hckošice

MEN'S DIVISION I GROUP A WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Round-Robin DAY 1 South Korea 4 - 2 Poland Period-by-Period: 1-0, 1-1, 2-1 April 22nd 2017, h. 17:00, Palace of Sports, Kyiv

MEN'S UNDER 18 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Semifinal Finland (OT)2 - 1 Russia Period-by-Period: 0-0, 1-0, 0-1, OT: 1-0 April 22nd 2017, h. 15:30, Poprad Arena, Poprad Finns win semi 2-1 in OT Utunen’s winner sends Finns to final, Russia to bronze Toni Utunen’s one-time blast from the point gave Finland a 2-1 overtime win in the semi-final against Russia. They go to the final for the third straight year. It was Utunen's first goal of the tournament, and it couldn't have come at a better time. It was Finland's second straight win in overtime, while Russia came into the game with two straight overtime victories. Something had to give. The winning goal came with 2:59 left in an overtime period that had breezed by to that point without a whistle. Finland had had a few chances to win it in the extra period, outshooting Russia 6-3, and had had sustained pressure in the zone leading up to the winner. Finally, it was Rasmus Kupari down who found Aleksi Anttalainen at the near-side point. He perfectly teed up a pass across to Utunen, and his low one-time slapper through a crowd beat Maxim Zhukov. As he has been all tournament, Zhukov was solid in the Russian net, stopping 34 of 36 shots. At the other end, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 28 of 29 Russian attempts. After a rather uneventful first period, in which Russia outshot Finland 9-3, the teams came out with more energy in the second. The Finns in particular, who got a big boost from three power plays in the middle frame. Jesse Ylonen opened the scoring in the 26th minute, just two seconds before a Russian penalty was set to expire. Jesperi Kotkaniemi set up the play nicely from the boards, fed Santeri Virtanen down low and his backhand pass to the far post found Ylonen, who swept it in before Zhukov could come across. The Finns had a golden chance to extend their lead late in the period when they had a 5-on-3 for two full minutes. That happened when Kristian Vesalainen drew two hooking penalties on the same play trying to break through the Russian defence. They got some chances, and at the end of the period the referees needed to consult video replay to see if the puck had crossed the goal line on one of the scrambles, but the second period ended 1-0. And in the second minute of the third period - 58 seconds after returning to full strength - Russia tied it. Alexei Toropchenko led the rush down the right wing, then sent a nice backhand pass across to Kirill Slepets, who one-timed it in. Late in the third it was the Russians who had the chance on the power play when Anttalainen cross-checked Slepets into the end boards. Despite some heavy pressure, however, they failed to score, which set the stage for Utunen’s overtime heroics. After losing to the USA in the 2015 final and beating Sweden last year, the Finns will face one of those two teams again in this year's final. Those two teams play in the later semi-final, with the winner getting Finland and the loser facing Russia for bronze.

Hell yeah...thats such a GREAT skills

WOMEN'S IIHF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 UNOFFICIAL FINAL STANDING RANK NATION 2018 WCh 1 United States A 2 Canada A 3 Finland A 4 Germany A 5 Russia A 6 Sweden A 7 Switzerland A 8 Czech Republic I A 9 Japan A 10 Austria I A 11 Norway I A 12 Denmark I A 13 Hungary I A 14 France I B 15 Slovakia I A 16 Kazakhstan I B 17 Latvia I B 18 China I B 19 Italy I B 20 Poland II A 21 South Korea I B 22 Netherlands II A 23 Great Britain II A 24 North Korea II A 25 Slovenia II A 26 Australia II B 27 Mexico II A 28 Spain II B 29 New Zealand II B 30 Iceland II B 31 Turkey II B 32 Romania II B Q 33 Chinese Taipei II B 34 Belgium II B Q 35 South Africa II B Q 36 Bulgaria II B Q 37 Hong Kong II B Q * Important to note: This is how it stand right now, but Very likely the Annual IIHF Congress will approve the increasing of the participating teams for the womens top division world championships to 10 teams, that will change the last column. in this case teams from 1st to 10th place in this table will all play the top division, teams from 11th to 16th place in this table will all play the Division I Group A, teams from 17th to 22nd place in this table will all play the Division I Group B, teams from 23rd to 28th place in this table will all play the Division II Group A, teams from 29th to 34th place in this table will all play the Division II Group B, and teams from 35th to 37th place in this table will stay in the Division II Group B Qualification Tournament. The Council will take place in May during the mens IIHF world championships, and there some strong rumors that the decision will be approved unanimously

