalty. Samuel Bucek made it 2-1 on the ensuing power play at 8:24.

Just over four minutes later, Otto Maskinen stretched Finland's lead to 3-1.

But the Slovaks weren't quitting. Adam Ruzicka finished off a 2-on-1 break to cut the deficit to 3-2 at 14:01.

In the third period, Kuokkanen atoned for his earlier misstep when he restored Finland's two-goal edge with 7:19 left.

The Finns get right back it on Sunday against Denmark. Slovakia's next challenge is Canada on Monday.

 

[hckošice 13,646]

Canada - Czech Republic  3-1

 

 

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That's Howden you do it

Fitzpatrick makes 38 saves to beat Czechs

Canada's Brett Howden #10 scores a second period goal against the Czech Republic's Josef Korenar #30 during preliminary round action at the 2016 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship

 

 

Brett Howden scored twice to pace Canada to a 3-1 win over the Czech Republic. Goalie Evan Fitzpatrick recorded 38 saves in his Saturday night debut.

 

David Quenneville also scored for Canada. Mason Shaw and Dante Fabbro had two assists apiece.

"It feels really good," said Howden, who was inserted into the lineup for his first game. "It’s a good way to start off coming here. It’s been a bit of a whirlwind these last 24 hours. It was a great way to start off with a bunch of great guys."

This was a different kind of test for Canada after hammering Denmark 10-2 in its opener. That game was delayed due to a power outage at the Ralph Engelstad Arena between the first and second periods.

It was a gritty effort for coach Shaun Clouston's crew, but the Canadians took more penalties than they'd like, especially down the stretch.

"Our PK was really strong for us tonight," said Quenneville. "Obviously we took too many penalties. I think we need to get better."

Canada last won U18 gold in 2013, earning bronze last year.

The Czechs, who lost a 4-3 shootout with Finland in their opener, got their lone goal from 16-year-old Filip Zadina.

Playing a smart puck control game enabled the Czechs to stay on even terms with Canada in the early going. But it fell apart late in the first period.

Canada drew first blood when Fabbro slid a nice cross-ice pass to Howden and his release squeezed through sliding Czech goalie Josef Kolenar at 17:41. Kool & The Gang’s “Celebration” resounded from the P.A. for the first time this night.

Czech defenceman Ondrej Kachyna then had a knee-on-knee collision with Michael McLeod and was sent off. McLeod was not injured, but Canada quickly put the hurt on the Czechs with its power play.

At 18:58, Quenneville faked a slap shot from the left faceoff circle and then sent it past Kolenar to make it 2-0.

In the second period, Shaw came over the Czech blue line and blasted a slap shot on goal, and Howden, who plays for the WHL's Moose Jaw Warriors, easily converted the rebound from the doorstep at 5:17.

With about five and a half minutes left in the middle stanza, Zadina had a great chance to put the Czechs on the board on a breakaway, but Fitzpatrick foiled his backhand move.

"It’s a different game for sure [if I score there]," said Zadina. "Next time I’ll try a shot."

The Czechs outshot Canada 22-9 in the middle frame, and 39-28 overall. But it wouldn't be enough.

Of Fitzpatrick's play, Howden said: "He was our backbone tonight. I thought we gave the Czechs too many chances, definitely more than they needed. Fitzpatrick held us in there. If it wasn’t for him, that game could have gone the other way."

At 2:35 of the third, the Czechs finally broke Fitzpatrick's goose egg with a power play tally. Zadina collected the rebound from Libor Hajek's center point drive and tucked a backhand home.

When Canada got caught with too many men on the ice, the Czechs got a two-man advantage for 1:12 midway through the third period, but they couldn't capitalize on this golden opportunity. That sealed the outcome. They didn't pull their goalie for the extra attacker in the dying seconds.

With the result, Canada's all-time record against the Czech Republic at the IIHF U18 World Championship improved to seven wins, one tie, and four losses.

The Czechs surprised the hockey world by earning U18 silver in 2014. Their fate here is still an open question.

Both Canada and the Czechs are off till Monday. Canada faces Slovakia that day and the Czechs take on Denmark.

"Getting our rest is going to be very important," said Clouston.