hckošice

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

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 USA survives Swiss scare Two late goals give Americans 4-2 quarter-final win Josh Norris and Jacob Tortora scored 27 seconds apart late in the third period to break a 2-2 deadlock and give Team USA a 4-2 victory over Switzerland. It took just 51 seconds for the Americans to strike, with Braeden Tkachuk picking up the puck behind the net and feeding out front to Michael Pastujov, who snapped it home. From there the Americans kept up the pressure, thoroughly dominating the opening period, but they didn’t get another goal despite outshooting the Swiss 16-2. Sean Dhooghe had the best chance to give his team a two-goal lead late in the period - Akira Schmid made a great save on his initial shot, but then with the goalie down and out, Dhooghe got his own rebound and missed. The Swiss came out better in the second period and tied it when Nico Hirschier deflected Nico Gross’s point shot. For the potential No. 1 overall pick in this year’s NHL Entry Draft, it was his first goal of the tournament to go along with five assists. Then the Americans ran into some penalty trouble and the momentum swung to the Swiss. Dylan St. Cyr, who has been cool under pressure in the U.S. net throughout the tournament, made some fine saves with his team down two men, but he couldn’t hold out forever. With their second 5-on-3 advantage of the period, Nicolas Muller gave the Swiss the lead, finally forcing the puck across the goalline in a scramble. Just past the game’s midpoint, Gross was assessed 2+10 for checking to the head, and that gave the Americans a chance to get things going again. Just seconds after his minor penalty ended, but not yet in the play, David Farrance took a pass from Evan Barrett at the top of the slot and beat Schmid to the glove side to tie the game at two. That’s how the game stayed until Norris and Tortora struck.

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 Slepets scores in OT Russia wins, 3-2, but Slovak fans the real story Slovakian president Andrej Kiska was among the throng of 4,496 spectators who witnessed a thrilling quarter-finals game, won in overtime by Russia, 3-2. Kirill Slepets beat three Slovaks to a loose puck in front and fired a low shot to the corner, giving Russia a 3-2 overtime win against hosts Slovakia and earning a place in the semi-finals against Finland on Friday. "We played a great game," Adam Ruzicka said. "We made a mistake, and we lost. It happens in hockey. But the crowd, the fans, are amazing. That's what makes us happy. This is something special. I don't know what else to say." Despite the loss, the Slovakian players and fans were the real winners. The arena in Poprad was stuffed beyond capacity, and as they had done earlier against Finland and Canada, the Slovaks fell behind early and rallied to tie. Tonight, they also led, but in the end they fell a goal short. "The stadium was electric," Russian coach Sergei Golubovich agreed. "The atmosphere was incredible. The fans helped Slovakia play well, for sure. This was a tough battle for us." After the handshakes, the players circled the ice to acknowledge the crowd. Some were fighting back tears; some were crying; some were even smiling sadly at the contradiction of being crushed by the loss but overwhelmed by the support. The noise continued for so long that all of the players not being interviewed came out of the dressing room and skated another lap. An encore, if you will. That happens at the opera every night, but not so often in hockey. If you want to appreciate the Russian side--and sentiment aside, they won the game, fair and square--you want to start with number 19, Ivan Chekhovich. He is a special player and will be in the NHL one day, sooner rather than later. Chekhovich scored both regulation goals for Russia, made one other sensational rush, and seemed to be at another level of skill than anyone else on ice. Russia opened the scoring at 5:36 on a bit of sloppy defence from Slovakia. Andrei Svechnikov boldly split the defence coming in over the blue line, and as he took a shot he lost control of the puck. Unguarded, Chekhovich put the loose disc past Juraj Sklenar. The Russians did a great job defensively all period, not allowing the Slovaks to penetrate or get any quality shots on Maxim Zhukov. That changed in a big way during the second period. As if a switch went off, the Slovaks decided to get the puck deep, forecheck, and let the Russians do some of the work. The strategy paid off in spades. Jozef Balej made a great steal of the puck from defenceman Mark Rubinchik behind the Russian goal. Balej got it to the front of the goal where two Slovaks were stationed unattended. Adam Liska put the puck on Adam Ruzicka's stick, and he tied the game at 11:35. Soon after, Chekhovich made a sensational rush but was stopped by Sklenar in the crease. Two minutes later, Slovakia took the lead on another defensive breakdown by the Russians. This time they watched as Adam Liska carried the puck in around the Russian goal, failing to cover him as he whirled and passed behind him, to the front of the goal, where Milos Fafrak chipped the puck in. "They started to play more offensively in the second period," Golubovich said. "We tried to counter-attack, but they had the better period." Chekhovich got his second of the night at 1:14 of the third on a power play that carried over from the second. A rebound came right to him behind the play, and he snapped a quick shot, bulging the twine and silencing the crowd briefly as the score moved to 2-2.

