WJC: 2024 Groups

[novisor]

For the 7th tournament in a row, no Canada - USA on NYE. A tradition that has slowly died.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

I have no clue if I'm being honest.

2nd and 3rd in group I think..


Group A: Canada, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Latvia

Canada
Sweden
Finland
Germany
Latvia

USA
Czechia
Slovakia
Switlzerland
Norway

Canada-Switzerland
Sweden-Slovakia
Finland-Czechia
USA-Fermany

Canada
Sweden
Finland
USA

Canada (4-0) - Finland
USA (3-1-0)-Sweden

Fioland-Sweden
UISA-Canada

Actually wasn't that difficult.. easy to avoid Sweden before the final/bronze medal game if we are 2nd and 3rd in group, no matter the order.

1st and 2nd in the group works as well if the team that finishes first is seeded ahead of in your example the USA. Essentially what happened this year with Czechia and Canada meeting in the final from the same group.

 

[FinPanda]

1st and 2nd in the group works as well if the team that finishes first is seeded ahead of in your example the USA. Essentially what happened this year with Czechia and Canada meeting in the final from the same group.

Cool, thanks

I was just thinking the easiest route since Canada is on the same group

 

[Rob]

So who here is going to Gothenburg?

 

[Statsy]

I hope for a 2014 repeat, Finland-Sweden GMG and Finland taking it in front of the Swedish crowd.

But won't that conflict with Canada's apparent "Drive for five" that somebody made a thread about?

For the 7th tournament in a row, no Canada - USA on NYE. A tradition that has slowly died.

I was just about to post this. What a shame.

 

[NyQuil]

But won't that conflict with Canada's apparent "Drive for five" that somebody made a thread about?

Plea for Three?

 

[Czechboy]

I like our pool but that crossover is tough! Swedes have a strong team, Finn's will be stronger and Canada is Canada. Ouch.

 

[Fjorden]

Assuming no Russia or Belarus again and the same method of making pools

Group A: Canada, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Latvia
Group B: Czechia, USA, Slovakia, Switzerland, Norway

We have played even games with both Slovakia and Switzerland this year before the u20 wc.
We did actually beat slovakia in OT, in the pre-tournament.
So with some luck we can pick up a couple of points.


linke

 

[Eye of Ra]

Sweden vs Finland in Sweden....great derby.

Too bad Norway is not in Swedish group. Big brother vs little brother, would be fun

 

[Eye of Ra]

A good old school Sweden sweep of the group only to get pushed aside in the semis again on the cards?

actually we made it to finals 3 times last 12 years. So about 25 % chance we get past semifinals. Last time we played at home we reached finals back in 2014.

For the 7th tournament in a row, no Canada - USA on NYE. A tradition that has slowly died.

It has been replaced with Sweden vs Canada. Instead of a fiesty even game beetwen usa and canada we instead get Canada whooping swedes with 6-1.

 

[ES]

For the 7th tournament in a row, no Canada - USA on NYE. A tradition that has slowly died.

When tournament has been in Europe those have been rarer even when Canada and USA have been on the same group (like 2016 or 2020). In North American ones it's more of a tradition.

Although 2018 was an exception due to it being outdoors. I believe organizing that required it to be on a day where it was the only game in their group. And therefore it was not possible to have that on NYE.

 

[GettingYourMoms]

It is going to be another medal for czechs, Jiricek out, Sale is going to be stronger, Kulda also in and there is going to be Dominik Badinka who is excellent.

 

[tobu]

I see 3 contenders for a 1st place in group B. Both Czechia and Slovakia will return as strong as this year if not stronger. USA is obviously the 3rd.

 

[JohnWillow]

So glad Germany gets Latvia in their group.

Why is that?

 

[GermanSpitfire]

Why is that?

I think that Latvia has the weakest team next year just by the amount of graduates they had this year

 

[Czechboy]

I see 3 contenders for a 1st place in group B. Both Czechia and Slovakia will return as strong as this year if not stronger. USA is obviously the 3rd.

