In Tampere, Finland and Riga, Latvia this year. It was supposed to be in Russia but moved because of the W-thing in Ukraine. Anyway, congrats to Norway who beat Canada today after penalties - 3-2.
Canada with 22 NHL players and Norway with 0 dito. Quarterfinals soon coming up. Which team will take the gold medal this year? Norway?

Not saying they're winning it, but USA has looked pretty good so far.

Norway was a better team than Canada both in regular 3x20, overtime, and shoot-out. The 3-2 win was historic, first time Norway won over Canada in ice hockey in 23 years, since 2000.

I am told all players on ice on the Canada team do play in NHL, they have some 6,000 games in total, while Norway do have one player only on ice with 150 games in NHL, not currently playing in NHL. So we have to settle with the few times we win, winning a championship would be like winning the lottery.

Bjornulf

All except three Team Canada players play in the NHL.

Adam Fantilli hasn't been drafted yet, but he's top-3 prospect in this year's draft.

Michael Carcone plays in the AHL. So does Brad Hunt.

It should be noted that Canada started their 3rd-string goalie, Joel Hofer, who plays in the AHL as well. He's only got a handful of NHL appearances.

Not to take anything away from Norway, obviously. Great effort!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023-05-23 08:18 by Topi.

Congrats to Norway for beating us! In all due honesty, I look at the Canada lineup and I don't recognize most of the names. The biggest name on the team would be Tyler Toffoli. Coaching staff always look for young, up and coming players to play, choosing from the teams that don't make the Stanley Cup playoffs.
A number of players that are invited actually decline because of just finishing off the long 82 game season, or in some cases, teams that get knocked out in the first round of the playoffs.
Hopefully the losses are a wake up call!

Canada vs Finland confirmed for the quarter finals.

Switzerland vs Germany as well.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023-05-23 18:48 by Topi.

Latvia made it to the quarter finals by beating Switzerland in overfun, so the rest of the matchups are Sweden vs Latvia and USA vs Czechia.

Okay, so Sweden, USA and Switzerland stand a very good chance to make it for the semifinals then. Finland vs Canada will be a 50/50 game though.
Finland should be favorites in that game but you never know with Canada...

Okay, after the way too long and tiring first round of 7 matches with not that much significance the games finally start. Now every match matters. The games are now two times in a row here in Tampere where I live. It is nice to see game tourists from different countries. Last year it was great fiesta, especially since Finland won, but maybe the local people are not that into it this time.

Team Finland is a favourite to win the whole thing, even bigger than last year due to some strong individual NHL players, lead by Mikko Rantanen, but so far the team has been a disappointment. The boring, but generally effective playbook by coach Jalonen seems to be learned by the other teams and it does not to suit to the NHL players at all. Especially last year's Stanley Cup winner Rantanen does not look to be comfortable with it or with his European style line mates at all. This season he scored 55 goals in NHL regular season (105 points) plus 7 goals (10 points) in 7 games in play offs. Now he has zero goals (but 8 assets) in 7 games... Anyway, anything can happen, and it is interesting to see the Canada match. Team Canada, no matter the players, is always a great team, and those are tough games.

- Doxa



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 2023-05-24 11:51 by Doxa.

Go Canada Go!

So USA and Germany advance to the semis and will meet each other there.

Casey DeSmith in the US net has looked really good so far. Best goalie of the tournament.

Canada beats Finland 4-1!

Yes, Samuel Montembeault (Go Habs go!) was stellar in nets.

Canada now faces Latvia, who upset the Swedes. Too bad Latvia doesn't get to play the game in Riga anymore.

I don't believe Latvia ever made it this far.

People here are upset about the loss to Latvia. Not acceptable. A very tough start for the new head coach Sam Hallam. Old players are speaking up and questioning if the young players really have the heart to play for Tre Kronor. It used to be the highest honor for a player to play for his country. Sam Hallam should think about his image too - in interviews he looks kind of passive aggressive. In reality he should ask the viewers for forgiveness for the really weak performance.

