U18: WC D2A/D2B 2022.

[ozo]

Estonia lost its mojo with penalties they took, but if not for Norton in GB net, Estonia could be couple goals up at this point.

 

[SoundAndFury]

GB goalie has also been low-key very good, especially for a kid with no stats the last 2 years and listed at 183cm/97kg :/

 

[SoundAndFury]

Well, at least Erik has proven me slightly wrong. His brother not so much.

But in general, really enjoyable game when you have nothing at stake.

 

[ozo]

They just called hooking penalty on GB after Estonia was called for an offside moments before....

 

[SoundAndFury]

They just called hooking penalty on GB after Estonia was called for an offside moments before....

Yeah, linesman was like "whatever, I'm not gonna get into this discussion".

 

[ozo]

Not sure this game was worth EUR 1.99 I paid for it, but I'm glad Estonia won.

 

[crobro]

Any scores

 

[SoundAndFury]

So Korea is the real mystery team at the moment, they heavily outplayed us and are demolishing Serbia at the moment (shots 24-1, score 6-0 after 1st). Clearly, they are going for the medals but there is just no reasonable evidence to go on how do they fare against Estonia. Lithuania - Estonia game this evening should be pretty telling in that regard, we are a litmus paper of sorts.

 

[SoundAndFury]

It's 10-0 midway through the Korea - Serbia game... Even at this level I have a hard time remembering demolition like that. Makes me feel a lot better about our loss to Korea though, they can definitely be just that good, gold medal contenders.

As I'm writing this post, 11-0..

 

[tornaado66]

Korea is impressive and for me quite unexcpectedly a gold medal contender now.

I am anxiously waiting for the game between Estonia and Lithuania. A fun rivalry which usually is a very exciting game.

 

[SoundAndFury]

I was somewhat alerted by their silver at U20 level but Korea's hockey development is definitely something to keep an eye on at this point. They let the foot of the gas in the 3rd only winning it 2-1 for a 15-2 final score. Considering shots were 56-4 after 2 periods god knows what the final score could have been otherwise.

Now let's see the main course, however. Estonia is a pretty clear favorite this year I feel, the position they haven't enjoyed that often. I just hope the game is close for the most part.

 

[ozo]

I think Serbia is just that bad, the scoreline from Romania game might be misleading us.

 

[SoundAndFury]

I think Serbia is just that bad, the scoreline from Romania game might be misleading us.

Well Serbia is bad, that's beyond doubt, but Korea outshot us 36-15 as well. Serbia game is just confirmation that was no fluke rather than being very telling on its own.

So after 2 full games Koreans have allowed 23 shots. That doesn't just happen no matter how bad your opposition is.

 

[SoundAndFury]

Very important goal before the break. Estonians are much better and we gave up atrocious amount of odd-man rushes but maybe we can hang in there somehow.

 

[ozo]

Potsinok brothers probably read this thread and took offense

 

[SoundAndFury]

Potsinok brothers probably read this thread and took offense

They contributed 4 points in 6 goals so probably not... But Erik is good, I will give him that.

 

[ozo]

They contributed 4 points in 6 goals so probably not... But Erik is good, I will give him that.

If I'm actually being serious, Nevolainen has impressed me the most from Estonian forwards.

 

[SoundAndFury]

If I'm actually being serious, Nevolainen has impressed me the most from Estonian forwards.

The Max Valja kid looks really interesting for someone who just turned 16. Although his stride is painful to look at the rest of the package is pretty intriguing.

 

[filip85]

Regarding Serbia...yes, they are the weakest team, but...let's not forget their players basically didn't play anything this season apart from their domestic league of 10 games with one team from Bosnia (Vukovi - Wolves) which served as goal diffirence booster. Serbia is what Croatia would have been few weeks earlier if not for 36 games in junior EBEL.

 

[SoundAndFury]

Korea - GB seems to be a pretty even game so far, with Korea having a slight lead in SOG but GB having a slight lead on the scoreboard going into the 3rd. Considering Korean goalies entered today's game with .79 and .75 Sv% respectively that's not exactly surprising, that position has been Achilles' heel for them at all levels since forever.

Liam Steele with the match penalty, keeping up with the best IIHF Junior Championship traditions.

 

[ozo]

Liam Steele with the match penalty, keeping up with the best IIHF Junior Championship traditions.

First they apparently called spearing, then they thought about it and called butt-ending... Sort of feels like they have no clue what actually happened.

 

[SoundAndFury]

So the shot clock ends up being 33-14 Korea, seems like they simply got out-goalied. Which is not a complete surprise since both me and ozo highlighted the GB goalie during the Estonia game and Korean goalies are.. well.. the usual bunch.

This definitely puts Estonia in the driver's seat tournament-wise but at the same time, it was likely the promotion will come down to Estonia-Korea game anyway.

 

[ozo]

So the shot clock ends up being 33-14 Korea

Worth noting that GB didn't register a single show on goal in the third period (one of their attempts at empty net hit the post). Granted they were PKing a lot, but still easy to see that Korea will hard done by this result.

 

[SoundAndFury]

We too have a bit of a goaltending issue as our "starter" (a worse goalie of the two, IMO) is 15 and has a cool .814 Sv% after 3 games. Even today's game was a bit too close for comfort.

 

[ozo]

First they apparently called spearing, then they thought about it and called butt-ending... Sort of feels like they have no clue what actually happened.

I challenge everyone to find something warranting major penalty here: