IIHF World ChampionshipDiscuss International Tournaments like the WJC, Olympics, and World Cup, as they take place, or discuss past tournaments. performances.
Good luck to the Brits. Ridiculously tall odds but it would be great to see them in Sochi. Sliver of hope in this game still, and if not there's always the remote chance of a massive Latvian choke-job to France or the Kazakhs if GB can somehow find a way to win their next two games.
In the other groups, Belarus' loss to Slovenia is quite shocking as the 2002 semi-finalists so anything can happen.
Last edited by garbageteam: 02-07-2013 at 12:50 PM.
It's clear that GB is playing with big heart, great PK and PP there. The game would be 2-1 without that unreasonable Shields' penalty. The guy barely tapped and in the box he goes.
Lame game. No wonder we struggled against Norway, Denmark last year (and didn't score). We are witnessing the lowest, that Latvian national hockey has to offer.
Bah, what a disgrace. Apparently these idiots still haven't understood what "professionalism" means. Completely irresponsible game.
Or you could just give GB some credit? We did OK. The penalties killed us. Some of them were just, others were ludicrous. I saw two trips where the player barely missed a step.
GB lost 6-2 in the end. Fantastic display from the lads and whilst the penalties killed us, if we play like that in the WC group in April, we should have a good chance of getting promoted.
Or you could just give GB some credit? We did OK. The penalties killed us. Some of them were just, others were ludicrous. I saw two trips where the player barely missed a step.
I was bashing my team. You Brits honestly did just fine. Especially in the 1st period. Responded very fast to our 1st goal, just like pros. I just wanted to see much better coordinated game by Latvians, not the usual "let's play and see how it the game develops" syndrome. And the speed was once again tragic. We cannot hold our ground against Canada, even Norway with such slow-paced game.
I don't think GB looked that well, but they easily carved out enough quality chances to score double their tally. Their first goal was a gift of ours, but then again GB's fore-check was miles better, so credit where credit's due.
Also I don't think GB's goalie had a great showing, he somehow looked too small in the net, yes, his D put him in bad positions, but still. That said he made some nice saves, also British D was better at blocking shots.
Our game was sloppy, but Brits really wanted this one more. Their fans were awesome, really vocal and quite often I managed to hear soccer chants If GB keeps up the effort level for the next games, they can easily take down France.
Oh, yes IIHF reffing... Those interference calls on both teams in particular, Jesus F Christ...
No one has made a topic for it yet (which surprises me) but I'm actually rooting for Team The Netherlands (obviously) who are now playing in another group vs. Germany (10th in World Ranking), Austria (15) and Italy (16). We're currently 24th :-)
Just like Team GB, Team NL created upsets by winning the previous round, qualifying for the final round.
And just like Team GB, Team NL did lose to Germany tonight but everyone is still beaming with pride. Not ever since the A Pool WC in 1981 do we play at such a high level, keeping up with ze Germans until the end of the second period. By then, our tanks were empty. SOG were 57-10 (!) so a 5-1 loss is not so bad.
Earlier today Austria defeated Italy 3-2 despite being outshot 22-38. But no other team than Germany is expected to win this tournament. Any other outcome would be a HUGE upset (I saw both games online and Austria and Italy are nowhere near the level of Germany).
BTW not once in the history of Hockey has Team NL defeated Germany (except East-Germany, we defeated them once in 1979, that's how we qualified for the Lake Placid Olympics).
I thought your team might have given Austria a bit more of a challenge, but it's still promising to be playing at this level (shots were kept closer at 38-10). I hope to see you guys at the Elite division WCs sometime sooner than later
If GB keeps up the effort level for the next games, they can easily take down France.