That pool is going to be very even. It'll come down to last day like Slovak pool this year. I expect some upsets and OTs. US is the favorite though. The crossover sucks!

 

[SoundAndFury]

I think that Latvia has the weakest team next year just by the amount of graduates they had this year

Considering how the group that's going to play there performed in the U18s, I'm really not sure about that. Goaltending seems like the only issue at the moment.

 

[GermanSpitfire]

Considering how the group that's going to play there performed in the U18s, I'm really not sure about that. Goaltending seems like the only issue at the moment.

Who Would you say is? Norway wasn’t dominant to get promoted but they played well and most of their best players are returning.

Swiss are difficult to gauge in my opinion - they looked good this year.

Germany is difficult too - I think there is potential for relegation.

 

[Maverick41]

Who Would you say is? Norway wasn’t dominant to get promoted but they played well and most of their best players are returning.

Swiss are difficult to gauge in my opinion - they looked good this year.

Germany is difficult too - I think there is potential for relegation.

Germany will almost certainly be one of 2 or 3 prime candidates for relegation.

On the plus side, Lutz will likely be back and hopefully not be plagued by constant injuries between now and then. There is also a decent number of other returnees who already played fairly well this time around. The team should be more balanced with the help of some solid '05 defensemen.

On the negative side, we will lack top level goaltending unless Wolf takes a big step forward (not impossible), and even with a stronger '05 group the D will likely still be a bit on the weaker side.

 

[SoundAndFury]

Who Would you say is? Norway wasn’t dominant to get promoted but they played well and most of their best players are returning.

As I stated in the other thread immediately after Latvia secured its place in the elite, all 3 teams (Germany, Norway and Latvia) are really close and with 1 year remaining, I think all have roughly equal chances. Definitely, any of the three can be relegated but really don't see how one of those would warrant being labeled the weakest at this point. Although Latvia does indeed have many players that are graduating, some of their replacements (Borozinskis, Mateiko, Kruklitis) are also going to be very good.

And with groups being what they are, Germany and Latvia have a huge advantage in that they only need to beat a relatively weak team once and avoid the relegation playouts altogether. Basically, they will have to play Norway only after they lose a 50/50 coin flip. Maybe that's a slight wishful thinking considering I don't know all that much about next year's German team but from what I know, it seems like Latvians can more or less match returning German players with their own. Except, once again, for goaltending.

 

[ORRFForever]

I wonder whether Sweden will want to go with Canada or Finland on NYE. Canada could be looking at the classic Canada-Germany NYE match.

TSN will pull some strings. Expect Canada/Sweden on opening day and Canada/Finland on NYE - or vice versa.

 

[Lambo]

I think that Latvia has the weakest team next year just by the amount of graduates they had this year

I wouldn't lean so far out of the window. Latvia are not easy opponents and the youngsters have not been that bad for a few years. A significantly heavier opponent than Austria for Germany.

 

[FinPanda]

I'm definitely going to try to get tickets for one of these games. I have never been so I think it will be a great experience. My hope would be to get tickets for Finland-Sweden but I think those tickets go very fast. Any team Finland game would be amazing though.

 

[GermanSpitfire]

I wouldn't lean so far out of the window. Latvia are not easy opponents and the youngsters have not been that bad for a few years. A significantly heavier opponent than Austria for Germany.

I’d rather Latvia over any other team in the tournament - Germany got a good draw.

There are bad teams in the tournament, then there are good teams - Germany is a bad team, and they got the second worse team in the tournament in my opinion to play against in the group play - giving Germany the best possible chance at avoiding relegation next year.

 

[novisor]

TSN will pull some strings. Expect Canada/Sweden on opening day and Canada/Finland on NYE - or vice versa.

Yeah there’s no way they let Canada play some lower quality team on NYE. The USA matchup is preferred but not possible so it will be one of Sweden or Finland. Sweden vs Finland may be on Boxing Day to start the tourney off with a bang.

There’s now a whole generation of kids who don’t know the tradition of CAN vs USA on New Year’s Eve. It’s like Christmas but without snow, it’s good but something is missing.