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Gold’n Orange Dutch remain unbeaten, back to Division I The Netherlands players listen to the national anthem after winning the last game against Belgium and the tournament One year after being relegated from the Division I, the Netherlands are back. The Dutch team did not slip up at the 2016 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division II Group A and claimed the gold winning all five games. Although predicted by many as clear tournament favourites, the Netherlands travelled to Spain with an inexperienced squad as many players were not available for selection due to club team commitments. The main ‘culprit’ being the Tilburg Trappers, who made the switch to the third-tier German Oberliga this season and have advanced to the league finals which start today. It automatically meaned head coach Chris Eimers could put a cross through 12 names of the team that donned the orange jersey last year. “It was a weird built-up to this tournament,” reveals Eimers. “We didn’t know who we could select as these playoffs were ongoing. We always had a backup plan in place.” A plan that included a string of inexperienced players that had yet to make their debut in the national team. One of them was 31-year-old forward Jasper Kick from HYS The Hague, who was obviously delighted after having received his gold medal. Kick: “It is great to experience this. I never had expected to be called up at my age. The coach is giving me so much confidence and he knows what I am capable of for this team.” Asked if he expects to be around next year, Kick responded honestly: “I have to be realistic and admit there’s many better forwards then me in the Netherlands, so I shouldn’t be selected if the other players are available. However, I will always be ready when I’m being called upon.” The tournament started off well for the Dutch, claiming a 3-2 morale boosting victory over a pesky Serbian side. On the second day an upset was in the making as hosts Spain took a cheeky 2-0 lead going into the final period but the Netherlands recovered and skated away with a 3-2 win in overtime. “A good start is vital if you want to perform well during such a short tournament,” Chris Eimers said. “It builds trust and confidence instead of having to run behind the eight ball. We didn’t convert on our power plays against Spain and had a poor second period. But we were back on our feet in the third period and played up to our standards, which eventually led us to victory.” After a modest but rock-solid win over Iceland (3-0), the Dutch offence started to click in the final two games. Boosted by the arrival of Nardo Nagtzaam, who had just won the Slovenian championship, the Dutch steamrolled China (9-0) before being able to lock first place in the group with a convincing 6-2 win over neighbours Belgium. Not surprisingly, the Netherlands were well presented in the individual statistics lists. Forwards Kevin Bruijsten and Julian van Lijden each had five goals while defenceman Erik Tummers was honoured the tournament’s top scorer title with a goal and eight assists. Goaltender Sjoerd Idzenga was dominant in net with a Goals Against Average of 1.28 and a save percentage of 94.83%. “The difference between Division I and Division II is gigantic. No offence to the squad who captured gold here and of which I’m extremely proud, but we need better players to compete in Division I,” said Eimers after the game. “I know it sounds odd having just been promoted from Division II, but I honestly believe that if the Dutch Ice Hockey Federation can create the right environment for our top hockey players to develop and practise and we can have our best players available, the Dutch can compete in the top of Division IB or perhaps even lower half of Division IA.” Hosts Spain set a questionable record of having won a silver at every IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship tournament this year. After the U20, U18 and women’s team, also the men’s team became second-best in the group with nine points due to losing the key game against the Netherlands in overtime. A silver medal is what Belgium would have loved to get. Having gone unbeaten during the first three games, the team looked to be threatening the Dutch for gold. A 4-1 loss against Spain on Day 4 rocked their boat and after today’s loss against their northern neighbours the Belgians had to settle for bronze. At the other end of the table, China was relegated back to Division II Group B having gone winless in all five games while Iceland and Serbia managed to stay. The smooth-skating Asians played some decent hockey during the tournament but fell short in the end. They managed to keep Spain at bay until the last five minutes and forced Belgium to overtime. China required a win over Serbia on the final day to keep their hopes of staying up alive but they left the ice with a 3-0 loss against the Serbs who claimed the fourth place just above Iceland.

Belarus moves up U18 team beats Germany 5-3 in final for promotion Let the party begin! The Belarusian U18 national team won the deciding game against Germany on home ice 5-3 to earn promotion to the top division The Belarusian U18 national team moves up to the top division for the first time since 2010 after winning the 2016 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship Division I Group A thanks to a 5-3 victory against eventual silver-medallist Germany. Kazakhstan took the bronze medals ahead of France and Norway while Austria was relegated. Germany entered the last day as the leader with 11 points while host nation Belarus had 9 points from the first four games on its account. Germany scored three markers in the final period to start with a 6-3 win against Norway, edged Austria 2-0, beat Kazakhstan 4-3 in overtime and earned a 5-3 victory in a difficult game with France to set up a final for promotion with Belarus. Belarus had a similarly good start. The squad of Yuri Faikov beat Kazakhstan 5-2 thanks to three goals in the last period, then the hosts had a confident 6-3 win against Norway, edged France 3-2 and suffered a 5-4 loss to Austria. That's why the hosts were in a less comfortable situation before the last game. Germany just needed a point from a win or a tie after 60 minutes but Belarus needed to beat Germany in regulation time to claim the tournament win and promotion. But eventually the loss to Austria didn’t change that much – to win the tournament one team needed to be better than the other. And what a game it was! “It's difficult to play bad when you have such support as we had today. We realized the whole country was looking on us and remembered well about it,” Belarus head coach Yuri Faikov said. “The lesson from the game with Austria was in players’ heads. They knew we had to be ready to show our best hockey and stick to the system.” Germany coach Rick Boehm was just as impressed about the atmosphere. “The home-team situation definitely helped Belarus with the great and positive fan support they had here. That gave them extra energy. They were fortunate enough to score the first goal which was important since all games here were very close,” he said after the game. Going into the last game, Germany had its biggest advantage in the net. The two goalies Mirko Pantkowski (92,68%) and Jonas Steinmann (90,48%) were leading the tournament in save percentage. Pantkowski got the start against Belarus while Dmitri Rodik was in the net for the host team that had the better start. The hosts scored two quick goals within 94 seconds. Captain Maxim Sushko capitalized on a breakaway and set up Igor Martynov’s 1-0 goal. At 4:48 a great shot of Ilya Litvinov went into the net to make it a two-goal lead. The atmosphere at the Chizhovka Arena was incredible. 9,200 spectators filled the arena that was built as second venue of the 2014 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. But before the first intermission Niklas Postel used his chance one-on-one in front of the goalie to cut the lead. It was his second goal and the tournament-leading eighth point for him. Both teams had a lot of traffic around the goal crease in the second frame. Belarus was again the team to score first through Leonid Ivanoski’s shot on a man advantage. 87 seconds later Charlie Jahnke one-timed the puck after a nice assist from Timo Walther. The teams took many penalties and while playing 4-on-3 the Germans tied the game at three through a shot from Christoph Kiefersauer. “I think we were well prepared to play the game but we did start poorly. Belarus came out in the first period so much stronger and got a two-goal lead. Our team showed a great deal of character to come back, we tied 3-3 but in the last period Belarus had more scoring chances and deserved the victory,” Germany coach Boehm said. “They played well, they played clever, they didn’t give us a great deal of scoring chances.” Early in the third period it was again Faikov’s team that took the lead. Sergei Pishuk entered the game sheet with the game-winner at 4:01 and with 1:48 left in regulation time, even before Germany was able to pull the goalie, Martynov scored his second goal of the night to seal the win for Belarus, 5-3! “Before the tournament we understood that each game was a final. I'm glad with the team and our performance. The main reason for the win was that the players believed in the system. And we believed in the guys,” Faikov said. Thanks to the tournament victory the Belarusian U18 national team will compete in the top division for the eighth time in history. The 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship will take place in the Slovak towns of Poprad and Spisska Nova Ves from 13 to 23 April 2017. Germany, which came down from the top division last year, had to settle for the silver medals. “We were very satisfied with how the team played and how the team presented itself on and off the ice. We were in position to win the tournament on the last day. That was our goal. But we didn’t reach it,” Boehm said. “But overall we were happy how the team played and about the excellent organization of the tournament.” Kazakhstan beat Austria 5-2 on the last day and secured the bronze medals ahead of France (4th) and Norway (5th). Last-ranked Austria is relegated to next year’s Division I Group B. The individual awards were given to Germany’s Mirko Pantkowski as best goaltender, Vladislav Martynyuk from Belarus as best defenceman and Sayan Daniyar from Kazakhstan as best forward.