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 Swedes down Canada 7-3 Sweden moves on to semi-finals With goals in the last minute of both the first and second periods, Sweden built up a 4-2 lead, then cruised to a 7-3 quarter-final win over Canada. Jacob Olofsson, Fabian Zetterland, Rickard Hugg, Erik Brannstrom and Isac Lundestrom each chipped in with two points for the Swedes. "I think it was a good bounce back after the game against the USA," said Olofsson, who scored two goals. "We kind of turned the tables - last game we got lots of chances but only one goal, and today it seemed like everything was going in." "I think we played our best game of the tournament so far," said Swedish head coach Torgny Bendelin. "After some tough games where we maybe didn't play that well, even if we won, a game like this is really good for the team's confidence." The game started off at a slow pace, but that picked up late in the period as the teams traded scoring chances. Isaac Ratcliffe got in the clear but his hard drive that was labelled for the top corner was deflected into the crowd by Swedish goalie Adam Ahman, and then the other way David Gustafsson got in behind the Canadian defence but fired wide. The Swedes opened the scoring with just three seconds remaining in the opening period when Josh Brook lost control of the puck in his own zone and Zetterland pounced on it, beating Ian Scott with a wrister inside the post. Asked if the turnover and quick shot surprised him, Scott answered: "Yeah, a little bit. It just sort of snuck under my arm. There was still lots of the game left, though, so I don't think it damaged us too badly." The Canadians answered back just two minutes into the second period, though. With the team putting pressure on, Matthew Strome got to a puck that deflected off the end boards and his shot from below the blueline went off Ahman and in. The Swedes opened up a two-goal lead with a pair of goals three minutes apart in the middle of the period. An unchecked Oskar Back entered the backdoor and converted a pass from Hugg with a wide-open net to shoot at, and then on a 3-on-2 rush Scott got a piece of Olofsson’s shot, but the puck was sitting loose in the crease and he was able to get to his own rebound and stuff home. "I got a good pass there from Isac and tried to shoot it right away. The puck dribbled in behind him and I was pretty lucky that I was able to put it in," Olofsson described. "There were a couple unlucky bounces there, I think," Scott said of the two goals. "A couple situations where the puck could have gone either way." With his fourth of the tournament, Mackenzie Entwistle got one back for Canada just over a minute later when his long wrister beat Ahman five-hole, but the Swedes restored their two-goal lead in the last minute of the middle frame on the power play, with Hugg putting home the rebound. "These were very big goals when talking about the mental part of the game," Bendelin said about the goals his team scored in the last minute of the first two periods. "Because of the timing, they both gave us a big lift mentally." The Canadians almost answered again early in the period, with Kyle Olson stepping out of the penalty box and joining the rush, but just missing with his shot. Then Olofsson’s second goal of the game - a wrister through a crowd - gave Sweden a stranglehold with 15:40 to play. Branstrom and Lundestrom - the latter an empty netter - rounded out the scoring for the Swedes. In between, Maxime Comtois scored Canada’s third goal. Sweden moves on to the semi-finals, where they’ll face the winner of the United States and Switzerland.

