Showing Some International Love: Division I Group B Review

The midway point of reviews for the World Championship. Here is Division I Group B (Preview here).

Division I - Group B (Host: Poland)

Standing
1 (Promoted) - South Korea    4W - 1OTW - 0L - 14PTS - +14GD
2 - Poland                             4W - 1L - 12PTS - +24GD
3 - Netherlands                      3W - 1OTL - 1L - 10PTS - +8GD
4 - Romania                           2W - 3L - 6PTS - -15GD
5 - Lithuania                          1W - 4L - 3PTS - -18GD
6 (Relegated) - Australia         0W - 5L - 0PTS - -13GD

South Korea dominated opponents early on in the tournament. There biggest scare was Netherlands, as they blew a two-goal lead against them and had to pull out an overtime victory. Against Poland, Romania came back from 2-1, took the lead with about 8 minutes left and hung on. It will be interesting to see how South Korea fares in Division I Group A next year.

Where South Korea was dominant, Poland was DOMINANT. They did get a little complacent against Australia, which might have lead to them slipping up against South Korea in their next game.

Not too much to say about the Netherlands. Have to give them credit for coming back and almost beating South Korea. Other than that there wasn't much outside of winning by 3+ or losing to Poland 5-1.

Romania, home of Opera Kenny. Their wins were pretty close, having to come back against Lithuania (6-5) and holding off Australia (5-3).

No Dainius Zubrus = horrible Lithuania team. Besides their lost again Romania (see above), the only other game that was close was their 3-2 win over Australia.

Have to feel bad for Australia. After starting the tournament with two bad losses, they came back and played tough in their last three games. Their effort wasn't enough, as they go winless and get relegated to Division II Group A for next year. The way this team is though, I expect them to bounce back for 2014.