WC: 2014 Division II A & B • Division III • Apr. 5-15 • General Discussion

[Systemfel]

2014 IIHF World Championship Division II • Group A
Belgrade, Serbia
April 9-15

Date | Game | CET
Apr. 9 | Iceland vs. Estonia | 13:00
Apr. 9 | Israel vs. Australia | 16:30
Apr. 9 | Belgium vs. Serbia | 20:00
Apr. 10 | Estonia vs. Australia | 13:00
Apr. 10 | Belgium vs. Iceland | 16:30
Apr. 10 | Serbia vs. Israel | 20:00
Apr. 12 | Belgium vs. Israel | 13:00
Apr. 12 | Iceland vs. Australia | 16:30
Apr. 12 | Estonia vs. Serbia | 20:00
Apr. 14 | Australia vs. Belgium | 13:00
Apr. 14 | Israel vs. Estonia | 16:30
Apr. 14 | Serbia vs. Iceland | 20:00
Apr. 15 | Estonia vs. Belgium | 13:00
Apr. 15 | Iceland vs. Israel | 16:30
Apr. 15 | Australia vs. Serbia | 20:00

2014 IIHF World Championship Division II • Group B
Jaca, Spain
April 5-11

Date | Game | CET
Apr. 5 | New Zealand vs. Turkey | 13:00
Apr. 5 | South Africa vs. China | 16:30
Apr. 5 | Mexico vs. Spain | 20:00
Apr. 6 | Turkey vs. South Africa | 13:00
Apr. 6 | New Zealand vs. Mexico | 16:30
Apr. 6 | Spain vs. China | 20:00
Apr. 8 | Mexico vs. China | 13:00
Apr. 8 | New Zealand vs. South Africa | 16:30
Apr. 8 | Spain vs. Turkey | 20:00
Apr. 9 | China vs. New Zealand | 13:00
Apr. 9 | Turkey vs. Mexico | 16:30
Apr. 9 | South Africa vs. Spain | 20:00
Apr. 11 | Mexico vs. South Africa | 13:00
Apr. 11 | China vs. Turkey | 16:30
Apr. 11 | Spain vs. New Zealand | 20:00

2014 IIHF World Championship Division III
Luxembourg, Luxembourg
April 6-12

Date | Game | CET
Apr. 6 | Hong Kong vs. United Arab Emirates | 12:30
Apr. 6 | North Korea vs. Georgia | 16:00
Apr. 6 | Luxembourg vs. Bulgaria | 19:45
Apr. 7 | Georgia vs. Hong Kong | 12:30
Apr. 7 | Bulgaria vs. United Arab Emirates | 16:00
Apr. 7 | North Korea vs. Luxembourg | 19:30
Apr. 9 | Bulgaria vs. Georgia | 12:30
Apr. 9 | North Korea vs. Hong Kong | 16:00
Apr. 9 | Luxembourg vs. United Arab Emirates | 19:30
Apr. 11 | United Arab Emirates vs. North Korea | 12:30
Apr. 11 | Hong Kong vs. Bulgaria | 16:00
Apr. 11 | Georgia vs. Luxembourg | 19:30
Apr. 12 | Bulgaria vs. North Korea | 12:30
Apr. 12 | United Arab Emirates vs. Hong Kong | 16:00
Apr. 12 | Luxembourg vs. Georgia | 19:30

Click to read more...

 

[Eye of Ra]

Where is Grecce?

 

[Systemfel]

Greece isn't taking part this time. Meanwhile, Hong Kong is in for the first time since 1987. Back then, they allowed 185 goals in 6 games.

 

[Shrimper]

Greece isn't taking part this time. Meanwhile, Hong Kong is in for the first time since 1987. Back then, they allowed 185 goals in 6 games.

You'd think that wouldn't even be possible but it clearly is.

 

[IIHFjerseycollector]

heres a pic from '87

 

[IIHFjerseycollector]

Where is Grecce?

Greece doesnt meet certain IIHF criteria for fielding a team anymore, same with Ireland.

