Showing Some International Love: 2016 World Junior Championship - Division I Group B Preview

The World Junior tournaments kick off later today in France, as they host the Division I Group B tournament. Slovenia joins this group after finishing last in Group A last year. Great Britain is back in this group after winning Division II last year (they were there after being sent down due to disqualification). Poland and Ukraine round out the group of five teams. Japan was scheduled to play in this tournament but pulled out due to the semi-recent events in France. They have been relegated to Division II.

Note: most information from the IIHF website.

Rosters

France

Goalies:

Name	Team
Raphael Garnier	HC Fribourg-Gotteron
Quentin Papillon	Rouen Dragons

Defensemen:

Name	Team
Loic Chapelier	Gap Rapaces
Hugo Gallet	Minnesota Magicians
Brieuc Houeix	Rouen Dragons
Vincent Melin	Dijon Ducs
Arthur Montenoise-Oudot	Grenoble Bruleurs de Loups
Tom Pajonkowski	Lionel Groulx College Nordiques
Thomas Thiry	Geneve-Servette HC

Forwards:

Name	Team
Justin Addamo	Rouen Dragons
Robin Colomban	Briancon Diables Rouges
Fabien Colotti	Rouen Dragons
Loic Coulaud	Amiens Gothiques
Jeremy Delbaere	Rouen Dragons
Julian Guillaume	Grenoble Bruleurs de Loups
Guillaume Leclerc	Madison Capitols
Bastien Maia	IFK Helsinki
Kevin Marion	Geneve-Servette HC
Rudy Matima	Amiens Gothiques
Vincent Nesa	Rouen Dragons
Antoine Torres	Grenoble Bruleurs de Loups
Gabin Ville	Northwood School

Great Britain

Goalies:

Name	Team
Ben Churchfield	Portland Jr. Pirates
Jordan Hedley	Swindon Wildcats

Defensemen:

Name	Team
Callum Buglass	Swindon Wildcats
Joshua Grieveson	Middlesex
Jay King	Edinburgh Capitals
Edward Knaggs	Milton Keynes Lightning
Cameron McGriffin	Peterborough Phantoms
Harvey Stead	Swindon Wildcats
Oliver Stone	Okanagan Academy UK

Forwards:

Name	Team
Ivan Antonov	Bracknell Bees
Oliver Betteridge	Nottingham Lions
Glenn Billing	Milton Keynes Lightning
Lee Bonner	Hull Pirates
Alexander Forbes	Ogden Mustangs
Connor Glossop	Nottingham Lions
Owen Griffiths	Swindon Wildcats
Macaulay Heywood	Telford Tigers
Lewis Hook	Milton Keynes Lightning
Luc Johnson	Milton Keynes Lightning
Toms Rutkis	Swindon Wildcats
Duncan Speirs	Solway Sharks
Michael Stratford	Swindon Wildcats

Poland

Goalies:

Name	Team
Michal Czernik	UKS Sosnowiec
Mateusz Studzinski	SMS Sosnowiec

Defensemen:

Name	Team
Kordian Chorazyczewski	SMS Sosnowiec
Kamil Falkenhagen	Polonia Bytom
Marcin Horzelski	Zaglebie Sosnowiec
Oskar Jaskiewicz	MMKS Nowy Targ
Jakub Michalowski	SMS Sosnowiec
Tomasz Skoken	KH Sanok
Patryk Wsol	SMS Sosnowiec

Forwards:

Name	Team
Kamil Filip	SMS Sosnowiec
Mateusz Goscinski	SMS Sosnowiec
Dominik Jarosz	SMS Sosnowiec
Jakub Jaworski	GKS Jastrzebie
Bartlomiej Jeziorski	GKS Tychy
Lukasz Krzemien	Polonia Bytom
Jaroslaw Lorek	Ocelari Trinec
Patryk Matusik	GKS Jastrzebie
Piotr Naparlo	KH Sanok
Kamil Paszek	Unia Oswiecim
Kamil Sikora	Zaglebie Sosnowiec
Szymon Skrodziuk	SMS Sosnowiec
Kamil Wrobel	Vitkovice Ostrava

Slovenia

Goalies:

Name	Team
Urban Avsenik	VSV Villach
Mark Vlahovic	Red Bull Salzburg

Defensemen:

