WC: 2024 IIHF Division IA, Bolzano

[Jersey Fan 12]

Apologize in advance if there is already a thread.

With tournament two weeks away I was curious as to the number of NHL players who will be participating or possible future NHLers to watch.

Also, with the rumored return of Russia and Belarus to the IIHF, will the winner still receive elevation to the top division?

Finally. Is Slovenia the prohibitive favorite (even if the LA Kings are still in the NHL playoffs?)?

Click to read more...

 

[Eye of Ra]

Its beetween Slovenia, Hungary and Italy with Italy as favorites due to home ice

@luiginb Romania is in, Seems as Romania is getting better? Been in Division IA a while now

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Answered my own question. Should have read this before posting the part about Russia/Belarus.

IIHF - Russia and Belarus not reincorporated into 2024/2025 IIHF Championship Season

Today, during one of its regularly scheduled meetings, the IIHF Council ...

www.iihf.com

 

[aquaregia]

Could be quite an interesting IA this year, Italy do have home ice but were pretty poor in their defeats to Britain and Poland last year in Nottingham, Japan are improving and turned Hungary over in the Olympic Qualifiers.

 

[Albatros]

There are some haphazard efforts to revitalize Japanese hockey, but at the moment it's dying rather than improving at least at pro level. This team, too, has several players that only played non-competitive hockey this year.

 

[aquaregia]

There are some haphazard efforts to revitalize Japanese hockey, but at the moment it's dying rather than improving at least at pro level. This team, too, has several players that only played non-competitive hockey this year.

Fair, but also think it's fair to say the senior team itself has been performing at a higher level than it was 4-5 years ago, agree that it may not be sustainable but they've a puncher's chance of promotion IMO.

 

[PanniniClaus]

This tourney and the next have to be seen as critical for the Italians in the build up to 2026.. I would think winning here is the only acceptable result and then staying up at the top level in 2025.

Can't wait to see their roster.

 

[jonas2244]

Tommaso De Luca should be an upgrade for their Offence

 

[PanniniClaus]

Tommaso De Luca should be an upgrade for their Offence

I think they offered him a spot for 26 so i'd like to see him bed in now. They also have a large mix of possible forwards on the dual national side ... best crop of homegrowns that I can remember but they are young.

Clara in goal hopefully.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Any word on rosters?

 

[Albatros]

Any word on rosters?

Japan's training camp is currently underway with these players:

Japan - Roster, News, Stats & more

Japan - WC D1A - hockey team page with roster, stats, transactions at eliteprospects.com

www.eliteprospects.com

Korea similarly, although I haven't been following their selection process:

South Korea - Roster, News, Stats & more

South Korea - WC D1A - hockey team page with roster, stats, transactions at eliteprospects.com

www.eliteprospects.com

 

[ozo]

There are some haphazard efforts to revitalize Japanese hockey

Can you elaborate on this? Would love to know more about their hockey.

 

[Albatros]

Can you elaborate on this? Would love to know more about their hockey.

There are attempts to create a new semi-professional league called the IJ League involving teams in cities with more fortunate demographic and economic situations than the (still) existing ones in the Asia League. The East Hokkaido Cranes of the Asia League has become the Tokyo Wilds in this new one. Additionally there's a team called the Orques in Nagoya and they are trying to get one in Osaka. The games will be played in summer so that there's no direct competition with the Asia League. Currently also a team from Beijing has been announced as a participant for the 2024 inaugural season which they treat as something of an introductory run. Games will be played in various cities of central Japan.

IJ League – アイジェイリーグ公式

ijleague.jp

 

[PanniniClaus]

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/582267/kenta-isogai

Was wondering if they could get him in the fold now.

 

[FrHockeyFan]

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/582267/kenta-isogai

Was wondering if they could get him in the fold now.

If indeed he has only Japanese citizenship, then he is only eligible to play for Japan.

 

[ozo]

If indeed he has only Japanese citizenship, then he is only eligible to play for Japan.

Realistically, which other nation would even want him, like what would be his alternative to Japan? His brother plays for Japan so I'm sure he also will do the same when NA calendar will not pose scheduling conflicts.

 

[Albatros]

He's not making the team without participating in the training camp.

 

[FrHockeyFan]

Realistically, which other nation would even want him, like what would be his alternative to Japan? His brother plays for Japan so I'm sure he also will do the same when NA calendar will not pose scheduling conflicts.

