S59 IIHF Day 1 Recap
(1200 words, ready for grading)

The SHL finals might be over now - congratulations to the Texas Renegades on winning the Challenge Cup - but the IIHF tournament is just beginning! The round robin portion of the tournament started off with a few outstanding performances and I will give a short recap of the day’s games to catch people up if they missed the sim so far.

Here are the current standings after the first day of sims:



Here is the first day of sims and the games so far:



Austria vs Russia - RUS 4 - AUT 1



This game had a slow start but Russia managed to score twice in quick succession late in the second period to put themselves on the board, followed by an early goal in the third. The Austrians rallied back with a power play goal late in the third, but Jacob Bruchevski scored an empty net goal to seal the game away.

Finland vs Sweden - FIN 3 - SWE 1



Harry Carpet had an outstanding game as the Finns weathered the Swedish storm before scoring two goals in the third period to finish (ha) off the Swedish squad, who managed to put 40 shots on goal. Carpet only allowed one goal in this game, and Michael Fitted drove much of the offense for the Finns.

Great Britain vs USA - GBR 5(SO) - USA 4




A quick start to this game as Nick Brain had an early power play goal followed by a Jimmy Slothface even strength marker, but the US would strike back with a shorthanded goal by Pojo Biscuit as veteran Otis B. Driftwood accrued a game misconduct, having conducted some goalie brutality. The teams would continue trading goals, GB holding a one goal lead, before Danny Marston scored the equalizer 15:09 in the third. The teams went into the shootout and Nick Brain’s lone shootout goal stood as the game winner.

Norway vs Japan - NOR 4 - JPN 3



It was a display of firepower for this game, as both teams’ offensive forwards showed off their chops. Monkey D. Luffy amassed 3 points (1 goal, 2 assists) on the power play, showing how dangerous their special teams can be, and Norway’s Samuel Michaud showed off both scoring and playmaking skills. The goal by veteran Goku Muerto 15:43 in the third would stand as the game winner as Team Japan was unable to get an equalizer.

Switzerland vs Latvia - SUI 4 - LTV 1



A scrappy game between Latvia and Switzerland as both teams amassed double-digit penalty minutes, but Team Switzerland came out on top as Nick Connolly assisted on 3 goals. The third period turned especially rough as emotions ran high and both teams took liberties with each other, and Team Switzerland added insult to injury as they scored with 11 seconds remaining on a power play.

Austria vs Great Britain - AUT 2 - GBR 6



Team Austria put up an admirable fight against heavily favored Team Great Britain, but the offensive firepower of perennial medalist GB was too much to handle as they fell 6-2 to the Imperialists. Nick Brain showed his offensive chops once again, scoring two goals, and the British top line continues to show how good they are.

Ireland vs Canada - IRL 4 - CAN 5



Although a slow starting game - no goals were scored until the second period, this game provided a bit of a scare for Team Canada as Team Ireland pulled to within one goal in the third period almost completing the comeback. Goaltender Elizabeth Doyle held off a barrage of shots, and Keith Le scored a shorthanded goal for the Irish side.

Latvia vs Czechia - LTV 4 - CZE 5 (SO)




A thrilling game ending in a shootout, Team Latvia showed that they can mount an offense as they matched Czechia’s firepower, goaltender Kata Vilde doing well as he faced 64 shots from Czechia. Mats Marner would provide the equalizer 00:23 in the third period, but Luke Thomason’s shootout goal put the game to end as no one else could put a puck past either goalie.

Switzerland vs Russia - SUI 2 - RUS 1



Mitchell Van Der Heidjen opened the scoring in this game, assisted by newly transferred Frederick Wanesly, but Russia answered shortly by a goal from Jacob Bruchevski. The game winner would come from young player Luukas Lilja a quarter of the way through the third period, which held up to the buzzer.

Germany vs Japan - GER 7 - JPN 4



One of the higher scoring games so far, both teams managed to put pucks in net with frequency. Team Japan showed their physicality, notching 35 hits to Germany’s 11, but veteran player Tony Pepperoni’s playmaking skill made a huge difference. Pepperony scored four points on the night and could have been credited with more as he set up quite a few plays for his team.

Norway vs Germany - NOR 2 - GER 4



Even on a back to back, Team Germany still showed off their offensive chops with Tony Pepperoni scoring two goals, and Jack Kanoff assisting on both of those. Jonas Kahnwald notched his first goal of the tournament on an empty net goal as Team Norway pulled their goaltender to try to create more offense.

Ireland vs Finland - IRL 2 - FIN 5



The Finnish blueline provided the offense for this game led by Aumy Jr, who had a multi-goal game, accompanied by goals from Kaarlo Kekkonen, Jules Watt and Zoltan Topalo. Team Ireland showed their penalty-killing skill once again as they scored a short-handed goal, although they should rein in their tempers as they had ten penalty minutes compared to two for the Finns.

Canada vs Sweden - CAN 1 - SWE 2



Both teams showed their strength on defense as this back-and-forth game was low scoring. Taylor Johansson opened the scoring with a deke past Weaver, and Canada responded with a blistering one-timer on the power play from Theo Morgan. Both goalies shut the door after that until Henrik Lekberg Osterman managed to beat Weaver on the stick side during a breakaway. With less than a minute left Team Canada could not figure out a way to equalize.

Czechia vs United States - CZE 5 - USA 4



An upset as Team Czechia beat the higher ranked Team USA. The Czech opened the scoring, but Team USA responded quickly with three goals in quick succession. However, the second period onwards proved to be all Team Czechia as they pulled ahead by a goal. Julio Tokolosh scored an equalizer on the power play 14:16 into the third, but Team Czechia’s Michael Scarn quickly snuffed out that dream as he notched the game winning goal less than two minutes later.

Switzerland vs Great Britain - SUI 5 (SO) - GBR 4




A nail-biter of a game as Team Switzerland managed to score three goals in the third period to force an overtime game against Team Great Britain, culminating in a shootout. Elijah Jones drove the Swiss offense, accompanied by William Hartmann who had three assists. Jimmy Slothface also scored three points on the night. Elijah Jones would also provide the game-winning shootout goal as Markus Tegernako proved unbeatable in the extra frame.

Hope these short recaps help you guys keep up with IIHF action!