hckošice

MEN'S UNDER 18 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Group A Latvia 2 - 7 Finland Period-by-Period: 1-2, 1-3, 0-2 April 16th 2017, h. 19:30, Poprad Arena, Poprad Finns power along Ikonen's hat trick guides 7-2 win Latvia put up a good fight, tied the game 2-2 in the second, but in the end penalties were their undoing. In the end, the Finns improved to 3-0 with the win and Latvia dropped its third straight and now have a record of 0-3. "We had pretty high expectations for the tournament," Joni Ikonen said. "It's a good start for us, but we're not surprised." Latvia has a critical game against Slovakia tomorrow. If the Latvians win, they'll avoid the relegation round, but a Slovak win puts the hosts in the quarter-finals and sends Latvia to the best-of-three survival series. "Our goal coming into the tournament was to make the quarter-finals," said Latvia's captain, Deniss Smirnovs. "We still can make it if we win tomorrow. It's a big game." Finland concludes its round robin on Tuesday in a marquee matchup with Canada that might well decide first place in Group A. Joni Ikonen led the Finns tonight with three goals while Kristian Vesalainen had a goal and three assists. Four Finns lead the scoring parade, Vesalainen in front with eight points in just three games. Finland outshot Latvia, 44-16, but by the midway point of the game it was, 2-2. Power plays were the difference as the Finns scored four goals with the extra man. "We've played together for a lot of years, so we know each other," Ikonen said, explaining how the power play could be so effective with so little practise before the tournament. "It feels easy to play together." "We took too many penalties. That's it," admitted Smirnovs. "We had no discipline. I don't know why. Maybe we were a little tired. This was our third game in four days, all against very good teams." Latvia scored first at 11:59 on its first decent shot on goal. Eero Teravainen made an unwise pinch inside the Latvia blue line to give up an odd-man rush, and Ralfs Vjaters made a great pass to Edgars Petrovs in front. His shot squirted through the pads of Lassi Lehtinen. The Finns responded right away, though, scoring twice in less than a minute to take the lead. Miro Heiskanen had his shot blocked in front, but Urho Vaakanainen was there to snap home the rebound. Ikonen then got his first of the night off the rush, flying through the middle and whipping a long shot between the defencemen that beat Niklavs Rauza cleanly. Latvia made the game interesting when it got the tying goal midway through the second period. Finland turned the puck over at the Latvia blue line, and coming the other way Deniss Smirnovs made a nice feed to Rihards Paskausks, who backhanded a beauty past Lehtinen. No sooner had the Latvians tied the game, though, than they took two quick penalties, and Suomi struck. Enjoying a 5-on-3 for 1:34, they scored twice. Ikonen got the third Finland goal on a great one-timer, and 43 seconds later Jesse Ylonen knocked in a loose puck from the crease. "Those were big goals," Ikonen said. "We got some energy from those and played better after that." Ikonen added another power-play marker to complete the hat trick in the final minute to make it 5-2. Vesalainen added a sixth goal early in the third and Jesse Ylonen added another late in the period. "They scored on our mistakes in the first half of the game, but when we played better, we took control," Ikonen noted.

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

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

Friendly Matches 16th April 2017 Mens Road to World Championships Italy - Austria 0-2

MEN'S DIVISION III WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7th Place Match Bosnia and Herzegovina 0 - 5 United Arab Emirates Forfeited April 16th 2017, h. 10:00, Winter Sports Palace, Sofia 5th Place Match South Africa 7 - 3 Chinese Taipei Period-by-Period: 3-2, 3-0, 1-1 April 16th 2017, h. 12:30, Winter Sports Palace, Sofia Bronze Medal Match Hong Kong 3 - 14 Georgia Period-by-Period: 1-6, 1-3, 1-5 April 16th 2017, h. 16:00, Winter Sports Palace, Sofia Gold Medal Match Luxembourg 10 - 4 Bulgaria Period-by-Period: 3-3, 4-1, 3-0 April 16th 2017, h. 19:30, Winter Sports Palace, Sofia Luxembourg won the Mens Division III and for the first time in history qualify for a higher division, the Division II Group B tournament, where Luxembourg will replace Turkey relegated team from this years Division IIB played few weeks ago in New Zealand. Luxembourg managed to achieve this historic success thanks a perfect tournament, they won all matches, today in the grand final they even destroyed the host country. Incredible success for Luxembourg. Bravo. Bulgaria the host country has been clearly the top favorit to win the whole thing and return quickly back higher, The plan worked very well untill tonight. A true surprise came in this evening match with a shocking Bulgarian lose to Luxembourg, which means Bulgaria took the silver here and will have to retry their avance battle next year again. Another historic success, Georgia won their first ever IIHF world championships medal, a very valuable bronze for the Georgians. They won 3 of the 5 games in this tournament, they never won more than 2 matches during one tourney, but now they beat all their previous records. 4th Place for Hong Kong counting a 2-3 record during the tournament. 5th for South Africa with 3 wins a very nice result for the only African team participating in the IIHF world Championships, 6th finished Chinese Taipei signing 2 wins during their debut, 7th United Arab Emirates the only participating team that didn´t scored a single goal here. 8th and very last of this seasons Mens IIHF WCh program is ranked Bosnia and Herzegovina without playing a single minute, since they unfortunately announced their withdrawal from the tournament just few days before. All teams from 2nd to 8th place will play the lowest IIHF WCh tourney the Division III also next year. Once again Congrats Luxembourg !!! what an amazing stuff..really didn´t see that comming

Congrats to the medalists

Here it is. Highlights from yesterdays FANTASTIC match Canada - Slovakia at Under 18 World Championships in Slovakia. Oh Baby ! This is HOCKEY !!!! Fantastic play, Fantastic skills, Fantastic crowd..Simply a true oldie hockey just how we love it Enjoy !!!

Yesterday started the Slovak national championship final between Banská Bystrica and Nitra. Unfortunately HC Košice this year finished surprisingly their journey already in the quarterfinals...just the sign of a totally disastrous season Banská Bystrica won 4-1 and is now leading the best of 7 serie 1-0. Today the second match again In Banská Bytrica (the regular season winner) here the highlights of Game 1 and some vids about the atmosphere in Bystrica during yesterdays match

and Happy Easter to you all

lol noooo, when we were young we visited all our girls classmates etc...now it´s only about the family girls and womens but it´s still very hard to visit them all...for example my grandmother is always angry when I forget her or I don´t go to splash her (decently ofc) already first but she always reward me with some euros, so I rarely forget her

Tomorrow http://www.welcometobratislava.eu/traditional-easter-in-slovakia/ some pics https://www.google.sk/search?q=veselá+veľká+noc&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjw94uCnqjTAhXLWhoKHd0yDnwQsAQIJw&biw=1366&bih=659#tbm=isch&q=veľká+noc+oblievačka&imgrc=thQ8HWyTfwKYmM: you can find a tone of vids everywhere on youtube ..just put - Veľká noc - or - Oblievačka

Mens Division III World Championships 2017 in Sofia (BUL) Day 5 Schedule (16th April 2017) GMT +3 Last Day Gold Medal Match 19:30 Luxembourg vs Bulgaria Bronze Medal Match 16:00 Hong Kong vs Georgia 5th Place Match 12:30 South Africa vs Chinese Taipei 7th Place Match 10:00 United Arab Emirates vs Bosnia and Herzegovina 5-0 Forfeited *Only The winner of the Gold Medal Match Luxembourg vs Bulgaria will qualify for next years Mens Division II Group B Tournament. All other nations will stay in this Division III also for next year. Livestream Mens Under 18 Top Division World Championships 2017 in Poprad and Spišská Nová Ves (SVK) Day 4 Schedule (16th April 2017) GMT +2 Group A in Poprad 19:30 Latvia vs Finland Group B in Spišská Nová Ves 19:30 Belarus vs Sweden Livestream Mens Under 18 Division I Group B World Championships 2017 in Bled (SLO) Day 2 Schedule (16th April 2017) GMT +2 13:00 Ukraine vs Poland 16:30 Austria vs Slovenia 20:00 Japan vs Italy Livestream Womens Division I Group A World Championships 2017 in Graz (AUT) Day 2 Schedule (16th April 2017) GMT +2 13:00 Japan vs Denmark 16:30 France vs Norway 20:00 Austria vs Hungary