They're upset about the upset!

We beat Latvia, now on to the gold medal game!

Go Germany Go!

- Doxa

A welcome surprise Germany beating USA. I hope Germany have some energy left for the big final tomorrow.
Come on you can do it Germany! It would be the greatest surprise since Great Britain won in 1936...

Wow, can't believe Germany won! Obviously I'm cheering for Canada but if Germany were to win, I won't be as mad as if we lost to the US for gold.
If Germany were to win, would there be national celebrations? If Canada wins, there won't be any huge national parties or parades, it'll be more like: cool, we won.

I don't think so, DGA35. Germany is a football country first of all, hockey is a secondary sport there. But surely there would be some celebrations?
And the World Champions these days aren't really what they used to be before The Wall came down. Which is a pity since it's the only international tournament around.
It's all about the NHL these days. Even in Europe.

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Stoneage
I don't think so, DGA35. Germany is a football country first of all, hockey is a secondary sport there. But surely there would be some celebrations?
And the World Champions these days aren't really what they used to be before The Wall came down. Which is a pity since it's the only international tournament around.
It's all about the NHL these days. Even in Europe.

who cares about ice hockey on a day that Dortmund was too stupid to win the Bundesliga??? (now Munich has won the Bundesliga eleven(!) times in a row )



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023-05-27 23:12 by slewan.

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Stoneage
It's all about the NHL these days. Even in Europe.

NHL is where the best players play, plain and simple.

And they have done a hell of a job marketing their product.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2023-05-27 23:45 by Topi.

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Stoneage
A welcome surprise Germany beating USA. I hope Germany have some energy left for the big final tomorrow.
Come on you can do it Germany! It would be the greatest surprise since Great Britain won in 1936...

Miracle On Ice Team USA says "hold my beer"

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Topi

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Stoneage
A welcome surprise Germany beating USA. I hope Germany have some energy left for the big final tomorrow.
Come on you can do it Germany! It would be the greatest surprise since Great Britain won in 1936...

Miracle On Ice Team USA says "hold my beer"

Sure, but that was the Olympics - not the World Championship.

1936 was also the Olympics. There was no separate World Championship tournament held back then. From 1920 to 1968, the Olympic hockey tournament was also considered the World Championship for that year.

Also note that the 1936 Great Britain team mainly comprised of players that had grown up and played most of their hockey in Canada.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2023-05-28 00:09 by Topi.

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Topi

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Stoneage
It's all about the NHL these days. Even in Europe.

NHL is where the best players play, plain and simple.

And they have done a hell of a job marketing their product.

It has nothing to do with marketing - it's the money. They simply buy all the talent out there. Draining our leagues and enriching the NHL. That's the simple truth.

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Topi
1936 was also the Olympics. There was no separate World Championship tournament held back then. From 1920 to 1968, the Olympic hockey tournament was also considered the World Championship for that year.

You're right of course, Topi. Sorry for my lapsus. And you're right about USA winning against The Soviet Union also. That was the big sensation.

What I meant by marketing is that the NHL has succeeded in making the league increasingly popular in Europe in recent years. And of course it's about money in a lot of ways. Marketing is about money as well.

The NHL doesn't actually even have to "buy" the best players. They simply need to draft them (or sign them as free agents). The European clubs do get compensated for each contract ("development payment", as it's called), but it's not really a matter of selling and buying the players.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2023-05-28 00:22 by Topi.

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Topi
What I meant by marketing is that the NHL has succeeded in making the league increasingly popular in Europe in recent years. And of course it's about money in a lot of ways. Marketing is about money as well.

The NHL doesn't actually even have to "buy" the best players. They simply need to draft them (or sign them as free agents). The European clubs do get compensated for each contract, but it's not really a matter of selling and buying the players.

Sure, basically they get your young talents for almost nothing. So the SHL or the Finnish league is left without talents. Simple mathematics.

Elementary, my dear Watson!