World Cup of Hockey 27 Everything Thread

[Ko-oren]

World Cup of Hockey 27
Gregoryisgodistan and Ko-oren

Matchday 4 Scores

Group A @ Willingsley Arena
Gregory Llama Land 1–0 Perlasilangan
Gregoryisgodistan 5–0 United States of Devonta
Vermark 4–3 Unified Sunrise Islands

Group A                                     Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Gregoryisgodistan                             3   3  0  0   11   1 +10    9
2 United States of Devonta                      4   3  0  1   14   8  +6    9
3 Unified Sunrise Islands                       4   2  0  2   15   9  +6    6
4 Vermark                                       3   2  0  1   11   8  +3    6
5 San Llera                                     3   1  0  2    8  13  −5    3
6 Gregory Llama Land                            4   1  0  3    6  16 −10    3
7 Perlasilangan                                 3   0  0  3    3  13 −10    0

Group B @ Lord Almighty Gregory Arena
The True North 2–8 Sandwich Territories
Equestrian States 3–4 The Sword Bloke
Neu Engollon 1–4 Schutzenphalia and West Ruhntuhnkuhnland

Group B                                     Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 The Sword Bloke                               4   4  0  0   12   3  +9   12
2 Schutzenphalia and West Ruhntuhnkuhnland      4   2  1  1    8   7  +1    7
3 Equestrian States                             3   2  0  1   10   5  +5    6
4 Sandwich Territories                          3   1  1  1   12   7  +5    4
5 Neu Engollon                                  3   1  0  2    4   8  −4    3
6 The State of Panem                            3   0  1  2    5  12  −7    1
7 The True North                                4   0  1  3    4  13  −9    1

Group C @ Enemy Crusher Biggy McParis Memorial Ice Hockey Arena
Polkopia 7–2 St Saratoga
Royal Kingdom of Quebec 4–1 Norrehavn
Hopnation 1–2 Abanhfleft

Group C                                     Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Norrehavn                                     4   3  0  1   18  10  +8    9
2 Royal Kingdom of Quebec                       3   3  0  0    9   3  +6    9
3 Abanhfleft                                    4   2  1  1    9   6  +3    7
4 Polkopia                                      4   1  1  2   11  10  +1    4
5 Genua-Venezia                                 3   1  1  1    6  11  −5    4
6 Hopnation                                     3   0  1  2    5   8  −3    1
7 St Saratoga                                   3   0  0  3    5  15 −10    0

Group D @ Greglord Air Arena
Communicar 3–2 Damukuni
Torisakia 3–0 Mapletish
Nova Anglicana 1–2 Cosumar

Group D                                     Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Cosumar                                       4   3  1  0   16   9  +7   10
2 Communicar                                    4   2  0  2    7  11  −4    6
3 Torisakia                                     3   1  2  0    8   5  +3    5
4 Nova Anglicana                                3   1  1  1    8   4  +4    4
5 Kernansquillec                                3   1  1  1    9  12  −3    4
6 Mapletish                                     4   1  1  2    5   9  −4    4
7 Damukuni                                      3   0  0  3    9  12  −3    0

[Kernansquillec]

NIGHT OF STUNNED SILENCE AND VIOLENCE AS GRASSHOPPERS WIN
Words struggle to describe the scenes in Kernansquillec City last night. As a handful of hands arrived in the centre of town to watch Kernansquillec's 3rd group game against Damukuni nothing could have prepared them for the drama that was to unfold. A topsy-turvy game saw the lead exchanged between Damukuni and the Grasshoppers until Kernansquillec finally managed to hold on to a slender lead to win the game 5-4.

Once the final whistle blew, while a minority of quite drunk supporters celebrated emphatically, most stood in silence in shock. Few knew what to do in the face of what had been considered impossible: a team of total amateurs beating an established ice hockey team. Most fans took to social media to express their astonishment at the result hailing the quality of the Grasshoppers. Others began to criticize the Kernansquillecan National Hockey Association as well as the organizing bodies who's integrity was being called into question after such an impossible result which is still considered by some as a fake. Violence on the streets turned out to be fairly limited thanks to an increased police presence. However an improvised rally outside the Ministry of Sports did see a few arrests after objects were thrown towards windows.

After their victory the Kernansquillecans will face Communicar, also an unranked side. After their freakish victory last time out Kernansquillec will be looking to carry on pushing past what seems possible by making the impossible a reality.

[Elejamie]

"And now, for the sports, it's John Daverson. John?"

That's right, Steve. Last night saw a shock as Elejamie's winning streak came to an end, thanks to a 4-4 draw with Prusy Krolewskie. Despite being the favourites heading into the match, they could only scrape a point in a match that, in all honesty, could've gone either way. Due to that boarding incident from the match against Kaboomlandia, Ethan Swinburne has decided to sit out for this match; he was replaced by Jon Horton. Here are the highlights:

In the first period, it was the Reprezentacja who scored first, when - two minutes after the period started and with some assistance from Krzysztof Wdowiak - Pawel Burzynski managed to slip a slapshot past Cervantes. Not too long after, Lupe was given a two minute penalty for hooking. This was then followed by another two minute penalty; this time, it was Stanislaw Wojciechowski getting one for cross-checking. Fortunately, with thirty seconds left on the clock, the Icy Elephants were able to make it level when Cerin Meloten's one-timer and James Han's assistance hit the back of the next, bringing the score to 1-1.

The second period didn't see much action either. Three and a half minutes after the period started, Sebastian Krug received a two minute penalty for slashing. Despite their opponents now having the advantage, it was Prusy Krolewskie who scored; a wrist shot from Arkadiusz Zlomanczuk, with assistance from Maria Zyskowska and Samuel Schöpf. Four minutes from time, Greg Warren received a two minute penalty for high-sticking. Things were starting to look bleak for the Icy Elephants.