MEN'S DIVISION I GROUP A WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Round-Robin DAY 1 Ukraine 3 - 5 Hungary Period-by-Period: 1-1, 2-1, 0-3 April 22nd 2017, h. 13:30, Palace of Sports, Kyiv Hungary wins opener Comeback effort vs. host Ukraine rewarded Top-seeded Hungary was close to lose its opening game against host and recently promoted Ukraine but came back with three third-period goals to earn a 5-3 win. 4,612 fans at the Palace of Sports saw an opening game with a lot of scoring opportunities on both sides but eventually it was Hungary which got the three points to the excitement of the Hungarian fan sector at the arena. Ukraine was close to an upset holding a 3-2 lead until midway the third period but Hungary, which outshot its opponent 51-24, eventually completed its comeback attempt late in the game. While the second line created most of Hungary’s chances in the first two periods it was the first line with naturalized forwards Andrew Sarauer and Keegan Dansereau who scored the deciding goals. “To play for Hungary and with this group of guys was a dream. I love the country and I’m happy to be part of this team,” said Dansereau, whose girlfriend is Hungarian. “The game was good, they came out hard, it was back and forth all game. I got the puck and buried it,” the Saskatoon-born forward said about the game and his game-winning goal. “Unfortunately the other team was successful this time but we tried our best, the teams battled like soldiers,” commented Ukraine’s head coach Olexander Savitsky. “I told my players not to be afraid of strong competitors but we knew that the Hungarian team is a very strong team. We have to try to change something.” Hungary had a good start and Vilmos Gallo the best possibility during a power play when at 4:32 he had several shots next to the crease but Eduard Zakharchenko blocked the attempts. Ukraine wasn’t without chances either especially during its first power play. Nikita Butsenko had the biggest chance at 9:14 after a giveaway from Hungarian defenceman Bence Sziranyi but his shot hit the right goal post. Later Hungary had again a great opportunity to open the scoring. Janos Hari passed to Janos Vas next to the crease but he didn’t manage to beat Zakharchenko, neither did linemate Gallo with another great opportunity from just in front of the net. At 13:38 the puck went in on the other side to the joy of the local crowd at the Palace of Sports. With his bodycheck at the boards Dmytro Chernyshenko separated Hungary’s Balint Magosi from the puck in the offensive zone making the way free for Sergi Kuzmik who tried it with a wraparound. His high shot, deflected by a Hungarian defenceman, went exactly over Miklos Rajna’s shoulder for the 1-0 lead. The Hungarians didn’t waste much time for a reaction. After 57 seconds the game was on par again. Csanad Erdely’s deflected shot from the left bounced back from the boards to Istvan Bartalis on the left side. He didn’t stand perfectly in front of the net and thus tried to score with his stick between his leg. This beauty of a goal sent the game into the first intermission tied at one. Hungary also didn’t waist too much time going into the second period. Janos Vas gave Hungary the lead after just 20 seconds scoring on a rebound after a Bence Sziranyi shot. The Hungarians tried to extend the lead in the middle frame but when Ukraine had a power play midway through the period the host nation tied the game up. Nikita Butsenko scored with a shot that went past Rajna’s glove. And with just over a minute left in the second period he even made it 3-2 when he and Vitali Lyalka battled their way towards the net and Butsenko scored to give Ukraine the lead again. “The first game is always a difficult game to win and it was pretty obvious in the beginning. The team looked nervous and we made puck-possession mistakes. When we scored the 2-1 goal we unfortunately took three offensive-zone penalties in a row and allowed them to tie it up but the team showed character,” Hungary head coach Rich Chernomaz said. Hungary eventually managed its comeback attempt thanks to two goals within a span of over two minutes midway the third period. At 10:41 Andrew Sarauer was fed in free position on the left side with a horizontal pass by Kevin Wehrs and scored via Zakharchenko’s pads. And at 12:53 Keegan Dansereau gave Hungary the lead. Zakharchenko had blocked two shots from Dansereau’s teammates but third time was a charm for Hungary. “It was a tough game from the start. We came out a little bit shaky but in the end we were right there. They had some lucky bounces, they scored on our mistakes but we corrected those and became stronger and scored in good timing. Our group did a great job, we stayed positive at the bench even when it was 3-2 for them,” Vas said. This time Hungary managed to defend the lead and a penalty against Dmytro Nimenko in the last minute didn’t help the host team either. Janos Hari made it 5-3 with a shot into the empty net with seven seconds to go.

