Ice Hockey 2015 - 2016 Discussion Thread

[Finnator123 292]

3 goal lead after 40mins.  U18 gold is so close!

[Finnator123 292]

GOOOLLLDDDD!!!!!!!!!! WE BEAT THE SWEDISH KIDS 6-1!!   That was so easy game      But finally after 16 years, we are champions again. TORILLE!

[hckošice 13,283]

3 hours ago, ahjfcshfghb said:

South Korea should not be allowed to just import Canadian players who have no connection to the country like that. For that reason I root against them until they stop that practice. 

100% agree

 

 

[hckošice 13,283]

1 hour ago, Finnator123 said:

GOOOLLLDDDD!!!!!!!!!! WE BEAT THE SWEDISH KIDS 6-1!!   That was so easy game      But finally after 16 years, we are champions again. TORILLE!

 

congrats

[hckošice 13,283]

United States - Canada  10-3

 

[hckošice 13,283]

Nightmare finish for Canada

 

Host U.S. takes bronze with 10-3 rout

USA's Chad Krys #4 and teammates celebrate a first period goal Canada's Beck Malenstyn #11 looks on during bronze medal game action at the 2016 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship.

 

 

 

The host U.S. ran up a 6-1 first-period lead and thrashed Canada 10-3 to win bronze on home ice on Sunday. It was the biggest blowout in U18 bronze history.

 

The previous largest margin of victory was when Sweden beat Belarus 7-1 in the 2000 bronze game.

Even though the Americans did not win their third straight IIHF U18 World Championship in Grand Forks, they captured a medal for the 12th consecutive year, a streak unmatched by any other nation.

"It’s definitely heartbreaking when you lose in the semis, but it definitely feels unbelievable to get a medal with the U.S. guys," said U.S. forward Kailer Yamamoto. "I’m going to cherish it for the rest of my life."

Logan Brown stepped up with two goals and an assist, and Joey Anderson added two goals. Yamamoto had a goal and two assists. Kieffer Bellows, Nicholas Pastujov, Zachary Walker, Griffin Luce, and William Lockwood also scored for the Americans. Clayton Keller had three assists. Casey Mittelstadt and James Greenway had two helpers apiece.

Incredibly, in this rout, shots on goal only favored the Americans 33-32.

Many had expected a U.S.-Canada matchup in the gold medal game. In fact, this is the first time since 2001 that neither North American team made the final. Certainly, nobody saw today's result coming.

"We just weren’t prepared," said Canadian captain and tournament scoring leader Tyler Jost. "We talked after the loss against Sweden about shelving things, putting it behind us and looking forward to today. We had a really bad first. In the second and third we picked it up. But when it came down to it, we weren’t prepared."

It matched the most lopsided U.S. win over Canada in U18 history -- also Canada's worst loss ever. The Americans beat Canada 10-3 in their first meeting ever on April 18, 2002.

"I couldn’t be more proud of how the guys came out and played hard and played the right way," said U.S. coach Danton Cole.

Canada’s gold-or-bust mentality betrayed it here in shocking fashion. This was a horrendous end to the tournament for a team that had gone undefeated until falling 6-5 to Sweden in a semi-final shootout.

William Bitten, Connor Hall, and Owen Tippett scored for Canada, which last won gold in 2013. The Canadians go home without medals for the first time since 2011.

Keller, the American scoring leader, looked like he was on a mission the day after his late tripping penalty led to Finland’s winning power play goal in the semi-final.

"Not being in that gold medal game is tough, and it’s hard to bounce back and play the next day," said Keller. "But we got together and we just wanted to play our best game of the tournament since it was our last game as a team together."

The U.S. drew first blood at 4:40 on the power play. Keller considered his options in the left faceoff circle before feeding it down low to Anderson, who stuffed it past Canadian goalie Stuart Skinner.

Just 31 seconds later, the Canadians got their wires crossed in front of their net, and with the goalie out of position, Brown whipped it into the open side.

Coach Shaun Clouston called his timeout to regroup, and at 6:31, Canada cut the deficit to 2-1. Mason Shaw stickhandled behind the net and slipped a backhand pass out front to Bitten, who beat U.S. netminder Jake Oettinger.

The U.S. made it 3-1 less than a minute later. Greenway pinched in and handed the puck off to Keller in the left faceoff circle. He swivelled and found Bellows coming on the opposite side, and Skinner couldn’t get across fast enough.

That was it for Skinner, who was yanked in favor of Fitzpatrick. It made little difference. At 11:10, Brown got free in the slot and whizzed home his second of the afternoon.