The third period saw things lighten up, as Elejamie made a comeback. First, twenty seconds after the period started, Pael Atenar brought the teams level, thanks to some clever deking and some assistance from Cerin Meloten and Adam Keane. Then, six minutes later, they gained the lead for the first time when Meloten's unassisted slapshot his the back of the net, bagging his second goal of the night. Even Francisco Solano getting a 5 minute penalty for boarding wasn't enough to dampen their spirits, as Felipe Barajas - assisted by his twin brother Danilo - managed to make it 4-2 not long after. Eventually, three minutes later, Prusy Krolewskie managed to claw one back, with Jaroslaw Jastrzebski assisting Emilia Zyskowska.

However, disaster struck. With roughly one minute left to go, Michael Madgwick overconfidently pulled off Antonio Cervantes... just as Tomasz Kowalowka was about to score. Despite the best efforts of Lupe and Carlos Sierra, the puck managed to find its way into the empty net, bringing the score level for the final time of the match. With under two seconds left to go, Elejamie nearly broke the deadlock when Jon Horton made an attempt on the net, with some assistance from Sierra and Danilo Barajas; unfortunately, it went wide, meaning the only thing Elejamie could do was wait for it to end 4-4.

In a post-match interview, head coach Michael Madgwick said "It wasn't the result we were hoping for, but I am still satisfied with what we got. I also apologise for letting that last goal in; had I not taken Toni off the ice during that last minute of the third period, we probably would've kept our lead and made it three wins. On the upside, we've managed to salvage a point, so at least it felt rewarding. I've learnt what not to do for the next time and we all walk away concentrating on what's going to happen next."

In a different interview, team captain Anatoly Kasputin said "That wasn't our finest hour. In fact, it was a complete 180 of our match against Havl from last time. It was a wakeup call. We shouldn't be letting them have any chances, otherwise they'll do stuff like that."

"So who do you think will go through?"

"I know for a fact that Havl will be through to the Round of Sixteen; we all know what they can do, what they're capable of and all that. But, looking at things, it's a toss-up between us and Prusy Krolewskie; they showed us what they're capable of and I think they'll do well in the tournament. Still, it's early days and me and the guys should concentrate on tomorrow night. That's where the real challenge is."

Meanwhile, Kaboomlandia managed to turn their previous two games around as they obliterated now-bottom Tsartsaroth 9-1; and Havl managed to get an easy 5-0 victory over Nassau-Hessen. Tonight, Prusy Krolewskie will face Tsartsaroth; San Jose Guayabal will take on Nassau-Hessen; and Kaboomlandia will celebrate their amazing victory by having their bye day. But, most importantly of all, we have the most vital match of the group - Elejamie vs. Havl: The Rematch. Will the Icy Elephants taste sweet victory or will it be bitter defeat? Or will it be the blandness of another draw? Find out tonight, 4pm, ETV1.

Over in Gregoryisgodistan, Group A saw San Llera easily dispatch Perlasilangan 6-3...

---

Period				P1	P2	P3	Final Score
Prusy Krolewskie		1	1	2	4
Elejamie			1	0	3	4

[Ko-oren]

- The Frozen Dragonfly: Unofficial home of Ko-orenite Ice Hockey -
D-day will come for some tomorrow

Officially halfway through the group stage, or actually, almost officially past the 50% mark of the group stage, we see some teams falter and other teams shine in Groups E through H, all playing in the beautiful archipelago of Ko-oren. Beautiful? We're not sure, we haven't heard anyone say that. But at least Ko-oren is universally seen as the more welcoming of the two host nations. That's not because we are doing a great job giving so many fans a great World Cup, but more because Gregoryisgodistan keeps hitting the news in all the wrong ways.

The Ice Hockey association of Ko-oren is setting up public screens in some of Ko-oren's larger cities - not just the host cities - to enjoy some good Ice Hockey together. And the good thing is that all fans who left Gregoryisgodistan for humanitary reasons, will get free public transport and a massive discount on the plane ticket to Ko-oren in order to enjoy this great tournament from one of the host nations, at least.

This is some great thinking on multiple areas. One, we're getting more tourists. Which means more money. Two, they're not just going to the four host cities, they're going to all of the large cities (including Mika and Castelo da Miradela). Three, more exposure for ice hockey here. Four, we're getting a better name at Gregoryisgodistan's expense (but then again, can they even get a worse reputation?). It's like we're clubbing and Gregory is our personal wingman, we know we're going to score tonight.

---

The Dragonflies are doing pretty good with one draw and one win. Nephara was the victim last night in the highly anticipated game (which was overshadowed by last night's Ice Hockey magazine, for those who've seen that), but the sole goal fell in the third period. In the scoring department, or even the entertainment departmen, the Dragonflies have a lot to improve on, but in the disciplinary area there's not much to do better on. Ko-oren made it through the third game with no penalties!

Borxinoia could be almost eliminated in our group. They have lost all there is to lose. That also means the other six teams are close together: Zenic and Ko-oren on four points (with one game in hand), Ontorisa and Coreyo on six and Nephara and Sensimillastan on three. Yes, one win separates first from sixth.

---

Contrary to the predictions, Ko-oren v. Nephara started on time yesterday. 'Representatives' of the Dragonfly islands did try to disrupt the game, but they were stopped in time and all they could really do is get some banners up. Blocking the view of about one sixth of the stadium for the first and second period. 'Banners' is maybe the wrong word. This was beyond your old bedsheet sized banner. Our money is on an old boat sail, given the odd shape and the sheer size. They still got their point across, disruption or no disruption. Dragonfly Islands independent, we know the drill.

Decision day is coming. Some teams will know reaching the second round is almost impossible. Some fans will know whether they can go to Ko-oren to enjoy this tournament. Decisions, decisions.

[Gregoryisgodistan]

Gregoryisgodistan 5–0 United States of Devonta

"Good afternoon, and welcome to Willingsley Arena here in Gregoryisgodistan for today's World Cup of Hockey group stage match between Gregoryisgodistan and the United States of Devonta. Devonta has been one of the surprises of the tournament so far, but they really haven't faced anyone tough until today - they still have Vermark on the schedule after this. Meanwhile, Gregoryisgodistan has defeated their two highest-ranked opponents, Vermark and the Unified Sunrise Islands, and now gets set for easy games, starting with Devonta. And we're just about set for puck drop here in Gregoryisgodistan. As we've been saying all along, the Ice Slaves are hosts here and will be straight through until the final if they get that far. Let's hope a little home cooking can go their way as they look to repat their title run from World Cup of Hockey 24. They lost to Havl in the finals of 25, a matchup that's certainly possible here, before going out in the quarterfinals to Valanora last time. They will be looking to avenge that early elimination, and where better to do it than in the most Glorious and Holy Nation in the multiverse? Anyway, it's faceoff time, so let's get ready.

...

"15:56 left to go in the first period, and Devonta on the odd man rush as James passes to Jenkins. Oh, but a jarring hit by Enemy Crusher Bigward McFooples, the puck scoots free, and it scoots to Pervert Chaser JDJJ8138. He passes it up to Weatherman 92UDH9111, who shoots, DEFLECTED by Jamel, Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory Harry Rupertson shoots, SCORES! It's 1-0 Ice Slaves early and the fans are going wild. The captain scores the first goal of the night. And he's waving to the crowd and getting them wild. Definitely a partisan pro-Gregoryisgodistan crowd, even though there are fans of five, and really six, other teams in here. Gregoryisgodistani fans really bought out the allocation of tickets for Group A, including almost all of the initial lot which went on sale before the draw. Of course, the Ice Slaves were preassigned to Group A, so those tickets, which make up about half of what was sold, went almost entirely to Gregoryisgodistanis.

...

"11:43 left in the first period, Washington up to Stark. Stark shoots, deflected by Enemy Crusher Porky "Fatso The Third" McFattel, Drift shoots high and it winds up behind the net. Slave Beater KKALMN goes out to play it and now passes to Slave Beater JQOAL94000 who will knock it down towards the goalie at the other end of the ice as we have a shift change. Jamel passes to Jones, but it's taken away by Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory Harry Rupertson who darts forward, only Jamel to beat, but a great save by Jamel to avoid the goal. And now Devonta will hustle back and clear it out of the zone.

...

"6:16 left in the first period and we have our first penalty of the day, tripping on Lolo Soto of Devonta. And Gregoryisgodistan will go on the power play. Faceoff won by Enemy Crusher Bigmac Fatfrize in the offensive zone, goes out to Enemy Crusher Ronald Fatgoat, he shoots AND IT'S IN! From over near the boards, a seemingly impossible angle, Enemy Crusher Ronald Fatgoat puts the Ice Slaves up 2-0! And now that really gets the crowd into it. It's really loud in here and it seems to be getting to the Devonta players.

...

"19:09 left in the second and here comes Pervert Chaser JDJJ8138, forward to Weatherman 92UDH9111. He now chips it towards net but it's going wide - oh, but Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory Harry Rupertson TIPS IT IN! It was going wide, but Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory Harry Rupertson hustled down the ice and deflected it just enough that it went in. That's his second goal of the day, and Gregoryisgodistan's third. They lead 3-0. And now they're chanting his name. They want him to get a hat trick. He just needs one more goal and he has almost two periods to do so. That was a nice play.

...


"7:48 left in the second, Joel to Sigird for Devonta. He skates up now off to Ark. Ark shoots, smothered by Enemy Crusher Porky "Fatso The Third" McFattel who drops it off for Enemy Crusher Crushallov St. Lind. Enemy Crusher Crushallov St. Lind now tries to knock it out of the zone but saved by Soto. Soto now knocks it in to Sewers. Sewers shoots way high and into the netting and we'll have a face-off. Threat averted again, at least for now.

...

"1:02 left in the second, Prison Guard QQQQPPPAL clears it out and now it might be going down for an icing, oh but Actor 81248D8J hustles down to keep it from crossing the line - no-touch icing here but it does have to cross the line and that did not thanks to the great hustle. Now it does, but it's on his stick as he darts around the net - cheeky move and IT'S IN! He darted around the net, did a nice little movie, and scored while Jamel didn't know where the puck was. Nice little play and great hustle to save an icing, then score a goal. Beautiful play by Actor 81248D8J, possibly the goal of the tournament so far. 4-0 Ice Slaves.

...

"9:08 left in the third, Weatherman 92UDH9111 up to Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory Harry Rupertson, is this his hat-trick? No - Sycamore gets back just in time to stop him. And Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory Harry Rupertson is denied his hat-trick, at least for now. Still 4-0.

...