MEN'S DIVISION I GROUP A WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Round-Robin DAY 1 Ukraine 3 - 5 Hungary Period-by-Period: 1-1, 2-1, 0-3 April 22nd 2017, h. 13:30, Palace of Sports, Kyiv

WOMEN'S DIVISION I GROUP A WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Japan back at the top Women’s team seals promotion against host Austria Rolling past opponents in the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship Division I Group A, exiting times are looming around the corner for Japan with top division hockey and the Winter Olympics to look forward to. At the first attempt, Japan's women's national team propelled themselves back into life at the top. In February they won the Olympic Qualification tournament on home ice against Germany to earn their tickets to PyeongChang 2018. And on Thursday they secured Division I Group A gold and promotion to the next Women’s Worlds. Needing only four games to wrap up top spot at the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship Division I Group A, their gold medals were sealed following a 4-1 win against hosts Austria, which was also undefeated after the first three games. “Our strong team defence was the key for us,” said head coach Takeshi Yamanaka following their victory where they only conceded four goals in four games en route to clinching promotion. Japan will now aim to raise their game for the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang 2018 and the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship in Finland. Asia's highest representative in women's hockey had been in cruise control from start to finish at the Division I Group A in Graz. Emphatically winning the shots 117 against 36 in their three opening games had first seen them edge Hungary 1-0, then blanking Denmark 3-0 in their second game before seeing off a plucky Norway 5-3. When game four came around, Japan had it all in their own hands to wrap up proceedings, as they went head to head with hosts Austria for top spot. In front of home crowd of 1,138 inside the refurbished Merkur Arena in Graz, it was the Austrians who came out the strongest against the tournament top seeds. A high-tempo start of the game by the hosts intensified further following a tripping minor on Japan's Sena Suzuki at 4:35. But failing to capitalize would cost Austria dearly. Japan sailed away on a breakaway with Hanae Kubo's effort deflecting off Austria's Alessandra Lopez and past Theresa Hornich in Austria's net for Japan's opener after 11:35. Austria continued to threaten as the first frame wore on. Winning the shots 9-8, Theresa Schafzahl and Denise Altmann went close after fine work from Anna Meixner behind Japan's cage. But when the goal arrived, Japan and the lethal Kubo were at it again. On a power play, a finely worked move by Rui Ukita and Shiori Koike found Kubo in front of the net who found a chink in Hornich's armour. Japan's lead had doubled at 16:22 and finished the frame a manner which pleased Japan's head coach. “It was difficult at first with the speed and pressure from Austria, but we managed to get back quickly into the game,” said Yamanaka. Japan came out roaring as the puck was dropped for the middle frame. They got their reward for their endeavour and crisp skating at 3:45 of the second period when Haruna Yoneyama picked out Moeko Fujimoto from the right who from close range backhanded home Japan's third high past a helpless Hornich in Austria's net. Calling for a time-out saw Austria's head coach Pekka Hamalainen try to get the verve back into his troops, but little did it help as Japan steamed on looking for more goals. A one-sided middle frame saw Japan win the shots 13-2 and at 27:04, a Suzuki drive from the blueline stretched Japan's lead to four unanswered goals. In what had become an uphill struggle for the hosts, Hamalainen pulled Hornich from the net to replaced her with Jessica Ekrt. The home crowd finally got a glimmer of hope with 4:28 left of the second period as Eva Maria Beiter Schwarzler hit home Austria's first for the evening. But having perfected the tactic to hold on to a lead, Japan's victory was never in doubt. While Austria went into the final frame seeking for another goal, Japan themselves squandered a number of fine scoring chances as captain Chiho Osawa missed a one-on-one with Ekrt and only seconds later Ukita hit the crossbar. By then most of the onlookers inside the Merkur Arena had given up on any hopes for a fightback from their home favourites. With 2:59 left of the game the Mission Impossible soundtrack was echoing out from the arena speakers ahead of a face-off as Japan was to hold on to their lead with admirable discipline before muted celebrations ensued as promotion was guaranteed. “I am disappointed, we did play quite well, but it is a good Japanese team who defended well and all their lines are good skaters and play well for the team. We had chances to score, especially in the first period and if we could had scored there it might have been a different game,” said Austria head coach Hamalainen, who with nine points currently sits in second place and will take on Denmark in their final match. Japan on the other hand, will have plenty of hard graft ahead of them with their third appearance at the Winter Olympics coming around next year for their experienced crop of roster with an average age of 25. “Because we are not that tall, we need to focus even more on our speed, but also try and built up strength for us to be able to compete at the highest level,” said head coach Yamanaka. Results Thread

