hckošice

Cross-Karawanks clash for gold Five teams in race for promotion on last day One of the most balanced IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division I Group A tournaments enters the last day with five teams in race for promotion. The eyes will be especially on the “final” for gold between Austria and Slovenia. The two top-seeded teams were expected to perform well and although both of them suffered a loss to host Poland, it will be Austria and Slovenia who battle for Division I Group A gold and direct promotion to the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. “It will be a tough battle for sure. We know they are very good skaters and very good technically. They have tall players who can play physical,” said Austria goalie Bernhard Starkbaum, who played every minute in Austria’s net and had a 94.17 save percentage after four games. “But we know we have potential too. We have good skating abilities and can compete against every opponent. We know that we can use our chance and that’s what we have to do.” It’s not the first time these two teams play a crucial game. In 2014 Slovenia won Division I Group A gold thanks to a 3-1 win against Austria on the last day, for Austria the loss didn’t matter that much though as they were promoted as second-ranked team. Two months earlier both teams had a good start at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi and were seeded together in the qualification playoff. Slovenia was again the winner, 4-0, to reach a historic quarter-final berth while the Austrian team hit the headlines for the wrong reasons with players having had a long night out in the mountain cluster two days before the game and the aftermath that followed. In 2012 when Slovenia hosted the Division I Group A in Ljubljana, the Slovenes again ended up as the winner, 3-2, while Austria earned promotion as well. Austria’s last win in the cross-Karawanks clash was in the relegation round of the 2011 Worlds where they won 3-2 against Slovenia but both teams suffered relegation. “It will be a really difficult game, a derby. We will do everything to earn promotion again but we have to show it on the ice. It will be a difficult game for both teams. Small things will decide. It’s the right game for gold between the best two teams here,” said Slovenian defenceman Klemen Pretnar. “They play tactically well. They have players on the roster who can decide the game on their own. But I shouldn’t say more. It’s a derby. I have many friends in Austria but for these 60 minutes I have to forget that and I’ll give everything for my country. We have to play disciplined from the first minute and play well on defence.” For many players this clash will be special because of close ties across the Karawanks mountain range. Several Slovenian players play their club hockey in Austria like Klemen Pretnar and the country’s best club team Olimpija Ljubljana players in the Austrian-based, multi-national league EBEL. A car or train ride between the Austrian hockey town of Villach and Anze Kopitar’s alma mater Jesenice in Slovenia takes 40 minutes through the Karawanks tunnel. When the train tunnel was built, Slovenia was also politically connected to the northern neighbour as part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. “It’s been kind of a standard in the last few years that way play against them for tournament win. There are no secrets, we know how they play, they know how we play, we just have to be focused on our game from the first till the last minute and be disciplined. That’s the key,” said Slovenian forward Ales Music. “They’re pretty good. They have some young guys right now but I know they want to win against us and we want to win too. Whoever is going to play better defensively will have the chance to win.” Austrian forward Andreas Kristler hopes that his teams progress after a rough start against Korea will continue against Slovenia. “Austria against Slovenia is always a tight game, we have to be ready in any case and we want to reach first place at this tournament,” Kristler said. “Slovenia is a team that gels together well. Like us they have four well-balanced lines. It will be a great and physical game. They are strong on the power play so we have to make sure not to take penalties.” The game will start at 16:30 and will be broadcast live in both countries. Five teams go for silver Not only first place is interesting, but also the second. This in the case that two teams will be promoted to the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. Normally there will be two promoted teams to the top division and two relegated teams. However, the last IIHF Congress approved one exception in case that the co-hosts of next year, Germany and France, would both finish on bottom in their preliminary-round group in St. Petersburg – in that case there would only be one relegated and one promoted team to protect the co-hosts. However, this scenario would be a historic upset with recently-promoted Hungary in the same group. The last time the Hungarians were ranked better than France was in 1983 and they have never been ranked better than Germany (and West Germany) in any World Championship. Being ranked better than both will naturally be the Hungarians’ goal but it would be a major upset. Before the start of the last day in Katowice five teams can still finish second. Of the six teams only Japan is out of the race and will finish in last place. Italy and Korea will open the last day with their 13:00 game. Italy needs a regulation-time win as well as Slovenia beating Austria in regulation time to reach second place. Korea also needs a regulation-time win and then needs to hope that either Slovenia wins, or that Austria wins in regulation time – but not in overtime or shootout. If Korea wins in overtime or shootout, they still have a chance to win silver if Slovenia beats Austria in regulation time. For Austria and Slovenia it’s all about winning the game and gold to get their tickets to the top division now and without speculation. If they lose, there’s a small chance they could even miss second place – depending on the outcome of the other games. Poland, which will play the last game of the tournament against Japan at 20:00, is as of now still in race for second place. First of all the Poles need a regulation time win against Japan and then also favourable results in the other games as only three of 64 scenarios see Poland in second place. Two are an Italian win against Korea (in regulation time, overtime or shootout) combined with a regulation-time win of Austria against Slovenia, another case is an overtime or shootout win of Italy against Korea combined with a regulation-time win of Slovenia against Austria. It will be an exciting day in Katowice with a happy winner to book the tickets for the top division in Cologne and Paris, and a second-ranked team that can hope for the same reward.