"3:38 left in the third, Enemy Crusher Porkbert McPorkerstein up to Pervert Chaser JDJJ8138. Pervert Chaser JDJJ8138 passes it to Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory Harry Rupertson AND THERE'S THE HAT TRICK! Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory Harry Rupertson will score and make it 5-0 Ice Slaves while recording his third goal of the day. The captain nets the hat trick, and what a day for him. The fans are giving him a standing ovation. What a glorious day for him. He's definitely one of the Three Stars along with the Enemy Crusher in goal - who will the third be though? Maybe Weatherman 92UDH9111 with a pair of assists? Maybe one of the defenders for the shutout, perhaps Enemy Crusher Bigward McFooples for that jarring hit that led to the first goal. He didn't get an assist on that though. Maybe Pervert Chaser JDJJ8138, he had three assists. Or maybe Actor 81248D8J for what had to be the goal of the game. Or maybe one of the Devonta players, though I can't imagine who. I don't know.

...

"And there's the final whistle. Tonight's Three Stars will go to Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory Harry Rupertson, for his three goals, Enemy Crusher Porky "Fatso The Third" McFattel who had 22 saves without letting one in, and Actor 81248D8J, who scored a very impressive goal while preventing an icing from being called. Interesting that he beat out two players with multiple assists for it. Well, that's all for now. Come back tomorrow as the Ice Slaves take on Perlasilangan. After that, there are just two more games left in the group stage before we move on to the knockout rounds. This should be fun."

[Coreyo Sports]

Last-Second Goal Gives Team Coreyo Its Second Win

SCHEMERDRECHT, KO-OREN -- Team Coreyo faced Team Ontorisa and won 4-3 in a most evenly-played game in the 27th World Cup of Hockey. With Park Sungje starting in net, Coreyo was aware they need scoring to defeat the opposition. Well? They certainly put their plan to success this game.

Ten minutes into the first period, Kim Sang-Wook, assisted by Park Woo-Sang, scored on a breakaway by putting the puck on the opposition goaltender's glove side top-shelf. Shortly afterwards, with eight minutes to go in the first period, Tealmos Wedernas dangled through two Corean defensemen and scored five-hole against Park to tie the game at one.

Right from the beginning of the second period, a power play was given to Ontorisa and only thirty seconds into the power play, they scored on a tip-in, screening Park completely. They had the lead 2-1, then. To make matters worse, Coreyo was given another penalty, which gave Ontorisa another man advantage. However, Michael Swift swiftly took the puck away from the Ontorisa defenseman, Oscerv Minake, went on a breakaway, deked left to right against the goaltender, and scored to tie the game at two.

Two minutes into the third period, Kim Yoon-Hwan took a slapshot forty feet from the net, deflected by Vekirk Tolmoki, and scored to give Coreyo the lead 3-2. However, with only four minutes to go in the third period, with the extra attacker on for Ontorisa, Rieaa Delsja went on a two-on-one breakout with Kjil Tamatro, and took a wrist shot on the left top-shelf against Park.

With the game tied at three, the game seemed destined to end as a tie, until the following happened:

Commentator 1: "Team Coreyo on a power play. Ahn Hyun-Min passing along the boards to Brock Radunske. Radunske moves back along the boards, despite pressure from the opposition. Radunske spins away from defenseman Kolobos, and makes a long pass to the left. Kim Won-Jung takes the puck, sees the goaltender down to try and make the stretch save, shoots,.... SCORES!! Kim Won-Jung! 0.7 seconds to go in the third period, and the referee says it's a goal."

Commentator 2: "It seems the goal will be reviewed. Referees are debating whether the goal has been scored after the buzzer sounded."
===================================================================================
Referee: "Upon further review, the puck clearly passed the goal line before the time expired. It's a good goal!"

Team Coreyo leaves this game blissfully with a 4-3 win against Ontorisa, but assistant coach, Richard Park, has mixed feelings:
"Tonight's game was well-played, but we have a long road on us, and we need to continue to win to advance into the next round. Tight games are exciting, but I believe we need to create even larger leads, especially with Son out indefinitely. However, I can assure that Park has played with great effort."

[Valanora]

Valanora Times
Calcuttas Unable To Find Edge

Coming off an ecstatic victory over the groups second seeds, the Calcuttas were expected to run riot over the rest of the group. While both Quakmybush and Novaya Zemlya were looking decent, they were not supposed to be able to keep up with the speed, skill, and experience that the Vanorian squad had in spades. That thought came to a very quick and screeching halt after Novaya Zemlya showed why they were leading the group, being able to keep up with the speed of the Calcuttas and having a metminder who was able to completely stand on their head when the side was able to find a way through the steel wall of a defense they put up. That meant that the two goals their offense was able to get on the side was enough and secured them the victory.

The defeat now puts the side on the backfoot as they try to race ahead of the rest of the group to the second spot and the playoff stages of the tournament. In an odd twist of fate, the side will continue to play ranking wise worse and worse teams until facing the worst at the end of the group. However do not let those rankings fool you, for they are very much just mere numbers that do not reflect the skill and talent that a side might have or the way bad luck might decide to strike at a squad. One need look no farther than to the game last night where the ponies of Equestrian States find themselves upended by The Sword Bloke in a match where they were totally predicted to win and with relative ease.

Maybe it was the fact that the side was looking forward the upcoming game against Quakmybush so much that is the reason that Novaya was able to get the upper hand on the squad and take them for the full three points. However the Calcuttas still control their fate with regards to making it out of the group, merely needing to beat competition that they are supposed to in order to finish second at the very least. That begins with this grunge match against Quakmybush, who currently are sitting in second place in the group. Quakmybush is one of the few nations that were a part of that first World Cup of Hockey that are still around, however unlike our side, they have not been a part of every edition. They are merely returning to the arena that is the tournament and while they have showed the skill they used to have, the Calcuttas will be looking to rely on that experience of twenty-seven straight appearances, multiple championships and even olympic golds plus the desire to get one over on the regional neighbors. If there is a team in the WCoH that Valanora loves to defeat, it is Quakmybush and given that it is a near must win, you can count of the players being at their best.

