GDT: Italy vs Latvia

[aonb]

After poor effort vs Kazakhstan (they were tired i guess), Latvia should score at least 4-5 against this Italy team

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[aonb]

I can feel big game from Abols and Kenins. I like their performance since game one

 

[Namejs]

I don't remember ever thinking that we will definitely get a win against someone in the World Champs before, but this is it.

We should get some PP practice in and get back that confidence. Scoring a bunch of goals would really lift this team up.

If we do lose any points today, I probably won't watch any of the remaining games

 

[RobRayzor]

One hand hand i feel like Latvians will come out angry and might score 7-8 angry aka “with meat” goals. On the other hand team Italy played well 30/60min against Germany and might give Latvians some competitive game until (or IF) they break Italy’s goalie/defense like Germany did.

This might also be “prove it you can play” game to Hartley for some players.

 

[LKI]

Punnenovs guarding the net. Does that mean we'll see all 3 Latvian goalies this championship ?
5:1, 4:0

 

[Mestaruus]

Should be Latvia's game, but hoping that the underdog Italy will play better than before and steal some points since Latvia can cause problems to Finland later. Every game got more interesting with all these upsets in the tournament.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Italy scored 4 goals on Germany. They are quite dangerous in offensive zone.

 

[RobRayzor]

Incidental contact, right call for “no goal”.

 

[LKI]

Incidental contact, right call for “no goal”.

yes

 

[RobRayzor]

Oof. Why is every Latvian player on every breakaway every game trying to slide the puck in? They never try lifting it to higher part of net. They afraid to miss the net? Goalie gonna make save every time...

Edit: it’s gonna be one of those 1-0 games again, huh?

 

[GX]

If Latvia plans to score more than 2 goals in a game this spring, this is the game to do it.

 

[RobRayzor]

Don’t know about this one. Looked like puck changed direction of Italian player’s stick right after Indrašis kicked it. 50/50.

 

[SoundAndFury]

Not gonna lie, I'm starting to feel nervous about this team's chances to reach QF. Hopefully Canada gets their shit together somehow before playing Kazakhstan. But even then it seems tough.

 

[Poiquets]

Don’t know about this one. Looked like puck changed direction of Italian player’s stick right after Indrašis kicked it. 50/50.

Yeah, I thought it would count, because it changed direction from the italian players stick IMO.

 

[RobRayzor]

Dangerous hit by Kenins, he’s lucky it’s not 5 and a game, IIHF might look at it after the game tho.
Stupid penalty. Completely unnecessary.

on bright side at least Latvians are shooting the puck, SOG 31-9 after 2

 

[jonas2244]

Yeah, 2+10 not enough IMHO.

 

[filip85]

So there goes my betting ticket for today...I was naive and played 6+ goals

 

[GX]

So there goes my betting ticket for today...I was naive and played 6+ goals

Latvia has played 6 games this spring (including 4 exhibitions) and scored .. a total of 7 goals. So it indeed seemed far-fetched.

 

[Poiquets]

Which offside rule are they using in IIHF tournaments? In NHL it is enough for the skate to be above the blue line when the puck enters the zone. Does the skate still have to be on ice in the IIHF rules?

 

[stv11]

Which offside rule are they using in IIHF tournaments? In NHL it is enough for the skate to be above the blue line when the puck enters the zone. Does the skate still have to be on ice in the IIHF rules?

I'm pretty sure the skate needs to be on the ice.

 

[RobRayzor]

I’m afraid of what Germany is gonna do to us

 

[ozo]

This is bleak. Not just today, but for NT going forward as the core of the team is pretty much past its expiry day. I'm almost glad that we will have GB and Italy as a decent buffer for relegation next year.

 

[filip85]

This is bleak. Not just today, but for NT going forward as the core of the team is pretty much past its expiry day. I'm almost glad that we will have GB and Italy as a decent buffer for relegation next year.

What's Hartley contract situation ? Does he leads Latvia only at Olympics or beyond that as well ?

 

[LKI]

What's Hartley contract situation ? Does he leads Latvia only at Olympics or beyond that as well ?

Depending on whether he'll receive an offer from the NHL team... either way, he will most likely still lead Latvia in OS qualifiers.

 

[Namejs]

This is bleak. Not just today, but for NT going forward as the core of the team is pretty much past its expiry day. I'm almost glad that we will have GB and Italy as a decent buffer for relegation next year.

Typical Latvian melancholy. Fortunately, it's not based on any facts.

The team is past its Best Before date by design. The coaching staff sniffed the proverbial milk and decided it's good enough. We have another gallon right beside it and it's exactly the same as the one before.

Remember we're missing Blueger, Girgensons, Balcers. If you'd replace Darzins, Karsums, Redlihs with the 3 of them, this team would only become better.

There are plenty of NCAA graduates making the switch to pro hockey and a few of them will trickle down to the national team in the years to come. We're not going to become any worse even after the oldies retire. And we're definitely not going to struggle against GB or Italy.

There's a difference between struggling to score while having chances to score and struggling to score as in struggling to create any offense like against Canswestan.

This team is lacking skill and finesse to do any real damage, but we can still make the play-offs. I have lost any hopes for a deeper run, but it was a long shot even with weakened rosters.