1. tactical


Latvia is a team that is in a bit of a transitionary period. The team features a few well aged veterans on their last hurrah and very few players in their prime. The core is relatively young and the best days for Latvia are certainly ahead of them. I suppose this isn't saying much seeing as Latvia finished in dead last in the previous season's IIHF, coming away with just one win in twelve attempts. It would be very hard to not do better this go around and Latvia should be able to scrape a handful of wins together. Reaching the knockout rounds would take a strong performance from the team, but it is within the realm of possibility. For the most part however, this is a team whose better days are ahead of them as their young core continues to develop and improve. It won't be long before some of the retired players next generation also begin to make their mark for Latvia as well, but for now it's hard to expect much more than a few more wins than last season. (187 words)


Edmonton won a very tightly contested series over Philadelphia in seven games due to simply making one or two more clutch plays than their opponents. This was an extremely even series that turned on a few very close games that easily could have gone the other way. For Philadelphia to win, they simply needed to make just one more key play in games 5 or 7, both of which were lost by just 1 goal. The Forge put up 7 shots in OT in game 5 but couldn't put the game away before Edmonton did just that. They also seemed to have momentum in Game 7 when they tied the game in the third period on a SHG, but ultimately would give away the game, series, and championship winning goal late in that period to Edmonton. A close series that will have Philadelphia players, fans, and coaches wondering what could have been. (166 words)