Name	Team
Mark Cepon	Red Bull Salzburg
Nik Grahut	HK Celje
Zan Kuzman	HK Maribor
Miha Mercina	HK Celje
Martin Rus	Olimpija Ljubljana
Marko Tarman	Acroni Jesenice

Forwards:

Name	Team
Rok Avsenek	KAC Klagenfurt
Aljaz Chvatal	Olimpija Ljubljana
Gasper Glavic	Acroni Jesenice
Matic Jeklic	HC Olomouc
Zan Jezovsek	HK Celje
Rok Macuh	HC Olomouc
Nejc Masic	Olimpija Ljubljana
Luka Maver	Topeka Roadrunners
Janez Orehek	HK Slavija Ljubljana
Nik Simsic	Sodertalje SK
Matjaz Subic	Okanagan Academy UK
Blaz Tomazevic	VSV Villach
Nik Unuk	Amals SK
Miha Zajc	Austin Bruins

Ukraine

Goalies:

Name	Team
Bogdan Dyachenko	Donbass Donetsk
Yuri Krasnopolskiy	Bily Bars Brovary

Defensemen:

Name	Team
Olexander Aleksandrov	Dukla Michalovce
Vitali Andreikiv	Polonia Bytom
Andri Grygoryev	Red Bull Salzburg
Vitali Mul	HK Kremenchuk
Yurii Shpak	General Kiev
Olexander Vlad	Sparta Prague
Kyrylo Zhovnir	HK Kremenchuk

Forwards:

Name	Team
Ilya Generalov	Bily Bars Brovary
Mykhaylo Gevorkian	Slovan Bratislava
Tymur Hrytsenko	HK Kremenchuk
Oleksandr Liulchuk	Bily Bars Brovary
Vadym Mazur	Dush Rostov
Renat Nigmatullin	Concordia University
Maksym Odnovorchenko	HK Kharkiv
Ivan Radetsky	HK Mladez Michalovce
Dmytro Shcherbakov	Stoczniowiec Gdansk
Yaroslav Svyshev	Donbass Donetsk
Artur Terchiev	Toronto Jr. Canadiens
Yevgen Tymchenko	Generals Kiev
Olexi Vorona	Dukla Michalovce

Schedule

December 12
Great Britain - Slovenia
France - Ukraine

December 13
Poland - Great Britain
Slovenia - France

December 15
Ukraine - Poland
Great Britain - France

December 16
Ukraine - Great Britain
Poland - Slovenia

December 18
Slovenia - Ukraine
Poland - France

Prediction

1 (Promoted) - Slovenia
2 - France
3 - Great Britain
4 - Ukraine
5 - Poland

This is a hard group to judge, as the Most of the teams are around the same level. Slovenia seems like the strongest out of the group, and will keep there stay in Group B a short one. The rest of the group seems like a crapshoot. I'm guessing France's home-rink advantage helps them a bit, placing them in second. Great Britain, Ukraine, and Poland probably finish third, fourth, and fifth respectively.

Showing Some International Love: 2018 Olympic Qualification Round 1 - Group L Review

It was a tight group, as it came down to the last game to decided a winner. Serbia, in the end, found a way to comeback against Spain and hold on for the win. Serbia managed to go undefeated in this group, and move on to Round 2 of Olympic Qualifying. The last day loss ended Spain's Olympic bid, as they now go from hosting this tournament to the World Championship Division II Group A one in April. Iceland played close games against Serbia and Spain, but could not get a crucial win against either of them. Iceland did managed to go out on a high note, beating China. As for China, they were a non-threat from the start. The Chinese lost all three games by a combined score of 26-5.

Note: Most information from the IIHF website.

Standings

Team	Win	OT/SO Win	OT/SO Loss	Loss	Points	Goal Diff.
Serbia	2	1	0	0	8	+7
Spain	2	0	0	1	6	+9
Iceland	1	0	1	1	4	+5
China	0	0	0	3	0	-21

Results

November 6
Iceland 4 - Serbia 5 (OT)
Spain 10 - China 1

November 7
Serbia 5 - China 1
Spain 5 - Iceland 3

November 8
China 3 - Iceland 11
Serbia 5 - Spain 3

Notes

• Goals Leader: Robin Hedstrom (Iceland) - 5
• Points Leader: Johann Leifsson (Iceland) - 9
• GAA Leader: Arsenije Rankovic (Serbia) - 2.62
• Save % Leader: Arsenije Rankovic (Serbia) - 0.927
• The "No Surprise" Game: Any team facing China
• The "Upset" Game: Serbia beats Spain 5-2 (two reasons: Spain was the host, and had a 2-0 lead after the first period)

What Now?

Serbia: After a surprising comeback in the last game, Serbia will only have to wait until February 2016 to play again. They will face Italy, Great Britain, and the Netherlands in Round 2 of Olympic Qualifying. While Serbia is not expected to be competitive against those three teams, the victory in this round does give hope for the future of Serbian hockey.

Spain: Spain saw victory slip from them in this tournament, and it won't get much better in April when they host the Division II Group A tournament. While they will have the chance to get revenge on Serbia (and play Iceland and China again), the top of that group will be hard to crack. While a first place finish might not be reasonable, a top three finish would be for the Spaniards.

Iceland: Despite having the goals and points leaders, Iceland could not get higher than third. The next time they play will be in April, when they travel back to Spain for the World Championships. Iceland is in the mixed with Serbia in Spain, in that they'll finish in any spot that isn't first or last.

China: China will reconvene back in Spain in April for the World Championships. The bright side of this tournament for China is that they got to face the level of competition they will be expecting in April. The bad news is that they fared badly in this tournament (they were the only team with a negative goal differential). China will have a difficult time again in Spain, as relegation looks likely for them.

Showing Some International Love: 2018 Olympic Qualification Round 1 - Group K Review

This group was over before it started. The host Estonians had little problem getting by the competition, as they outscored their opponents a combined 58-4. Outside of Estonia, Mexico had a good tournament. The Mexicans managed to win two games and managed a positive goal differential. Israel, who were more focussed on having young players gain international experienced, managed to escape this tournament with a win. For Bulgaria, it was a struggle, as they only managed 4 goals in the whole tournament and ended up in last.

Note: Most information from the IIHF website.

Standings

Team	Win	OT/SO Win	OT/SO Loss	Loss	Points	Goal Diff.
Estonia	3	0	0	0	9	+54
Mexico	2	0	0	1	6	+1
Israel	1	0	0	2	3	-20
Bulgaria	0	0	0	3	0	-35

Results

November 5
Mexico 8 - Bulgaria 2
Israel 1 - Estonia 19

November 7
Mexico 5 - Israel 0
Estonia 26 - Bulgaria 0

November 8
Bulgaria 2 - Israel 5
Estonia 13 - Mexico 3

Notes

• Goals Leader: Robert Rooba (Estonia) - 11
• Points Leader: Robert Rooba (Estonia) - 24
• GAA Leader: (Estonia) - 2.00
• Save % Leader: Alfonso da Alba (Mexico) - 0.866
• The "No Surprise" Game: Estonia facing any team
• The "Upset" Game: None

What Now?

Estonia: With the win, the host now move on to Round 2 of Olympic Qualifying, which takes place in February 2016. It won't be a cake walk for the Estonians this time, as they'll have to face Hungary, Poland, and Lithuania. While winning that tournament looks to be unlikely for Estonia, this is a team that could get away with pulling off an upset.

Mexico: Internationally, Mexico gets to relax until April, when they get to host the Division II Group B tournament. A bright spot is that the two opponents they beat here (Israel and Bulgaria) they also see in April. Mexico should be a competitive team in that tournament and challenge for a promotion.

Israel: Much like Mexico, Israel isn't scheduled to play again until April. Since they brought a young group with them to this tournament, it will be interesting to see if they stay on this path for April or if they will try and add more senior team veterans to make a push in that tournament. As it stands now, they are a team that will finish in the bottom half of that group.

Bulgaria: With no EIHC games scheduled (for now), Bulgaria will regroup in April in Mexico. Bulgaria also bought a young team to this tournament, and could go that way in April as well. 18 year-old Dimitar Dimitrov will likely be relied on again to backstop the Bulgarians. Right now it would be considered a success if Bulgaria manages to not get relegated in April.