MEN'S UNDER 18 DIVISION I GROUP B WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Slovenia on the rise U18: Win over Ukraine clinches gold in Div. IB Slovenia won the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship Division I Group B on home ice, clinching gold with a 4-3 victory over Ukraine. Austria, relegated from Division IA last year, and Japan, runner-up in this section 12 months ago, were expected to be the strongest challengers in Bled, with the host nation looking to improve on a fourth-place finish last time around. But Slovenia impressed in its warm-up games, winning twice in Budapest against a Hungarian team that took gold at this level in 2016. Then, on the opening day, an emphatic 10-0 victory over the Japanese made everyone aware of the potential of Mitja Kern’s team. Despite losing against the Austrians as the week progressed, Slovenia went into Friday’s game with Ukraine knowing that victory would guarantee gold. But the Ukrainians, whose hopes of success were hampered by an inconsistent campaign, did everything they could to keep the competition alive until the final game, recovering a 0-3 deficit before losing out to Jakub Jugovic’s 52nd-minute goal. The defenceman, whose menacing presence on the blue line had already set up Slovenia’s opener, stepped up from the point to collect a pass from Erik Svetina. As Jugovic drifted wide, there seemed to be little open for him... but an angled shot flew through traffic and found the top corner with Mykyta Petlenko beaten. It was a mixture of joy and relief for the Slovenes, with the crowd in Bled excited by the team’s start to the game but increasingly anxious as Ukraine battled back into contention. At first, though, it seemed that Slovenia would make serene progress through the game. Ukraine gave up two goals in the second minute – a wrist shot from Jugovic deflected home by Patrik Tislar, then Jaka Sturm converting Ziga Urukalo’s pass as the host punished a turnover – and starting goalie Artur Ohandzhanyan was gone from the game after just 104 seconds. When Rok Kapel made it three, converting Slovenia’s second power play of the game early in the middle frame, it felt like game over. Ukraine had other ideas. It got its PK working at last to kill a long 5-on-3 advantage, then began to create chances at the other end. Dmytro Chorny got one back on the power play, then two goals in a minute tied the game. Chorny’s shot created the first of them as Danylo Moroz forced home the rebound, then, on 36:55, Olexander Peresunko tied the game after Hlib Krivoshapkin’s shot was padded away. Slovenia thought it had regained the lead almost immediately after a scramble in the slot, but the officials ruled that a forward had encroached on Petlenko’s crease and the game remained level going into the final stanza. The early chances went to Ukraine: Krivoshapkin got a good look before Peresunko was denied in a one-on-one breakout. But gradually the home team re-established itself and Jugovic managed to wrap up the win. Slovenia’s progress was aided by several returning players. Jugovic, Svetina, Tislar, Sturm, Urukalo, Kapel and goalie Ziga Kogovsek were among those who featured in Italy this time last year, and they demonstrated what they had learned from the experience. Kogovsek played every minute of his team’s campaign, stopping 93.1% of shots for a GAA of 1.61. Jan Drozg, another returnee, led the tournament scoring with 5+8=13 after picking up an astonishing eight-point haul in that huge win over Japan. Drozg’s five-goal tally was matched by team-mate Rok Kapel, as well as Ukraine’s Peresunko and Italy’s Stephan Deluca, while Jugovic was the second top-scorer among defencemen behind Japan’s Daiki Miura. Austria failed to win instant promotion back to Division IA, but did end on a winning note with a 3-2 overtime success over Japan in the final game of the tournament. Marco Rossi was the hero, tying the game with 94 seconds left in regulation time and grabbing the decider at 2:28 of overtime. That meant silver went to the Alps, and bronze to the Far East. At the foot of the table, newly-promoted Poland battled hard and twice went to overtime. But it failed to record a victory and returns to Division IB next year. Italy took fourth place, one point ahead of Ukraine. Results Thread

Libor Hudáček injury from 1:00

Tomorrow the Under 18 top division semifinals and start of the second higher Mens world championships floor. Tomorrow will start the Mens Division I Group A World Championships in Ukraine. 6 Nations and will battle for the two (2) available spots for the next years Mens Top Division in Denmark 2018 and to avoid last place and the relegation to the Mens Division I Group B 2018. Mens Division I Group A World Championships 2017 in Kyiv (UKR) Day 1 Schedule (22nd April 2017) GMT +3 13:30 Ukraine vs Hungary 17:00 South Korea vs Poland 20:30 Austria vs Kazakhstan *Tournament Format: 6 Nations will play a single round-robin tournament. Each teams plays each opponent once. The first 2 ranked teams of the event will be promoted to the Top Division next year. The teams ranked from 3rd to 5th will play in this division also during the next years edition, The last-ranked team will be relegated to Division I Group B next year. Livestream Mens Under 18 Top Division World Championships 2017 in Poprad and Spišská Nová Ves (SVK) Day 9 Schedule (22nd April 2017) GMT +2 Semifinals in Poprad 15:30 Finland vs Russia 19:30 Sweden vs United States Livestream

Friendly Matches 21st April 2017 Mens Road to World Championships Slovakia - Finland 3-2 Belarus - Sweden 1-4 Latvia - France 2-1 Switzerland - Russia 2-1 Finally after 3 consecutive defeats we won a match, finally we scored goal(s) and managed a nice and important (mental) win. Hopefully this will be a new boost for the guys. The only very bad and sad thing from today is the injury of Libor Hudáček during the last minute of the match, very likely he will be out for a long time and the World championships are probably over for him. A total disaster for our first line Next week our last 2 test matches in Norway. After the last match our coach staff will announce the final roster for the WCh.