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 Finns survive scare, win in OT Czechs rally from 5-1 down but Virtanen scores winner The Czechs mounted the greatest comeback in U18 history only to lose with 58.5 seconds left in overtime. Santeri Virtanen knocked in a loose puck from the crease with 58.5 seconds left to give Finland a 6-5 win and a place in the semi-finals. "We forced a turnover in our own zone," Virtanen recalled, "and as we went through the neutral zone I gave a pass to Miro [Heiskanen]. He drove to the net and was stopped, but I put it home. Thank God we won." Indeed, the Czechs tied a record for greatest comeback in IIHF history, men or women, any event category. Had they won, the Finns might have taken many a year to forget. "We didn't have a good start, obviously," said Czech forward Ondrej Machala, "but we went to the dressing room after the first period and started talking about what we did well and what we didn't. We didn't block shots. We didn't shoot on the net. But we fixed that and tied it 5-5. We showed everyone here that we played like a team. We wanted to go further, but we are proud of what we did today." "I don't know what happened," Virtanen said. "We let our foot off the gas a little bit, started taking silly penalties. Our game just wasn't the same. This was a good lesson for us, but we're confident heading to the semi-finals." The Finns scored the early goal to set the tone. Defenceman Heiskanen's point shot went all the way at 2:19, and Suomi had the start it wanted. Five minutes later, though, the Czechs tied the score thanks to another goal from the blue line. This time it was Dalimil Mikyska with a bullet drive that beat Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. The rest of the period was dominated by the Finns. Linus Nyman made it 2-1 at 14:09 off the rush. Coming in on a three-on-two, he tried to pass the puck across the crease, but a defenceman slid to block the pass only to see the puck dribble past Jakub Skarek at 18:26. Then, two quick and late goals. Urho Vaakanainen converted a rebound to the back side of Skarek on a power play, and then captain Aarne Talvitie jumped on a rebound in the slot at 19:14 to make it 4-1. Coach Vaclav Varada didn't even wait for the impending intermission to make a goalie change, pulling Skarek in favour of Jiri Patera with those 46 seconds remaining. The Finns made it 5-1 at 5:24 of the second when Talvitie scored on a rebound, again lax defence around the Czech goalie proving costly. "We were moving our legs really well," Virtanen explained. "We were first to pucks, got to rebounds, create scoring chances, and put them home." The rout seemed to be on, but then something strange happened. The Czechs refused to give up, and the rest of the second period was mirror opposite to the first. It was the Czechs who scored three times and dominated as the Finns were caught off guard by the lack of quit in their opponents. Filip Chytil made it 5-2 off a rebound at 7:02, and five minutes later Marek Skvrne made a fine solo dash, finishing with a deke and sliding the puck between Luukkonen's pads. Then, with only 1:25 left in the period, the Czechs scored on the power play when a point shot by Machala went all the way. The third was tense but the Czechs pressed, knowing they still needed a goal. It took most of the period, but they completed their comeback at 17:23 off an odd-man rush, Filip Zadina sliding the puck in front to Jan Hladonik. He eluded Kristian Vesalainen, fighting to get back on coverage, and tipped the puck in the open side. That made it 5-5, setting the stage for a wild finish in OT.

Incredible luck for Russia this is an absolute hearthbreaking moment for our guys...they deserved to win this match and fight fr medals..but sport is sometimes really really cruel...what a luck for Russia...this is insane

Thanks. Yes just found it in our sport site. Matej Poliak wow, this is really a surprise and apparently its already our 6th medal in Judo Europeans in history (0-3-3) . wow this is another surprise for me

MEN'S UNDER 18 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Relegation Round Match 1 (1) Belarus 2 - 0 Latvia (0) Period-by-Period: 0-0, 1-0, 1-0 April 20th 2016, h. 11:30, Arena Spisska Nova Ves, Spisska Nova Ves Belarus wins Game 1, 2-0 Latvia needs 2 straight wins to avoid relegation In the first game of the best-of-three relegation series, Belarus defeated Latvia 2-0. Vladislav Yeryomenko figured in on both Belarusian goals, while Andrei Grishenko made 17 saves for the shutout. At the other end, a busy Niklavs Rausa stopped 29 of 30 shots for Latvia. The first period was defensively played, with Belarus outshooting Latvia 6-5, but the only real scoring chance of the period didn’t get recorded as a shot - on a 2-on-1 rush, Artyom Anosov fired a pass from Sergei Sapogo off the goalpost. After the evenly played period, Belarus dominated the middle frame by outshooting Latvia 15-3. Rausa was brilliant in goal, however, and nearly kept the Belarusians off the scoresheet. The first goal of the game was finally scored with just over a minute to go in the period. From a faceoff in the Latvian zone, Yeryomenko’s point shot was stopped by Rausa, but Igor Martynov was there to sweep in the rebound. The Latvians tried to mount an offensive in the third period, but Belarus played tight defence and the chances they did have, they failed to capitalize on. Grishenko made perhaps his biggest save of the night halfway through the final period on a one-timer from Dennis Smirnovs. With a late power play, the Latvians pulled Rausa for a 6-on-4 advantage in the final minute, but Yeryomenko scored into the empty net to put the game away. Belarus is playing in its first IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship in the top division since hosting the event in Minsk in 2010, and now the team is one win away from returning to next year’s tournament in Russia. Latvia, meanwhile, is playing in the top division for the second straight year, but now must win two in a row to make it a third.

what ? who ? how but really, how ?

but still all 4 results were very close. 3 loses by 1 goal (2 of them even in overtime) and only one 2 goals margin defeat from the hosts. hard luck

wow thats super cool, never heard about him or any other slovak dressage competitor, only the girl competing at paralympic in paradressage. thanks for the info

