Well, that could have gone better for the host. France was bad in this tournament. How bad? Check it out below.
Note: Most data from the IIHF website.
Standings
1 (Promotion) - Norway 4W - 1OTW - 0L - 14PTS - +12GD
2 - Belarus 4W - 1L - 12PTS - +11GD
3 - Denmark 3W - 1OTL - 1L - 10PTS - +5GD
4 - Slovenia 1W - 1OTW - 3L - 5PTS - -1GD
5 - Austria 1W - 1OTL - 3L - 4PTS - -8GD
6 (Relegation) - France 0W - 5L - 0PTS - -19GD
Results
December 9
Slovenia 0 vs. Belarus 2
Austria 1 vs. Norway 4
France 2 vs. Denmark 5
December 10
Belarus 2 vs. Austria 0
Denmark 4 vs Slovenia 3
Norway 3 vs. France 1
December 12
Denmark 8 vs. Austria 3
Belarus 2 vs. Norway 4
France 0 vs. Slovenia 5
December 13
Norway 3 vs. Denmark 2 (OT)
Slovenia 4 vs. Austria 3 (SO)
Belarus 9 vs. France 3
December 15
Norway 5 vs. Slovenia 1
Denmark 1 vs. Belarus 4
Austria 6 vs. France 3
Recap
After finishing third last year, Norway gets through and finishes first, earning a promotion to the top tournament. They were able to roll through Austria, France, and Belarus before being in tough with Denmark. They needed a tying third period goal and an overtime goal to get though. Their last match against Slovenia was an easy win.
Belarus started strong with two shutouts before losing to eventual tournament winner Norway. They took that lost out on France, trashing them 9-3. Belarus ended the tournament with a convincing win over Denmark.
Speaking of Denmark, what happened? After being relegated last year, they opened the tournament with three straight wins. That came to an end as they blew the lead to Norway and lost in overtime. They seemed to lose the will to fight in their last game, dropping it to Belarus.
Slovenia's record slipped from last year, but they stayed in fourth place. They started out with two losses before breaking that streak with a shutout against France. Slovenia needed a third period comeback against Austria to eventually bring the game to a shootout, were they won. Slovenia's tournament finished by getting pounded by Norway.
Just like Slovenia, Austria stayed put from last year's tournament. Outside, of the Denmark game, Austria seemed to get stronger as the tournament progressed. They highlights for them was the shootout lost against Slovenia, and a convincing win against France.
France gets sent back down to Group B after a dismal showing in Group A. Kind of surprisingly, their closest lost was against Norway. With a minor change in Group B, France might be fighting to get back to this level in two years time.
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