"All night long, the U.S. had answers for everything we were doing," said Clouston.

The fifth U.S. goal came shorthanded at 14:11. Fitzpatrick stopped Keller on a breakaway, but couldn’t prevent Anderson from converting the rebound.

"I think we overpowered them, and they couldn’t really handle us," said Keller.

At 16:48, it was 6-1 for the Americans, as Pastujov scored on the glove side.

Fabbro and Keller exchanged unsuccessful breakaways at the end of the first. If Keller had scored, the U.S. would have equalled the tournament record for most goals in one period (seven). It was a more dazzling display than the laser show at the Ralph Engelstad Arena during the first intermission.

Early in the second period, the U.S. went up 7-1 on the power play. Yamamoto banged in a loose puck at 1:27.

As the score mounted, the Canadians ran around taking their frustrations out on their opponents. Canada’s Boris Katchouk got a penalty shot at 14:45, but Oettinger calmly pokechecked him.

"Obviously, when the score gets that out of hand, you get frustrated and you want to do everything you can to claw your way back into the game," said Jost. "We did take a few penalties, some that were stupid and others that were just from us working hard and trying to get hits."

At 4:22 of the third period, Walker got the 8-1 goal on a breakaway, lost his footing, and slid into Fitzpatrick. That sparked a fracas with more penalties. Less than a minute later, Luce gave the Americans their ninth goal with a point drive on a 5-on-3.

Rather unkindly, the arena DJ played Tom Petty's "Even the Losers" when Hall tallied for Canada at 7:06 to make it 9-2. At 11:19, Tippett put home a rebound for Canada's third goal.

Lockwood rounded out the scoring for the U.S., roofing it with 1:01 left.

Even though USA Hockey didn't come away golden, this year's result provides continued validation for its National Team Development Program based in Plymouth, Michigan.

"It shows how great USA Hockey has become," said Yamamoto. "It’s been a great experience."

 

[hckošice 13,283]

Sweden - Finland  1-6

 

 

 

 

 

 

[hckošice 13,283]

Finns golden in Grand Forks

Finland tops Sweden for third U18 gold ever

Team Finland celebrates after a 6-1 victory over Sweden during gold medal game action at the 2016 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship.

 

Jesse Puljujarvi shone with a hat trick as Finland beat Sweden 6-1 to win the gold medal at the 2016 IIHF U18 World Championship in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

 

Welcome to the greatest era in Finnish junior hockey history. After winning gold at both the 2014 and 2016 World Juniors, the Finns have now added U18 supremacy to their resume.

"Today everything worked," said Finnish coach Jussi Ahokas. "It was a great, great game. All our guys had a great effort."

It is Finland’s first U18 gold since winning back-to-back titles in the first two tournaments back in 1999 and 2000. Finland settled for silver last year in a 2-1 overtime loss to the United States.

"The semi-final and this game were unreal," said Finnish captain Juuso Valimaki. "I don’t have any words. We just played so well."

Despite the pain of losing, this silver should offer some consolation for the Swedes. It was Sweden’s first U18 medal since earning silver annually from 2010 to 2012. They've never won the gold.

"If I look at the whole tournament, I’m really proud of the team, how we played and acted," said Swedish coach Torgny Bendelin. "We got to the final and took the silver medal. But I’m so sorry for the players. They couldn’t show their really strong capacity they have. It just didn’t come out today."

For both teams, it was a major accomplishment to make the final when most observers anticipated a U.S.-Canada showdown.

Eeli Tolvanen, Otto Somppi and Eetu Tuulola had the other goals for Finland. Janne Kuokkanen had three assists, and Kasper Kotkansalo added two helpers.

Puljujarvi is now one of just three players who have won IIHF U18 and U20 in the same year. (Jason Zucker and Jack Campbell also achieved the feat with the U.S. in 2010.) The 2016 World Junior MVP was a force after joining the team for the playoff round. Despite enduring a sore wrist and illness, he notched five goals and two assists in three games.

"Puljujarvi had an unreal game," said Ahokas. "Unreal. We need players like that."

Lias Andersson scored the lone goal for Sweden.

"I think we played a bad game today," said Andersson. "You can’t win a final like that. It just wasn’t there today."

Finnish goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen won his third straight game since taking over from the ailing Leevi Laakso, who played all of Finland's group games. Finland outshot Sweden 34-18.

Of Luukkonen's all-star performance, Ahokas said: "The boy has no nerves. He just jumps in and plays like that. He was one of the keys to our win."