Should that obstacle be cleared, that would leave only Frusennia as the remaining tough task, tied with the Calcuttas in third currently with both having just had two games. As we've mentioned, their play in the HCL has showed their promise and I am genuinely concerned that they may throw a wrench into the works for the side. With a solid scoring unit, they can put up goals on just about anyone and while our offense is pretty decent itself, it may not be able to outscore them if it turns into a shootout. Yet first comes the defensive test of Quakmybush, who are looking to keep their barely above one goal conceded average up against the Calcuttas coming off a very disappointing game where their finishing was lacking. Given the intense nature of the upcoming games, it is imperative that the scoring units play like the best, if this squad really hopes to go on a title run as they desired before the tournament began.

[Kaboomlandia]

Kaboomlandia 9, Tsartsaroth 1 (FINAL)

"Welcome to Willowbourne Indoor Arena, Ko-oren! Today we have the Kings, who need to win to stay alive going into their bye day, and we have the 0-1 Tsartsaroth."

---

"All four lines have been on the ice, now Martin's behind the net. Head-mans for Rutherford. Philips breaking in behind the Tsartsaroth defense. He's got a breakaway on the Tsartsaroth goalie Hammond! In on George Hammond! Deke to the backhand, he shoots, SCORES! ADRIAN PHILIPS ON THE BREAKAWAY, OPENS THE SCORING!"

---

"Smith over the left wing. Crossing the blue line, HE IS ROCKED BY ROBERT WESLEY! The Tsartsaroth defender absolutely plasters Jerome Smith, and there's going to be a penalty coming. There was a lot of elbow in that hit and yes, it looks like this will be five and a game! The Kings' power play, which has been a strength for them early in the tournament, will go to work!"

---

"Off the face-off. Martin back to Herndon, shoots, SCORES! Scott Herndon through a screen, and the lethal Kings power play continues!"

---

"Second power play unit on as they pick the puck up from behind the net. Casey Lindsay with it, up the left wing to Smith. Jerome Smith fakes and centres for Alex Jackson. Jackson in over the line, dumps it in. Aaron Richards back to Patrick Clooney. Clooney to Richards, to Jackson, shoots, SCORES! ALEXANDER JACKSON! The power play continues to come along, and it's a three-goal game!"

---

"Tyler Martin wins the face-off to Philips. Philips shoots it in, Rutherford to it. Rutherford back to Kevin Bore. Bore over to Herndon, up to Philips. Back to Herndon, he shoots...HE SCORES! Tipped in by Tyler Martin to make it 4-0 on the power play!"

---

"And the period will end, as Robert Hammond had a bad period, surrendering four goals on thirteen shots in the first period. As we go to the dressing room, it's Kings 4, Tsartsaroth 0."

---

SECOND PERIOD

---

"Puck dropping to open the second period. Tsartsaroth getting it down the ice. William Lander down the right wing, it's a three-on-two for Tsartsaroth. Down the wing on Lindsay, Casey Lindsay makes a nice breakup on the play, puts it to the corner. Lindsay plays the puck up to George Burrows. He's got Earl Manfred and Craig LeBoeuf with him on a three-on-two the other way. Burrows drops for LeBoeuf, goes to the net. LeBoeuf to Manfred. Manfred shoots, nice save, rebound, SCORES! GEORGE BURROWS BATS IN THE REBOUND OFF OF WES MEYER! 5-0 KINGS!"

---

"Late in the second, Kings killing a penalty to Deryk Wellman for tripping. Back to the line, Lander winds up, shoots...blocked by Coderre. Maxime Coderre picks the puck up and he's away! Coderre down the ice, in alone on Meyer! He shoots, HE SCORES! MAXIME CODERRE, A SHORTHANDED GOAL! WHAT A BEAUTY!"

---

"And as the whistle blows to end the second period, it's Kings 6, Tsartsaroth 0."

---

THIRD PERIOD

---

"William Lander wins the face-off from Wade Blacken. Lander drops back to Curtis Payne, who plays a give-and-go with Lander to get him the puck. Three minutes gone in the third, it's 6-0 Kings. Lander pulling down the right wing. He stops up against Jacob Fennyman, slips it through his legs. It's a two-on-one with Payne! William Lander, through Wellman to Payne...WHAT A SAVE BY BRADY! HE REACHES ACROSS WITH HIS BLOCKER TO KEEP THE PUCK OUT OF THE NET! LARCENY!"

---

"Thirty seconds gone in another Tsartsaroth penalty. Richards back to Clooney. Patrick Clooney across to Casey Lindsay. He shoots through traffic, and he scores! Casey Lindsay wires the shot through traffic and it beats Wes Meyer on the glove side! It's now 7-0 Kings!"

---

"Lander down low, looking for help. He drops back behind him and goes to the front of the net. Payne's there behind the net, throws it out for Lander. William Lander shoots, and he scores! William Lander breaks Dylan Brady's shutout, but it won't matter in a game that was over after the first period!"

---

"Allen with Coderre on a two-on-one with Michael Lobo dropping back to defend. Allen over to Coderre, passes it back, Allen shoots, he scores! Monte Allen scores on a two-on-one rush, and it's 8-1 Kings!"

---

"Philips down low behind Meyer's net. Philips to Tyler Martin, he scores! A perfect shot that goes high glove on Meyer, and it's 9-1 Kings!"

---

"And, as the final buzzer sounds, it's Kings 9, Tsartsaroth 1. The Kings will have a bye day tomorrow, but being currently fourth in the group, they have no complaints here."

