WC: 2020 Zürich and Lausanne groups

[Nexon]

Skupina A - Lausanne	Skupina B - Curych
Kanada (1)	Rusko (2)
Švédsko (4)	Finsko (3)
Česko (5)	USA (6)
Německo (7)	Švýcarsko (8)
Slovensko (9)	Lotyšsko (10)
Dánsko (12)	Norsko (11)
Bělorusko (14)	Itálie (16)
Velká Británie (20)	Kazachstán (19

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

So surprisingly they didn't let Germany in German speaking city close to German borders, also Czech people who have shorter way to Zürich and many of us are able to speak Deutsch are screwed. I don't understand under those circumstances Switzerland could not stay in Lausanne where hockey is fairly popular and could move to Zürich for potential SF instead

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[Namejs]

This is unprecedented in that Switzerland basically were allowed to change their group and they obviously chose the weaker one.

According to IIHF seeding rules, Germany were supposed to play in Group B.

Am I missing something here?

 

[doug88]

Skupina A - Lausanne	Skupina B - Curych
Kanada (1)	Rusko (2)
Švédsko (4)	Finsko (3)
Česko (5)	USA (6)
Německo (7)	Švýcarsko (8)
Slovensko (9)	Lotyšsko (10)
Dánsko (12)	Norsko (11)
Bělorusko (14)	Itálie (16)
Velká Británie (20)	Kazachstán (19

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

So surprisingly they didn't let Germany in German speaking city close to German borders, also Czech people who have shorter way to Zürich and many of us are able to speak Deutsch are screwed. I don't understand under those circumstances Switzerland could not stay in Lausanne where hockey is fairly popular and could move to Zürich for potential SF instead

The choice is pretty obvious. Zurich is in central Switzerland, it's a much bigger city than Lausanne with a bigger arena and the Swiss hockey federation would never let the NT play in the French speaking part for the WC.

 

[Urbanskog]

A terrible decision, placing Germany in the Zurich group would have had a positive impact on the attendance. Having Germany play in Lausanne is practically no different from them playing in Kosice.

 

[stv11]

It was announced months ago that Switzerland would play in Zurich, so unless something completely unexpected happend in Slovakia, it was clear that Germany would have to play in Lausanne.

But given that Lausanne is a two hours drive away from Germany, and a short train ride from Geneva airport with flights to Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich, I'm not sure why German fans would have a hard time attending.

And in any case, Lausanne to Zurich is just two hours by train, anyone can easily visit both cities even with a short stay.

 

[BalticWarrior]

This is unprecedented in that Switzerland basically were allowed to change their group and they obviously chose the weaker one.

According to IIHF seeding rules, Germany were supposed to play in Group B.

Am I missing something here?

Yeah this is f***ing bullshit. To get into QF`s we have to go through Switzerland, same as this year. God f***ing damnit.

 

[Zenos]

So surprisingly they didn't let Germany in German speaking city close to German borders

I'm not sure how important that fact really is to be honest. Lots of areas where hockey is popular (Cologne, Düsseldorf, Ruhr region, Berlin) and German fans would presumably be coming from aren't close to the border anyways. As an example, Cologne is 6 hours by car from Zürich and 7 to Lausanne. I can't imagine that extra hour would really dissuade many fans from making the trip. Besides, I'd guess most are flying anyways.

 

[Nexon]

It was announced months ago that Switzerland would play in Zurich, so unless something completely unexpected happend in Slovakia, it was clear that Germany would have to play in Lausanne.

But given that Lausanne is a two hours drive away from Germany, and a short train ride from Geneva airport with flights to Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich, I'm not sure why German fans would have a hard time attending.

And in any case, Lausanne to Zurich is just two hours by train, anyone can easily visit both cities even with a short stay.

I think Germans would definitely prefer to stay in city they can easily communicate, French speaking people are not extra willing to talk in different language, it can be different with Swiss though.

The choice is pretty obvious. Zurich is in central Switzerland, it's a much bigger city than Lausanne with a bigger arena and the Swiss hockey federation would never let the NT play in the French speaking part for the WC.

That’s sad regiony are not on par in country supposed to be most democratic in the World.

This is unprecedented in that Switzerland basically were allowed to change their group and they obviously chose the weaker one.

According to IIHF seeding rules, Germany were supposed to play in Group B.

Am I missing something here?

I dont think this should be factor here, Switzerland are able to assemble squad able to beat everyone.

 

[BalticWarrior]

I dont think this should be factor here, Switzerland are able to assemble squad able to beat everyone.

Which still doesnt disprove that fact that Swiss still want to maximize their chances by switching places to a more favourable group. IIHF, man what a f***ing joke.

 

[stv11]

I think Germans would definitely prefer to stay in city they can easily communicate, French speaking people are not extra willing to talk in different language, it can be different with Swiss though.

English is widely spoken in Lausanne, shouldn't be more difficult to communicate than in Kosice or other recent WC hosts like Moscow, Ostrava or Minsk

 

[filip85]

I see many either didnt see or dont want to see this part of stv11 post

It was announced months ago that Switzerland would play in Zurich

 

[jonas2244]

Which still doesnt disprove that fact that Swiss still want to maximize their chances by switching places to a more favourable group. IIHF, man what a ****ing joke.

That's just bullshit, sorry. It was clear that Switzerland wants to play in Zurich. Has been done before by other organisers. And it's impossible to say right now which group is stronger as we don't know how the teams will look like next year.
And next year it's a tournament in Latvia and Belarus. Do you think Latvia will play in Minsk? They'll switch groups if they need to.

