IIHF Hockey World Championships

[Grisu]

...in Switzerland have started yesterday

Switzerland with a very slow start only beating France 1-0 (but a win's a win )

so, who are your favorites for this year?

 

[Grisu]

Results of yesterday:

Germany - Russia 0 - 5
Belarus - Canada 1 - 6
Switzerland - France 1 - 0
Slovakia - Hungary 4 - 3

 

[JJP]

Finland - Norway 5-0

First game for team Finland and very solid performance. Goaltending was excellent and power play superb.

 

[Grisu]

no upsets after two days, so far....

 

[raketooy]

Now Belarus beat Slovakia. That hardly counts as an upset anymore, though.

 

[Grisu]

Now Belarus beat Slovakia. That hardly counts as an upset anymore, though.

yeah, slovakia's been getting worse and worse in recent years, they were prime contenders for medals not so long ago.

looks like the 'big 7' are reduced to big 6 by now...

and switzerland just barely got past germany: 3-2 after overtime....the inability of our forwards to get to puck in the net really is worrying, I sure hope they step up their efficiency by quite a bit

 

[raketooy]

yeah, slovakia's been getting worse and worse in recent years, they were prime contenders for medals not so long ago.

looks like the 'big 7' are reduced to big 6 by now...

Indeed. I could actually see Belarus becoming the seventh hockey power. They seem constantly to be able to play tight games against big countries.

 

[sysyphus]

At risk of being accused of being a traitor, I wouldn't mind seeing Canada getting taken down a peg or two.

I've been enjoying the play of the Finns the last few years, I hope they do well. I'd like to see the Swiss come into their own as well.

The main thing isn't who wins, just so long as Russia loses. And the Czechs.

 

[Orange Seeds]

At risk of being accused of being a traitor, I wouldn't mind seeing Canada getting taken down a peg or two.

I've been enjoying the play of the Finns the last few years, I hope they do well. I'd like to see the Swiss come into their own as well.

The main thing isn't who wins, just so long as Russia loses. And the Czechs.

Traitor!
We have to avenge our loss to the Russians last year ourselves we have a first place gold medal count to defend.

 

[Winner]

Now Belarus beat Slovakia. That hardly counts as an upset anymore, though.

You should have seen me, when they lost the game I was rolling on the floor laughing First they almost tied with Hungary (if you know something about present Slovak-Hungarian relations, you can see why it would be a national humiliation for them), now they lost to Belarus - and they deserved it, their performance was terrible throughout the whole game.

Sending Lašák to the cage in the shootouts was simply crazy.

Anyway, as far as I understand, if Slovaks want to make it to the quarterfinals, they have to defeat either Finland, Canada or the Czech Rep.

Gosh, I hope it's us who sends them home crying!

The main thing isn't who wins, just so long as Russia loses. And the Czechs.

Why us? We've been harmless the past few years...

 

[sysyphus]

Why us? We've been harmless the past few years...

Yeah but you were good for long enough to make me bitter. That and the stupid salute thing Jagr used to do take time to get over.

 

[Winner]

Yeah but you were good for long enough to make me bitter. That and the stupid salute thing Jagr used to do take time to get over.

In that case I really hope that the impossible happens and we win

But destroying the Slovaks is still a priority

 

[Winner]

Sweden vs Latvia: 2-3

This year's surprise, I guess.

 

[sysyphus]

Since when is Sweden underacheiving considered a surprise?

 

[raketooy]

It could've been cleaner but Finland got a sweet victory over the Czechs.

 

[Winner]

It could've been cleaner but Finland got a sweet victory over the Czechs.

Uhm, if we didn't play nearly one third without one player, you'd most definitely lose. In 5 to 5 situation, you were clearly pressed hard. Sure, it's our fault we got so many penalties, but the refereeing really sucks.

Plus, the humiliation of scoring against you in your power play almost makes it worth it

 

[Winner]

8:0 against Slovakia - that was painful.

 

[holy king]

man, we won against germany and they cant go down. what kind of stupid rule is this?

 

[Winner]

man, we won against germany and they cant go down. what kind of stupid rule is this?

It looks like the Germans don't even want to play when they can't get relegated. Pathetic, really.

Why do they suck so much? I thought their national league isn't that bad.

 

[Orange Seeds]

I'm watching the Canada-Finland game right now and it is quickly reminding me of why i don't enjoy international hockey.

Poor officiating+too many whistles+lack of hitting+lack of board play+short boards and long benches = uninteresting hockey

I wonder if the 2010 Olympics will have an NHL rink or an international size rink since GM place and especially the Pacific Colosseum were not designed for such a large ice surface. I don't now what it is about the larger rink but it makes stretch passes too easy and takes so much physicality out of the game.