<div align="center">Norway 1 vs Germany 4</div>

On the first day of the S22 IIHF tournament Norway was looking to get off to a strong start. However they would be in for a test of might as they went up against the powerhouse, and pool favorite Germany. These two teams have met several times in the past, most recently with Germany defeating Norway to earn 5th place in the world rankings. They have quickly developed a national rivalry that continued into tonights game. With some new rookie additions to Norways roster they were looking to show what they could do as all eyes were on them. However it looks like they may have had some first timer jitters.

From the moment the puck dropped, Germany was all over Norway at every inch of the ice. Just moments into the game Logan Valentine jumped on a rebound and beat Ranjan with a slap shot to open the scoring for Germany. The Germans kept hammering shots at the Norway goal, but they finally got a break when Friedrich Muller took a hooking penalty midway into the 1st period. Norway only managed to get one shot on net during the power play, looking unorganized on the ice. Their lack of mental awareness cost them as David Winter was able to sneak in behind the defense for a breakaway where he beat the Norway netminder for a shorthanded goal as the penalty was expiring. Things only got worse for Norway as Isabella Esparza-Osvaldson clipped a German player with a high stick. The Germans capitalized on the opportunity as Logan Valentine netted his 2nd goal of the game with another rocket from the point. The 2nd period didn’t go much better for the Norwegians as they were bombarded with 21 shots in the period. The only shining star on the ice was goalie Dymo Ranjan who only surrender one goal in the period which came from David Winter on another power play. Ranjan still managed to make 20 saves in the period alone looking like a world class goalie in doing so. Heading into the 3rd period the Norwegians finally looked like they were getting into their groove, as they managed to establish some offense and play better defensively. Alexander Kjærberg scored their first goal of the tournament with a beautiful feed from Jackson Hauke, it was too little too late though as they ran out of time to climb out of the four goal deficit. If they could carry the momentum of their 3rd period performance into the next game they will have a much better chance of winning.

The Norwegian Coach met with reporters after the game and answered a few questions.

<div align="center">
(Coach Cunningham)</div>

How can your team regroup after such a tough loss to Germany?

We have to focus on the few things we did right and try to do that for the full 60 minutes in our next game. Ranjan faced 43 shots and gave us a chance to get back in it the entire game, but our offense looked terrible out there. He played his heart out and the rest of the team wasn’t there to back him up and that has to change tomorrow against Austria.

How do you feel about the play of the rookies?

It was their first game on the big stage so i will cut them some slack. Vikingstod played some solid defense against guys that were a lot bigger and stronger than him, but he held his own and played physical regardless. Alexandersen and Knutsen both had a shot on net which doesn’t sound like much until you see that we only managed 16 the whole game. So yeah not a terribly impressive performance, but they did a good job out there. I think after tonight they’ll get over the nerves and step it up tomorrow night.

What happened for the first 2 periods tonight?

We had no leadership out there, everyone looked lazy. It wasn’t until I chewed them out in the locker room that they stepped up. I know these guys are world class players, but they need a fire lit under their ass when they play with no energy. We need the older guys on this team to step it up if we have any hope of making it out of the round robin games. It’s about accountability and tonight we didn’t have that, so tomorrow morning I’m giving them a mandatory practice and hopefully they’ll wake up and realize how important these games are. No further questions.

Code:

Words:755

suck it, coach!

      S76 SMJHL DRAFT 3RD OVERALL PICK     
                     IIHF TEAM NORWAY                      

Why hasn't your future goalie got locker room access yet NoNevers will carry Norway to the glory land(unless u face Canada haha)

West Kendall

Rahotep Tutankhamun Right Wing
The Greatest Name Of All

Originally posted by 16Seasonsandcountingfor1cup@Mar 26 2015, 01:47 PM
Why hasn't your future goalie got locker room access yet NoNevers will carry Norway to the glory land(unless u face Canada haha)

IIHF is a slow world to get things done... took me a long long time to get it. Plus he has competition to become a #1. Needs to work super hard to beat Dymo Ranjan

C - Kenji Yoshimura   Kenji Yoshimura Updates

Dave Smith | 77 | | D | LA Panthers | Vancouver Whalers | Hall of Fame
Asbjørn Alexandersen | 47 | RW | Texas Renegades  | Detroit Falcons
Alek Koivu | 71 | D | Winnipeg Jets | Colorado Mammoths
Kenji Yoshimura | 88 | C | Los Angeles Panthers | Anchorage Armada

Code:

Credit to Wasty and Steelhead for the sigs - thanks dudes!

1