---

SCORE SUMMARY;

Period 1:
Goals:
#10 Adrian Philips (KBM), backhand, 3:10, assists #9 Rutherford, #19 Martin
PP #5 Scott Herndon (KBM), slapshot, 9:10, assist #19 Martin
PP #18 Alexander Jackson (KBM), wristshot, 10:43, assists #20 Richards, #23 Clooney
PP #19 Tyler Martin (KBM), tip-in, 12:58, assists #5 Herndon, #10 Philips
Penalties:
#6 Robert Wesley (TSA), 8:01, elbowing, 5 min. and game misconduct.
#2 Casey Lindsay (KBM), 15:41, interference, 2 min.

Period 2:
Goals:
#57 George Burrows (KBM), snapshot, 0:22, assists #11 Manfred, #24 LeBoeuf
SH #67 Maxime Coderre (KBM), wristshot, 13:11, unassisted
Penalties:
#3 Deryk Wellman (KBM), 12:42, tripping

Period 3:
Goals:
PP #2 Casey Lindsay (KBM), wristshot, 1:54, assists #23 Clooney, #20 Richards
#16 William Lander (TSA), snapshot, 6:49, assists #9 Payne
#32 Monte Allen (KBM), snapshot, 15:09, assist #67 Coderre
#19 Tyler Martin (KBM), wristshot, 18:40, assist #10 Philips
Penalties:
William Lander (TSA), 1:21, hooking

Goals:
KBM: Martin (2), Lindsay, Jackson, Allen, Burrows, Coderre, Jackson, Herndon
TSA: Lander

Goalies:
KBM: Brady 16/17
TSA: Hammond 9/13, Meyer 15/20

Three Stars:
1st: #19 Tyler Martin (KBM) 2G, 2A
2nd: #5 Scott Herndon (KBM) 1G, 1A, 8 hits
3rd: #67 Maxime Coderre (KBM) 1G, 1A, shorthanded goal

Robert Wesley has received a one-game suspension for elbowing left winger Jerome Smith in the head.

[The Sword Bloke]

WCOH NEWS

"You are kidding meeeeeeeee!!!! Shop Owner here, and the Swordeannnnnns have just, I'm sorry, have just shocked a nation ranked 64 ranks above us! Swordeannnnns Rulllllleeee!"

"That team is Equestrian States, one of the top teams in the world, and we beat them 4-3 after a comeback that Swordeans will remember for a long time, with the buzzer ringing just moments after a Swordean goal by Bell Saklin!"

"OK. I rarely do this outside of The Sword Bloke, but Bell Saklin will be awarded the Owner's Medal after his effort in this, also getting the first point of the game in a legendary win that has the Swordeans unbeaten after 4 games! Sworrdddyyy!"

"Anyways, Saklin will be awarded the medal during the pre-match warmup before our next game! Make sure you're there to congratulate a Swordean hero for all we know! Be there or else!"

"One last thing; Want tickets to the final? I've plucked a few tickets(5 to be exact) and 5 people will win them! All you have to do is phone up ChannelSB Studio and give em your details. Next show, we will announce the 5 winners. Plus the prize comes with accomodation and dinner with me and Lord Almighty Gregory! A prize you'll never forget."

"Well, adios for now! This was WCOH News with Shop Owner."

[Havl]

Match Day 3: HVL/NAS

Pilots' Corner
Big day from Our Fair Pilots, or at least the three representing Team Havl in the World Cup of Hockey. (Box Score):

• Winger Tyler Breckinridge had two points (a goal and an assist).
• Defenseman Jim Innskeep earned his first point of the tournament on a goal from Rhys Dykstra (Two defensemen leading the scoring? That's Coach D's defense for ya...)
• Goaltender Haley Hasenpfeffer earned her eighth WCoH shutout to cap off a stellar game.

Maybe I was too hard on Coach Donndelinger in my last post. I mean, a 5-0 victory over the 27th-best team in the world is pretty good, right? It's not like he could have done any better...

Donndelinger Facepalm Counter
Note: There's no way around it: Low Flying Jets is probably definitely biased when it comes to Havl's favorite hockey hero.

Anyway, we're going to be keeping track of Captain Donny's facepalm moments in this tournament. So far, we're at ten from two games.

1. The Pregame Snooze: Every coach has to have a pregame interview. It's the habit of the sportsmedia, and you can't blame Donndelinger for being vague. After all, what can he really say before the game even starts? But there's just something irritating about the vagueness of Donndelinger's vagueness. Here's an actual quote: "They're going to play hard, and we're going to play hard, and, you know, we'll see who plays harder." Wow. Moving words, coach.
   
2. Too Many Men on the Ice 2.0: Yep, it happened again. This time in the third period with Havl up 5-0. Not much I can say here that I haven't already said.
   
3. The Cap City Clique: Look, there are some great skaters playing for Havl, as always. Four of them are Captains players. But from HTVM's coverage (which we here at Low Flying Jets consider to be part of the vast conspiracy against Our Fair Pilots), you'd think half the roster was from Capital City. It seems like any time Neubauer or Zaradnik touched the puck, the HTVM crew has a meltdown. Davenport's two skaters earned three points in the game, but they received half the coverage of Capital City's four players that earned the same amount of points. And that's not to mention the first star selection, goaltender Haley Hasenpfeffer. And that's another thing...
   