No comment ...

ROAD TO IIHF MEN´S ICE HOCKEY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2016 FRIENDLY MATCHES Slovakia (OT)4 - 3 Denmark (Score by Period: 1-0, 2-0, 0-3, OT: 1-0) 28th April 2016, h. 18:00 (GMT +2) EURO HOCKEY TOUR 2015/16 SERIE Russia 1 - 3 Finland (Score by Period: 1-1, 0-2, 0-0) 28th April 2016, h. 19:30 (GMT +3)

From 3-0 to 3-3 in 3 minutes against Denmark 10 minutes to go you are leading 3-0 and absolutely outshoot your opponent in each point. but then you suddenly for mysterious reasons absolutely stop to play, and 7 minutes to go it´s 3-3 ..not a hard riddle. yes right, Slovakia ! bunch of loosers. rather we have to skip the world champs this year and not send those ....I don´t even know how to call them... at least we would avoid disgrace and shame.. but now when we are already registred..let´s god help us

IIHF Men's Ice Hockey Division I Group A World Championships 2016 Katowice (POL) - 23.04.2016 - 29.04.2016 Poland - Austria 1-0

IIHF Men's Ice Hockey Division I Group A World Championships 2016 Katowice (POL) - 23.04.2016 - 29.04.2016 Slovenia - South Korea 5-1

IIHF Men's Ice Hockey Division I Group A World Championships 2016 Katowice (POL) - 23.04.2016 - 29.04.2016 Japan - Italy 1-3

sure Yes, I agree about Lomnicky´s pants and I actually don´t like those leggings too, but I don´t agree about Richard Varga, those socks are awful, horrible, disaster

wow beautiful

yes except the socks it´s very nice

well, it´s less boring than watching some peoples just walking around a fashion catwalk few seconds

