Showing Some International Love: 2015 World Junior Championship - Division II Group B Preview

For the second year in a row, Spain host Group B of the Division II tournaments. Australia, Iceland, and Serbia all return in hope to earn a promotion. Croatia was relegated from Group A last year and will be looking to get back into that group for next year. Rounding out the teams is the newly-promoted, who will look to stay up in Division II for another year.

Note: all information from the IIHF website.

Rosters

Australia

Goalies:

Name	Team
Nicholas Novysedlak	Brisbane Whalers
Charlie Smart	Perth Lightning

Defensemen:

Name	Team
Zachary Boyle	Adelaide Adrenaline
Jamie Campbell	Perth Lightning
David Mahood	Perth Lightning
Daniel Pataky	Sydney East Coast Rebels
Alastair Punler	Perth Lightning
Luke Shafren	Newcastle Northstars
Kieren Webster	Perth Lightning

Forwards:

Name	Team
Saxon Air	Sydney Heat
Anthony Barnes	Boondall Buccaneers
Kayne Fedor	Adelaide Adrenaline
Sam Hodic	Melbourne Ice
Casey Kubara	Sydney Ice Dogs
James Marino	Sydney Canterbury Midgets
Remy McGuiness	Adelaide Adrenaline
Yucca Reinecke	Sydney East Coast Rebels
Tomas Sak	Perth Hawks
Jordan Williams	Perth Northern Vikings

Belgium

Goalies:

Name	Team
David Blasband	Caen Drakkars
Keanu Evers	IHC Leuven

Defensemen:

Name	Team
Jentl Buelens	White Caps Turnhout
Toon de Schepper	Lower Austria Stars St. Polten
Frank Neven	Liege Bulldogs
Mathias van den Bosch	Phantoms Deurne
Arne van Espen	Olympia Heist op den Berg
Brain Vandenberk	HYC Herentals

Forwards:

Name	Team
Quintin Bollue	IHC Leuven
Stef Coolen	White Caps Turnhout
Virgil Delbrassine	Iserholn Roosters
Yannick Dockx	Kolner Jung-Haie
Kevin Glassee	Olympia Heist op den Berg
Emiel Goris	HYC Herentals
Bryan Henry	Karhu-Kissat Helsinki
Bram Klijsen	Tilburg Trappers
Andy Kolodziejczyk	Haskey Hasselt
Lukas Tambeur	IHC Leuven
Patrick van Noten	HYC Herentals
Brent van Rooy	HYC Herentals

Croatia

Goalies:

Name	Team
Vilim Rosandic	HC 05 Banska Bystrica
Ivan Ruzic	Medvescak Zagreb

Defensemen:

Name	Team
Toni Boric	Mladost Zagreb
Bruno Kegalj	KHL Zagreb
Nikola Kopricanec	Medvescak Zagreb
Luka Matosic	Mladost Zagreb
Martin Milic	Mladost Zagreb
Dominik Petrinsak	Mladost Zagreb
Marin Plesko	Medvescak Zagreb

Forwards:

Name	Team
Ivan Jankovic	KHL Zagreb
Luka Jarcov	KHL Zagreb
Josip Jazbec	Medvescak Zagreb
Leonardo Jovic	KHL Zagreb
Kristian Krnic	Mladost Zagreb
Matko Martinic	Mladost Zagreb
Matija Milicic	KHL Zagreb
Luka Novak	KHL Zagreb
Mak Pavicevic	HC Letci Letnany
Renato Platuzic	Medvescak Zagreb
Jan Smolec	Mladost Zagreb
Tibor Stancic	KHL Zagreb
Luka Vukoja	ESC Wedemark Scorpions

Iceland

Goalies:

Name	Team
Nicolas Jouanne	Skautafelag Reykjavikur
Atli Valdimarsson	Bracebridge Blues

Defensemen:

