So, the plan was to do a separate post for each Division (possibly group), but with the playoffs going on and the World Championships (top tier) approaching, it makes more sense to combine everything here.
Division I - Group A (Host: Hungary)
Standings (note: Japan not included)
1 (Promoted) - Italy 3W - 1OTW - 0L - 11PTS - +10GD
2 - Hungary 3W - 1OTL - 0L - 10PTS - +18GD
3 - South Korea 1W - 1OTL - 2L - 4PTS - -7GD
4 - Netherlands 1W - 3L - 3PTS - -2GD
5 (Relegated) - Spain 0W - 1OTW - 3L - 2PTS - -19GD
Italy earns the promotion after a close game with Hungary. Italy won 4-3 in overtime (on a PP goal no less) after blowing a 3-1 lead after the first. South Korea and Netherlands live in Division I for another year. Spain gets relegated after registering their first win (albeit in overtime).
Division I - Group B (Host: Ukraine)
Standings
1 (Promoted) - Kazahkstan 4W - 1OTW - 0L - 15PTS - +15GD
2 - Great Britain 4W - 1L - 12PTS - +12GD
3 - Ukraine 3W - 1OTL - 1L -10PTS - +7GD
4 - Poland 2W - 3L - 6PTS - +3GD
5 - Lithuania 1W - 4L - 3PTS - -15GD
6 (Relegated) - Estonia 0W - 5L - 0PTS - -22GD
Kazahstan gets promoted after winning their final game against Ukraine (in overtime...see a theme here). This game was a lot closer than the other group's game, with each team swapping goals in the 2nd and 3rd. Great Britain finishes second, but almost ended up in first. They lost 2-1 to Kazahkstan earlier in the tournament. Ukraine finishes third after lossing to Kazahkstan and Great Britain. Poland was able to keep the top three teams close (scorewise) but in the end failed to impress, leading to a 4th place finish. Lithuania and Estonia matched each other lost-for-lost (seriously, 3 of both their losses were by the same scores, on the same day). In the end though, Lithuania won the head-to-head 5-3, ensuring their stay in Division I. Estonia gets re-acquainted with Division II next year.
Division II - Group A (Host: Australia)
Standings
1 (Promotion) - Australia 5W - 0L - 15PTS - +21GD
2 - New Zealand 3W - 2L - 9PTS - +11GD
3 - Serbia 3W - 2L - 9PTS - +11GD
4 - Belgium 3W - 2L - 9PTS - +5GD
5 - Mexico 1W - 4L - 3PTS - -21GD
6 (Relegation) - North Korea (forfeit) 0W - 5L - 0PTS - -25GD
Almost no surprise Australia get promoted (Mexico was wishful thinking, more on them in a bit). I'm not exactly sure how the other 3 places were decided exactly, but New Zealand ends up in 2nd, which is a very nice surprise. Serbia finishes 3rd and Belgium (who pulled off an upset against Serbia in the first day of games) finishes 4th. Mexico was very disappointing. Their only win was against a forfeited North Korean team. Its hard to classify what there "best" game was since they lost by 5 or more in their 4 losses. North Korea (who didn't compete due to financial problems) is relegated to Division III.
Division II - Group B (Host: Croatia)
Standings
1 (Promotion) - Romania 5W - 0L - 15PTS - +37GD
2 - Croatia 4W - 1L - 12PTS - +43GD
3 - Iceland 3W - 2L - 9PTS - +6GD
4 - China 2W - 3L - 6PTS - +1GD
5 - Bulgaria 1W - 4L - 3PTS - -25GD
6 (Relegation) - Ireland 0W - 4L - 0PTS - -64GD
Does that ever sting. As with almost all IIHF scheduling, the important games happen on the last day. Romania won 2-1 against Croatia to earn the promotion to Division I. The kicker, Croatia was up 1-0 after the 1st, then Romania scored a PP goal in both the second and third. Bulgaria had a disappointing tournament, falling short of a comeback against Iceland (3-2), then getting beat by China (12-6). Iceland and China stayed in the middle of the pack, with Iceland taking the head-to-head game 5-3. Almost as expected, Ireland got trounced. There only 4 goals of the tournament came against...Croatia. Ireland is going down to Division III for next year's tournament.
Division III (Host: South Africa)
Standings
1 (Promoted) - Israel 4W - 1OTW - 0L - 14PTS - +48GD
2 (Promoted) - South Africa 4W - 1OTL - 0L - 13PTS - +34GD
3 - Turkey 3W - 2L - 9PTS - +4GD
4 - Luxembourg 2W - 3L - 6PTS - +11GD
5 - Greece 1W - 4L - 3PTS - -72GD
6 - Mongolia (forfeit) 0W - 5L - 0PTS - -25GD
Israel and South Africa move on to play Division II next year. While there wasn't too many surprises, there are 3 thing sthat stood out for me. First off, the IIHF LIVE STREAMED the games. The only downfall was realizing this just as the last day of games happened. The second "surprise" was how bad Turkey was beat by South Africa. One of the promotion spots would be theirs to lose, but an 11-1 lost seems excessive to how this team has performed in previous years. Greece getting shellacked was the last surprise. Since Mongolia had to forfeit, Greece did come in with the greatest odds, but to have your best (using that term very loosely) 16-0 is embarassing. There only win was the 5-0 forfeit by the way.
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