4. Haley Hasenpfeffer and the Power of Team Girl: Hasenpfeffer is an amazing goaltender. I once called her the best thing to happen to Davenport since Lance Wall. I take a lot of pride in her stature and her success. That's why it kills me when Veejay Thumberg repeatedly says that Hasenpfeffer is, "taking a stand for women." Sure, I see his point. She's a pioneer. She's the most high-profile female hockey player in Havl. But she's not alone. Maybe I'm doing feminism wrong, but wouldn't it be nice to just talk about Hasenpfeffer the goalie instead of Hasenpfeffer the female goalie? Coach D said it himself: "She's a role model for young girls." She's not a role model for young boys, Coach? *sigh*
   
5. His Tried to Drink from the Wrong End of his Water Bottle: Oh, sweet merciful Jeebus. I'm so glad I record all of these WCoH games. Let's make this GIF go viral, loyal #pilotsfans. *facepalm*

Game 2 Predictions
The next game will see Havl face 39th-ranked Elejamie. When these two teams last met (WCoH 26), Elejamie drove Havl to a tough draw.

I predict that...

• Havl will score five: It's happened two games in a row. Let's keep the magic coming!
  
• Elejamie will also score five. What can I say? They have a track record against Havl.
  
• The second defensive line slump again. One good defensive game does not prove that the defense is good. If anything, it showed that Hasenpfeffer is good. Twenty-five shots against in a blowout? Come on, blue line. Limit those shots! Hasenpfeffer is good, but it's time to start forechecking!
  
• Brian Beierle will say something stupid. Look, I love Brian Beierle. He's my all-time favorite Pilot, and that's saying something. But he doesn't have the chops for color commentary. In the last game, he referred to the "Firing Squad" as the "Firing Line." He called San Jose Guayabal something that sounded a lot like "San Jose Gullable." And, maybe worst of all, he couldn't stop talking about his deep, undying love for Coach D. Ugh.

Around the Tournament
The Royal Kingdom of Quebec and Gregoryisgodistan remain unbeaten, but the Equestrian States fell to Sword Bloke in a surprising upset. Elejamie lead Group H (although that's subject to change tomorrow). Valanora lost to upstart Novaya Zemlya, and Arkiasis whalloped Vilita and Turori 4-0.

You can catch tonight's game live on HTVM starting at 10 WGST. Join our #lowflyingjets livecast to share your deepest, darkest hockey secrets.

Team Leaders

Num	Name			G	A	Pts	Games Played
9	Brad Neubauer		1	4	5	2
33	Cash Rogers		3	1	4	2
13	Graham Hatch		1	2	3	2
8	Tyler Breckinridge	1	2	3	2
3	Petr Zaradnik		0	2	2	2
11	Jim Pepperdyne		1	1	2	2
14	Adonis Rybko		0	2	2	2
15	Martin Klerx		1	1	2	2
6	Sergei Skrbinski	0	1	1	2
5	Jim Innskeep		0	1	1	2
22	Rhys Dykstra		1	0	1	2
18	Carson West		0	1	1	2
20	Ravi Chandrasekhar	0	1	1	2
10	Vinnie Roth		1	0	1	2
16	Travis Hampstead	0	1	1	2
36	Jay Marshall		0	0	0	2
4	R.J. Murgatroyd		0	0	0	2
15	Martin Klerx		0	0	0	2
12	Taro Tsujimoto		0	0	0	2

Num	Name			GP	W	L	T	GA	SA	GAA	S%	SO
31	Haley Hasenpfeffer	2	2	0	0	4	50	2.00	92.0	1		
1	Jon Rowengartner	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0.0	0

Scores and Schedule
Date	Team	Opponent			Score	Result	Venue	
May 24	3Havl	17San Jose Guayabal		5-4	W	Willowbourne Indoor Arena, Willowbourne, Ko-oren
May 25	3Havl	27Nassau-Hessen			5-0	W	Willowbourne Indoor Arena, Willowbourne, Ko-oren
May 26	3Havl	39Elejamie					Willowbourne Indoor Arena, Willowbourne, Ko-oren
May 27	3Havl	URTsartsaroth					Willowbourne Indoor Arena, Willowbourne, Ko-oren
May 28	3Havl	URKaboomlandia					Willowbourne Indoor Arena, Willowbourne, Ko-oren	
May 29	3Havl	URPrusy krolewskie				Willowbourne Indoor Arena, Willowbourne, Ko-oren

[Gregoryisgodistan]

Cutoff for MD 4

Edit: Results

Group E
Coreyo 2–0 Sensimillastan
Ko-oren 0–1 Ontorisa
Zenic 3–1 Nephara

  Group E                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Ontorisa                     4   3  0  1   10   5  +5    9
2 Coreyo                       4   3  0  1   11  10  +1    9
3 Zenic                        3   2  1  0    9   3  +6    7
4 Ko-oren                      3   1  1  1    3   3   0    4
5 Nephara                      4   1  0  3    8  10  −2    3
6 Sensimillastan               3   1  0  2    1   6  −5    3
7 Borxinoia                    3   0  0  3    2   7  −5    0

Group F
Praciba 2–8 Frusennia
Valanora 3–1 Quakmybush
Feministvs Sanctvsterra 0–0 Novaya Zemlya

  Group F                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Novaya Zemlya                4   3  1  0   10   3  +7   10
2 Frusennia                    3   2  0  1   16   7  +9    6
3 Valanora                     3   2  0  1    7   3  +4    6
4 Feministvs Sanctvsterra      3   1  1  1    2   3  −1    4
5 Quakmybush                   4   1  1  2    5   7  −2    4
6 Praciba                      4   1  0  3    3  15 −12    3
7 Skarosbrekka                 3   0  1  2    3   8  −5    1

Group G
Firebolt 0–1 Bad Nazis
Vilita and Turori 4–3 Pays den Haut
Esparmuran 2–2 Arkiasis

