phelps

goal...goal...goaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!!
top division here we come!!!!!!!!

no, even if they lose now it doesn't mind anymore...ITA and GBR are promoted...
so, next year we'll be destroyed once again by the big guns, but still we fly to Bratislava (or Kosice)...and that's enough for me...

but you wrote both of our teams...and Gianlu33 is Italian!

and finally Lugano's dream is over...
the Zurich Lions win game #7 on the road with a score of 2-0 (first goal after just 3 minutes on a bad defensive mistake, second one an empty netter wuth only 19 seconds on the clock) and take the title home...
Lugano didn't play their best hockey through the first 2 periods (they were too tired and probably they also did feel too much pressure for playing this decider at home), but tried everything they could in the 3rd period and only a miracle save by Zurich's goalie Lukas Flueler on a Hoffman shot with less than a minute to play allowed the Lions to avoid the OT...
well deserved success for Zurich...but what a pity for those so brave Lugano players...
 
so, all the European leagues are now over...time to focus on the World Champs and "time to say goodbye" (cit. Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman) for me...
 
see you next Hockey season...

it was the forelast move before the match was stopped, when Heydarov started the attack, but Karapetian countered it and turned the Azeri on his side and got the second waza-ari, which means ippon according to the new rules (from the blind side view replay it's possible to see that Heydarov touches the ground with his hip and doesn't actually avoid the score...to be honest, I don't like that much this new rule which states that if you're turned around and touch the ground even with only a part of your side it's a score...I prefer the old one, when you had to put at least part of the back of your opponent on the ground to get a score)...

and today it's time to...
 
 
also in Germany and Finland...
 
In the Finnish Liiga, infact, Kärpät Oulu just won another title thanks to a goal scored with only 4:28 minutes still to be played in regulation of the 6th game of the series. 1-0 the score of today's match in Tampere and 4-2 the final score of the final series for Kärpät.
 
On the other side, in the German DEL a sprint start (4-1 after the 1st period, 6-3 the final score) in the decisive game #7 secured Red Bull Munich the second success in a row. Nothing could do all the efforts of the Eisbären Berlin to try and comeback also in today's match.
 
And tomorrow (20.15 CET) in Lugano there will be another decisive game #7, this time in the Swiss NLA, which is (unusually for them) the last of the main European leagues to come to a close this year...
I just can't wait for my personal 5th game #7 in just over 3 days...

and today it's time to...
 
 
also in Germany and Finland...
 
In the Finnish Liiga, infact, Kärpät Oulu just won another title thanks to a goal scored with only 4:28 minutes still to be played in regulation of the 6th game of the series. 1-0 the score of today's match in Tampere and 4-2 the final score of the final series for Kärpät.
 
On the other side, in the German DEL a sprint start (4-1 after the 1st period, 6-3 the final score) in the decisive game #7 secured Red Bull Munich the second success in a row. Nothing could do all the efforts of the Eisbären Berlin to try and comeback also in today's match.
 
And tomorrow (20.15 CET) in Lugano there will be another decisive game #7, this time in the Swiss NLA, which is (unusually for them) the last of the main European leagues to come to a close this year...
I just can't wait for my personal 5th game #7 in just over 3 days...

Max. 2 women and 3 men per NOC, but for Italy it doesn't matter because Tessari won gold in -54 kg, which is not in the YOG programme.
On the other side Russia must choose 3 men out of their 5 gold medallists.

Dubois is the young sister of Daniel Dubois, the professional heavyweight from England
 

it should be, but I also read that Italy only had La Piana qualified fro this tournament and not both our god medallists...
so, probably it's only 1 per NOC (we already another qualified girl from previous events), even in case of gold...

Well every fairytale (and this year it really was a fairy tale) has to end at a certain moment but still this years result is very valuable and successful, since we had absolutely no expectations from this year, instead of the last years team, that had a lot of huge prospects and played some fantastic hockey, this year we were scared if the kids will even avoid the relegation, but they proved us that they are also quite talented and great fighters 

@phelps some good news, Slovak TV revealed the schedule for the World Championships. All 64 matches will be covered, 31 in live and remaining 33 on delayed replays. 10 games in STV 1 (including all 7 games of SVK in the preliminary round, then 1 QF, 1 SF and the Gold medal game.) all remaining matches will be on STV 2. + every evening after the last live match there will be "MS v Kocke" a 30 minutes daily recap with highlights of all todays games. + all matches will be streamed live on the TV website
 
the program can be found here https://www.rtvs.sk/televizia/tv-program?date=2018-05-04
 
 

as promised, let's write a couple of words about the Swiss NLA Finals, game #6...
 
first of all, we have to say that it was a really exciting game...very tight...and we have to say also that we're going to have a wonderful (in perspective, at least) game #7, since yesterday Lugano won it on the road by a score of 3-2 and tied the series, which means that any decision is posponed to tomorrow night in Lugano (puck drop @ 20.15 CET).
 
