WJC: 2012 WJC Division I (General Discussion)

[Shrimper]

2012 IIHF U20 World Championship Division I Schedule

Group A (Germany)
Teams: Austria, Belarus, Great Britain, Norway, Slovenia

Date | CET | EST | Matchup

Dec. 11|12:30|6:30 AM|Great Britain vs. Norway
Dec. 11|16:00|10:00 AM|Belarus vs. Germany
Dec. 11|19:30|1:30 PM|Austria vs. Slovenia
-|-|-|-
Dec. 12|15:30|9:30 AM|Slovenia vs. Great Britain
Dec. 12|19:00|1:00 PM|Germany vs. Austria
-|-|-|-
Dec. 13|17:00|11:00 AM|Norway vs. Belarus
-|-|-|-
Dec. 14|12:30|6:30 AM|Great Britain vs. Belarus
Dec. 14|16:00|10:00 AM|Norway vs. Austria
Dec. 14|19:30|1:30 PM|Germany vs. Slovenia
-|-|-|-
Dec. 15|19:00|1:00 PM|Germany vs. Great Britain
-|-|-|-
Dec. 16|15:30|9:30 AM|Belarus vs. Austria
Dec. 16|19:00|1:00 PM|Slovenia vs. Norway
-|-|-|-
Dec. 17|12:30|6:30 AM|Austria vs. Great Britain
Dec. 17|16:00|10:00 AM|Slovenia vs. Belarus
Dec. 17|19:30|1:30 PM|Norway vs. Germany

Group B (Poland)
Teams: Croatia, France, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Poland

Date | CET | EST | Matchup

Dec. 12|13:30|7:00 AM|France vs. Italy
Dec. 12|16:30|10:30 AM|Japan vs. Kazakhstan
Dec. 12|20:00|2:00 PM|Poland vs. Croatia
-|-|-|-
Dec. 13|13:00|7:00 AM|Italy vs. Japan
Dec. 13|16:30|10:30 PM|Croatia vs. France
Dec. 13|20:00|2:00 PM|Kazakhstan vs. Poland
-|-|-|-
Dec. 15|13:30|7:00 AM|France vs. Japan
Dec. 15|16:30|10:30 AM|Kazakhstan vs. Croatia
Dec. 15|20:00|2:00 PM|Italy vs. Poland
-|-|-|-
Dec. 16|13:00|7:00 AM|Kazakhstan vs. France
Dec. 16|16:30|10:30 PM|Croatia vs. Italy
Dec. 16|20:00|2:00 PM|Japan vs. Poland
-|-|-|-
Dec. 18|13:00|7:00 AM|Croatia vs. Japan
Dec. 18|16:30|10:30 PM|Italy vs. Kazakhstan
Dec. 18|20:00|2:00 PM|Poland vs. France

[size=+2][glow=black]GB Division I team[/size][/glow]