 

[An Argument For]

Is there anywhere to stream these games when they play?

Cheering for North Korea.

 

[IIHFjerseycollector]

Is there anywhere to stream these games when they play?

Cheering for North Korea.

im sure well know closer to tournament time

 

[Exarz]

I love the lower division tournaments! It feels like this is "the heart of hockey" where they don't play for cash, they play for the love of the game!

Hockey's backyard <3

 

[Uncle Rotter]

You'd think that wouldn't even be possible but it clearly is.

Of course, the real question is: how did they score one goal?

 

[swissexpert]

Greece isn't taking part this time. Meanwhile, Hong Kong is in for the first time since 1987. Back then, they allowed 185 goals in 6 games.

losing 58-0 must feel awful, hope they're stronger this time

 

[Maverick41]

losing 58-0 must feel awful, hope they're stronger this time

Well, they only lost 42-0. It was New Zealand that lost 58-0 to Australia.

 

[IIHFjerseycollector]

live stream for div 2B will be available here
http://www.pasionmc.com/

 

[PanniniClaus]

heres a pic from '87

They look a bit like a dodgeball team. None the less - good to see them get back in.

 

[Maverick41]

So, North Korea beats Georgia 22-1 (Shots were 92-6).
Now, is North Korea that good or Georgia that bad?

Will be interesting to see how this plays out.

 

[Purple hippo]

So, North Korea beats Georgia 22-1 (Shots were 92-6).
Now, is North Korea that good or Georgia that bad?

Will be interesting to see how this plays out.

North Korea is one of the favourites to gain promotion and to be fair to Georgia, this is just their second international tournament since their independence. Really, this is the fourth year as a program.

Last year, they played in the Division III Qualification tournament with UAE, Greece and Mongolia. They finished last at 1-28 losing 0-6 to Mongolia, 0-13 to Greece and 1-9 to UAE so they are badly out classed here. But like I said, its only their second tournament.

 

[Maverick41]

North Korea is one of the favourites to gain promotion and to be fair to Georgia, this is just their second international tournament since their independence. Really, this is the fourth year as a program.

Last year, they played in the Division III Qualification tournament with UAE, Greece and Mongolia. They finished last at 1-28 losing 0-6 to Mongolia, 0-13 to Greece and 1-9 to UAE so they are badly out classed here. But like I said, its only their second tournament.

Thank you for the information. This is the first year I have actually started to pay attention to these tournaments at the lower levels.

 

[kaiser matias]

North Korea has the ability to play at a Division II level, and have before. Conversely Georgia is just in their second IIHF tournament, and one of the two ice rinks in the country was/is shut down in December due to snow damaging/collapsing the roof (I can't find any definite answers on what exactly happened, or if its even open again; there are league games scheduled there in the next few weeks, so I have no idea).

The problem is at this level, and less so in Div II, is that the talent discrepancy is so large. Ideally there would be a qualification tournament for Division III, like last year; however there simply aren't enough teams, so Georgia is going to allow about 20 goals a game and be lucky if they can get half that number of shots on net.

Fortunately there could be some new countries joining the World Championship program in the next few years. Kyrgyzstan joined the IIHF a few years back and is dominating at the Asian Winter Games and Challenge Cup of Asia (though many of the players would not be eligible for the World Championship). Hopefully Hong Kong sticks around this time, and they could be joined by other Asian countries like Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, and various Persian Gulf states (Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia). And if Ireland and Greece ever figure out their internal issues (though not likely in the foreseeable future) they could come back as well, as could Bosnia if they think its worthwhile. And, this is more far-fetched and not something to expect for at least a decade or more, some South American teams could always enter; Brazil, Argentina and Chile are all members, and both Brazil and Argentina actively participate in inline competitions. And if they ever want to become serious about hosting the Winter Olympics, they would have to have at least one ice rink, which could then be used to further an ice hockey program.

 

[Marns]

live stream for div 2B will be available here
http://www.pasionmc.com/

Thank you. I'm glad I found this.

Let's go Aussies!

 

[Emppu]

Spain promoted to II.A

Vamos España!!