Mens Under 18 Top Division World Championships 2017 in Poprad and Spišská Nová Ves (SVK) Day 7 Schedule (20th April 2017) GMT +2 Quarterfinals in Poprad 13:30 1A-4B Finland vs Czech Republic 17:30 2B-3A Russia vs Slovakia Quarterfinals in Spišská Nová Ves 15:30 2A-3B Canada vs Sweden 19:30 1B-4A United States vs Switzerland Relegation Round in Spišská Nová Ves 11:30 Match 1/3 (5B-5A) Belarus vs Latvia *Best of 3 Series, Match 1. Livestream Womens Division I Group A World Championships 2017 in Graz (AUT) Day 4 Schedule (20th April 2017) GMT +2 13:00 France vs Hungary 16:30 Denmark vs Norway 20:00 Austria vs Japan

Friendly Matches 19th April 2017 Mens Road to World Championships Slovakia - Finland 0-3 Italy - Kazakhstan 1-3 Another offensive disaster...from last 3 matches we scored only 1 goal !!! very mediocre offensive play..it´s clearly visible that the players themselves are totally frustrated by this situation...hopefully our potency will rise during the world championships but I am afraid I´m just beating a dead horse here...but well, we´ll see, the only positive thing is that it´s still only the preparation and results means absolutely nothing...but since the Day D is comming closer and closer, we know that a large amount of these players will go to Cologne, this is clear that we will have HUGE troubles this year with scoring goals..still there more than 2 weeks to complete team with some effective forwards..oh dear how much we will need them

Mens Under 18 Division I Group B World Championships 2017 in Bled (SLO) Day 4 (19th April 2017) GMT +2 13:00 Japan vs Poland 3-2 16:30 Slovenia vs Italy 3-1 20:00 Ukraine vs Austria 1-2

Mens Under 18 Division I Group B World Championships 2017 in Bled (SLO) Day 4 Schedule (19th April 2017) GMT +2 13:00 Japan vs Poland 16:30 Slovenia vs Italy 20:00 Ukraine vs Austria Livestream

MEN'S UNDER 18 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Group B Czech Republic 4 - 5OT Russia Period-by-Period: 1-1, 1-1, 2-2, OT: 0-1 April 18th 2016, h. 19:30, Arena Spisska Nova Ves, Spisska Nova Ves Group B Final Standing Nation P W(OTW) L(OTL) GF GA +/- Pt. United States 4 4(0) 0(0) 22 7 +15 12 Russia 4 3(1) 1(0) 16 11 +5 8 Sweden 4 2(0) 2(0) 8 12 -4 6 Czech Republic 4 1(0) 3(1) 15 17 -2 4 Belarus 4 0(0) 4(0) 7 21 -14 0 Russians edge Czechs in OT Russia 2nd, Sweden 3rd, Czechs 4th in Group B Mark Rubinchik's second goal and third point of the game gave Russia a 5-4 overtime win over the Czech Republic to finish Group B. However, overtime was the least dramatic part of the game, as the 4-4 finish to regulation time was enough to determine the final order of finish in Group B, with the Russians taking second place, Sweden third and the Czech Republic fourth. The Czechs led 4-3 late in the third period. That score would have been enough to lift them above Sweden and into third place. However, Kirill Maximov’s high shot from a sharp angle with 2:05 left in the third period changed everything. Even with a one-goal defeat, however, Russia still would have finished second. "It was never even a thought for us that we would be happy with losing by one goal," Russian captain Alexei Lipanov said. "We were here to win this game, that's it. We had a good attitude today." Regardless of what's at stake, a game between the Czechs and Russians rarely lacks emotion. With both teams safely in the quarter-finals but not knowing their exact placement in Group B, it was a highly spirited affair. As has been the case all tournament, the Czechs enjoyed home-like support from the fans in Spisska Nova Ves, and came out of the gate playing hard. However, it was the Russians who opened the scoring midway through the first period. After just 23 seconds of power play time, Rubinchik sent an armour-piercing blast from the point through a crowd and inside the far post. "Usually when you take a one-timer you're just trying to hit the puck squarely and make it go as hard as possible, but I kinda saw the open corner on the goalie," Rubinchik said. "There's always a bit of luck involved in every shot you take, but yeah, it went in and I'm happy." A few minutes later the Czechs got their first power play and momentum swung back their way. Zhukov made a big save off a one-time blast from Martin Necas, and then with Russia back at full strength the Czechs tied it. Jachym Kondelik with a nice backhand pass to send David Kvasnica in alone, and he beat Zhukov with a nifty backhand deke. The teams traded great scoring chances early in the second period, and then Russia regained the lead near the midpoint when Nikita Shashkov provided a beautiful tip of Veniamin Baranov’s long wrister - re-directing the low shot into the roof of the net. But four minutes later the Czechs tied it again when FIlip Chytil found Filip Zadina in the high slot, and he beat Zhukov with a quick wrister. "We could have won the game in regulation time, but we let them come back every time we took the lead," Rubinchik said. "For sure there are going to be changes, I know that. But we battled to the end so we're happy about that." The Russians very nearly took the lead for the third time in the dying seconds of the middle period when they broke into the zone 2-on-1. Andrei Svechnikov re-directed Ivan Chekhovich’s cross-ice pass, but Jiri Patera slid across and made and made a spectacular pad save. Instead, they re-took the lead in the third period period when Andrei Svechnikov fired a wrister from the high slot. The Czechs then got goals from Krystof Hrabik and Jan Kern to take the lead for the first time in the game with 11:20 left in regulation time. It looked like that would be the goal that vaulted the Czechs into third place before Maximov’s goal. Quarterfinals Pairing 1A-4B Finland vs Czech Republic 1B-4A United States vs Switzerland 2A-3B Canada vs Sweden 2B-3A Russia vs Slovakia