[glow=black]Name [/glow]| [glow=black]Position [/glow]| [glow=black]D.O.B [/glow] |[glow=black]Height[/glow] | [glow=black]Weight [/glow]| [glow=black]Club [/glow]
Callum Bowley|Center|25.07.1993|1.76|70|Telford Tigers
Luke Brittle|Forward|11.06.1993|1.75|78|Telford Tigers
Steven Chalmers|Defenseman|21.08.1992|1.80|84|Dundee Stars
Jamie Chilcott|Defenseman|06.06.1993|1.81|79|Space Coast Hurricanes
Liam Chong|Forward|08.04.1992|1.78|78|Basingstoke Bison
Aaron Connolly|Forward|01.06.1993|1.83|85|Slough Jets
Luke Ferrara|Forward|07.06.1993|1.83|76|Peterborough Phantoms
Ross Green|Defenseman|19.02.1992|1.82|82|Milton Keynes Lightning
James Griffin|Defenseman|08.04.1993|1.83|79|Coventry Blaze
James Hadfield|Goaltender|04.10.1992|1.86|85|Guildford Flames
Andrew Hirst|Forward|20.09.1992|1.75|79|Sheffield Steeldogs
Joseph Lewis|Forward|26.07.1992|1.74|71|EV Fussen
Andrew Melachrino|Forward|09.06.1993|1.76|80|Slough Jets
Jack Musil|Forward|22.08.1993|1.85|78|Space Coast Hurricanes
Declan Ryan|Goaltender|08.12.1992|1.81|81|Telford Tigers
Daniel Scott|Defenseman|30.04.1992|1.83|86|Hull Stingrays
Thomas Soar|Forward|02.01.1993|1.90|100|Telford Tigers
Brandon Stones|Forward|02.07.1993|1.81|72|Coventry Blaze
Zach Sullivan|Defenseman|14.07.1994|1.75|73|Slough Jets
Paul Swindlehurst|Defenseman|25.05.1993|1.82|76|Swindon Wildcats
Christopher Sykes|Forward|05.01.1992|1.75|85|Sheffield Steeldogs
Ross Venus|Forward|28.04.1994|1.80|72|Coventry Blaze
Joshua Ward|Forward|03.02.1992|1.81|78|Manchester Phoenix
Jack Watkins|Forward|03.02.1993|1.85|84|Hull Stringrays
Shaun Wild|Defenseman|12.09.1993|1.81|84|Sheffield Spartans

Schedule:

11.12 - GBR - NOR
12.12 - SLO - GBR
14.12 - GBR - BLR
15.12 - GER - GBR
17.12 - AUT - GBR

Click to read more...

 

[branch]

Wow...I haven't really seen the UK in an international hockey tournament before. Should be interesting.

 

[Shrimper]

We've improved in recent years and playing against teams like Germany, Norway and Slovakia can only be good.

I'm not expecting us to get promoted, other teams are better but our goal is obviously getting to the top tier. That'd be amazing.

 

[zorz]

I gues the biggest contenders are Germany and Norway, but who's expected to fight for staying in IA group? Is that GB?

 

[Spongolium*]

Lets go GB, lets go!

 

[Purple hippo]

Having gotten the chance to watch you guys last year I was surprised and very impressed. Now I want to see how you guys do in a much tougher Group and how you are going to do without Bowns who hands down stole the show last year.

Who is suppose to replace him anyways?

 

[Shrimper]

Having gotten the chance to watch you guys last year I was surprised and very impressed. Now I want to see how you guys do in a much tougher Group and how you are going to do without Bowns who hands down stole the show last year.

Who is suppose to replace him anyways?

Most probably Hadfield. Realistically I reckon we could beat Austria, Belarus and Slovenia and give tight games against Norway and Germany. We're probably the favourite to go down, but I don't think we will.

 

[Purple hippo]

Thanks Shrimper, look forward to seeing how Hadfield can handle it, wish you guys all the best of luck, will be cheering hard to knock off Belarus this year.

 

[Shrimper]

Cheers! A good performance would be fantastic but what we really need to get hockey more noticeable is promotion against the big guns.

 

[newham89]

Any chance any of these games will be televised? I'd love to see them.

 

[old time hockey4]

What type of kids get into hockey in GB? Is it mainly expats from Canada and US, or kids who don't show a natural passion for soccer?

What's the registration numbers like for kids in Great Britain? Like in terms of numbers, is it in the top 5 for sports that kids play?

 

[Eye of Ra]

what type of hockey does GB play?


North american style? euro style? or "remix"?

 

[Shrimper]

Any chance any of these games will be televised? I'd love to see them.

Not sure on wether they'll be televised, I'll let you know if I find anything about it.

What type of kids get into hockey in GB? Is it mainly expats from Canada and US, or kids who don't show a natural passion for soccer?

What's the registration numbers like for kids in Great Britain? Like in terms of numbers, is it in the top 5 for sports that kids play?

