Kasparaitis and Zubrus would be the last nail in the coffin. Those 2 would be enough for Lituhania to get promoted. Sure they are old but quality dont fade away.It's hilarious we are using the players that are 2-3 tiers below the competition level and somebody still thinks we could push for more if not for bad coaching
I mean our 1st liner has been outscored by a Slovenian 18 yo in the Oberliga who isn't even near their team .
Yeah, attendance seems terrible. But I assume that's partially because Slovenian hockey fans understand Lithuania and Romania aren't real opponents.
Fair enough. It's too bad Romania got crushed considering that they held their own for a bit against Slovenia.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
| 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 3 | +10 | 6 | 2023 IIHF World Championship |
| 2 | 
| 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | +5 | 6 | |
| 3 | 
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 0 | |
| 4 | 
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | −4 | 0 | |
| 5 | 
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 | −8 | 0 | Relegation to 2023 Division I B |
Yeah, it's not like they lost the promotion against Romania who are now getting crushed 9-1. Or were taken to OT by Ukraine this year.
Yes, Poland was utter shit in 2019. But normaly they are pretty good, they just beat Japan and have been close to get promoted to highest division in 2016. Polish league just get better and better. On paper, if you compare player for player Poland would be 3rd strongest team in this tournament.
Yes. That doesn't mean they are anywhere near the top 2 though. Also not sure how is beating Japan a noteworthy achievement nowadays.
Yeah i just checked their roster, they are missing some players. Iguchi, Ando, Sato, Terao, Hanzawa, Isogai. No denying all this players have skills. Japan with all players available would probaly be 4th strongest team in Group A.Maybe if Japan had Iguchi
Well, they only played one game against Hungary - the country which is obviously the stronger hockey nation 2 tiers above Korea at every level except for Canadian-infused senior teams. The days when Korea will actually get relegated are not that far away, too. Although I guess it depends on Russia/Belarus as well now.
I almost want to throw GB in the same bracket. They sure are closer to this group, than being an actual top16 team (with Belarus and Russia existing).
Once again quite a stroke of luck in a way to have Belarus replaced with an Austria that will have zero NHLers on the roster.
Considering how the last GB - Belarus game went it's not about the NHLers at that level, it's about the team being ready to play. Austria has just as good of a chance to destroy GB as Belarus did.
Yeah, it does feel like Romania has fully joined the dark side in regards of fasttracking imports to their NT.
China with KHLers would be the best team among the nations you brought up imo. I think the KHLers is sticking with China. The KHLers even played in Division II A.
Which doesn't say a lot. I had a chance to speak with Zanatta (China head coach) and he said that he isn't so sure if all naturalized players will be available for upcoming season(s), he didn't say why he thinks that, but he also stated they are planning to naturalize few more players to be sure they still have good team at D1B in case of eventual declines. Another worry for him is uncertainty about Kunlun in the KHL given the current situation with Russia and all the sanctions.
This. How long did Cronucks, for example, remember their Croatian roots? It's really pretty obvious what's the shelf life of those import-driven teams.
