GDT: Czechia vs Latvia - 3pm PT/ 6pm ET/ Midnight CEST

[Canada4Gold]

They did, in fact, make that distinction.

I recorded the game so I went back. The graphic made that distinction, but the commentator said about 30 second later said "chapter 10 of the book, Dave Reid and I called Denmark's 1st even win at the world junior championship and the chapter will finish with the first ever win for Latvia at the world junior championship"

and it was Dennis Beyak. So at least Button gets a reprieve from me

 

[Statsy]

I recorded the game so I went back. The graphic made that distinction, but the commentator said about 30 second later said "chapter 10 of the book, Dave Reid and I called Denmark's 1st even win at the world junior championship and the chapter will finish with the first ever win for Latvia at the world junior championship"

and it was Dennis Beyak. So at least Button gets a reprieve from me

I felt like they talked about it on and off over a period of several minutes (more than what you just posted) but I don’t really want to go back and check.

 

[Canada4Gold]

I felt like they talked about it on and off over a period of several minutes (more than what you just posted) but I don’t really want to go back and check.

Perhaps I shouldn't have brought it up mostly watching and not listening, but I've only seen 3 games live so far this tournament and thus haven't really had a chance to complain about how bad some of the commentating is, mostly from the Button/Beyak pairing. The other pairing has been fine. They go on some weird tangents sometimes like the dasher/kick plate or lacrosse v spatula goal but they've been getting actual calls right.

 

[Chainshot]

Congratulations to Latvia!

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

You love to see it. Especially after @LEAFANFORLIFE23 gave the lecture about belonging and whatnot.

I still thik winning 1 game in a decade means you don't belong in the tournament

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

I still thik winning 1 game in a decade means you don't belong in the tournament

So you think there past performances 10 years ago have any bearing on the team they are now?

They just finished third in their pool. Pretty obvious that they belong.

 

[SoundAndFury]

I still thik winning 1 game in a decade means you don't belong in the tournament

We talked about this before, you don't seem to grasp how the relegation/promotion system works AT ALL. They are not here to stay forever, I gave you Danes as the example. When they cease to be good enough, they will get relegated.

As of now, however, this team just made the QF. So you just look stupid trying to come up with your little reasons how the team that finished 3rd in the group shouldn't be there at all while the team that allowed almost 7 goals per game definitely does belong since Chara, and Hossa, and the ghost of Zigmund Pálffy.

​

 

[Bounces R Way]

Great day for Latvian hockey. Love to see it.

Win the QF match and become legends.

 

[Goodman68]

Latvia deservedly won. Unlike the Czech Republic, they played the whole match to the fullest, they fought for every puck, they played very attentively, and the goalkeeper caught them well. So congratulations on your progress. The Czech team played two thirds without much motivation and earned shame for their performance.

 

[GX]

This was a unique scenario - usually when a team gets promoted from Division 1A, the next year their team is gutted and a lot of the players that caused the team to get promoted to the top division have aged out. This was an extremely unique situation that caused Latvia to get up to the top division - most of this team had already played together, so they were much more prepared for this tournament than any other teams.
Latvia beating Germany in the way that they did in the pre tournament caused me to believe.

Another cool thing is that Latvia has the third youngest team of the tournament, and only 9 guys won't be able to return to the roster in December.

 

[Kalv]

@LEAFANFORLIFE23 seeing that Latvia will participate in 2023 World Juniors as well:

 

[filip85]

LatviaI am so happy for you !

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Great day for Latvian hockey. Love to see it.

Win the QF match and become legends.

Obviously very unlikely, but this Sweden team is pretty weak compared to their standards. At one point the US were outshooting them like 40-19 - I don't think there is a lot separating Czechia and Sweden at this tournament. So Latvia has a chance, albeit a small one.

That said, I don't even know if Sweden is a sure bet to finish 2nd in that group. They still have to beat Germany who beat the Swiss by the same margin the Swedes did.

 

[Elvs]

I still thik winning 1 game in a decade means you don't belong in the tournament

Nearly all of Slovakias, Germanys and Switzerlands wins are coming against eachother or against whichever of Latvia, Austria, Denmark, Belarus and Norway happens to be in the top division in any given year.

In other words, if you were to shrink the WHJC from 10 teams to 8, you'd still have two teams at the bottom that would lose nearly every game. Then, if you continue to shrink it down to 6, the sixth team will lose almost every game and again, in your book, would "not belong".

If you want a tournament where every team can beat the other with any sort of frequency, you'd have to shrink it to only five teams. Actually four now without Russia.

 

[Jussi]

You love to see it. Especially after @LEAFANFORLIFE23 gave the lecture about belonging and whatnot.

Link?

 

[SoundAndFury]

Link?

Check the Canada - Latvia gameday thread, should be easy enough to find.

 

[SoundAndFury]

Another cool thing is that Latvia has the third youngest team of the tournament, and only 9 guys won't be able to return to the roster in December.

And only ~5 of them are of importance. 2 of the goalies aging out, for example, really gives me 0 concern with Berzins still on the next year's team.

 

[Eye of Ra]

As of now, however, this team just made the QF. So you just look stupid trying to come up with your little reasons how the team that finished 3rd in the group shouldn't be there at all while the team that allowed almost 7 goals per game definitely does belong since Chara, and Hossa, and the ghost of Zigmund Pálffy.

​

What are you talking about. Slovakia has done decent in WJC for many years.

 

[SoundAndFury]

What are you talking about.

Obviously, you are missing the point what I'm talking about. Probably on purpose too.