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***Jexter*** · 03-27-2024, 12:12 AM

Welcome back to Oslo (I think). The Round Robin Stage of the IIHF has concluded, and we have our elimination games set. We will move on and soon be in the fantastic Gjøvik Olympic Cavern Hall for the last games.

Day 3 Abridged
Going into the last day, we had some of the closest scores going into the final day of sims. Group A saw only 3 points separate second place from seventh with 3 (USA, Canada and Czechia) teams tied at 12 points. Meanwhile Group B had some very close scores as well with the Host nation in Norway being on the hot seat. Independent Russia made a surprise lunge on Day 3, scoring regulation wins to propel them into striking distance of the top 4. Japan and Finland had comfortable leads on top of their groups after Day 3.

Day 4 of the Round Robin and Standings Recap

Group A

1. Japan Japan

7-1-2-2 for 25 points
The Japanese slapped down the surging Canadian team early on Day 4 in a 9-7 game where apparently defense was optional, and then, solidified their spot in the elimination stage with a big 4-1 win over Czechia. They got one final point in a shootout loss to Latvia to end their round robin. Despite giving up 7 goals to Canada, BASE PACK continued to shine for the Japanese team, saving 39 shots in the loss against Latvia. Sir Devoir has not been left behind however, with an identical record and slightly better save parentage and twinning on game rating. Aleksandr Iskandrov had the most points for Team Japan with 17.

2. Ireland Ireland

6-1-5-0 for 20 Points
The Irish went on an impressive Day 3 run with 3 regulation wins to get 9 points in a single day. (they also lost one game, but still 3 wins). They beat the Canadians in regulation 6-5 before blowing out the Latvians 7-3 in their final game of the Round Robin, going 5-0-1-0 in their last 6 games. Ireland’s bounce back from the first two days of play was very impressive, led by Adrian O’Rugg and Marton Diehm with 11 points, but it was a team effort with 4 other players getting 10 points in the round robin.

3. Germany Germany

6-0-4-2 for 20 Points
The Germans found themselves on the outside looking in after Day 3. After setting the tone with a win in an initially close game against Latvia, the Germans another 2 regulation wins over Team USA and Team Czechia, making for a 9-point final day of play and rocketing them up into 3rd place in the group. The Germans are not the force of nature they were last season, but with Winter, Kirkby, Biemans, Scholz and Hodor playing like they are with the fantastic depth in their lineup, the Germans are still very much in play to defend their gold medal.

4. Canada Canada

6-0-6-0 for 18 Points
Canada secured two key wins on Day 3, leaving them in a solid spot for Day 4. They scored seven goals against the Japanese, but were up able to win. Their high scoring ways continued with a 10-3 win over the normally defensive USA. They fell to the Irish next and then another loss to Latvia, but got redemption. Latvia and Canada faced off in the last game of the entire round robin, Latvia up by one point in 4th place at the time ahead of Canada. Canada then proceeded to win the game 7-3, marching on to the elimination stage. Eggward Elric led the entire IIHF in goals scored with 10 while Jack St. Clair led in assists with 13. St. Clair also led Team Canada in points with 18 (tied for the lead in the tournament as a whole) while defender Nathanial Barca had an impressive 13 points. By the skin of their teeth, the Canadians move on.

5. Latvia Latvia

4-2-6-0 for 16 Points
Latvia went 2 and 1 in regulation on Day 3 to put themselves right back in the conversation for playoffs. Despite a loss to the Irish, they kept their hopes alive with wins over Canada and Japan (OT). However, they would suffer immense heartbreak in the last game of the round robin, losing to Canada and missing out of playoffs. A major bright spot for the Latvians was the play of Benjamin Surkhi-Ze’ev and Sophie Bordeleau who were second in goals and assists in the tournament respectively. Both would end up with a very good 15 points while Edus Ozolins also had 14 points over the 12 games. That will be all for the Latvians in this go around in the S75 IIHF.

6. Czechia Czechia

4-1-7-0 for 14 Points
Czechia was tied for 3rd after the third day of play, but suffered a brutal collapse where their only points in the last 3 games coming from an overtime win over Team USA. With regulation losses to Germany and Japan in a very tight Group A, Czechia will unfortunately bow out of IIHF tournament this year. The Czechs saw fantastic play from Petr Svoboda and Dominik Winters who each had 15 points.

7. United States Usa

4-0-7-1 for 13 Points
The US managed to get a point in the shootout loss to Czechia. Things got worse after a 3-10 loss to Canada and then the final dagger being a 2-3 loss to Germany in regulation. This was a tough tournament for the Red, White, and Blue as their normally high functioning defense was simply not there and their goal scoring early in the tournament dried up. Benson Fiorentini was the standout USA player with 15 points, but that was not enough to get them a playoff spot.