Canada overpowers Danes Kyrou pots four in game delayed by power outage Canada's Maxime Comtois #12 celebrates after a second period goal against Denmark's Mads-Emil Gransoe #20 during preliminary round action at the 2016 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship Despite a 45-minute power outage between the first and second periods, Canada didn’t lose its energy in its opening 10-2 win over Denmark on Friday. Jordan Kyrou led the way with four goals. That tied the single-game U18 record, which he now shares with Russia's Alexander Ovechkin and Slovakia's Marian Gaborik, among others. "Obviously that’s a great feeling," said Kyrou. "I didn’t think that was true, but I guess it is. Obviously I’m just really excited, and happy for the team." Tyson Jost had two goals and three assists, and William Bitten had a goal and two assists. Beck Malenstyn, Maxime Comtois, and Mason Shaw also scored for Canada. Dante Fabbro had three assists. Nearly every Canadian chipped in offensively. There are few instances in international hockey history of the lights going out at the venue. The infamous “Piestany Punchup” at the 1987 World Juniors in Czechoslovakia saw local officials turn out the lights while Canada and the Soviet Union brawled, with both teams incurring lengthy IIHF suspensions. But this was totally different. The power outage affected the greater Grand Forks area in addition to the Ralph Engelstad Arena. "That doesn’t happen too often," said Jost, the Canadian captain who has committed to playing at the University of North Dakota next season. "Some guys were giving me the gears: ‘What the heck’s going on, Jost? Why are the lights going off in your rink?’ There were some good laughs. I was really proud of how we responded and bounced back after that." Fans of both teams waited patiently and graciously, and play resumed at 21:00 local time. So it wasn't really one of the darkest moments in IIHF history. Jacob Schmidt-Svejstrup and Joachim Blichfeldt scored for Denmark. "We came out in the first period and we were all excited about playing Canada and everything," said Schmidt-Svejstrup. "Suddenly it’s 2-2 and we thought we had a chance. We just saw Latvia almost beat Sweden, so you never know. Then there was that big break. I actually thought we were going to go out and be ready, but they went out and they scored three quick goals. It was kind of downhill from there." Canadian goalie Stuart Skinner had an easy night as his team outshot Denmark 51-9. On February 12, 1949, Canada recorded the most lopsided victory in IIHF World Championship history, beating Denmark 47-0. Times have changed, and the Danes often give Canada a good battle at the senior level now. But at the U18 level, Canada's depth is harder to combat, and it showed here. Canada opened the scoring on its first shot at 1:05. Stanley sent a soft one from the left point that Kyrou tipped through Danish starter Mads-Emil Gransoe’s pads. Just 26 seconds later, Malenstyn made it 2-0. He attempted a backhand pass on the rush that bounced back to him off defenceman Daniel Andersen, and then put the puck into the open short side. The Danes temporarily bounced back with two quick goals of their own. At 5:31, Daniel Nielsen came down the right side and dished it to Schmidt-Svejstrup, who powered a low drive inside Skinner’s right post. At 6:10, Blichfeldt scored his second power play goal of the tournament just 12 seconds into Denmark’s first man advantage on a rising shot. Despite outshooting Denmark 18-5 in the first period, Canada couldn’t pull ahead. But the tide would turn after the blackout delay. "Our training staff did a great job with us," explained Jost. "They got some nutrition in us and we hopped on the bikes. Took off our skates and then we did a little dynamic warm-up. Then it also helped that we got that on-ice warm-up for six or seven minutes there." Canada got right back to work in Period Two. It took just 27 seconds for Kyrou to enter the Danish zone and whiz one high past Gransoe. The Canadians went up 4-2 on a flukey play at 6:30. Comtois centred the puck from behind the net and it went in off Denmark's Nikolaj Krag as he slid into his own netminder. It was 5-2 on the power play at 7:21 when Shaw moved into the slot and tipped Pascal Laberge's shot home. Another power play goal at 7:55 made it 6-2, as Bitten banged a rebound past goalie Kasper Krog, who briefly stepped in to replace Gransoe. Kyrou parked himself on the doorstep and backhanded in a loose puck for the seventh Canadian goal at 14:13. Gransoe was back in net now. In the third period, Kyrou notched his fourth on another close-range play at 4:26. Jost added goals 3:40 apart in the last half of the third to round out the scoring at 10-2. "I loved it," said Jost of Kyrou's four-goal outing. "He’s a special player and he’s a great guy off the ice too. Whenever you see someone like that have that kind of success, you can’t feel anything but happy for him." Next up for Canada is the Czech Republic on Saturday. Denmark faces Finland on Sunday. "The goal is to build on the things we did well tonight," said Canadian coach Shaun Clouston. "Play as a team, play as a group of five on the ice. Make sure we do a good job through the neutral zone." "I feel like we have to put it behind us," said Schmidt-Svejstrup of this shellacking. "We have an hour-long skate tomorrow. We’ll work on some stuff, and then maybe we can get something going against the Finns."