Mens Under 18 Division I Group B World Championships 2017 in Bled (SLO) Day 5 (21st April 2017) GMT +2 Last Day 13:00 Italy s Poland 5-3 16:30 Ukraine vs Slovenia 3-4 20:00 Austria vs Japan 3-2 After OT Slovenia won the home tournament gold and promotion to the Mens Under 18 Division I Group A World Championship next year where they will replace Hungary relegated from this years U18 Div IA tournament played in Bled as well few weeks ago. Slovenia dominated the tournament conceding only 1 lose and gaining 12 points. 2nd finished Austria with 10 points. The only team able to defeat the hosts during the tourney. Bronze medals went to Japan with 8 points. After a very bad start they managed in later games to collect valuable points resulting in bit surprising medal. 4th Place for Italy with 7 points. The young Italians were fighting for the maintain until the very last matchday, but they won the most important game for them in this last day schedule against Poland, jumped to 4th rank and avoided the relegation down... 5th finished Ukraine with 6 points. Ukraine started the championship in a excellent way but since third game they lost all matches. Austria, Japan, Italy, Ukraine will play the Mens Under 18 Division I Group B also for the next year. Poland finished last with 2 points. Zero wins for the young Poles during the tournament send them back down to the Mens Under 18 Division II Group A where they will replace Romania promoted team from this years U18 Div IIA played a couple of weeks ago in South Korea.

Womens Division I Group A World Championships 2017 in Graz (AUT) Day 5 (21st April 2017) GMT +2 Last Day 13:00 Norway vs Hungary 6-0 16:30 Japan vs France 4-0 20:00 Austria vs Denmark 6-1 Japan won the expected gold thanks perfect 5-0 record resulting in the 15 points. Japan will return quickly back to the top division where they will replace the Czech Republic relegated from this years Top Division played earlier in Michigan, USA. Silver stay at home. Austria collected 12 points throughouth the tournament losing only to Japan. Bronze medals will go to Norway. 3 teams finished the tournament tied with 6 points. so a mini-table of mutual results between all 3 teams was needed to rank them and Norway was the best in this table, which means the won bronze. 4th finished Denmark and 5th Hungary both also with 6 points. Austria, Norway, Denmark and Hungary will play this division also next year. France finished in Last 6th place pointless, The french womens scored only 1 goal during this tournament, this was very very few, you can not win without scoring, and France finished then logically last and will be relegated to the Womens Division II Group B next year where they will replace Slovakia promoted from this years Womens Div IB played last week in Poland. *PS things can and will very likely change, because during May IIHF council, very probably will be increased the womens top division World championships already from next year, this will means, that Czech Republic will stay in the top category and together with Japan will be also promoted Austria, France will stay in Division IA and altogether with Slovakia will be promoted to Div IA also the Div IB runner-up Kazakhstan and so on...

