WJC: 2022 IIHF WM U20 D2A/D2B

[filip85]

Win against Netherlands 4:2. That should be it. We are in the D2A for the first time since 2017.

 

[crobro]

Iceland doesn’t look to bad hopefully croatia hasn’t taken the start so far for granted

 

[filip85]

Iceland doesn’t look to bad hopefully croatia hasn’t taken the start so far for granted

Game was tied 3:3 just 10 minutes before the end. Then Idžan brothers showed up...

 

[crobro]

Some of the best Croatian players on this team are the youngest which bodes well for the next few years

 

[crobro]

so hypothetically if Croatia wins this tourney what teams are Croatia looking to face in Div 2A 2023?

 

[Maverick41]

so hypothetically if Croatia wins this tourney what teams are Croatia looking to face in Div 2A 2023?

Unless I am missing something Div 2a next year should be:

Poland
Korea
Great Britain
Spain
Lithuania
Croatia

 

[filip85]

Unless I am missing something Div 2a next year should be:

Poland
Korea
Great Britain
Spain
Lithuania
Croatia

According to the IIHF site D1B is in Poland, and for D2A listed teams are Great Britain, Spain, Lithuania, Romania, and first two teams from D2B (Croatia and Netherlands).

 

[crobro]

I believe China not participating affects the promotion of two teams to div 2A

 

[filip85]

I believe China not participating affects the promotion of two teams to div 2A

I think it's more due to Russia and Belarus being suspended which simply moved whole "line" for additional two spots.

 

[crobro]

According to the IIHF site D1B is in Poland, and for D2A listed teams are Great Britain, Spain, Lithuania, Romania, and first two teams from D2B (Croatia and Netherlands).

Croatia has a good chance at winning this as well

 

[filip85]

Croatia has a good chance at winning this as well

No, we dont...

 

[crobro]

So croatia wins the under 18 and under :0 in one year has this ever happened before

 

[SoundAndFury]

Croatia has a good chance at winning this as well

How high were you when you wrote this? On hopium, if not anything else Fighting for medals - sure, not entirely impossible, Netherlands and Romania are definitely beatable and Spain is a wildcard.

 

[crobro]

The team is mostly in the 16 -17 year age range and winning builds culture

Should be even better with a step up in competition

If you don’t see that your on Hopium as you called it

 

[ozo]

The team is mostly in the 16 -17 year age range and winning builds culture

Should be even better with a step up in competition

If you don’t see that your on Hopium as you called it

This is not Mighty Ducks movie where beating Iceland is a big deal

 

[filip85]

This is not Mighty Ducks movie where beating Iceland is a big deal

Joke aside, Iceland left very good impression on me, yes they were last, but they beat Serbia, they led 3:1 against Netherlands, and held 3:3 against us with 10 minutes before the end. With few lucky bounces going their way they could have easily sneak into 2nd place.

How high were you when you wrote this? On hopium, if not anything else Fighting for medals - sure, not entirely impossible, Netherlands and Romania are definitely beatable and Spain is a wildcard.

Maybe, but only if we improve our PP% which was record low with 5,88%

 

[SoundAndFury]

The team is mostly in the 16 -17 year age range and winning builds culture

Should be even better with a step up in competition

If you don’t see that your on Hopium as you called it

My hopium is the fact that we have played 3 games against Croatia at the U20 level and the aggregate score of those is 22-3 in our favor. And we aren't even the best team in the competition. Somehow despite following hockey for years you don't seem to understand how little winning the lower level division means when it comes to the step up. The gaps between countries are huge, relegation back to where you came from being far and away the most common outcome (which to be fair I'm sure you do know). You can speak about trivial intangibles like "winning culture" giving an edge when it comes to roughly equal peers, not when your team is completely outclassed 2 steps below the required level to win the competition.

The current political situation makes the whole thing slightly different, surely Croatia should feel fairly safe about avoiding relegation. 4th place would be tough but possible. 3rd place would be a dream. 2nd place a miracle. Talking about winning - just silly.

With all due respect, you guys didn't even exactly dominate the D2B. Having a very talented 16 yo kid is not going to be very impressive facing a roster full of EIHL regulars.

Joke aside, Iceland left very good impression on me, yes they were last, but they beat Serbia, they led 3:1 against Netherlands, and held 3:3 against us with 10 minutes before the end. With few lucky bounces going their way they could have easily sneak into 2nd place.

Judging from the number of U20s representing their men's NT currently, this was one of their best generations ever as well. Kari Arnarsson, for example, is one of the best players of their local league already scoring over 2 PPG there. Having said that, him scoring 0 points in this competition shows just exactly how little it means.

Viggo Hlynsson who just turned 18 and was their leading scorer has a reasonable chance to become a professional someday, like at the HockeyEttan level. Or at least be a god of an Icelandic league.