MEN'S UNDER 18 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Group B Sweden 3 - 2 Czech Republic Period-by-Period: 1-0, 1-1, 1-1 April 15th 2016, h. 19:30, Arena Spisska Nova Ves, Spisska Nova Ves Sweden win in Spisska Gustafsson gets winner for Sweden David Gustafsson's goal at 7:30 of the third broke a 2-2 tie and propelled Sweden to victory over the Czech Republic. The Swedes and Czechs now have indentical records of 1-1. Jacob Peterson scored just 3:40 into the game to stake the Swedes to the early lead. They had a sensational chance to increase that lead late in the period when the Czechs incurred two minor penalties on the same play. Despite a full two minutes of 5-on-3, however, the Swedes couldn't beat Czech goalie Jakub Skarek, who faced 19 shots in the period (to only five by the Czechs on Adam Ahman). Nevertheless, the Swedes struck early in the second to double their lead when Fabian Zetterlund scored just 35 seconds after the faceoff. The Czechs got to Ahman at 17:30 when Filip Zadina scored on the power play, and they tied the score at 6:08 of the third thanks to Jan Kern. Just 82 seconds later, however, Gustafsson scored what proved to be the winning goal.

MEN'S UNDER 18 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Group A Canada OT4 - 3 Slovakia Period-by-Period: 3-1, 0-1, 0-1, OT: 1-0 April 15th 2017, h. 19:30, Poprad Arena, Poprad Canada wins thriller in OT Mattheos scores the decisive goal Stylianos Mattheos snapped a hard wrist shot over the shoulder of Jakub Kostelny at 2:38 of overtime to give Canada a 4-3 win over Slovakia. "I came off the bench and saw McIsaac had the puck," Mattheos recounted. "I called for it and thought I saw a lane for the shot, so I took it, and it went in." Canada had struck for three late goals in the first period to erase a 1-0 deficit, but Slovakia scored two goals--late in the second and early in the third--to send the game to overtime. The hosts were spurred on by a sellout crowd of 4,318 that was supportive all night long. "It's kind of hard to focus sometimes when they're against you," Isaac Ratcliffe said, "but it also makes for an awesome atmosphere." "We have a lot of character," enthused defenceman Marek Korencik. "We lost by one goal to Finland and one goal to Canada. We have a good team, and our fans are amazing. We lost because we played badly for 90 seconds. That's it. I'm proud of this team. We were better than Canada, maybe. And Canada is something." The win moves Canada to 2-0 while the Slovaks have a single point with two losses (regulation and OT). This was not an easy win, and Slovakia certainly deserves all the credit in the world for playing their collective hearts out. For Canada, undisciplined play was the number-one feature of the game. Canada drew nine minors as well as a misconduct to Maxime Comtois in the first for shooting the puck between goalie Juraj Sklenar's pads long after a whistle. To the plus side, Canada's entire team blocked countless shots in front of Ian Scott. In the end, though, Slovakia might well have been the better team this night, save for a two-minute lapse at the end of the first. "They were a very strong team, and I don't think we were expecting that," Ratcliffe said. "We came out a little slow, but we got three quick goals, which was great." Canada had won all nine previous meetings at the U18 level, and the Slovaks had never scored more than two goals in a game. All that changed tonight as Slovakia earned its first ever point from Canada. "We can play better," Mattheos said. "We got better as the game went on, but we took way too many penalties. It's a bit of discipline, but the standards are also a little tighter, so we have to get used to that." The Slovaks whipped