MEN'S UNDER 18 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Relegation Round Match 2 (1) Latvia 3 - 2 Belarus (1) Period-by-Period: 1-0, 1-1, 1-1 April 21st 2016, h. 17:30, Arena Spisska Nova Ves, Spisska Nova Ves Latvians avoid relegation Egle’s 3 points evens series with Belarus Verners Egle’s second goal and third point of the game with 4:53 left in regulation time gave Latvia the win, and saved them from relegation - for now “We scored as many goals today as we did the rest of the tournament,” Egle said after the game, and he’s right - Latvia scored three goals in its first five games of the tournament combined. For the winner, it was Viktors Jasunov’s who cut in hard to the net and goaltender Andrei Grishenko saved it, but Egle swooped in from the opposite side to sweep in the rebound. “Of course I’m happy with my game today - I don’t score that many goals,” said the Madison Capitols forward who scored five goals in 54 USHL and NAPHL games this season, “and I’m proud of my whole team. It was really difficult, but we knew we had to win, so we came out really hard.” As opposed to yesterday, when they seemed back on their heels, the Latvians came out with quite a bit of jump in Game 2 and it was Egle who got the game’s first goal on the power play. Taking a pass on the right wing half-wall, he walked in to the faceoff dot and fired a wrister over the near-side shoulder of Andrei Grishenko and into the roof of the net. “We got more shots to the net today, that’s why we came up with those rebounds and goals, and we worked on our power play and that helped us too,” Egle figured. “Today the boys were just more ready than yesterday.” After getting somewhat outplayed in the first period, the Belarusians found their skating legs in the second period and started using their speed to generate chances. Midway through the period they tied it when Vladislav Yeryomenko burned a Latvian defenceman to the outside and cut in on Rauza. The Latvian goalie made the save but Sergei Sapego followed up the play and put in the rebound. Belarus had some jump and nearly took the lead a minute later when Rauza made a great save off Vasily Filyayev, but it was Latvia who had the lead after 40 minutes. With just over three minutes remaining in the period, Deniss Smirnovs buried a loose puck as players were scrambling in front of the Belarus net. Wanting to secure their place in next year’s tournament today, Belarus pushed hard again and Sapego’s point shot was tipped in by Andrei Pavlenko with 10:02 to play. “I thought, ‘Oh no, not again!’” Egle admitted afterward. “But you’ve just gotta keep working through it. That’s what happens - it’s hockey.” And the Belarusians continued to press. A minute after the equalizer there was a big scramble in Rauza’s crease, and the Latvian goalie couldn’t find the puck, but neither could any Belarusian forward as the puck slid parallel to the goal line and out the other side. Eventually it was Egle who scored the winning goal, however. That means that everything will be decided on Sunday. The winner will stay up and the loser will be relegated to Division I, Group B. “Oh yeah it’s a huge game,” Egle understated. “We’ll prepare just as always. We’ve got a day off and we’ll relax a little bit and come out ready.”

MEN'S UNDER 18 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quarterfinal 1B-4A United States 4 - 2 Switzerland Period-by-Period: 1-0, 1-2, 2-0 April 20th 2016, h. 19:30, Arena Spisska Nova Ves, Spisska Nova Ves HIGHLIGHTS

MEN'S UNDER 18 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quarterfinal 2B-3A Russia (OT)3 - 2 Slovakia Period-by-Period: 1-0, 0-2, 1-0, OT: 1-0 April 20th 2017, h. 17:30, Poprad Arena, Poprad HIGHLIGHTS

MEN'S UNDER 18 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quarterfinal 2A-3B Canada 3 - 7 Sweden Period-by-Period: 0-1, 2-3, 1-3 April 20th 2016, h. 15:30, Arena Spisska Nova Ves, Spisska Nova Ves HIGHLIGHTS

MEN'S UNDER 18 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quarterfinal 1A-4B Finland (OT)6 - 5 Czech Republic Period-by-Period: 4-1, 1-3, 0-1, OT: 1-0 April 20th 2017, h. 13:30, Poprad Arena, Poprad HIGHLIGHTS

