2022 Hlinka Gretzky Cup

[GermanSpitfire]

That's awesome, I'd been wondering about your background as well. Where in Germany do you live now?

I reside in Krefeld.

He’s going to be a stud, massive upside. This Canadian team could play this collection of teams 100 times and I think win 97-98 of them. On another level from these teams, which are also still very good in their own right


No, flat out wrong. Ritchie was a stud 16 year old and has always been a top player in this age group, and has more upside than almost anyone here barring a couple other Canadian kids. Ritchie goes in the top 10 for sure

I‘m not saying he isn’t. The upside is there- Without a doubt.

He just didn’t have a good Hlinka tournament - or at least not as good as his stat line would indicate.

 

[snipes]

Born In Alberta, Grew up in Ontario where I and played hockey until I was 18. I blew out my knee at 17 and haven’t played hockey since - however I still have the love for the game so I follow prospects as a hobby away from work. After graduating high school in Canada, I moved to in Germany where I went to school, got a job and now live happily.



Appreciate it, name is pretty simple really.
German speaks for itself and the “Spitfire“ part is two fold, 1 I am a Windsor Spitfires fan, that’s where I lived before I moved to Germany - and #2 - it’s irony really as in WW2 the British flew the Spitfire, not the Germans. Just a funny reference that those who know a little about WW2 would appreciate.

Thanks for the background, I would love to get to Germany sometime. My wife’s family on her mother’s side are all German descent, we’ve had some of her family from Germany stay with us when they come to Canada. Her fathers side entirely English. Mostly Scottish and a bit of English for myself.

My great grandfather was in the RAF during WW2 and my wife’s great grandfather on her fathers side worked on the radar systems that the British Empire used to stifle the Blitz over the British Isles, so the spitfire reference was not lost on me.

Anyways, I could talk military history ad nauseum. Even my 5 year old knows about Viking conquests, Marcus Aurelius and the Roman Empire, and wars throughout Northern Europe.

That’s what he gets for having a father this much into history, it’s partly why I love international hockey so much. Hockey is a form of diplomacy for Canada and our northern brethrens, we can battle it out in intense combat on the ice but come together as civilized nations afterwards.

 

[pgfan66]

Does anyone here have thoughts on Switzerland at the Hlinka (individually, not as a team)? I didn't really see standout performances from anyone but somehow they almost beat Slovakia and got an easy win vs. Germany. I felt like they all worked really hard but there was very little skill on the team. Braillard and the Meiers looked the best to me. Schneller is a guy I had high hopes for who was rather disappointing.

 

[theslatcher]

Some advanced stats from the tournament for team Finland.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I reside in Krefeld.

Do you follow German football or only hockey?

Does anyone here have thoughts on Switzerland at the Hlinka (individually, not as a team)? I didn't really see standout performances from anyone but somehow they almost beat Slovakia and got an easy win vs. Germany. I felt like they all worked really hard but there was very little skill on the team. Braillard and the Meiers looked the best to me. Schneller is a guy I had high hopes for who was rather disappointing.

I was disappointed with El Cholo, but he had no help. Probably won’t get drafted. Too small anyway.

 

[GermanSpitfire]

Do you follow German football or only hockey?



I was disappointed with El Cholo, but he had no help. Probably won’t get drafted. Too small anyway.

I follow it enough to hold a conversation but I don’t watch games - the only time I catch a game is when I‘m sitting on a barstool Haha.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I follow it enough to hold a conversation but I don’t watch games - the only time I catch a game is when I‘m sitting on a barstool Haha.

That makes sense. Learning basics on the points of national identity and being able to not embarrass yourself in a conversation about it is probably the minimum needed when moving to a new country.

I'm a Dortmund fan, which you probably hear from a lot of people around where you live. I've actually picked up pretty rudimentary reading of German from all the Dortmund news I follow. I couldn't speak it and probably can't understand it conversational-wise either, but it's a lot more similar of a language to English than I realized.

 

[JackSlater]

That makes sense. Learning basics on the points of national identity and being able to not embarrass yourself in a conversation about it is probably the minimum needed when moving to a new country.

I'm a Dortmund fan, which you probably hear from a lot of people around where you live. I've actually picked up pretty rudimentary reading of German from all the Dortmund news I follow. I couldn't speak it and probably can't understand it conversational-wise either, but it's a lot more similar of a language to English than I realized.

I studied a little German in university on a lark and have some German friends. It's surprisingly easy to pick up the gist of a German sentence since so many of the most basic English words come from German.

 

[ijuka]

German is a pretty clear language to me. A lot easier to hear what's being said than Swedish for example, even though I'm much better at Swedish and have studied it for far longer. German's one of the easiest languages I've studied, though I've only done 2 high school courses so I'm not very good.