the crowd into a frenzy by scoring at 8:37 on a power play. Adam Ruzicka’s bad-angle shot was awkwardly stopped by Scott, but the puck rolled in behind him and Milos Roman was there to knock it over the goal line. Canada didn’t tie the score until a late flurry stunned the crowd into silence. It started at 18:18 when Mackenzie Entwistle skated down the left side and tried to pass in front. Sklenar got a stick on the puck, but it bounced in front anyway to Kyle Olson who snapped it in. Just 18 seconds later, Canada took the lead. Mattheos drove down the left wing and cut sharply in front untouched. He made a little deke on Sklenar and stuffed the puck in the far side. Then, with just eleven seconds remaining, Ratliffe collected a loose puck in centre ice after a block inside the Canadian blue line. He wired a hard shot over Sklenar’s glove from the top of the circle. "It was a great block by Jaret [Anderson-Dolan]," Ratcliffe recalled. "It was a character play, and I couldn't have scored without that block. I was able to grab the puck in the neutral zone and get a shot off. Luckily enough, it went in." The Slovaks got the only goal of the second, and deservedly so. They outskated Canada and drew several penalties and were rewarded at 16:34 on a great play from Roman. Driving down the left wing, he spotted Patrik Hrehorcak to the back side and fed him a hard pass. Hrehorcak wired a sleek one-timer past Scott to revive the crowd and make the third period all the more interesting. "We just wanted to keep going after the first," Korencik said. "We had 40 minutes left to play, so let's play!" It didn't take long for the game to take another turn. Adam Liska found a loose puck in the slot and snapped a shot off the far post past Scott at 2:38 to tie the game. The goal came short-handed and proved to be the goal that sent the game to a 3-on-3 overtime. "We got a little too comfortable when we got the 3-1 lead," Mattheos admitted. "But in the end we were on the penalty kill too long. It was good to get the win."

Womens Division I Group A World Championships 2017 in Graz (AUT) Day 1 (15th April 2017) GMT +2 13:00 Denmark vs France 1-0 16:30 Hungary vs Japan 0-1 20:00 Norway vs Austria 4-6

Friendly Matches 15th April 2017 Mens Road to World Championships Russia - France 6-0 Sweden - Latvia 3-4 After GWS Finland - Denmark 2-3 After OT Belarus - Germany 1-2 Slovakia - Switzerland 0-3 Once again the same ...we need desperately a scorer !!! this is the main problem of this preparation. we need some scorers to come, because this is just a tragedy, we play well, we outshoot opponents, but we can´t score even a single goal from million occasions..this is just frustrating...hopefully it will be better already in next camp. Next week 2 test matches against Finland in Bratislava and Košice. Looking forward to see who will be invited for the 3rd camp. Other Matches Great Britain - Poland 5-4 After GWS Slovenia - Kazakhstan 1-2 After GWS

Mens Under 18 Division I Group B World Championships 2017 in Bled (SLO) Day 1 (15th April 2017) GMT +2 13:00 Italy vs Ukraine 2-4 16:30 Slovenia vs Japan 10-0 20:00 Poland vs Austria 2-3 After OT

MEN'S DIVISION III WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5th-8th Places Semifinals South Africa 5 - 0 Bosnia and Herzegovina Forfeited April 15th 2017, h. 10:00, Winter Sports Palace, Sofia I Chinese Taipei 4 - 0 United Arab Emirates Period-by-Period: 3-0, 0-0, 1-0 April 15th 2017, h. 13:00, Winter Sports Palace, Sofia Semifinals Luxembourg 8 - 1 Hong Kong Period-by-Period: 3-0, 2-1, 3-0 April 15th 2017, h. 16:30, Winter Sports Palace, Sofia I Bulgaria 9 - 3 Georgia Period-by-Period: 4-0, 2-1, 3-2 April 15th 2017, h. 20:00, Winter Sports Palace, Sofia