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS 2016/2017 CZECH REPUBLIC KOMETA BRNO 1st Czech League Title (12th Title including the ex-Czechoslovakian League) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kometa Brno wins Czech title Sweep finals for first championship since 1966 After finishing sixth in the regular season, Kometa Brno went 12-2 in the playoffs, including a four-game sweep of defending champion Bili Tygri Liberec in the finals, to win its first title in more than half a century. “For me, this is the best,” victorious head coach, general manager and owner Libor Zabransky said to the gathered media after the fourth and final game, a 5-2 win. “The boys earned it. They wanted to win and they won. For Brno, for Kometa and perhaps for me too. There’s a real sense of pride.” The series started with a pair of close games in Liberec. In Game 1 Kometa erased an early 2-0 deficit – a recurring theme for the team in the playoffs – and won 3-2. Then in Game 2 they won 4-3 on an overtime goal by Marek Kvapil. When the scene shifted to Brno’s DRFG Arena, with their passionate, almost maniacal fans behind them, Kometa was firmly in the driver’s seat. Goaltender Marek Ciliak was the hero in Game 3 with a 27-save shutout, as the team won 3-0 while getting almost eardrum-piercing cheers on each goal and as the time wound down. Then it got four assists from Jan Hruska in the series clincher - a 5-2 win - with the decibel level in the arena not letting up all game, or throughout the Czech Republic’s second city all night. “I’d really believed in them since last May, when I signed a bunch of players who had great skills, character and morale. We went through a tough time when the injuries hit – Ciliak was out of the line-up on two separate occasions – but we did it as a team.” Zabransky’s off-season reinforcements included some of the team’s biggest performers in the playoffs – veteran defencemen Ondrej Nemec and Michal Gulasi, and forwards Hruska, Kvapil, and Martin Erat. Erat, of course, was the big name, a veteran of 13 NHL seasons. He was one of the league’s top scorers early in the season before missing 13 games due to injury. Still, his 36 points in 39 regular season games ranked second on the team behind linemate Kvapil. After only recording three points in the first two rounds of the playoffs, he had two assists in Game 2 of the finals and one goal and two assists in Game 4. “From the beginning, we were trying to build a team that would be competitive in the playoffs,” Erat told hokej.cz. “I think that everyone, from the Zamboni driver to Libor Zabransky, did everything they could to help us be successful. And we were.” Led by Erat, Kvapil, and 17-year-old rookie Martin Necas on the top line, Kometa blazed at the start of the 2016/17 season, winning 14 of its first 19 games. But then injuries to Erat, Ciliak and others derailed the season somewhat. Kometa never really got on track the rest of the regular season and finished sixth. Few gave the Brno squad much of a chance in the quarter-finals against Sparta Prague – a team that had been the best in the league in the last half of the season and had also reached the Champions Hockey League final. In addition to the off-season additions, another key piece of Kometa’s playoff run was defenceman Jakub Krejcik, who was picked up from the fire sale of the KHL’s Medvescak Zagreb late in the season. After getting into only one regular season game, Krejcik was the quarterback of Kometa’s defence in the playoffs, leading the whole team with 13 points in 14 games. In each of the first two games at Prague’s O2 Arena, Kometa came from behind to win. Three straight third-period goals in Game 1 turned a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 victory, and Jozef Kovacik was the overtime hero in Game 2. In Game 3, back in front of another packed house at DRFG Arena, Sparta scored twice in the first three minutes but Kometa came back to win again in overtime – this time Marcel Hascak’s second of the game gave them a 4-3 win. With Sparta’s will seemingly broken, Kometa completed the sweep with a 4-1 win. In the semi-finals the opponent was Hradec Kralove, with Kometa winning in six games – Hynek Zohorna was the double-overtime hero. “It's amazing to play in Brno, for this I am grateful,” said Erat. “When I see the scene tonight, it gives me chills. It’s really amazing, this city really deserves it.” Last year at this time, it was Liberec celebrating the title. This season after finishing first in the regular season, Bili Tygri was favoured to repeat, but they just never got on track in the finals. Nonetheless, head coach Filip Pesan is happy overall. “For us, despite the defeat, it is definitely a success,” the Liberec coach said of the season. “Winning both the regular season and playoffs in back-to-back years is a monumental task, and we fell just a bit short of it. Overall, it was a great season, and I have to thank the players for that.” On getting swept, he said: “I don’t see any difference between losing a series 4-0 or 4-3. Either you do it or you don’t. Last year we won 4-0 twice [en route to the finals], this year it was 4-2 twice, and I was no more or less happy. That's how I feel about it. Maybe if we’d lost in the seventh game, it would hurt even more. This series was decisive.” There was a time when no one could touch Brno. From 1955 to 1966, the club that was then called Ruda Hvezda Brno, then TJ ZKL Brno, won 11 of 12 Czechoslovak titles. It was also dominant on the European level, winning the first three IIHF European Cup titles in 1966, 1967 and 1968. Since then, however, it’s been a long climb back to the top. After years of mediocrity, the team was relegated from the Czech Extraliga in 1996, and then fell to the third tier of Czech hockey in 2000. The team returned one level up in 2003 and was finally back in the top league in 2009, after a 13-year absence. Since its return to the Extraliga, Kometa has got its fans’ hopes up a few times. In 2012, it went to the final from the no. 8 seed in the regular season, falling in six games to Pardubice in the finals. In 2014 it was back in the finals, this time falling to PSG Zlin in five. But the third time was the charm in 2017. “When I bought my first 20 per cent of the club's shares in October 2004 and saw how indebted it was, I could only dream of this,” Zaborsky summed up. “And after 12 years, it's come true.”

so sad for your U18 team...it´s really cruel, we had(still have) this feeling too yesterday after the cruel lose with Russia in the QF, we had a team able to fight for medals at home, but one very very dumb moment destroyed everything Well, don´t lose hope...I am really cheering for Poland to qualify. with the format of 2 qualified teams, there a quite decent chance for you to take one of them...but surely, it´s gonna to be a very balanced tournament

