The final day of the group stage has come and gone. WOW!!! What a day it was! Only three teams, all from Group B, are in the same position they were heading into today. So let’s recap what happened and what this means for the playoffs.

Group A had a crazy day on day five in which every single team moved around the standings. You can find a comparison of the Group A standings below. Finland :finalnd: needed to win out on day 5 to stay alive and they did just that beating Ireland in a shoot-out and Switzerland 5-2. Norway  took top spot in group A away from the hometown team going 2-0-0-1 on day 5 earning themselves 7 points. Both Germany and Quebec will be disappointed in their final day. They each had an opportunity to solidify their playoff picture but fell flat being leapfrogged by Ireland and Finland to finish as the bottom two in their pool. Despite the defending champs best efforts, they couldn’t quite make a miracle happen. After earning points in all their games on Day 5, the Irish lost out on goal differential. A new Champion will be crowned. 

Group A After Day 4

Rank	Team Name	Record
1	Switzerland	6-1-3-1
2	Norway	5-1-2-1
3	Sweden	5-1-3-1
4	Germany	3-1-3-2
5	Quebec	3-1-5-0
6	Ireland	3-0-6-0
7	Finland	3-0-6-1

Group A After Group Stage

Rank	Team Name	Record
1	Norway	7-1-2-2
2	Sweden	6-2-3-1
3	Switzerland	6-1-4-1
4	Finland	4-1-6-1
5	Ireland	4-1-6-1
6	Quebec	4-1-7-0
7	Germany	3-1-6-2

Although very exciting, Group B had less movement between day 4 and day 5. Latvia   was the only team to fall out of a playoff position with Japan , rising from the grave to replace them. Canada and France remained in the top two spots. Meanwhile, Czechia moved up into third and Japan took fourth. Japan earned 7 of a possible 9 points on the last day to beat out fifth place Latvia by 1 point.

Group B

Rank	Team Name	Record
1	Canada	9-1-1-1
2	France	5-1-3-3
3	Czechia	5-2-5-0
4	Japan	5-1-5-1
5	Latvia	5-1-6-0
6	United States	5-0-6-1
7	Great Britain	1-1-9-1

Playoff teams:
v  
v  
v  
v  

Eliminated Teams:
 
  (Quebec)
 
 

 

Game to watch 

Sweden v Switzerland . The hometown team will be in tough as they face Sweden in the first round of the playoffs. These teams each won one of their two group stage matches. Switzerland topping Sweden 6-2 in their first matchup with roles being reversed in their second matchup as Sweden beat Switzerland 6-4.

Players That Have Caught my Attention

Forward
Adam Prpich is leading Norway to first place in Group A and is hoping to lead them to a medal. Leading his team in goals, assists and points, Prpich is up there in the tournament leaderboard as well. Fourth in goals at 8, fourth in assists with 12 puts him in second with 20 points. Prpich is also sixth in shots. If Norway wants to make their way into the medals, Prpich will have to find a way to stay out of the penalty box as he’s third in penalty minutes with 14.

Defense
Guy Incognito has been nothing short of excellent on the Canadian blueline. He’s listed in 8 of the 12 leaderboards and is 1 blocked shot out of being in the top 10 for that category. I will admit, Guy is currently 6th in fights with zero…… as are all defenders in the tournament but all the other stats are legit! Incognito is second in goals with 4, seventh in assists with 7, seventh in points with 11, second in +/- with 13, seventh in shots with 28, first in power play goals, eleventh in shots blocked. All of this while racking up the eighth most penalty minutes. WAtching him play is nothing short of impressive. 

Goalie
Japan can thank their goalie, BASE PACK, for helping get them into the medal round. Boasting a goals saved above average of 7.07 and the most saves in the the tournament, PACK is unexpectedly standing on his head. Can his success continue as they face the #1 offense? I’m going to guess not.


Enjoy the day off. We'll see you on Friday!

NOTE: There is a one day break between the group stage and medal round. Games will start on October 4.
 

Can't keep WINland down

RIP Latvia

Squidwardo Tentacles | Seattle Argonauts | Captain | 1547 TPE

Birthplace: Riga, Latvia

Position: Left Wing

Number: 81]

Current Team: Seattle Argonauts

-----------------------------------------------
SHL Career:

Seattle Argonauts:

Regular Season | 198 GP | 52 G | 120 A | 172 P | -95 | 107 PIM | 329 H
Playoffs | 9 GP | 3 G | 3 A | 6 P | -8 | 10 PIM | 14 H

-----------------------------------------------

SMJHL Career:

Yukon Malamutes:

Regular Season | 264 GP | 96 G | 151 A | 247 P | +34 | 212 PIM | 664 H

Playoffs | 36 GP | 10 G | 18 A | 28 P | -9 | 12 PIM | 91 H

-----------------------------------------------

Career Highlights:

S74 Bronze Medal WJC

S74 SMJHL All-Star

S76 SMJHL All-Star

5th All Time in Points for Yukon

5th All Time in Assists for Yukon

1st All Time in Penalty Minutes for Yukon

3rd All Time in Hits for Yukon

-----------------------------------------------

Team Awards:

S73-S76 Dynamite Award - Led Team in Hits

S74+76 Swing Dog Award - Led Team in Assists

S75+76 Prospector Award - Led Team in PIMs
S76 Team Dog Award - Most Outstanding Forward 

S76 Gold Rush Award - Led Team in Points

-----------------------------------------------

Transactions:

SMJHL Draft - 22nd OVR to Yukon

SHL Draft - 7th OVR to Seattle

 CANADA FIRST 

  
Anthony Dionne || G || Texas Renegades || Peak TPE : 2055
Name: Anthony Dionne
Catch: Right
Height: 6'4''
Weight: 225 lbs
Number: 39
SMJHL Draft: 36e by St Louis Scarecrows
SHL Draft: 12e by Texas Renegades
------------------------------------------------------------

SMJHL Regular Season:
S65 to S68 | STL | GP : 175 (89-67-14) | 3.21 GAA | 0.885 SV% | SO : 7
SMJHL Playoffs:
S65 to S68 | STL | GP : 56 (32-20-4) | 2.99 GAA | 0.895 SV% | SO : 5

SHL Regular Season:
S66 to S78 | TEX | GP : 534 (285-194-38) | 3.44 GAA | 0.898 SV% | SO : 28 
SHL Playoffs:
S66 to S78 | TEX | GP : 102 (50-41-10) | 3.82 GAA | 0.890 SV% | SO : 5
World Junior Championship Round Robin:
S64 to S68 | TBI-TNA-CAN | GP : 34 (13-17-3) | 3.56 GAA | 0.904 SV% | SO : 0
World Junior Championship Medals Round:
S66 to S68 | CAN | GP : 9 (6-2-1) | 2.27 GAA | 0.923 SV% | SO : 0 

IIHF Round Robin:

S67 to S78 | CAN | GP : 100 (62-31-5) | 2.51 GAA | 0.915 SV% | SO : 8
IIHF Medals Round:
S67 to S78 | CAN | GP : 19 (12-5-2) | 3.18 GAA | 0.891 SV% | SO : 0

Awards:

S66 IIHF | CAN | Silver Medal
S66-67-68 WJC | CAN | Bronze Medal

S69 IIHF | CAN | Top Goalie of the tournament 

S69 IIHF | CAN | Gold Medal (+ record for most goalie wins in the round robin (11))
S75 IIHF | CAN | Silver Medal 
S75 SHL | TEX | Mike Honcho Award 

S76 IIHF | CAN | Gold Medal

S78 SHL | TEX | Mike Honcho Award 

S78 IIHF | CAN | Gold Medal