 

[BalticWarrior]

That's just bull****, sorry. It was clear that Switzerland wants to play in Zurich. Has been done before by other organisers. And it's impossible to say right now which group is stronger as we don't know how the teams will look like next year.
And next year it's a tournament in Latvia and Belarus. Do you think Latvia will play in Minsk? They'll switch groups if they need to.

Okay bud

 

[Gold Standard]

fantastic. was hoping Canada would be in the Lausanne group. I think I'm going to call my pals in Geneva and tell them to expect us in May for a few weeks.

 

[stv11]

From Switzerland's point of view, the only clear advantage of switching group is to face Norway rather than Denmark. The value of the top 6 teams is impossible to predict, Slovakia might have a higher potential than Latvia but Latvia has been more consistent lately, and the value of the bottom 2 in each group will depend on whether Belarus or Kazakhstan will have the most efficient passport factory.

 

[Namejs]

I think Germans would definitely prefer to stay in city they can easily communicate, French speaking people are not extra willing to talk in different language, it can be different with Swiss though.


That’s sad regiony are not on par in country supposed to be most democratic in the World.


I dont think this should be factor here, Switzerland are able to assemble squad able to beat everyone.

Erm.

They could play in whichever flipping city they want. There is no need to change the seeding for that. Are you aware of that?

 

[Nexon]

Which still doesnt disprove that fact that Swiss still want to maximize their chances by switching places to a more favourable group. IIHF, man what a ****ing joke.

Mad about placing Latvia in 5 contenders group again, on the other hand, USA will probably way weaker next year and who knows how Finland looks like. On the other hand I’m happy you dont play with us

 

[Pardus]

Team GB got Belarus that can't get relegated in their group So sad. We won't see another GB miracle next year.

 

[Namejs]

From Switzerland's point of view, the only clear advantage of switching group is to face Norway rather than Denmark. The value of the top 6 teams is impossible to predict, Slovakia might have a higher potential than Latvia but Latvia has been more consistent lately, and the value of the bottom 2 in each group will depend on whether Belarus or Kazakhstan will have the most efficient passport factory.

Are you Rene Fasel?

Sweden>Finland
Czech Rep>USA (hoping for an early round robin game vs USA is like a public secret)
Slovakia>Latvia
Denmark>Norway
Belarus>Italy

It is so much easier to finish in the top 4 in Group B, especially with Germany in it.

 

[stv11]

Are you Rene Fasel?

Sweden>Finland
Czech Rep>USA (hoping for an early round robin game vs USA is like a public secret)
Slovakia>Latvia
Denmark>Norway
Belarus>Italy

It is so much easier to finish in the top 4 in Group B, especially with Germany in it.

I started my post by stating that I was looking at it from Switzerland's point of view, so I'm not sure why you would compare teams in absolute terms. Switzerland has beaten Finland exactly once in the last 30 years, I'm not sure why they would be such a desirable opponents. They've had similar success rates against Czech Republic and USA, and for some reason you overlooked Russia (not a single point since a tie in 2005) and Canada (4 wins over the last decade).

Slovakia>Latvia is questionable at best given that Slovakia just had their best tournament in ages but still missed the quarterfinals, and comparing Belarus to Italy rather than Kazakhstan seems pretty dishonest. I'll give you Denmark vs Norway (I actually already did in my original post).

Obviously it's easier to sneak into the top 4 in the Germany group, but it was a given Germany and Switzerland would be in different groups.

Regarding René Fasel, I'm pretty sure that the president of the IIHF publicly commenting on the relative strength of teams would be frowned upon, so the fact that I did comment should be a solid clue that I am, in fact, not René Fasel.

 

[jj cale]

fantastic. was hoping Canada would be in the Lausanne group. I think I'm going to call my pals in Geneva and tell them to expect us in May for a few weeks.

Gold.....................can I trade my life for yours?

 

[garbageteam]

Team GB got Belarus that can't get relegated in their group So sad. We won't see another GB miracle next year.

Yeah that's actually a pretty raw deal for GB. There should be some stipulation that they should be able to stay in the top group if they can place ahead of Belarus, i.e. in a play-off match against the 7th place finisher in Group B.

 

[Lambo]

Are you Rene Fasel?

Sweden>Finland
Czech Rep>USA (hoping for an early round robin game vs USA is like a public secret)
Slovakia>Latvia
Denmark>Norway
Belarus>Italy

It is so much easier to finish in the top 4 in Group B, especially with Germany in it.

You can t judge the level of goups now. You don t now how the composed the teams next year.

 

[Finnswiss]

In group B Finland, Russia and USA are normally given for the quarterfinal. We will see if Switzerland can may be beat USA but it depends on of course who will come for the USA. We had this year practically the best possible team at the whc but in case next year some of the Swiss top NHL players can't come the quarterfinal isn't granted for Switzerland. Latvia could become the hardest opponent for Switzerland for quarterfinal.

In the other group should be a hard battle between Germany, Slovakia and may be Denmark and Belarus possibly they have a little chance.
I don't know if in Slovakia are coming good talents for next year may be from their U20 national team. I wish them good luck for the quarterfinal next year.

 

[jonas2244]

Yeah that's actually a pretty raw deal for GB. There should be some stipulation that they should be able to stay in the top group if they can place ahead of Belarus, i.e. in a play-off match against the 7th place finisher in Group B.

It is. If GB would beat Belarus and place 7th there is a comparison between GB and the other 7th placed team. And the team with less points/worse goal relation gets relegation. Could be two teams out of group B.