After beating Russia 4-3 in the quarter-finals and dethroning the host Americans with a 4-2 semi-final win, Ahokas’s troops needed another hard-working, two-way effort to capture the big prize. They got it in spades in the first Sweden-Finland final in U18 history.

At 1:15, Finland opened the scoring when Tolvanen came down right wing and surprised Swedish starter Filip Gustavsson with a shot that flew over his left shoulder. It was Tolvanen's seventh goal, tying him for the tournament lead.

"I almost dumped it deep, but I tried a shot and it went in," said Tolvanen. "I’m happy."

Moments later, Luukkonen showed he came ready to play when he stopped an Alexander Nylander shot that popped his mask off.

Finland jumped into a 2-0 lead at 15:28. Kuokkanen cut out of the corner and tried to stuff it in, and the puck came loose for Somppi to bang in.

Just 51 seconds later, it was 3-0. Tuulola was allowed to curl around the Swedish net and fire it past Gustavsson on the short side.

"I thought when we got the 3-0 lead, if we just play our game, we will win," said Ahokas.

Finland kept hustling, outshooting Sweden 14-3 in the opening stanza. A banner in the stands said: "Good Luck Finland!" But the Finns were making their own luck.

Early in the second period, video review confirmed that Kuokkanen did not score on another attempt to stuff in the puck. The Swedes picked up their tempo, but the Finns still kept them on the perimeter.

At 11:01, Puljujarvi scored a back-breaking goal on a great individual rush. He took a pass from Kuokkanen at the Swedish blue line, powered past the defence, and deked to the forehand to score.

One minute later, Andersson spoiled Luukkonen's shutout bid, beating him with a shot from right wing that caught the far post to make it 4-1.

Regardless, the Finns continued to play with composure. Even at the end of the second period, when they took a bench minor for too many men, they smartly killed it off.

Looking for a momentum-changer, the Swedes inserted backup goalie Filip Larsson to start the third period. But the newcomer couldn't stop Puljujarvi. Kuokkanen set him up for a huge slap shot from the right faceoff circle that went five-hole for a 5-1 lead at 5:14.

That was it. ABBA hasn't made a comeback, and neither would the U18 Swedes this night.

"I don’t want to blame anybody because I am in charge," said Bendelin. "I am the head coach. My job is to make the team be on the top. Probably I failed because the team was dead. No energy. Nothing. We tried to change lines, but nothing."

Tuulola infuriated the Swedes when he laid out defenceman Timothy Liljegren with a big hit in the neutral zone with under two minutes to play. A scrum erupted, and Finland got a 5-on-3 to finish off the game. Puljujarvi completed his hat trick with a slick move in tight with 47 seconds left.

At the final buzzer, the Finns celebrated wildly in their end as AC/DC's "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" played in the background.

"Of course, it’s a big year," said Kuokkanen. "Finland won the World Juniors and now we won this. I think it’s probably the best year ever for us. If we keep working hard, maybe we will win again next year."

The Finns will look to defend their gold medal at the 2017 IIHF U18 World Championship in Slovakia. The tournament takes place in Poprad and Spisska Nova Ves.

A pre-game ceremonial puck drop featured Jocelyne and Monique Lamoureux, the University of North Dakota hockey stars who won IIHF World Women’s Championship gold with the U.S. in Kamloops, Canada earlier this month.

 

[hckošice 13,283]

Keller named MVP

Puljujarvi, Luukkonen join all-stars from champs

The best players of the IIHF U18 World Championship have been selected by the tournament Directorate and the media. The U.S.'s Clayton Keller was named MVP.

 

The Directorate hands out individual awards to the best player in each position.

Goalie: Filip Gustavsson,
Defenceman: Adam Fox,
Forward: Tyson Jost,

Accredited media votes for the All-Star Team, as well as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

Goaltender: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen,
Defenceman: Adam Fox,
Defenceman: David Quenneville,
Forward: Tyson Jost,
Forward: Jesse Puljujarvi,
Forward: Clayton Keller,

MVP: Clayton Keller,

 

[ahjfcshfghb 285]

1 hour ago, hckosice said:

100% agree

 

 

Aaand they've won, so they're probably staying in the division... With imported players scoring practically all goals. Call me a cynic but I hope they go down hard at the Olympics. We don't need another Azerbaijan or Qatar on the sports scene.

It's insane that the IIHF and other sports federations have such lax rules on this. International sport's virtue above ckub sport is supposed to be the lack of money and trading players involved... I mean if you have a good reason or at least some connections to the country then it's fine but this is just buying up foreign players like a club would do.