 

[YMCMBYOLO]

Spain promoted to II.A

Vamos España!!

Congrats man, must feel to be Spanish!


I love these type of games!

 

[Arlus]

They look a bit like a dodgeball team. None the less - good to see them get back in.

I don't know who were they and all the respect, but this picture is quite funny

 

[IceBlacks]

I don't know who were they and all the respect, but this picture is quite funny

The 2nd guy from the right looks like the Hong Kong national team's general manager here in Luxembourg. I talked with him during the tournament and he said that when he played, the only rink in Hong Kong was a small, L-shaped box without glasses and it was located in an amusement park. There was also a zoo in the amusement park and you could see elephants from the rink.

Hong Kong played in the 1980's only in 1987 and 1989 Pool D world Championships and he said that the only preparation they had for the tournament was a 10 day camp in north-east China, a 4,5-hour flight from Hong Kong.

I've been taking plenty of photos from the games and they can be found from my webpage at http://gamewornjerseys.weebly.com/2014-division-iii-wc-luxembourg.html

Notice the Georgian netminder. His pads are in better shape than North Korean goalie's but they are way smaller. Plus he doesn't have a national team jersey at all but an older Buffalo Sabres' style blank jersey with his number and name on it.

 

[Arlus]

The 2nd guy from the right looks like the Hong Kong national team's general manager here in Luxembourg. I talked with him during the tournament and he said that when he played, the only rink in Hong Kong was a small, L-shaped box without glasses and it was located in an amusement park. There was also a zoo in the amusement park and you could see elephants from the rink.

Hong Kong played in the 1980's only in 1987 and 1989 Pool D world Championships and he said that the only preparation they had for the tournament was a 10 day camp in north-east China, a 4,5-hour flight from Hong Kong.

I've been taking plenty of photos from the games and they can be found from my webpage at http://gamewornjerseys.weebly.com/2014-division-iii-wc-luxembourg.html

Notice the Georgian netminder. His pads are in better shape than North Korean goalie's but they are way smaller. Plus he doesn't have a national team jersey at all but an older Buffalo Sabres' style blank jersey with his number and name on it.

Hi. I've just been on your website and your stories are great.

I was thinking of going at Jaca this year for the WC Div 2B, but I was forced to cancel all my plans in the end. Maybe with other occasion.

A prediction for the derby between Bulgaria and North Korea tomorrow?

 

[IceBlacks]

Hi. I've just been on your website and your stories are great.

I was thinking of going at Jaca this year for the WC Div 2B, but I was forced to cancel all my plans in the end. Maybe with other occasion.

A prediction for the derby between Bulgaria and North Korea tomorrow?

Thank you

Very tough to say. Bulgarian goalies have been quite sloppy, even Mihaylov but the games have been very tough for them because so far the opponents have attacked very rarely. Luxembourg got some more consistent attacks for some parts of the game and they scored 5 goals. Also UAE scored 5 goals but they had way less scoring chances than Luxembourg.

Also Bulgaria has relied only on their first line Yotov-Muchachev-Hodulov. The other lines are not even close to the skill these guys have. Bulgaria has been playing very relaxed hockey for last two games to save some energy against North Korea.

North Korea is not a physical team but relies on their team play, puck moving ability and fast skating. Their goalies have been quite solid but to be honest, they have been tested less than Bulgarian goalies so today their real skill will be measured. They have also been very disciplined team and taken very few penalties. That's very good thing for them because Bulgaria scores virtually on every PP they get. Some fast puck movement and Yotov and Hodulov are ready to put the one-timer into the net.

It's gonna be a very tough game. Bulgaria has more skill but lacks depth. They have more physical strength than North Korea. North Korea doesn't have any single stand out player who would take the game to his hand. In that perspective I believe the clear game plan North Korea has could take them to Division 2B.

But if Bulgaria could shake their system by forcing them to turnovers and doing some heavy body checks in the beginning, the game could turn into their favour. So I think I better not make any predictions on who's gonna win this one. Hopefully it will be a very tight and passionate game.