Denmark - Canada 2-10

Swedes squeak past Latvia Mitens valiant in net, but can't stop Moverare The puck gets past Latvia's Mareks Mitens #30 in the first period while Regnars Udris #4, Silvestrs Selickis #24, and Sweden's Rickard Hugg #15 looks on during preliminary round action at the 2016 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship. Jacob Moverare scored with 24 seconds left in overtime to lift Sweden to a 4-3 win over underdog Latvia. Dodging a bullet, Sweden outshot Latvia 47-15. Moverare's goal came from a bad angle to the right of Latvian goalie Mareks Mitens. It spoiled an otherwise virtuoso performance between the pipes by Mitens in his U18 debut, reminiscent in a way of what Kristers Gudlevskis did versus Canada in Latvia's 2-1 loss in the 2014 Olympic quarter-final. "It was really hard and completely painful at the end," said Mitens. "Probably the most painful thing. I’m really tired now. Thanks to our guys – they were battling till the end." Jesper Bratt, Adam Tilander, and Alexander Nylander also scored for Sweden. Nylander tied the game with just 19 seconds left in regulation. Of the Latvians, Nylander said: "They were really good at blocking our shots and we didn’t really get our pucks to the net, which probably gave them a little bit of energy. " Erlends Klavins, Valters Apfelbaums, and Tomass Zeile scored for Latvia, which managed to stay in the game despite its huge territorial disadvantage, and then popped two goals in the third period to pull ahead temporarily. The Swedes won silver each year from 2010 to 2012. They have never won U18 gold. Latvia finished ninth last year, matching its all-time high from 2010 and 2012. "We have a system that we play and today it worked out," said top Swedish defenceman Timothy Liljegren. "But I think maybe we should have done more goals. It feels good to get two points." The blue-and-yellow team got off to a quick start on Friday at the Ralph Engelstad Arena. Everything looked fine and dandy early on for coach Torgny Bendelin's crew. At 1:26, Sweden opened the scoring on a dazzling solo rush by Bratt. After evading the defence and sifting the puck through Mitens’ legs, he twirled his stick in celebration. At 9:28, Tilander made it 2-0 on the power play, hammering a drive from the right faceoff circle past the goalie’s blocker. It took Latvia nearly 18 minutes into the first period to register its first shot on goal. Mitens made several fine saves before the buzzer to keep it close. Mitens foiled Bratt on a Swedish 2-on-1 early in the second period. Hanging around sometimes pays off. Could the Latvians come back? On the rush, Pauls Svars fed Klavins and he got his second goal of the tournament with a sweet backhand deke, beating Swedish goalie Filip Larsson to make it 2-1 at 9:06. With two unassisted goals early in the third period, Latvia shocked the crowd by taking the lead. Just 50 seconds in, Apfelbaums circled to the hash marks and flung a wrister past Larsson's blocker. "It’s an amazing feeling when we tied the game," said Mitens. "Probably one of the best feelings you can have." Then Latvia jumped into a 3-2 lead at 3:16. Zeile, the Latvian captain, caught the Swedish defence backing in and scored, once again on the blocker side. Excited and energized, the Latvians started buzzing the Swedish net. The Swedes called a time out at 7:53 to restrategize. Larsson made a great left pad save on Emils Ezitis midway through the period to keep it a one-goal game. The Swedes pulled their netminder with 1:10 left, and it paid off. Nylander one-timed a slap shot from the left faceoff circle to tie it up. There were marvelous chances to win it in overtime. Nylander put one off the crossbar with Sweden on a 4-on-3 man advantage. On a give-and-go, Renars Krastenbergs missed a wide-open net as he fell to his knees. Sweden will face the powerhouse Americans on Saturday, while the Latvians get the host nation on Sunday. "Maybe we came out a little bad in this game, but I think we’ll come out better against the U.S.," said Liljegren. "We’ll fight till the end," said Mitens. "We don’t have anything to lose." The only previous World U18 Championship encounter between Sweden and Latvia was on April 15, 2012. Sweden beat Latvia 3-1.