First ever point against Canada in the U18 category

MEN'S UNDER 18 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Group B United States 5 - 4 Russia Period-by-Period: 0-1, 3-0, 2-3 April 15th 2016, h. 15:30, Arena Spisska Nova Ves, Spisska Nova Ves U.S. hangs on for 5-4 win Fierce Russian rally falls just short The United States jumped out to a 4-1 lead but had to hang on for a 5-4 win in Spisska Nova Ves this afternoon. The win keeps the Americans perfect at 2-0 while the Russians fall to 1-1. Ryan Poehling had two goals for the winners while teammate Sean Dhooghe chipped in with three assists. Dmitri Samorukov had a pair of goals for the Russians. Russia opened the scoring midway through the first period when Pavel Koltygin capitalized on a short-handed chance. The lead held up for more than 20 minutes as the Russians played a tactical game that frustrated the U.S. But patience paid off, and the Americans counted three goals in the final six minutes of the second. Grant Mismash tied the game at 13:57, and two and a half minutes later Poehling put his team up for good. He added a second goal, short-handed no less, in the final minute. But the order of the first two periods gave way to puck chaos in the third as the America s tried to distance themselves and the Russians fought back valiantly. Josh Norris made it 4-1 early, but Samorukov got his first of the night to cut the lead to two. Quinton Hughes made it 5-2 midway through the period, and the Americans perhaps felt the heat was off. Not so. Samorukov scored again with 3:27 remaining, and then Ivan Chekhovich made it 5-4 just 36 seconds later. That was as close as they got, though, and even with a sixth attacker in the final minute the Russians couldn't get the tying goal. Both teams have Easter Sunday off. The Americans play the Czechs on Monday afternoon, after which Russia and Belarus tangle.