I wouldn't say it's top 5 over here. I'd guess at

1) Football
2) Rugby - Union and League
3) Cricket
4) Golf
5) American Football/Basketball

There are a few expat Canadians and Americans in the league but the majority is GB based I would say. The kids that generally get into the league are obviously ones that wish to pursue it but they have to go to great lengths as there is a very basic infrastructure so they have to be very determined. I would say though that it's generally kids that grew up watching NHL or having North American parents with an interest in the NHL.

what type of hockey does GB play?


North american style? euro style? or "remix"?

A mix of both I would say as obviously the rinks are bigger which allow for more open play but the Canadians and Americans have an influence and probably affect our style a bit. We have a Canadian coach, so it's probably 60/40 NA.

 

[ChaiTiefling]

what type of hockey does GB play?

North american style? euro style? or "remix"?

Indisciplined North American, we often see GB take a ton of penalties in international competiton because they're used to getting away with things that they shouldn't due to the low standard of officiating here. No shortage of skill however.

Ryan should be the starter but Hadfield could easily push him out of the spot, neither are on the same level as Ben Bowns was last year but then few goalies are, the kid's a true prodigy and is destined for bigger and better things.

For skaters, look out for Joe Lewis at forward (runaway leading scorer in the Deutsche Nachwuchs Liga) and Paul Swindlehurst on defence (saw him play U19s for Manchester at the age of 13 and was the best player on the ice). Musil, Chilcott, Ferrara and Connolly are the other standouts.

Promotion is extremely unlikely but I think they're good enough to stay up on their own merit.

 

[IIHFjerseycollector]

their senior team almost promoted last year. but lost a narrow match to kazakhstan. I was really pulling for them!

 

[Maverick41]

I gues the biggest contenders are Germany and Norway, but who's expected to fight for staying in IA group? Is that GB?

I think this will be real close. Germany and Norway seem to be the favourites, while any of the other 4 could be relegated. But it is really hard to make any predictions.

I am very happy with this new format. No team can slack off anymore. In the old format there were always games were one team could just take it easy, because the knew they would still win. This is much more interesting.

Obviously I will be rooting for Germany, but I do hope that GB avoids relegation and keeps improving the way they have over the past few years.

 

[chaosrevolver]

Anyway, hopefully there is some way to see these games cause I would love to see GB play. At the very least I hope they stay Div. 1. I expect Germany and Norway will be moving back up to the WJC U-20 next year.

 

[Purple hippo]

Anyway, hopefully there is some way to see these games cause I would love to see GB play. At the very least I hope they stay Div. 1. I expect Germany and Norway will be moving back up to the WJC U-20 next year.

With the change of the format, only one country will be relegated from Elite and promoted from Div. IA

 

[chasespace]

I really hope there will be streams of these games and other D1 games, I love watching teams play their hearts out for the recognition of getting to the top division.

 

[Bure80]

I dont think games will be shown.
They dont show germany in WJC in top division so they dont will show when they are in Div 1A.

Will be interesting to see how a team like GB can handle guys like Rieder and Kühnhackl.

 

[Andros777]

Man I will be pumped if you guys make it to the big leagues in a couple years. I don't care if you get blown out 20-0 every game you'll still be my second team.

 

[Delayed Offside]

I honestly never knew that GB had a team.

Any clips?

 

[IIHFjerseycollector]

I honestly never knew that GB had a team.

Any clips?

hit up iihf.com there are a ton of countries playing that you probably dont know about..

only video youll likely see is the senior team. youtube is your bestbet

 

[Purple hippo]

I honestly never knew that GB had a team.

Any clips?

From their match last year with Belarus..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRqdYkM616g

 

[IslesNorway]

As a huge fan of English football I've always found it slightly weird that hockey has never caught on in Blighty, considering it's a very working class style sport. I have no idea what a ticket might cost but it sure must be just a fraction of the cost of a football game and so should appeal to those prices out of the footie.