Sweden - Latvia 4-3 (OT)

Updated as of April 15th, 2016

ROAD TO IIHF MEN´S ICE HOCKEY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2016 FRIENDLY MATCHES Hungary 4 - 0 Austria (Score by Period: 3-0, 1-0, 0-0) 15th April 2016, h. 18:00 (GMT +2) Latvia (GWS)3 - 2 Belarus (Score by Period: 1-1, 0-1, 1-0, OT: 0-0, GWS: 1-0) 15th April 2016, h. 17:30 (GMT +3) Norway 0 - 3 Finland (Score by Period: 0-1, 0-1, 0-1) 15th April 2016, h. 19:00 (GMT +2) France 2 - 5 Denmark (Score by Period: 1-0, 0-2, 1-3) 15th April 2016, h. 20:00 (GMT +2) Switzerland 1 - 2(OT) Czech Republic (Score by Period: 0-1, 0-0, 1-0, OT: 0-1) 15th April 2016, h. 20:15 (GMT +2)

Barbora this is becomming to be really depresive... for London 2012 she lost the final olympic qualification match in 7th set 10-12, 4 years later she lost the final olympic qualification match in 7th set 9-11... some peoples just haven´t the olympics in their destiny

Wrestling FS -57kg +1 +1 Wrestling FS -65kg +1 +1 Wrestling GR -59kg +1 +1 Wrestling GR -66kg +1 +1 Wrestling FS -48kg +1 +1 Wrestling FS -53kg +1 +1

FINA should at first investigate who of their geniuses invented those idiotic tiebreaker rules

