1. CW TRIVIA    3 TPE

Verification word:    clemfandango

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12. Is It Always The Same?     4 TPE

Call it the luck of the Irish or perhaps it's just the sheer fickleness of the sim. But I don't think it's any fluke that we happen to see Ireland's name near the top of the standings and on the podium come the end of the IIHF tournaments. The same could be said about  Team Sweden and Team Germany, who each have won gold thricely (with Sweden also taking home two silvers and a bronze) across the past ten seasons. Where Sweden and Germany are traditionally stronger nations when it comes to hockey, Ireland isn't a name you'd typically associate when it comes to international dominance. However, with two gold and two bronze across that same span, as well as finishing atop the regular season standings twice, it wouldn't be much of a surprise to see them have another great tourney.


As for things that will be different, Czechians will hope that both their IIHF and WJC teams can put forth a better effort than what we saw in S77. In WJC action, they've missed the cut for playoff play over the past two years, last seeing action in S75 where they were dismissed by a plucky Team World. While they're relatively new to world junior play, expectations will be rightfully higher this time around.
In IIHF, the Czechs will again be in tough with the usual suspects expected to be powerhouses yet again. S77 marked the sixth time in a row where they fell short of the playoff round, last making it in S71 and losing against Ireland (who would eventually go on to win gold that year). But with just 18 wins across the past five tournaments (60 games, .300 P%) it would be refreshing to see Czechia be more than just a punching bag for the teams at the top of the standings.

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13. Out With The Old, In With The New     4 TPE

I mean, isn't Quebec part of Canada? I know they like to argue differently, but this is about hockey and not politics so I digress.
It could (and has) definitely be argued that Canada has the talent to send two competitive teams to international hockey events, so adding Quebec isn't the worst thing that could've happened.

With only so many players to go around in the SHL, adding extra teams to the fold could prove to be detrimental. As well, replacing any of the existing teams seems unfair to them (though given the current world events it is perhaps understandable why the SHL IIHF decided to distance themselves from Russia).

With all that being said, it would be fun to see Australia added to the mix. Not that they would be better or worse than any of the nations that are currently represented, but "'Straya" is always striving to be recognized as one of the world's top sporting nations and destinations. Cutting their teeth at such a prominent tournament would go a long way to showing just how capable they are. Plus, if they were to named the host nation, who wouldn't love a chance to go down under and visit one of the best countries in the world!

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Total:   8 TPE