MEN'S UNDER 18 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Group A Finland 5 - 1 Switzerland Period-by-Period: 2-0, 2-0, 1-1 April 15th 2017, h. 15:30, Poprad Arena, Poprad Fantastic Finns win, 5-1 Swiss no match for puck control of Suomi Finland moved to the top of Group A by beating the Swiss (1-1). Linus Nyman got off a plane and had two goals and assist for the winners. Linus Nyman pretty much came from the airport after an overnight flight from Canada to score the first two goals of the game and assist on another to lead Finland to a convincing win over Switzerland this afternoon in Poprad. Nyman's Kingston Frontenacs were swept by the Peterborough Petes in OHL playoff action on Thursday night, and Nyman was on a plane the next day to Slovakia. So was teammate Eemeli Rasanen, a defenceman. The rest of the team was also sensational today in defeating the Swiss soundly. "The first few minutes were tough, but then I got going," Nyman said. "It was tough going to the bigger ice," Rasanen admitted. "It's harder to close the gap and you have so much more time." Nyman opened the scoring at 7:28 on a power play when he was the third man in a nice tic-tac-toe passing play. Goalie Gianluca Zaetta tired to intercept Aarne Talvitie's pass to Nyman, but the Finn knocked in the puck from the top of the crease anyway. "I just went to the net as we were controlling the play, and I scored on the rebound," Nyman said. "It was a good feeling for me and big goal for the team." The Finns made it 2-0 late in the period thanks to some nice patience by Nyman. Carrying the puck and looking for a play, he drifted through the high slot, waited for a screen, and then fired a shot past Zaetta at 16:14. Suomi doubled its lead with two quick goals midway through the second period. On the first, it was sensational forechecking from Rasmus Kupari that created the chance. He hounded Nico Gross for several seconds before forcing a turnover, then made a nice pass to Jesperi Kotkaniemi in front. Kotkaniemi made no mistake with the point-blank shot. The nicest goal of the tournament so far came off the rush after an ill-adivsed Swiss pinch at the Finland blue line. Vesalainen brought the puck up ice, dished to Nyman inside the Swiss end, and Nyman made a crisp pass to Joni Ikonen, who redirected the puck quickly into the open side at 13:19, just 65 seconds after Kotkaniemi's goal. Nicolas Muller got the Swiss on the board at 7:40 of the third. After some nice puck movement by the Swiss, he banged in a rebound with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen down and out. Any hopes of a comeback, however, were dashed just 13 seconds later when Otto Latvala counted another one for the Finns. Finland next plays Latvia tomorrow while the Swiss have a day off before facing Canada on Monday night.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS 2016/2017 FRANCE LES RAPACES DE GAP 4th League Title ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Birds of Prey Gap wins Ligue Magnus; dethrones Rouen Despite a budget cut and many players leaving the Gap Rapaces improved and won the French Ligue Magnus. For the second time in three years the Gap Rapaces won the French Ligue Magnus. Three straight wins against last year’s champions Rouen were the key to a 4-2 series victory and having entered the top-5 of most successful French hockey teams in history. Located in the south-eastern part of France, neighbouring the Alps, Gap counts less than 50,000 inhabitants but its hockey team is working miracles carrying only the eighth-largest budget in the league (€1,3 million). Having already overtaken Grenoble and Chamonix, the Rapaces (birds of prey in French) have expanded their territory and are now battling further up north where giants Rouen Dragons have been a dominant force with seven titles in the last decade and a budget twice a high as Gap’s. Entering the playoffs as the top seed, Gap first disposed themselves of Epinal in four games and then outclassing Bordeaux in the last two games of the semi-final series. A tied series after four games was concluded with two convincing victories; 4-0 and 5-1 setting up a repeat of last year’s semi-final against third-seeded Rouen. The Dragons delivered the first punch by winning Game 1 in Gap in overtime; 3-2. The exact same result was on the scoreboard in Game 4. After both teams had exchanged victories, the Rapaces evened the series with an overtime win and gaining a huge confidence booster ahead of Game 5 on home ice. The all important fifth game was even for 40 minutes with both teams finding the net twice. Outshooting their opponents 19-5 in the third period, it was a miracle only Christian Isackson was able to put the puck behind a stellar Dany Sabourin. Yet the narrow victory came fully deserved. The first period of game six was a true roller coaster for Rouen. The Dragons took a 1-0 lead after just 19 seconds thanks to a Marc-Andre Thinel forcing the puck across the line but then fell behind within 15 minutes and also saw goaltender Sabourin being expelled from the game with a game misconduct for a challenge of Maurin Bouvet. The Canadian veteran was replaced by Quentin Papillon, who on this exact day was celebrating his 20th birthday. Although he played admirably well, the young French goaltender wasn’t given the birthday present he had hoped for. Despite a ferocious second period in which Rouen limited Gap to just a single shot on goal, it was Gap forward Cedric di Dio Balsamo, who was lethal with the one shot. The goal restored the lead after Francois-Pierre Guenette had tied the game up midway the second period with a power play goal. Entering the final period with a one-goal lead, Gap was playing conservatively while Rouen lacked the tools to break open the tight defence. In the dying moments with the net empty it was Christian Isackson again who put the dagger into the dragon’s heart by converting an empty net opportunity with 12 seconds left to play. “We were too inconsistent this season,” admitted Rouen’s head coach Fabrice Lhenry. “We will have to improve in that area next season in order to be successful. Gap was a consistent force all season and deservedly has won this title.” Gap forward Anthony Rech was voted the playoff MVP after already having won the same title for the regular season. In the post season he scored 11 goals and 20 points in just 14 games. Not awarded for his achievement but being influential for this year’s success was goaltender Clement “Fouky” Fouquerel. Not only did he post the best goals against average totals (2.45) but he also boasted the highest save percentage with 90.7%. A third pillar behind the rise of the birds is not to be found on the ice but behind the bench. Italo-Canadian coach Luciano Basile is quickly making a name for himself in the world of hockey having now captured three French league titles in four years’ time. Twice he won the title with Gap (2015 and 2017) while he also led Briancon to its last title in 2014. Despite the success, Basile will be leaving the team as he had announced his departure earlier this season. “The departure of 18 players of last year’s squad proved to be a blessing in disguise,” said Basile. “When working with a limited budget there’s no option to plan for the long term. It does allow me to rebuild and select young French players who believe in my project that is aimed to win. Add to that the special qualities of North American college and university players who always possess great leadership and determination to win and the foundation to a solid squad that plays a modern and aggressive game are set.” The coach remains modest about his own achievements but is speaking his pride of his team that continued to perform despite the message that their coach would leave after this season. “The players could have responded negatively, but there were no signs of the team being demoralized but they all showed character all the way until the end. This group has been given me so much pleasure to coach.” While Gap’s top players like Patrick McEachen, Sean Ringrose, Fouquerel and Rech have signed or will most likely sign elsewhere, Basile does not yet know where he’ll be coaching next season. Basile: “Time will tell. I do not regret my decision. I have always enjoyed working with a tight budget as it forced me to go beyond my limits.” Birds were not given wings to sit in a tree and observe. They should use what was given to them to the fullest. The birds from Gap have shown what that could lead to.