U.S. thumps Russia Keller, Yamamoto shine in lopsided win USA's Clayton Keller #19 scores a first period goal on this shot against Russia's Maxim Zhukov #30 during preliminary round action at the 2016 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship Home sweet home. The U.S. started the 2016 U18 tournament off right, pounding Russia 8-2 to the delight of the home fans in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Kailer Yamamoto stepped up with two goals and two assists, and Clayton Keller had two goals and an assist. Logan Brown potted a goal and an assist. William Lockwood, Kieffer Bellows, and Joey Anderson all scored one apiece. Defenceman Chad Krys had two helpers. "Being the first game, there’s always emotion and you come out excited," said head coach Danton Cole. "I thought they did well." Bottom line: it’s going to be tough for anyone to knock off the defending champions. Relying on the depth and talent of their National Team Development Program, the Americans have won six out of the last seven U18 tournaments. They're shooting for their third straight title here. "It was a good game," said Yamamoto. "Russia definitely played their hearts out. I think we got a couple of flukey goals in the third period. It’s just good to get the win." Yaroslav Alexeyev and Ivan Kozlov replied for Russia, which was outshot 45-22. The Russians have sent an inexperienced and little-known roster to this tournament, consisting largely of U17 players. Only three players on the team are 1998-born. Russia has won the U18 three times (2001, 2004, 2007), but looks like a long shot to repeat the feat this year. "We’re a young team, obviously," said top 1998-born defenceman Mikhail Sergyachov. "We didn’t do a lot in the offensive zone, and in the defensive zone we didn’t play our structure. But we were trying. We’re trying to improve ourselves and show ourselves, do something." Keller opened the scoring unassisted at 3:44, racing in and releasing a low shot that squeezed past the right pad of Russian starter Maxim Zhukov. Just 44 seconds later, the U.S. jumped into a 2-0 lead. Trent Frederic dished a backhanded saucer pass to Sanchez, who scored high to the stick side. Russia promptly cut the deficit to 2-1. At 5:17, after Dmitri Samurokov came in off the center point and fired a shot, Alexeyev converted the rebound from in tight. Zhukov had to be sharp to foil Brown on a clear-cut break with just over seven minutes left in the first period. Sanchez nearly gave the Americans a two-goal lead when he zinged one off the crossbar early in the middle frame. Russia came right back down the ice, and Kozlov made it 2-2 at 2:21 when he surprised U.S. goalie Jake Oettinger with a wrap-around goal. The U.S continued to come on strong, with Keller testing Zhukov from different angles. Chants of “USA! USA!” rose from the stands. Mistakes would prove to be Russia's undoing. At 16:18, Keller made it 3-2, cutting down the right side and fooling Zhukov with a bad-angle backhander from the goal line. "That guy, I don’t know how he does it, on the bench," Yamamoto said admiringly of Keller. "I’m still speechless from the game, from what he’s done out there." It only took another 14 seconds for Bellows to stretch the gap to 4-2, as he busted in alone and slid it through the goalie’s pads. In the third period, Yamamoto put the game out of reach, getting the 5-2 tally at 6:19 during a goal mouth scramble. "I think he was getting a little bit tired in there and we took advantage of that," said Yamamoto of the Russian goalie. "It was good." Defenceman Mikhail Kozlov was unable to move Anderson from the front of the net, and the American assistant captain lifted home a power play rebound to make it 6-2 at 7:30. Yamamoto got the seventh U.S. goal with a man advantage marker, as Russian blueliner Alexander Alexeyev inadvertently tipped the puck past his own netminder. Zhukov was relieved by backup Danil Tarasov for the rest of the game. "Kailer played a great game," said Cole. "He’s a warrior. He’s not the biggest guy out there, but he’s in front of the net and he’s scoring goals there and he’s making plays." Brown rounded out the scoring with six minutes left. Before the game, an opening ceremony with youngsters brandishing the flags of the 10 competing nations took place. Tournament chairman Frank Gonzalez declared the 2018 IIHF U18 World Championship open.

Russia - United States 2-8

Finns shoot down Czechs Kuokkanen's shootout goal saves the day Finland's Otto Somppi #24, Robin Salo #4, and Eeli Tolvanen #20 celebrate a first period goal against Czech Republic during preliminary round action at the 2016 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship. Finland blew a 3-1 first period lead, but came away with two points against the Czechs. Janne Kuokkanen scored the only goal in the shootout in a 4-3 victory. The Finns, who won the silver medal in 2015, scored two power play goals in the first period en route to the win. It was a reasonably successful debut for Finnish head coach Jussi Ahokas. The best coach for this Nordic nation's U18 squads in recent years has been Mika Marttila, who helmed not only the 2015 silver team, but also bronze-medal teams in 2009 and 2013. Shots on goal favored Finland 47-29. The Czechs last medaled in 2014, with a surprising silver. Prior to that, they took bronze in 2002, 2004, and 2006. Eeli Tolvanen opened the scoring midway through the first period with the man advantage. But Filip Zadina promptly tied it up for the Czechs at 12:31. Finland went ahead again less than two minutes later when Kristian Vesalainen scored. And with Czech forward Daniel Kurovsky off for holding, Emil Oksanen gave the Finns a 3-1 lead. The Czechs had a great chance to get back in the game with a two-man advantage for 1:57 midway through the second. However, they failed to cash in. But a two-goal cushion wasn't enough to guarantee Finland a victory. The Czechs worked hard and focused on puck control, and it paid dividends. Radovan Pavlik brought the Czechs to 3-2 at 5:41 of the third on a Zadina set-up. The Czech bench rejoiced when Petr Kodytek knotted the score with 7:49 left. Finland got a chance to win it in overtime when David Kvasnicka went off for holding with 10 seconds remaining, but nothing transpired. The Finns will take on the Slovaks on Saturday, while the Czechs face Canada that day.

