Showing Some International Love: 2013 Division I Group B Review

The host Ukraine had a good time, while Lithuania and Estonia didn't. How did other teams fare? Keep reading to find out.

Note: Most information from the IIHF website.

Standings

Team	Win	OT/SO Win	OT/SO Loss	Loss	Points	Goal Difference
Ukraine	4	1	0	0	14	+23
Poland	4	0	0	1	12	+13
Netherlands	3	0	1	1	10	+4
Romania	2	0	0	3	6	-12
Lithuania	1	0	0	4	3	-6
Estonia	0	0	0	5	0	-22

Results

April 14
Netherlands 5 - Estonia 4
Poland 5 - Lithuania 0
Ukraine 8 - Romania 1

April 15
Lithuania 3 - Netherlands 5
Romania 1 - Poland 6
Estonia 1 - Ukraine 8

April 17
Estonia 3 - Romania 6
Poland 3 - Netherlands 1
Ukraine 7 - Lithuania 0

April 18
Poland 5 - Estonia 3
Romania 2 - Lithuania 1
Netherlands 2 - Ukraine 3 (OT)

April 20
Netherlands 6 - Romania 2
Lithuania 12 - Estonia 3
Ukraine 4 - Poland 3

Recap

Ukraine: No surprise that Ukraine ended up with the promotion. They beat Romania and Estonia 8-1, then shutout Lithuania 7-0. Ukraine did get stunned early in their game against the Netherlands, trailing 2-0 after the first. Ukraine did come back and win the game. The last game followed the same story for Ukraine, as Poland had the lead after one. Ukraine did mount a comeback and held on to beat Poland. The win solidified their first place finish and are promoted to Group A next year.

Poland: As expected, Poland was close, but couldn't get past Ukraine. Poland did start off strong, easily beating Lithuania and Romania. They slowed down afterwards, needing a couple powerplay goals to get past Netherlands. Poland swapped goals with Estonia, but had the extra goal in that game (plus and empty netter). Against Ukraine, Poland could not hold on to an early lead, and failed to tie it up late in the game. Poland ends up second, and will look to finally break though to Group A next year.

Netherlands: The Netherlands followed up an impressive Olympic qualifying run with a third place finish. They started off tough against Estonia, needing a late goal to pull off the win. It didn't get easier for the Dutch, as they held on to beat Lithuania. The Netherlands showed they were tough competition for Poland and Ukraine, as they outshot Poland but couldn't get past them, and took Ukraine to overtime before giving up the winning goal. The Netherlands ended the tournament with an easy win again Romania. The Netherlands finished third again, and will be looking to finally be a top two team next year.

Romania: Romania started off the tournament badly, though it didn't help running into the top two teams early on. After getting pummeled by Ukraine and Poland, Romania rebounded by beating Estonia 3-1. Romania just got by Lithuania, winning on a third period powerplay goal. They finished the tournament losing decisively to the Netherlands. Romania finished fourth.

Lithuania: To Lithuania's credit, they did put up a fight against teams not named Ukraine or Poland. Between getting shut out by Poland (5-0) and Ukraine (7-0), Lithuania kept the Netherlands close despite losing. Against Romania, Lithuania tied it midway through the game, but a penalty in the third lead to another loss for them. In the relegation game, Lithuania was on fire, scoring at will as the game progressed. Ending up in fifth, Lithuania stays alive in Division I for another year.

Estonia: Estonia came close in a couple games, but could not win any of them. They started off swapping the lead numerous times with the Netherlands, but could not hold on and lost game one. Estonia was dominated by Ukraine, losing 8-1 and getting outshot 54-13.  Against Romania and Poland, Estonia was able to keep the game close, but both times could not pull through and take the lead. Needing a win to stay up, Estonia kept it close against Lithuania for the first two periods, before getting demolished in the third, allowing 8 goals. Estonia finished sixth, resulting in being relegated to Division II for next year.