WJC: 2020 IIHF WM U20 D1A in Minsk, BELARUS (9.12 - 15.12 2019)
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SoundAndFury
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2010, Komarek years
But it was easier to get there back then since 2 teams went up and down.
Howe Elbows 9
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I believe it was 2010, when their leading scorers were Dominique Heinrich (7 points) and Konstantin Komarek (6 points).
ozo
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Komarek era isn't even over and they get another potential superstar in Rossi to star in WJC top tier2010, Komarek years
SoundAndFury
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The last time in a single promotion/relegation slot was 1980. Peter Raffl and Thomas Cijan led them.
SoundAndFury
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On that note, what the hell happened to Alexander Cijan? He was one of the leaders of U20 team as well and now he is barely hanging in there in the EBEL.
Those generations Austrian hockey truly felt dead. He was one of the better players then but the team was so poor, he never really had the level to become a significant player at the next level.
How did Rossi's decision to not play go down with everyone? That they managed to do it without him says a great deal about their character. Hopefully after a good sitdown with family, friends, agents and Ottawa ...he will show up and play....
I mean, it was his agent who made the call. And we knew way back, he didn't even attend summer camp. I don't think anyone was mad, I think everyone understood.
I think it was for the better though. It would have been great if he was there, but this WJC wasn't about him. It wasn't really about the 01' class. They were missing, or injured (Kili, Hohe), or didn't play large roles (Tim). This was about the 2000 class showing that it had what it takes, and finally delivering on "the prophecy." Marco will have his time. And then you better watch out, because we will be able to lose games to Latvia by less than 3 goals.
SoundAndFury
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Honestly, one can't be too mad at Rossi. Like kabidjan said, they went with this tactic of really brushing NT aside from the start of the season because sure, it is an important year for him and everyone understood. Let's face it, honestly, nobody was thinking they will be playing for promotion even in Austria.
3rd place for team BLR is a real failure. I was expecting a clash for promotion between LAT and our youngsters but it all ended up rather unexpectedly. Well, I cannot say AUT did not deserve this success but we have to be realistic now: given the fact that their team was one of the oldest at this WC and 12 of their players (icluding the top scoring duo and best goalie) won't be eligible to take part in the elite WC next year, they're doomed for relegation.
SoundAndFury
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1) Sure.
2) Not like any of those teams would have had a chance. Unless Seider AND Stutzle are in the NHL. Belarus is the best of the rest, the gap between Germany with Stutzle, Seider, Peterka, Reichel, Ancicka, and Belarus is huge. And please don't say anything about you winning against Finland at U18.
3) The only great thing about the Belarussian situation (or Latvian, for that matter) that with Kazakhs being back to D1A and Danes lagging so far behind promotion to elite seems even more like a two-team affair.
I have no idea why do you keep mentioning Germany as the team to beat. Slovakia can be worse than Germany and Switzerland is beatable. 'Not a chance' is a pretty major exaggeration.
SoundAndFury
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Because Slovakia has never dropped out of elite and Switzerland has once in the last 25 years while their hockey is constantly improving? And Germany spent last 4 years in 1A? I think that's a pretty good reason.
I get what you are saying, Germany is pretty damn good this year and isn't going to be bad in 2021 but Austria beating Switzerland or Slovakia seems just as unlikely.
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I might be a little ocd on terms like 'not a chance', but it's a bit confusing when you're describing it this way. What does that mean?
Clearly, there's a realistic chance of Latvia or any other 2nd tier nation beating any of Slovakia/Germany/Switzerland, especially if they manage to advance NOT in their peak year.
For instance, we had 16 underagers this year. Next year we will probably win the tournament, but only because that's going to be our peak year. The year after that we will have a bunch of underagers again. You get the idea.
If Austria, Latvia, Denmark or whatever faces Slovakia, Switzerland or Germany, anything can happen. There's at least a 1 in 3 chance or 1 in 4 chance of an upset. If Slovakia has a bad year and Latvia has a real good one, it can actually be very close.
The year-to-year fluctuations are huge, because none of these teams have a large player base, maybe except Switzerland.
The disparity is not that great. And a single game in the round robin can decide everything. 'Not a chance' is clearly an exaggeration.
We had close games against Finland and Slovakia in 2017. It's scores like 3-5, 1-2, 1-3 against these teams in the Elite tier, with GWGs being scored in the 3rd.
Your whole point is 'oh, it's been like this, so it's bound to be the same'. Well, no.
If Latvia had advanced, we would have a pretty good shot at staying up next year.
Isn't next year like Belarus' big year? They bring back almost everyone. Kolyachonok, Protas, Alistrov, Oksentyuk, Pinchuk, Usov, Denisov.
SoundAndFury
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Yes, "not a chance is obviously" an exaggeration as proven by Austrians who had no chance to win this division. But the chances are slim. I would agree with your 1 out of 3 or 4 assessment but keep in mind relegation round is best out of 3 so even if the chances for 1 game are 1 out of 3 surviving the relegation round becomes 1 out of 6 chance. Which is not a lot, to say the least.
Unless you truly have a better team than Slovakia or Switzerland. But in Latvia's case, that just doesn't seem so.
Unless you truly have a better team than Slovakia or Switzerland. But in Latvia's case, that just doesn't seem so.
Well, that's quite a disappointment. My two favorite nations, Belarus and Latvia, impeded each other.
Coming back to this, this really does look like a golden generation for Belarus (in relative terms). It makes the Austrian victory all the more impressive. Would it be fair to say the national team will sport the bulk of the players listed above in 2-4 years? Rare for a country to have that big a class.
Maybe. I mean there are also plenty of slightly older guys from the classes that were on the elite level who would also play.
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