WOMEN'S DIVISION I GROUP B WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Slovakia bounces back Women win promotion at first attempt The Slovak women’s national team celebrates winning the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship Division I Group B after a victory in the deciding game against Latvia. Slovakia’s women recovered from last year’s relegation to take gold in the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship Division I Group B. A comprehensive 8-0 victory over Latvia in Friday’s decisive game saw Andrej Schober’s team secure top spot and an immediate return to Division IA. For Latvia, it was another season of frustration. Last time, in Italy, the Baltic nation came second behind Hungary; this time, despite remaining in contention until the final day, it was again unable to secure top spot and promotion. Friday’s showdown between Slovakia and Latvia also promised to be a shootout between Nicol Cupkova and Liga Miljone, the two players in contention for the leading goalscorer prize. The pair came into the game tied on five goals apiece, although Latvia’s Miljone was four points up thanks to her handful of assists throughout the tournament. With two goals and three assists, Cupkova ended the competition as the top goal- and point-scorer. The 24-year-old, who plays for Agidel Ufa in Russia’s Women’s Hockey League, wasted little time in moving ahead on the goal tally, opening the scoring in the fifth minute. Iveta Fruhauf forced a turnover out on the boards, Cupkova took over the loose puck and rushed to the net to beat Kristiana Apsite from close range. That set the tone for the game. Slovakia was clinical when opportunities came its way; Latvia struggled to carve out clear chances of its own. Cupkova was an influential presence on offence throughout the game. The second goal, scored by Viktoria Ihnatova in the 27th minute, began with Cupkova’s rush round the back to stretch the Latvian penalty kill. Two unassisted goals followed, with Cupkova’s linemate Jana Kapustova adding a third before Fruhauf thumped in a fourth from the blue line to put the outcome beyond doubt with almost half the game still to play. Cupkova got her second of the night – and her seventh of the competition – to make it 5-0 before the second intermission. She showed some lovely skills to get past her opponent, only for Apsite’s pads to block the initial effort. But the puck bounced for Kapustova whose pass found Cupkova wide open at the back door. Two further assists in the final stanza lifted Cupkova to 7+4=11 points, topping the scoring for the tournament. Ihnatova and Lucia Drabekova were the beneficiaries of her helpers as Slovakia’s lead grew. Viktoria Maskalova added an eighth to wrap up the scoring in the 56th minute, while goalie Romana Kiapesova had 14 saves for her first shut-out of the tournament. Kazakhstan finished second, separating Slovakia and Latvia. This was an improvement on its bronze from 12 months earlier. The silver medallist had a frustrating tournament, defeating both of the teams that contested the decisive Friday showdown, but missing out on a shot at gold due to a slow start that saw losses against China (0-2) and Poland (3-4 in a shoot-out) in the opening two games before Alexander Maltsev’s team hit its stride. The battle to avoid last place and potential relegation went down to the final game, with host nation Poland needing to beat China in regulation to move up from last place. The Chinese, looking to capitalize on a sudden flurry of interest in ice hockey in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics, had other ideas. Di Deng dominated as her team fired in four unanswered second period goals to secure fourth place ahead of Italy and Poland. Results Thread