Group B

1. Finland Finland

7-1-2-2 for 25 Points
Finland solidified their position on the upper end of the Group with an early Day 4 win over Nordic rival Norway. They then stomped the British in a 4-1 win for their final game of the Round Robin, ensuring their 1st position. Finland’s high defensive play meant that they did not need a lot of goals to win, but Yannick Svoboda and Nash Topaloled the Finns with 13 points, while Mikko Rashford had 7 goals. Rhett “Shaggy” Carpet had a fantastic record as the primary starter in net and had a save percentage of .913.

2. Sweden Sweden

7-1-3-1 for 24 Points
Sweden defeated the British in a comeback victory, but remained in the danger zone with a loss against Norway. A quick duo of victories over Independent Russia and Switzerland were more than enough to put Sweden back into the playoffs. Lord Farquaads led the Swedes with 8 goals for 18 points (no, I am not just praising Rash and Ace cause they pay my salary, though I am willing to negotiate that at next contract meeting) and Jon St. Ark had a great record of 7-3. Missing out on first in the group by a single point, the Swedes now have their eyes set on a much shinier prize.

3. Norway norway

6-0-5-1 for 19 Points
After falling to Finland, Norway defeated Sweden in a scrappy 8-5 game and then beating France 5-2 to stay in the tournament and round out the Northern European trio at the top of the Group B Standings. Our hosts this year were led by fantasy favorite Adam Prpich and Pawter Meowski with 17 points each and Aksel Fiske, Grogu Mandosson, Gnabe Dabson and Tom Pedersen all averaging a point+ per game. Norway will have their hands full trying to get past the Swedes in the first round of the elimination stage, but hopefully for them they can utilize the home ice advantage.

4. France France

3-4-5-0 for 17 Points
France was set up for a lot of action on the last day with 5 games remaining, easily the most of any team in Group B. Their first test was the red hot Independent Russians, who scored less than a minute into the first period and the Russians would win 6-2. They got back on track with a 5-4 regulation win over the Swiss. The French got Revenge over IR in a 4-1 win, but then lost to Norway. One point back from the 4th place Team Switzerland, the French would need a win over the Swiss in order to advance, otherwise the Swiss would win the tie break or win outright based on points. The one team standing in their way: their great rivals Great Britain. The game would go to overtime, but this was a must win. After a scoreless overtime, the shootout hero was Alvin Wong in the fifth round that sent France to the elimination stage. Luca Pane was the team leader in points in the round robin with 14.

5. Switzerland

5-0-6-1 for 16 Points
Where the Japanese were able to expand their early leads through the round robin, a poor Day 3 showing left the Swiss biting nails on Day 4 as their fate was no longer in their own hands. Those nails were bitten even harder after a loss to Team France. That loss would come back to bite them as the Swiss fell again to Sweden, giving France the opening. In heartbreak for the Swiss, the French would beat them out by one point for a playoff spot after a shootout thriller. Reed Kobo and Antonio Flusso led the Swiss in points. Making their debuts for Team Switzerland and senior level hockey, Literally Wizard and Langston Hardison-Laurent were able to record a point or two.

6. Independent Russia

3-2-5-2 for 15 Points
The Independent Russian Team made a big run on Day 3, winning 2 games in regulation and a third in overtime. They continued that streak in Day 4, starting with big win over France, but lost their next game to them. Russia’s dream run would come to a definitive end at the hands of the Swedish in an 8-2 loss. For the first time GM Kimar and goalie Karter Mendenhall (4-3-1, .900) in his SHL-level debut, this tournament was an excellent first dip into the pond. IR was led by Viktor Krunk and Patya Perevalov.

7. Great Britain

1-2-6-3 for 10 Points
The British would have had to have made a major win streak on the final day of play for them to advance, but this was immediately crushed by (seemingly the constant dream crushers of Group B) Sweden with an early 3-5 loss. The British would then record another loss to Finland before having the opportunity to play spoiler to France. Unfortunately, their efforts would come up short and the French would win in a shootout, letting the French advance. Patrice Bergeron and Tiberius Kane led the British with 10 points each.

And that does it for the recap. Be sure to tune into the IIHF Elimination Rounds the day after tomorrow as we will have Canada v. Japan (the battle of having something red in the middle of white), Finland v. France (F’s in Chat), Norway v. Sweden (The Scandinavian Square off) and Germany v. Ireland (the battle of who has better beer).

WC: 1842

*Carpy48* · 03-27-2024, 03:00 AM

Nice recap. I almost misread that one word, because the space was missing between Topalo and led in the Finland paragraph. In my head it's now something like "Nash topaloed us to the win" :D @Rangerjase you're a verb now, use it if you want to Smile

***luke*** · 03-27-2024, 06:10 AM

Sad czechia noises

***Jexter*** · 03-27-2024, 12:24 PM

03-27-2024, 03:00 AMCarpy48 Wrote: Nice recap. I almost misread that one word, because the space was missing between Topalo and led in the Finland paragraph. In my head it's now something like "Nash topaloed us to the win" :D @Rangerjase you're a verb now, use it if you want to

I'm keeping it. let's make a new verb

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