Italy to battle for medal Japan at brink of relegation after fourth loss Italy secured its place in the World Championship Division I Group A after a 3-1 victory against winless Japan. For Italy it was the second win in the fourth game, which keeps the team in the race for a medal at the 2016 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division I Group A. Japan has lost all four games so far and is at the brink of relegation. Only if Poland loses in regulation time against Austria tonight and if the Japanese beat Poland in regulation time on Friday can the Japanese avoid a last-place finish, which would make it the worst season for the Japanese men’s national team since being ranked 22nd overall in 2007. This after a game that didn’t start bad for the Japanese. At 8:48 of their fourth game, Shuhei Kuji gave the Japanese the lead for the first time in the tournament. The Italian defence struggled clearing the puck in their zone and Daisuke Obara got the puck behind the net to feed Kuji with a diagonal pass. At 13:20 Simon Kostner replied for Italy when scoring on a rebound after a blocked Luca Frigo shot and midway through the second period Anton Bernard gave Italy its first lead of the game. Marco Insam and Markus Gander successfully attacked defenceman Shinya Yanadori behind the net and after the pass back to the crease captain Bernard beat Takuto Onoda with a shot into the top-right corner. Joachim Ramoser added the 3-1 goal some minutes later after great work from Giulio Scandella, who escaped on the right side and fed Ramoser on the left for his team’s third goal. The Italians defended their lead well throughout the rest of the game and didn’t allow the Japanese too many chances to get back into the game. Italy will play Korea in its last game on Friday in a game between the two teams that were originally seeded on bottom after last year’s results but that will play for the medals on the last day of the tournament. Slovenia back on track Goes for gold after win against Korea After a surprise loss to Poland and dropping down to third place Slovenia is back in the race for promotion after beating surprise team Korea 5-1 Thanks to today’s win the Slovenes have it in their own hand in the final game against Austria, which has been undefeated until now, to win the 2016 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division I Group A and earn the ticket to the top division for the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Cologne (Germany) and Paris (France) on Friday. Five different players from two lines scored for Slovenia while Kisung Kim gave Korea the early lead with his team’s only goal of the game. “Yesterday it was a tough loss but today it was a different game. It was kind of rough when they scored early but after that we managed to be a better opponent and scored some goals and in the end deserved to win,” Slovenian forward Ales Music said. Already after 40 seconds Kisung Kim scored after Sangwook Kim had overrun the Slovenian defence. Nine minutes later Slovenia had the first power play of the game and Robert Sabolic scored after a long pass to the crease from Sabahudin Kovacevic. And although Korea had more chances in the period, it was Slovenia’s Anze Kuralt, who scored the next goal on a counter-attack with 29.4 seconds left to give Slovenia a 2-1 first-period lead. Slovenia improved its defensive play in the second period and extended the lead when Ales Music found the back of the net after a perfect drop pass from behind the goal line from Anze Kuralt. At 14:21 of the middle frame Ziga Jeglic was patiently defending the puck behind the opponents net until he saw Rok Ticar free some metres in front of the net who converted the feed for the 4-1 goal. Slovenia continued to have the game under control in the third period and halfway through the frame Klemen Pretnar made it 5-1. “It was a difficult day for us yesterday. Today we said we have to give 100 per cent and don’t give them chances. It didn’t work out in the first minute but after that we made the right decisions and finished the game the way we wanted,” Pretnar said. The Slovenes are now looking forward to play Austria for tournament win on Friday. Korea is out from the race for gold but will battle for a medal of another colour in its last game against Italy. Slovenian players Ziga Pance, Ziga Jeglic, Ales Music and Andrej Hebar were honoured for their 100th international game with the men's national team. Poland wins and hopes Austria to play for gold despite loss Poland earned its first win against Austria in World Championship play in 25 years after edging the other red-and-white team 1-0 on Grzegorz Pasiut’s goal. It was a tense game and details were here to decide it. A precise shot, a good (or bad) pass or a wrong move of the goalie were able to turn the game into a different direction. In the end it was a giveaway in the first period that decided the game in the first period. Both teams started disciplined and the Poles had more chances in the first period including a shot on the crossbar but the first goal was scored when Austrian defenceman Markus Schlacher lost the puck to Grzegorz Pasiut in his own zone at 12:34. Pasiut took it, passed to Aron Chmielewski and got the disc back to bring Poland onto the scoreboard. Austrian goalie Bernhard Starkbaum was without a chance with the two Poles alone in front of his net. “My guys showed character today. We wanted to win today again and did it. Our goalie played a really great match. We knew that no matter which of our goalie plays it will be a good decision as the two games showed,” said Polish coach Jacek Plachta. Despite the three points Poland still can’t win the tournament. After having lost the first two games they simply don’t have enough points. However, winning the silver medal has now become realistic and second place could eventually also lead to promotion for the first time since playing in the top division in 2002 if Poland beats Japan in regulation time on Friday and depending on the outcome of the other games with Austria and Korea also battling for a medal. For Austria the mission promotion doesn’t become easier with the loss but in the end the game against leader Slovenia is the one that matters most for first place and this hasn’t changed. With a win against the Slovenes – in regulation time, overtime or shootout – the Austrians can win the tournament on Friday. Slovenia will have exactly the same task and goal. Tonight’s result also means that Japan will definitely finish in last place and be relegated to the Division I Group B. For Japan the 22nd place overall in the World Championship program is the worst since 2007. Back to tonight’s game. Austria had a weak first period but created more scoring opportunities in the following two periods. The 1-0 score stayed with chances for both teams to make it either 1-1 or 2-0. The game was tense and the atmosphere between the players heated at times. It was far from the last game in a World Championship event between the two teams when Austria beat Poland 7-3 in a game for promotion at the Division I tournament on home ice in Innsbruck in 2008. The last time Poland had beaten Austria in a World Championship game before was in the B-Pool in 1991 in Ljubljana, at that time still part of Yugoslavia, by the score of 2-1. Austria had the chance to get a power play early in the third period when Chmielewski was assessed a penalty for boarding against Konstantin Komarek, who had to leave the ice and according to coach Daniel Ratushny is unlikely to play on Friday. At 12:22 Lukas Haudum had a breakaway chance for Austria but was hooked by Pawel Dronia. It was the sixth power play for Austria and like the other ones it wasn’t converted. It was a game of the goalies with Austria’s Bernhard Starkbaum, until now the statistically best netminder of the tournament, and Przemyslaw Odrobny, who returned in Poland’s net after getting a break yesterday, showing an excellent performance in front of 7,500 fans. In the end Odrobny earned a shutout with 29 saves, Starkbaum blocked 26 of 27 shots and Poland got the win. “In the first period we had three shots on the net. We did have some chances later but their goalie played well and our goalie was sharp tonight as well. We have to quickly regroup as a team and learn from the game,” Austria coach Ratushny said.