Mens Under 18 Top Division World Championships 2017 in Poprad and Spišská Nová Ves (SVK) Day 8 Schedule (21st April 2017) GMT +2 Relegation Round Match 2 in Spišská Nová Ves 17:30 Latvia vs Belarus Serie Standing: 0-1 *Second game of the relegation round, can be the last one if Belarus win, the relegation round will be over and Latvia will be relegated. If Latia win, they will tie the series standing and a deciding game 3 will be needed on Sunday. Livestream Mens Under 18 Division I Group B World Championships 2017 in Bled (SLO) Day 5 Schedule (21st April 2017) GMT +2 Last Day 13:00 Italy s Poland 16:30 Ukraine vs Slovenia 20:00 Austria vs Japan *Slovenia leading the tournament before tomorrows last day with 9 points, Austria second just behind with 8 points, 3rd Japan 7 points and 4th Ukraine has 6 points, all 4 teams theoretically are still in the battle for first place. Slovenia with the best cards any regular time win will bring gold and promotion for the host country however the result of the next match AUT-JPN will be. **Italy vs Poland will be the direct match for the maintain. Poland need a regular time win any other result will send them to the next years U18 Division II A. Livestream Womens Division I Group A World Championships 2017 in Graz (AUT) Day 5 Schedule (21st April 2017) GMT +2 13:00 Norway vs Hungary 16:30 Japan vs France 20:00 Austria vs Denmark *Before tomorrows last day, The tournament winner is already official. Japan already won the tourney and will be quickly promoted back to the Top Division. **Also the last place of France is afficially confirmed, the French womens will not finish higher than 6th, which means they will play their last match in this diision and then will be relegated to the Womens Division I B. ***behinde the promoted and relegated nation, there still some battles in tomorrows last round schedule. for example All other 4 teams are still fighting for medal positions.

ROAD TO MEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 DAYS -15 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today has been officially released and presented the official song of the 2017 IIHF World Championships Official song introduced "Playground" by CASCADA published today The official song of the 2017 IIHF Worlds is "Playground" by Germany's global music export CASCADA. Singer Natalie Horler named official ambassador. The official song of the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship (5 till 21 May) is called "Playground" and comes from CASCADA, the global chart strikers from Germany. This was announced by the Championship's Organizing Committee today at a press conference in Cologne's LANXESS arena. CASCADA front-singer Natalie Horler, who was personally attending, was named an official ambassador of the 2017 IIHF Worlds by Franz Reindl, president of the Organizing Committee, on the same occasion. CASCADA look back on world-wide successes like Everytime We Touch, Miracle, Evacuate The Dancefloor, San Francisco, Summer Of Love or The Rhythm Of The Night. Front-singer Natalie Horler and her team of producers and writers Yann Peifer (Yanou) and Manuel Reuter (Manian) have topped charts in more than 20 countries with their irresistible dance-pop songs. Collecting numerous awards (e.g. the World Music Award in 2007) throughout their career, they have established themselves as one of the tops European dance floor acts of the present. Albums and singles reached multiple platinum and gold status and could reach Top 10 and even No. 1 chart placements in many of the participating nations of the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, including USA, tournament co-host France, Sweden and Canada. CASCADA are also tremendously popular in other Scandinavian countries and in Eastern Europe. OC president Franz Reindl comments: "We are very happy that with CASCADA we could allure a global musical export from Germany to provide the official song for the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. With our wonderful and globally renowned official mascots Asterix & Obelix, the one great pillar of our fan entertainment program comes from France, our hosting partner country. Now, with CASCADA and their official song "Playground", the other major element of our entertainment program comes from Germany, but is equally popular in France and all other 14 participating nations of the tournament. Thus, CASCADA are a perfect match with our motto "Together for 2017". We are also very proud that our German national ice hockey team player Moritz Muller could co-star in the globally published official song video of "Playground", which is all dedicated to ice hockey. Natalie Horler from CASCADA: "We feel honoured that CASCADA were chosen for the official song of the French-German 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. When the idea was introduced to us, we didn't have to think it much over. We are extremely excited about being able to contribute to a great atmosphere in the tournament venues and really wish that the fans will enjoy "Playground". Producing the official song video on ice, was an all-new and exciting experience for me. As of immediately, "Playground" is available on some 250 digital music stores all over the world such as Spotify, AppleMusic, Deezer, iTunes, Amazon, Google, Napster, Rhapsody, Tencent u.. v. m. CASCADA will perform live at various occasions during the 2017 IIHF WM in the venues of Cologne and Paris. Details will be announced soon.

ROAD TO MEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 DAYS -15 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15 Days to Go, Time to introduce another participating Team of the 2017 World Championships, today its the turn of Switzerland, The Swiss have been stuck in a rut since winning silver in 2013, is this the year they turn it around? SWITZERLAND

Womens Division I Group A World Championships 2017 in Graz (AUT) Day 4 (20th April 2017) GMT +2 13:00 France vs Hungary 0-1 16:30 Denmark vs Norway 3-1 20:00 Austria vs Japan 1-4

Friendly Matches 20th April 2017 Mens Road to World Championships Denmark - Norway 0-3