Czech Republic - Finland 3-4 (GWS)

Slovaks rally to down Danes Solensky keys Slovakia's comeback with pair Slovakia's Samuel Bucek #23 skates with the puck while Denmark's Casper Mortensen #18 defends during preliminary round action at the 2016 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship. Slovakia allowed three goals in 56 seconds in the first period, but bounced back to defeat Denmark 5-4 in Thursday's second game at the Ralph Engelstad Arena. Milos Roman got the unassisted third-period winner, and captain Samuel Solensky scored twice for Slovakia, Jakub Lacka added a goal and an assist, and Samuel Bucek had a single. Adam Ruzicka had two assists. "We knew we must win this game," said Bucek. "We were the favorites in this game. But we started off slowly. Denmark played very well and scored on their shots." Nikolaj Krag tallied a goal and an assist, and Jacob Schmidt-Svejstrup and Magnus Molge also scored for Denmark. Slovakia outshot Denmark 33-16. The newly promoted Danes are hoping to keep their place in the top division. They finished eighth in 2004, but have come 10th and last at every other top-division U18 they’ve played since then (2005, 2008, 2012, 2014). Slovakia's goal is to improve on last year’s seventh-place finish. The Slovaks have finished one spot higher than the previous year at each of their last three World U18 Championships. While reduced scoring is a concern for some people in NHL circles, clearly no such problem exists in international U18 hockey. Especially in the first period, these Group B teams were scoring at a rate that would put 1986 to shame, and glove saves were not in abundance. Lacka opened the scoring for Slovakia at 2:43 with a power-play one-timer from the left faceoff circle. Then the Danes suddenly and briefly opened the floodgates. Just 42 seconds later, Schmidt-Svejstrup tied it up when he snared the puck above the hash marks and teed up a wicked wrist shot past Slovak starter David Hrenak. Denmark grabbed a 2-1 lead 33 seconds later. On the left side, Molge slipped past defenceman Martin Krempasky and curled in to roof one past the goalie’s glove. When Krag stretched Denmark’s lead to two 23 seconds after that, the Slovaks, sensing that this game was spiralling out of control, called their timeout to regroup and pulled Hrenak in favor of David Durny. The move bore fruit. Solensky danced into the slot and whizzed a backhander along the ice past Krog’s left skate just 34 seconds later. Slovakia made it 3-3 at 10:59. Bucek stickhandled past Danish defenders in the left faceoff circle and zinged one high to the glove side. At 17:45, Slovakia took a 4-3 lead when Solensky zapped one through Krog’s five-hole on a nice set-up from the goal line by Adam Ruzicka. "He played good," said Bucek of Solenskky. "His line was very good. He got a lot of passes, played physical and was strong on the puck." Reflecting Slovakia’s dominance after the goaltending change, the Danes wound up with three first-period goals on just four shots. They wouldn't get another one until past the four-minute mark of the second period. "We got a timeout and our coach talked about how we must be better on defence," said Bucek. "We did a great job. We got three goals in a row, so it was very good for us." Denmark made its own goalie swap to start the second period, but while Mads-Emil Gransoe played well, it wouldn't turn the tide ultimately. The Danes got the 4-4 equalizer on the power play at 5:51 of the second. From the left faceoff circle, Blichfeldt lasered a perfect short-side shot over Durny's glove. Ruzicka hit the post on a mid-game breakaway. In the third period, the play was more tentative. Roman finally broke the deadlock at 8:11 when he waltzed into the middle of the ice with Danish defenders backing up and scored on a high glove-side wrister. "The third period, I think, was our best," said Slovak coach Martin Struzinski. "We were satisfied with our game, at least a little bit." The Danes had no reply, despite pulling Gransoe for the extra attacker with a minute to go. Denmark’s next game is Friday against Canada, while the Slovaks will wait till Saturday to take on Finland. "Of course, Canada is one of the best teams in the world," said Krag. "We just need to go out and skate and try to get some pucks to the net."

