Showing Some International Love: 2014 World Championship Division I Group B Review

It was no surprise to see Poland top the standings, just like it was no surprise that the only NHLer (Zubrus) was the points leader in this tournament.

Note: Most information from the (not overly fancy) IIHF website.

Standings

Team	Wins	OT/SOW	OT/SOL	Losses	Points	Goal Diff.
Poland	4	0	0	1	12	+13
Croatia	3	1	0	1	11	+7
Lithuania	3	0	0	2	9	+6
Great Britain	3	0	0	2	9	+1
Netherlands	1	0	0	4	3	-5
Romania	0	0	1	4	1	-22

Results

April 20
Croatia 4 - Great Britain 0
Romania 0 - Poland 7
Lithuania 4 - Netherlands 0

April 21
Great Britain 4 - Romania 1
Netherlands 0 - Croatia 4
Poland 3 - Lithuania 2

April 23
Poland 5 - Netherlands 1
Croatia 4 - Romania 3 (SO)
Great Britain 1 - Lithuania 2

April 24
Poland 4 - Croatia 1
Netherlands 3 - Great Britain 4
Romania 2 - Lithuania 5

April 26
Netherlands 9 - Romania 1
Great Britain 4 - Poland 2
Lithuania 2 - Croatia 3

Team Recap

Poland: The favourites to win the tournament didn't disappoint. They started off with a 7-0 blowout against Romania. Against Lithuania, it was a goal in the first that helped Poland, as both teams would end up swapping goals in the second and third. Poland would win the game 3-2. Poland had trouble early on against the Netherlands, as they could not get anything though. Poland would open the scoring in the second, and would pile on in the third, winning the game 5-1. The wining streak continued against Croatia, as Poland struck midway though the first and early in the second before their opponent would score. Poland added two more in the third for the 4-1 win. Poland's only loss came in their last game against Great Britain, as they gave up the winning goal in the third while 2-men down, losing the game 4-2. Poland finished first, ensuring a spot in Group A for next year.

Croatia: The Croatians started the tournament on fire, as they put up four goals in each of their first two games, while Mate Tomljenovic would shut down Great Britain's and the Netherland's attack. Against Romania was when Croatia started to face some adversity, as they had to claw back from being down 2-0 and needed a late goal by Tadija Miric to tie the game at 3-all. Croatia would end up winning in the shootout, beating Romania 4-3. Croatia's only blemish was against Poland. They kept Poland close for most of the game, but could not get more than a goal, eventually losing 4-1. Against Lithuania, Croatia opened the scoring with two powerplay goals in the second. Lithuania would tie the game in the third, but Borna Rendulic would score midway through the frame to lift Croatia to the 3-2 win. Croatia would end the tournament in second, just shy of first place.

Lithuania: The host would start off with a 4-0 win over the Netherlands. Against Poland, Lithuania gave up an early goal and could not catch up, losing the game 3-2. Lithuania would score early against Great Britain, but would give up the tying goal early in the second. Zubrus would score a powerplay goal midway through the second, and Lithuania would hang on from there, winning 2-1. Lithuania didn't need many shots to beat Romania, as they won the game 5-2 while only registering 17 shots. In their last game, Lithuania would fall behind to Croatia in the second. Even though they did tie the game, Lithuania would lose the game 3-2. Lithuania would finish the tournament in third place.

Great Britain: The Brits didn't have a good start to the tournament, as they were shutout by Croatia 4-0 despite heavily outshooting them (33-18). Great Britain would bounce back against Romania, scoring a pair in the second and third enroute to a 4-1 win. Great Britain fall behind early against Lithuania, and while they did tie it up, they would give up the game winning goal soon after, losing the game 2-1. Great Britain scored two quick goals against the Netherlands and never looked back ,taking the game 4-3. The Brits would end the tournament with a 4-2 win over Poland. Great Britain finishes the tournament in fourth place.

Netherlands: The Dutch had a bad start to the tournament, as they suffered a pair of 4-0 losses to Lithuania and Croatia. Despite getting outplayed early against Poland, the Netherlands kept the game close for the first two periods. It was different in the third though, as Netherlands gave up four goals in the period, eventually losing the game 5-1. The Netherlands would fall behind early in their next game (against Great Britain) and failed to recover, suffering a 4-3 loss to the Brits. Holland ended the tournament with a 9-1 route of Romania. The Netherlands finish in fifth place.

Romania: Romania had a porous start to the tournament. They were blown out by Poland 7-0 and would lose to Great Britain 4-1 (Romania's lone goal came late in the third). Romania looked to have bounced back against Croatia, leading for the majority of the game. They would blow it in the third though, and would eventually lose the game 4-3 in a shootout. Romania would continue on the losing track, losing to Lithuania 5-2. To end the tournament, Romania was blown out 9-1 by the Netherlands. Romania would finish in sixth, winless and relegated to Division II.