Name	Team
Ingthor Arnason	Skautafelag Akureyrar
Jon Arnason	Valerenga Oslo
Robert Gudnason	Skautafelag Akureyrar
Andri Helgason	Almaguin Spartans
Kristinn Hermannsson	Skautafelag Reykjavikur
Brynjar Magnusson	Bjorninn Reykjavik
Sigurdur Thorsteinsson	Skautafelag Akureyrar

Forwards:

Name	Team
Solvi Atlason	Skautafelag Reykjavikur
Bjarki Johannesson	Skautafelag Reykjavikur
Aron Knutsson	Bjorninn Reykjavik
Kristjan Kristinsson	Bjorninn Reykjavik
Baldur Lindal	Skautafelag Reykjavikur
Markus Maack	Skautafelag Reykjavikur
Daniel S Magnusson	Skautafelag Reykjavikur
Elvar Olaffson	Bjorninn Reykjavik
Matthias Stefansson	Skautafelag Akureyrar
Hafthor Sigrunarson	IFK Ore Furudal
Gudmundur Thorsteinsson	Skautafelag Reykjavikur

Serbia

Goalies:

Name	Team
Matija Ganic	Partizan Belgrade
Jug Mitic	Beostar Belgrade

Defensemen:

Name	Team
Ivan Anic	MAC Budapest
Aleksandar Kolaric	Beostar Belgrade
Todor Kuveljic	Partizan Belgrade
Ugljesa Novakovic	Beostar Belgrade
Pavle Podunavac	MAC Budapest
Nikola Stojanovic	Crvena Zvezda Belgrade
Vuk Trajkovic	Beostar Belgrade

Forwards:

Name	Team
Nikola Barackov	Skedsmo IHK
Vojin Dragovic	Partizan Belgrade
Ivan Glavonjic	Beostar Belgrade
Lazar Lestaric	National Sports Academy
Lav Mitic	Beostar Belgrade
Lazar Novakovic	Partizan Belgrade
Petar Novakovic	Beostar Belgrade
Sinisa Pajic	MAC Budapest
Relja Radosavljevic	EHC Linz
Marko Tadic	Beostar Belgrade
Djordjije Terzic	Partizan Belgrade
Luka Vukicevic	Beostar Belgrade
Andrej Zwick	Vasas Budapest

Spain

Goalies:

Name	Team
Ignacio Garcia	SAD Majadahonda
Jhon Sebastian Varela	FC Barcelona

Defensemen:

Name	Team
Bruno Baldris	CH Jaca
Inigo Gainza	FC Barcelona
Alfonso Garcia	SAD Majadahonda
Marc Paul	CG Puigcerda
Ignacio Vicente	CH Jaca

Forwards:

Name	Team
Daniel Alvarez	CHH Txuri-Urdin
David Arbues	CH Jaca
Ander Arrinda	CHH Txuri-Urdin
Paul Cerda	Richmond Generals
Angel Fernandez-Pola	SAD Majadahonda
Patricio Fuentes	CHH Txuri-Urdin
Marcus Garcia	Geneve Futur Hockey
Gaston Gonzalez	CH Jaca
Luis Jose Hernandez	SAD Majadahonda
Manuel Manero	Notre Dame Hounds
Pablo Pantoja	CH Jaca
Lucas Poch	FC Barcelona
Sergi Pous	Upper Canada Cyclones
Ignacio Solorzano	CHH Txuri-Urdin

Schedule

December 13
Belgium - Australia
Serbia - Croatia
Spain - Iceland

December 14
Croatia - Australia
Iceland - Belgium
Spain - Serbia

December 16
Croatia - Iceland
Serbia - Australia
Spain - Belgium

December 18
Iceland - Serbia
Belgium - Croatia
Australia - Spain

December 20
Serbia - Belgium
Australia - Iceland
Croatia - Spain

Notes

• Didn't look too far into it, but I didn't see any NHL connections.
• Oldest team: tie - Australia, Belgium, Croatia, Serbia, Spain (average age is 18)
• Youngest team: Iceland (average age is 17)
• Lightest team: tie - Belgium and Iceland (161lbs)
• Heaviest team: Croatia (181lbs)
• Shortest team: tie - Belgium, Iceland, Spain (5'10")
• Tallest team: tie - Australia and Croatia (6'0") 
• Too bad this tournament wasn't in Australia, then they could say "NOT IN (David) MAHOOD!"