Last night's game did see Lugano  taking the lead once...and twice...but Zurich always came back...
finally, with a bit more than 3 minutes to play, a relentless action by Lugano's checking line put Maxime Lapierre (who was double shifting through most of the game) in condition to strike the game winner with a diabolic deflection in front of Flueler's cage...
the last 3 minutes were a pure demonstration of pride and bravery by Lugano players  (those stil able to play, since the team is heavily plagued by injuries), who were able to stop Zurich's desperate final assault with empty net...
to be mentioned, because it could have a lot of reflections on game #7, the horrendous and infamous check to the head and neck area suffered by HCL top scorer of the playoffs and absolute locker room leader, Maxime Lapierre, by the Swedish star and top goal scorer of the Zurich Lions, Fredrik Pettersson...
should Lapierre miss the decisive game of the season and the Swedish guy still be allowed to play, it would be one of the major scandals in the Swiss hockey history...
I really hope that Mad Max can play tomorrow and Pettersson gets disqualified, because hockey is a rude sport, but those coward attempts to deliberately get the best player of the opposing team injured can't be accepted at any level, anywhere and at any time...

I watched that game...and it was quite obvious from the early stages that it was going into BB's direction...
the first period was very tactical, but BB did control the pace and did have the most shots on goal...
in the second period, DT did have a flashy start and even took the lead with a quick counter by Bezuch, but BB's line with the French-Canadian duo Faille/Asselin (with the participation of local big boy Hrnka) immediately tied the game and in a few seconds Pavol Skalicky turned things around...
in the 3rd period DT tried to give their best, but they never got very close to the 2nd goal and when Asselin scored BB's 3rd goal it was all over for the red and yellow guys...
the final 2 scores by Faille and Skalicky (nice double for both guys) were just cosmetics...
to be honest, I expected a lot more from DT...but it was clear from the beginning of the match that they haven't been able to set down their nerves before this decider on one side and that they were physically empty after the great comeback from 0-3 to 3-3 in the final series on the other side...
 
 
and after the well deserved celebration of Banskà Bystrica's success, we also have to remember the other 2 games played yesterday in the Finnish and German leagues' finals.
 
in both cases, anyway, the title wasn't won by the teams that could have closed the series...
 
in the 5th game of the Liiga finals, infact, Tappara Tampere won a crazy match on the ice of Kärpät Oulu by a score of 5-4 and shortened the distance in the series to 2-3. Now they will play game #6 at home tomorrow, with a good chance to send the finals to the decisive game #7 (if needed, next Saturday in Oulu).
 
meanwhile in Germany, Eisbären Berlin did take advantage of the home building and won game #6 of the DEL finals against Red Bull Munich (5-3 the score from yesterday night), thus forcing another potentially spectacular game #7, which is scheduled for tomorrow (h.19.00 CET) in Munich.
as they say, "not to be missed"...
 
Finally, I also have to mention tonight's game #6 of the Swiss NLA Finals between Zurich Lions and HC Lugano. Puck drop at 20.15 CET, with the Lions leading the series 3-2, just one win short of the title.
 
We'll write about it tomorrow...

I find it more ridiculous to see somebody uses doping in pool billiards.

and here we go with today's final update...
 
In the Czech Republic, Kometa Brno successfully defend their title, winning game #5 against Ocelari Trinec on the road by a score of 4-1, the same result of the Extraliga final series...
 
In Slovakia, instead, we're just looking at an improbable comeback by Dukla Trencin, who were down 3-0 in the series against Banskà Bystrica, but now are tied 3-3, after winning game #6 (this time really in Banskà Bystrica ) by a score of 3-2.
The decisive game #7 is scheduled for next Tuesday in Trencin (h.18.00 CET).
 
see U tomorrow, after Liiga's game #4...

and it's celebration day in Sweden and Russia...
 
in the SHL, Växjö Lakers won the 4th game in a row against Skellefteå (5-0 on the road, today) and swept the Finals 4-0. Elias Pettersson (not even 20 years young) was the eponymous of this playoffs, earning both the scoring title and the Finals' MVP prize.
 
On the other side, the KHL ended with the surprising win of AK Bars Kazan, who won today's game #5 on their home ice 1-0 and conquered the Gagarin Cup with a 4-1 series score against the big favourites, CSKA Moscow.
 
In Germany, on the contrary, Red Bull Munich missed the first "match point" at home, losing game #5 of the DEL Finals against Eisbären Berlin by a score of 6-5 (after OT). However, they still lead the series 3-2.
 
More about Czech and Slovak leagues, later...

Wow, i cant compete with you, definetely, i understad why you are one of the "wise users" of the forum.

Happy Birthday to you...
 
but I guess you should add about 10 (9 1/2, better) years to your age to get as old as I am...
and yes...my hair and my beard are starting to show signs of how heavy are those years...

Czech/Slovak TV (skylink bouquet on satellite @ 23.5 east degrees)...
I have an official subscrition to that package (as I wrote many times, I'm addicted to Ice Hockey, so I do everything I can to watch as many games as possible -and if only I could subscribe to the Swedish and Finnish channels...)...

Yesterday, Lugano shortened the distance in the Swiss NLA Finals by winning game #5 at home with a stunning 4-0, dominating this match from start to finish. Zurich now lead the series "only" 3-2, but they will have the big chance to close the quest for the title at home on Wednesday night.
Meanwhile, in the SHL and in the Finnish Liiga we're heading towards a very quick ending of their respective Finals. Växjö Lakers HC (SHL) and Kärpät Oulu (Liiga), infact, won again in game #3 against Skellefteå (4-1) and Tappara (2-1 OT) respectively and now lead their series both by 3-0. Today (SHL) and Tomorrow (Liiga) it could already be all over after game #4 in both leagues.
 
Today there are also a lot of other games of the final series in many Countries, like Germany (game #5 between Berlin and Munich, with the Bavarians leading 3-1), Czech Republic (game #5 between Brno and Trinec, with Kometa leading 3-1), Slovakia (game #6 between Banskà Bystrica and Dukla Trencin, with the firsts leading 3-2) and the KHL (game #5 between AK Bars Kazan and CSKA Moscow, with the team from Tatarstan leading 3-1)...
   

surprise, surprise...no Italy at all (not that it's something unexpected, though)...
nice that I can watch 3 of the 5 games of the Italian team on Sport1 HD (the remaining 2 are streamed by IIHF in any case, which should be more than enough)...

Happy Birthday to you...
 
but I guess you should add about 10 (9 1/2, better) years to your age to get as old as I am...
and yes...my hair and my beard are starting to show signs of how heavy are those years...

Tests done. Guys, I am proud to announce you that I got my certificate and From today I am officially a Volunteer Firefighter

AK Bars and CSKA are playing the OT in game #3 of the KHL final series (AK Bars won the first 2 games at home, both with the score of 2-1)...
by the way, the score is 2-2 after 60 mins (we're now at the 71st minute, OT included)...
 
today there are also many other National Leagues final series under way...
 
in Slovakia, Banskà Bystrica could close the series against Dukla Trencin, as they lost today's game #4 at home by a score of 4-2.
However they still lead 3-1 and will have 3 more chances to successfully defend their title.
 
in the Czech Republic, Kometa Brno won 3-2 the 3rd game of the series and now they lead 2-1 in the final series against Ocelari Trinec.
Game #4 is scheduled for tomorrow, once again in Brno.
 
in Germany, Eisbären Berlin and Red Bull Munich are playing right now their game #3 (series tied 1-1, Munich 3-1 ahead at the beginning of the 3rd period in game #3).
 
In Switzerland, Zurich and Lugano are playing right now in Zurich game #4 of their final series...and Zurich is leading the series 2-1 (but Lugano is 2-1 ahead halfway through the second period in game #4).
 
In Sweden and Finland today there are no games, but we are at the climax also in those leagues.
In Sweden, Växjö Lakers HC are leading 1-0 in the final series against Skellefteå, meanwhile in Finland the finals are between Kärpät Oulu and Tappara Tampere, with the first leading 1-0 in the series.
In both those leagues, game #2 of the finals is scheduled for tomorrow.
 
 
p.s. I'm just going crazy while I'm trying to watch KHL, DEL and NLA games at the same time between TV and PC...