I was only talking about eligibility rules which I thought the post was about. Whether or not someone else wants him doesn't matter. But if he picked another passport along the way and he hasn't spent enough time in Japan after his 10th birthday (which I don't know myself because I've never followed his career), then it makes a big difference to him and his possibility to play for Japan. My point being I don't take what stats websites say about personal informations for gospel unless it has been verified by the said player.

 

[PanniniClaus]

I was only talking about eligibility rules which I thought the post was about. Whether or not someone else wants him doesn't matter. But if he picked another passport along the way and he hasn't spent enough time in Japan after his 10th birthday (which I don't know myself because I've never followed his career), then it makes a big difference to him and his possibility to play for Japan. My point being I don't take what stats websites say about personal informations for gospel unless it has been verified by the said player.

Wasn't about eligibility but can understand what you are saying. I feel a player that had a great year as a play driver in the WHL, and likely in an NHL rookie camp ....should be a priority for Japan.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Early glimpse at Slovenia

Risi na prvi pripravljalni tekmi Misije Bolzano boljši od Avstrije - Hokejska zveza Slovenije

11. april 2024, Ljubljana – Slovenska moška reprezentanca je drevi odigrala prvo prijateljsko tekmo v sklopu priprav na IIHF Svetovno prvenstvo Divizije I-A, ki se bo konec tega meseca začelo […]

hokej.si

 

[Kuracmugger]

There are some haphazard efforts to revitalize Japanese hockey, but at the moment it's dying rather than improving at least at pro level. This team, too, has several players that only played non-competitive hockey this year.

Im a young hockey fan so i don‘t know much about hockey before 2014, was japan good in the past? Since you said revitalize.

 

[Albatros]

Im a young hockey fan so i don‘t know much about hockey before 2014, was japan good in the past? Since you said revitalize.

I don't know if good, but things were more simple in the past. The changes ultimately have less to do with hockey than with the society as a whole. In Japan amateur sports are not a thing to the extent or in the way they are in Europe, but instead everyone is practically obliged to join a school club of some kind. So if you're into hockey you may be able to play hockey through your school years including possibly university. In the past large corporations operated their own sports teams and you could find a job based on your hockey skills, the Japanese life-time employment model emphasized seniority over almost everything else so if you could spend ten or so years mostly playing hockey for such a company team and then upon retirement be given a regular job at the company that was a good deal. The life-time employment model has since then by and large collapsed, corporations are not willing to put money into financing professional sports teams anymore, and many of the locations of these former corporate teams are struggling as well due to adverse demographic development and such reasons. For example the aforementioned East Hokkaido Cranes came to be as the corporate team of the Jūjō paper company, after a corporate merger in the 1990s still survived as the Nippon Paper Cranes for a while, but in 2019 the company removed its support and as East Hokkaido Cranes the team was unable to stay afloat for long on its own in a dying industrial port city. Having to leave the Asia League they played exhibition games for a year as the Hokkaido Wilds, and are now relocating to Tokyo in an attempt to establish this new league with a very uncertain future. For players the situation is of course much more complicated than previously and many may have to choose between short-term hockey gigs and the pursuit of regular employment outside hockey.

 

[aquaregia]

Something that reminds me of is the recent transformation of Japan's professional league in rugby union, where in 2022 they took the decision to move away from the company teams model, as mentioned above most players (with the exception of some big name marquee players) would be company employees.

It's only been a couple of years (plus of course rugby is a much more established team sport in Japan, and riding off the high of hosting the world up in '19), but already the league has seen attendance records broken and the standards of play have been rising. Would be much more difficult to replicate here but does reflect that same change in society you mentioned, the future of the sport would have to be outside the old 'industrial' model.

 

[Albatros]

Rugby has also successfully established an image as a more inclusive sport with an unusually multiethnic national team and all that which is appealing to some fans, especially men's hockey doesn't really have one despite some wasted opportunities like fairly popular TV series in the past.

 

[SoundAndFury]

There are also some positives to it. One of the biggest critiques of Japanese hockey have been that their player aren't pushing to be anything more than regulars in their own league and just sorta sulk in their own juices. Undoubtedly if their biggest talents are forced/enticed to leave abroad they will mostly end up being better players.Which is what we are seeing already.

I think Japanese hockey as a whole will be perfectly fine with a small league functioning as a secutity blanket/fallback option for those guys, much like it is in Latvia or even Denmark.