Slovakia - Denmark 5-4

Swiss outgun Latvia Volejnicek gets OT winner for Switzerland Switzerland's Yannick Lerch #18 gets ready to shoot while Latvias Gustavs Grigals #29 tracks the action during preliminary round action at the 2016 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship. Dominik Volejnicek scored with seven seconds left in overtime as Switzerland beat Latvia 5-4 to open the World U18 Championship in Grand Forks. The power play goal came with Latvian captain Tomass Zeile in the penalty box for tripping Swiss star Nico Hischier. Volejnicek cruised into the slot and let one go that squeezed past goalie Gustavs Grigals' blocker side. Axel Simic scored twice, and Philipp Kurashev and Tobias Geisser also tallied for the Swiss. Nico Hischier added three assists in what was a true see-saw battle. "We played well, but we took many penalties," said Kurashev. "But we still won, so it’s good." Renars Krastenbergs had a goal and two assists for Latvia, Erlends Klavins added a goal and an assist, and Vlads Vulkanovs and Emils Ezitis added singles. Grigals was busier than his Swiss counterpart Matteo Ritz, as Switzerland outshot the Baltic boys 36-20. The gap could have been even higher if not for Latvia's diligent shot-blocking. "We just have to shoot more on the net," said Latvia's Deniss Smirnovs. "If you don’t take shots, you can’t score." Swiss head coach Thierry Paterlini emerged victorious in his World U18 debut behind the bench. Paterlini, 40, played at two Olympics, including the historic wins over Canada (2-0) and the Czech Republic (3-2) in Turin 2006. He also suited up at eight top-level IIHF World Championships. Looking ahead to Switzerland's next game against Russia on Saturday, Paterlini said: "I think we can take a lot out of this game for our system. If we keep on going against the Russians like this, we have a good chance to have another success, which would be very, very nice for us." In a spirited first period, Latvia drew first blood despite being outshot 13-4. Krastensbergs came down the right side and surprised Ritz with a wrister that beat the goalie on the blocker side at 3:55. It took just 40 seconds into the second period for the Swiss to tie it up. Simic’s excellent snap shot from the hash marks got under the cross bar. At 4:05, Switzerland went up 2-1. On the rush, Hischier skimmed a pass right over to Simic and his quick shot beat Grigals. "We had problems scoring at first, but we started well in the second period, which was important," said Paterlini. Just 1:42 later, Latvia fought back to even the score. Ritz made a nice pad save on Erlends Klavins but couldn’t stop Vulkanovs, parked in front, on the rebound. The Latvians had a chance to go ahead as Switzerland took three straight minor penalties, but couldn't capitalize on the power play. Switzerland regained the lead with 16 seconds left in the middle frame, as Geisser’s low shot to the stick side from the slot found the twine. But the Latvians showed a never-say-die attitude. At 5:55 of the third period, Ezitis whooshed down right wing and unleashed one that slipped past the Swiss goalie's glove. At 10:33, Switzerland went back up as Kurashev cruised down the middle and took a pass from Thomas Lust before whipping it high into the net. Still, coach Eriks Miluns's team refused to wilt. Latvia made it 4-4 with 5:58 remaining in regulation, as an unguarded Klavins pushed it home on the doorstep. Klavins missed a glorious opportunity for the go-ahead marker with one minute left. "We didn’t have luck today," said Smirnovs. "It wasn’t our time. That’s it." The Latvians are right back in action on Friday versus Sweden. Paterlini was happy with the way his Swiss team handled the opener overall: "For them, it’s quite big to be here in this nice, big arena. It was the first game of the tournament, so we coaches had to calm them down a little bit to make sure their emotions didn’t go too high or too low. It’s important to find a good balance." It was the third World U18 meeting of all time between these two nations. In 2012, Latvia beat Switzerland 4-2. The Swiss won 3-2 in overtime in 2015 to send the Latvians to the relegation round. Local schoolchildren, many of them colourfully attired in neon green, enlivened the proceedings with their vigorous cheering in the lower bowl at the Ralph Engelstad Arena.

Latvia - Switzerland 4-5 (OT)

SVK-CAN will be opened by Dominika Cibulková and Francoise Abanda in 1st match

what? I don´t think it´s possible. I´m almost sure that a athlete can´t represent at OG another country, if he/she did qualified under another NOC meanwhile I´ll not change anything in the team size or in this thread untill it will not be official

Updated as of April 14th, 2016

Updated as of April 14th, 2016

absolutely not

Table Tennis Singles +2 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 Table Tennis Singles +2 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1