Day 4 Japan - Italy 1-3 Slovenia - South Korea 5-1 Poland - Austria 1-0

yes Korea has everything in their own hands, they have to win against Italy in regular time and then just pray to Austria not win against Slovenia after OT each other result of the SLO-AUT game will officially qualify South Korea (if they win in 60 minutes against ITA) to an unbelievable historic promotion into top division. don´t forget that S. Korea has 5 naturalized north american players, especially Mike Swift is extremely productive, he is still the best scorer of the tournament, and "their" Matt Dalton is one of the best goalie of this championships.

Actually there more real chance for a Finland-South Korea game next year yes really exciting edition. each match and each goal can be decissive

you have still 3 theoretical chances: Italy will Beat South Korea in regular time and Austria will beat Slovenia in regular time, you´ll have to beat Japan in regular time and you´ll be qualified. or Italy will beat South Korea after over time, and Austria will beat Slovenia in regular Time, you will have to beat Japan in regular Time and you´ll be qualified. or Slovenia will beat Austria (no matter if in regular time or after OT) and Italy will beat South Korea after OT, you´ll have to beat Japan in regular time and you´ll be qualified.

Poland won over Austria 1-0 in regular time ! wow, This is incredible, how the situation is now open before the last day. each of the 5 teams can still advance to Top division. amazing and exciting tournament. Last day Italy will play South Korea, then Slovenia vs Austria and Poland will finish the program of the tournament against winless Japan. Also officially Japan is relegated to division I B, and will be replaced next year by Ukraine. Poor Japan experienced the worst moments of their hockey history here, for the first time ever since 1930 when they play International Ice hockey Japan lost to another asian team, and after so many years they are relegated to division I B.

and here the pics... Richard Varga (Triathlon), Barbora Mokošová (Artistic Gymnastics), Danka Barteková (Shooting), Matej Tóth (race Walk), Peter Gelle (Canoeing Sprint), Martina Hrašnová (Hammer Throw), Erik Varga (Shooting), Marcel Lomnický (Hammer Throw) Opening Ceremony suits Medal Cermony Suits (Let´s hope we will use them) and ordinary clothes for the olympic village and daily life in Rio

ROAD TO IIHF MEN´S ICE HOCKEY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2016 FRIENDLY MATCHES EURO HOCKEY TOUR 2015/16 SERIE Czech Republic 2 - 7 Sweden (Score by Period: 2-1, 0-2, 0-4) 27th April 2016, h. 19:20 (GMT +2)

and now time for SVK as always we are known that our olympic suits use always the "čičmany ornaments" http://rodegas.deviantart.com/art/Cicmany-secret-of-ornaments-484180360 we used them in London 2012 http://www.webnoviny.sk/svet/predstavenie-oficialneho-oblecenia-slo/15356-fotogaleria.html also Sochi 2014 link so no surprise that we are Čičmany style" again also for Rio. I´ll send some pics later but here the 2 minutes introduction video presented by Peter Gelle and Matej Tóth...overall I´m satisfied by our suits, but those socks !!! oh dear those socks! disaster.. VIDEO LINK

oh my ... the russian uniforms are terrible what the hell is this? it´s like a retro USA NASA teams uniforms from the early 80. damn that´s extremely ugly I really like the french suits, very cool and nice. Also Slovenia is very nice. GB is fine too (except the white pullovers in the last pic). Australian suits are ok too, but the same style and colors for mens and womens isn´t the best idea. In other hand I don´t like the canadian jackets, the thing with the maple leaf is great but porly realized IMO..but still much better than Russian uniforms

I love this goal song! I just love him btw great goal by Kuralt. 2-1 for SLO after 1st period

btw the May canoeing slalom european champs wil be also the final internal qualifiers for Russia, Italy and Poland

the european championships are in May

Remember if Korea will win this match in regular time , they will qualify for top division !!! Kovačevič just equalized the score in power play, well done. Go Slovenia !