Tomorrow another very busy IIHF WCh day, the Mens U18 Top Division continue with another 4 games, also the Mens Divison III has in it´s schedule a important first knockout phase day. And tomorrow will start also 2 new tournaments. Bled in Slovenia will host just 2 days after the end of the mens U18 Div IA another tourney this time a championship in which they will also participate the Mens Under 18 Division I Group B. 6 Nations and will battle for the only available spot for the Mens Under 18 division IA next year and to avoid last place and the relegation to the Mens Under 18 Division II Group A. Also the very last womens IIHF this seasons world championship tournament will start tomorrow in Austria, the womens Division I group A. 6 Nations and will play for the 1st place and promotion to the Womens next year top division, and to avoid last place and relegation to the next years Womens Division I Group B tournament as well. Mens Division III World Championships 2017 in Sofia (BUL) Day 4 Schedule (15th April 2017) GMT +3 Semifinals 16:30 1B-2A Luxembourg vs Hong Kong 20:00 1A-2B Bulgaria vs Georgia 5th-8th Places Semifinals 10:00 3B-4A South Africa vs Bosnia and Herzegovina 5-0 Forfeited 13:00 3A-4B Chinese Taipei vs United Arab Emirates Livestream Mens Under 18 Top Division World Championships 2017 in Poprad and Spišská Nová Ves (SVK) Day 3 Schedule (15th April 2017) GMT +2 Group A in Poprad 15:30 Finland vs Switzerland 19:30 Canada vs Slovakia Group B in Spišská Nová Ves 15:30 United States vs Russia 19:30 Sweden vs Czech Republic Livestream Mens Under 18 Division I Group B World Championships 2017 in Bled (SLO) Day 1 Schedule (15th April 2017) GMT +2 13:00 Italy vs Ukraine 16:30 Slovenia vs Japan 20:00 Poland vs Austria *Tournament Format: 6 Nations will play a usual Round-Robin Tournament, The 1st Ranked Nation will be promoted to the Mens Under 18 Division I Group A next year where they will replace Hungary relegated from this years U18 mens Division IA tournament played last week also in Bled. The 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th ranked nation will have to stay in this division also next year. The 6th ranked Nation will be relegated to the Mens Under 18 Division II Group A tournament next year where they will replace Romania promoted nation from this years U18 mens Div IIA tournament played few weeks ago in South Korea. Livestream Womens Division I Group A World Championships 2017 in Graz (AUT) Day 1 Schedule (15th April 2017) GMT +2 13:00 Denmark vs France 16:30 Hungary vs Japan 20:00 Norway vs Austria *Tournament Format: 6 Nations will play a usual Round-Robin Tournament, The 1st Ranked Nation will be promoted to the Womens Top Division next year where they will replace Czech Republic relegated from this years Womens Top Division World Championships played few weeks ago in United States. The 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th ranked nation will have to stay in this division also for the next year. The 6th ranked Nation will be relegated to the Womens Division I Group B tournament next year where they will replace Slovakia promoted nation from this years Womens Div IB tournament which finished just today in Poland.

Friendly Matches 14th April 2017 Mens Road to World Championships Sweden - Latvia 4-1 Belarus - Germany 3-1 Other Matches Great Britain - Poland 1-4