MEN'S UNDER 18 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Group A Switzerland 1 - 2 Slovakia Period-by-Period: 0-0, 1-1, 0-1 April 18th 2017, h. 19:30, Poprad Arena, Poprad Group A Final Standing Nation P W(OTW) L(OTL) GF GA +/- Pt. Finland 4 4(0) 0(0) 23 10 +13 12 Canada 4 3(1) 1(0) 18 13 +5 8 Slovakia 4 2(0) 2(1) 13 10 +3 7 Switzerland 4 1(0) 3(0) 9 14 -5 3 Latvia 4 0(0) 4(0) 3 19 -16 0 Slovaks win, finish third Loss sends Swiss to Spisska to face U.S. Slovakia rode the crest of a huge wave of fan support tonight to edge Switzerland, 2-1, to finish third in Group A standings. The Slovaks now will play Russia in the quarter-finals in Poprad while the Swiss must play the U.S. in Spisska Nova Ves. From the opening faceoff the game had a feeling of overtime to it. Both teams knew that to lose would mean a date with the United States on Thursday, not a favourable prospect. To win, a date with Russia or the Czechs was daunting, to be sure, but preferable all the same. "It was more about emotion tonight," said defenceman Marek Korencik, who set up the game-winning goal in the third, "but we won and that's about the character of the team." Coach Norbert Javorcik agreed. "In the first three games, I thought we showed a lot of skill," he said. "Tonight, we showed a lot of fight--we played with our hearts." Indeed, the Slovaks had an extra player on the ice all night long--the fans. "It's incredible," Korencik said. "They are so loud, but we understand what they are saying. This is something special. I love it! I thank them for this." "We wanted to win this game," declared Swiss forward Nico Hischier. "We came out strong, but I thought in the end I think the team that wanted it more won--and that was Slovakia. You have to be 100 per cent ready all game." Despite the pressure of the moment and some heavy hits after puck drop, tonight's game featured only two minor penalties, one to each team, and neither factored in the scoring. It took more than half the game to see a puck cross the goal line, but then fans were treated to two superb goals in quick succession. The first goal from the Slovaks was the result of an unbelievable series of checks by Adam Liska, who was on his stomach and on his knees as he outwitted not one, not two, but three Swiss players to keep the puck in the offensive zone. Finally, he scooped the puck to Adam Ruzicka who fired a quick pass to Milos Fafrak at the crease. Fafrak made a quick little deke and flipped the puck in at 11:20. But even as the sold-out arena was celebrating, the Swiss were creating a goal of their own. Coming in over the blue line on a three-on-three rush, Nico Hischier waited patiently and found Philipp Kurashev in front. He didn’t miss the wide open net. "I think both teams were nervous at first," Hischier said. "No one wanted ot make a mistake. In the second, we got more pucks to the net, and we were able to tie the game." The Slovaks struck for the next goal--the final goal--early in the third. Marek Korencik fired a long shot that was directed into the corner by goalie Akira Schmid, and Korencik chased after it. From the icing line he shot it at the net, and Jozef Balaz redirected the puck past a stunned goalie at 1:40. "In the intermission, we talked about being patient," Javorcik said. "We talked about believing in themselves."

Friendly Matches 18th April 2017 Mens Road to World Championships Hungary - Slovenia 3-5

Mens Under 18 Division I Group B World Championships 2017 in Bled (SLO) Day 3 (18th April 2017) GMT +2 13:00 Japan vs Ukraine 5-4 After OT 16:30 Poland vs Slovenia 0-2 20:00 Austria vs Italy 2-5