Prediction

1 (Promoted) - Croatia
2 - Spain
3 - Australia
4 - Serbia
5 - Iceland
6 (Relegated) - Belgium

It might be a close one, but I see Croatia edging out the rest for the top spot and a promotion to Group A. Spain came oh-so-close last year, and will make the top of the standings interesting. I can see Australia bouncing back from last year and finishing third. Went back-and-forth on the bottom-half of the standings. I say Serbia and Iceland do enough to stay in this group for another year. As for Belgium, they could make it interesting, but they end up being my odd team out and ending up back in Division III.

Game Recap - Quebec Remparts vs. Halifax Mooseheads

Quebec Remparts vs. Halifax Mooseheads

Final Score
Quebec - 3
Halifax - 4 (SO)

Goalscorers
Quebec: Adam Erne, Marc-Olivier Roy, Guillaume Gauthier
Halifax: Philippe Gadoury, Matt Murphy (2)

Goalies
Rimouski: Eric Brassard (L)
Halifax: Kevin Resop (W)

Moosehead Player of the Game

Matt Murphy. 2 goals in the third period to tie the game and force overtime.

Thing That Annoyed Me

The line of Vuic-Crossley-King was doing very well early on, but it seemed like they rarely played (together) afterwards. Hindsight is 20/20, and in the end it didn't matter, but they did set the pace for the Mooseheads early. Would have been nice if that line got a bit more ice time.

Game Notes

• AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
• OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!!!!!!
• WHAT A COMEBACK!!!
• Ok, I'll came down and (try to) go in order.
• "Oh hey, #21 on Quebec looks like that Tkachev guy in Moncton" *checks trades* "IT IS HIM! DAMMIT MONCTON!"
• Adam Erne scored in the first on a powerplay. I liked it more when he was pushing into the boards from behind. Not hard (was a routine check), but a bit of pay-back for this a year ago. Funny side note, that game was also a 4-3 shootout, but Quebec won that game.
• Quebec's second goal was on the refs for two reasons. One, it was on a delay penalty to Halifax, and they touched it but the whistle never blew. The other reason was that Resop had at least one (might have been two) Rempart player(s) crowding him in the crease. How it wasn't nullified by the goalie interference is beyond me.
• Nice drive by Meier to go to the net on Halifax's goal. The rebound bounced right to Gadoury in the slot for him to finish.
• Roy give room to skate into the edge of the high-slot for his goal. Resop might have been screen, but probably should have had the shot.
• Etchegary of the Remparts seems to be able to get away with quite a bit. Even on his double-minor for roughing (where he did everything he could to put Bent over the boards), one of those minors was negated by a call against Halifax in the ensuing scrum.
• Found it interesting that Bent was sent out to shadow Erne near the end of the second and the beginning of the third. Had to be an attempt to get Erne to fight.
• Murphy's first goal was a nice tic-tac-toe play. Danny Moynihan passed rink wide to Meier, who hit a streaking Murphy cutting straight into the slot.
• Murphy's second goal - and the tying goal - is in a video below. All I can say is that is was a nice play that ended with a nice shot.
• It was 3-on-3 to start overtime. Quite a few odd-man rushes for both sides, but the trialing even-man (?) would get there before any play was made. 

Game Pics

Here's the situation. Bent and Erne line up and jaw a bit. Puck hasn't dropped yet, so Gauthier comes from the opposite wing and takes a shot at Bent. Scrum ensues. Somehow, only Shewfelt and Roy get penalties. 

You were more fun to watch with Moncton.



Matchup!

Videos

Yanick Turcotte vs. Brandon Viuc

Matt Murphy's tying goal

Meier with the only goal of the shootout