  Group G                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Arkiasis                     4   3  1  0   15   7  +8   10
2 Pays den Haut                4   3  0  1   23  10 +13    9
3 Esparmuran                   3   2  1  0    7   4  +3    7
4 Bad Nazis                    3   2  0  1    6   6   0    6
5 Vilita and Turori            3   1  0  2    6  10  −4    3
6 Firebolt                     4   0  0  4    4  13  −9    0
7 Eura                         3   0  0  3    5  16 −11    0

Group H
Prusy krolewskie 6–1 Tsartsaroth
Havl 5–6 Elejamie
San Jose Guayabal 5–2 Nassau-Hessen

  Group H                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Elejamie                     4   3  1  0   16   9  +7   10
2 Prusy krolewskie             4   2  1  1   15  10  +5    7
3 Havl                         3   2  0  1   15  10  +5    6
4 San Jose Guayabal            3   2  0  1   12   9  +3    6
5 Kaboomlandia                 3   1  0  2   10   8  +2    3
6 Nassau-Hessen                4   1  0  3    8  14  −6    3
7 Tsartsaroth                  3   0  0  3    2  18 −16    0

Teams in red have been eliminated.

[Vermark]

Special Edition: Vermark at WCoH XXVII

COVER STORY
IMMORTAL ONCE MORE
THE WORSHIPING ▪ THE WORSHIPERS ▪ THE WORSHIPED
Pelle Hallman ▪ May 26, 2015


Memorial Rink in Gronsted Park, Videnhagen, Vermark

THE WORSHIPING

It is rare for a nation to become internationally competitive in a sport without having a large participation rate. For this reason, it is crucial that Varish hockey continues to rise. But with the ways things are looking, this does not look like it is going to be much of a problem.

Hockey, especially youth hockey, is at an all-time high in the urban centers of Vermark. Videnhagen is a particularly strong hotbed for hockey. In fact, the Videnhagen amateur leagues are some of the most competitive hockey leagues in all of Rushmore. A major reason for this is definitely Videnhagen Parks and Recreation's policy of inclusion. Though hockey is ran by the Metropolitan Amateur Hockey Assocation (MAHA), Videnhagen Parks and Rec subsidies gear and league fees for low income families. In addition, countless private donors have allowed the MAHA to keep fees low and bargain for cheaper equipment from manufacturers. This has built a culture in which families will revolve their winter weekends around hockey. Doughnut shops and delicatessens all base their specials and sales around youth hockey games on Saturdays. In addition, infrastructure has also been improve. Hockey rinks such as the ones in Gronsted Park have grown to become nicer and nicer. These rinks allow for more games, which means more teams, which in turn means more players. The return on investment that urban hockey has gotten has been tremendous; if the trend continues, Videnhagen may become the hockey capital of the world.

However, the urbanites aren't the only ones to be getting serious about hockey. In the Prairies, hockey has become just as possible. Large amounts of snow throughout the winter make sports like football impossible to play. While it has been the public sector to thank for hockey's rise in Videnhagen, the countryside has grown hockey due to private ventures. Many farmers take it upon themselves to build hockey rinks; tractor dealerships constantly find themselves sold out of Zamboni tractor attachments. While the metropolises find themselves running leagues, the farm towns are resorting to creating select teams that play teams representing other towns. The Prairies' Hockey Association, otherwise known as the Farmtowns League, has become a huge facilitator of rivalries between farming communities. While most of this has been friendly competition, reports of violence and verbal abuse have been filed across the Prairie Region. Regardless, hockey in the Prairies has become just as big and just as successful as hockey in the urban centers.

A Homemade Rink in the Countryside of Vermark

Nationally, Varish athletes have rallied behind hockey. Climate, of course, has been a very conducive factor in this trend. Long winters hinder the growth of football while aiding the growth of hockey. In addition, hockey appeals to young boys much more than football does. While contact is often punished in football, it is more-or-less rewarded in hockey. Hockey, as a game, is much more versatile than other sports. Many sports rely on either skill or strength; hockey incorporates both attributes. Hockey's appeal is certainly something that is fueling a revolution throughout Vermark. While boys from the cities to the prairies play hockey early on Saturday mornings, their obsession continues late into the night as they continue their reverence for Vermark's Game.

[Coreyo Sports]

Son Emerges As Hero in Coreyo Win

SCHEMERDRECHT, KO-OREN -- This game is probably the game Team Coreyo would have wanted from the beginning of the round robin. Despite only scoring two goals, the team captain, Son Ho-Seung, back from an undisclosed injury, made 46 saves, earning himself a well-deserved shutout against Team Sensimillastan.

Team Coreyo maintained a one-goal lead, a goal they earned in 14:39 of 1st period, when Park Woo-Sang, an alternate captain, beat the Sensimillastan goaltender on his low blocker side with a lethal wrist shot on a 2-on-1 breakout, until the last minute of the third period, when Shin Sang-Hoon scored an empty-netter.

However, Sensimillastan had a plethora of scoring chances from a major(5-minute power play) in the first period to two two-man advantages in the third period. They pumped 11 shots, 15 shots, and 20 shots, respectively, in first, second, and third period. The only obstacle to their offensive success was Son. Son handled rebounds well, while making athletic and acrobatic saves to stop the puck, when the Sensimillastan players made tic-tac-toe plays to try and beat the Corean netminder.

Son was asked how he felt earning a 46-save shutout, an impressive feat: "It feels great to be back playing on ice again, and I think my teammates really helped me out defensively, and I'm grateful for that. Hopefully, the next game and the game after, we continue the winning streak, so that we can advanced into the elimination round."

[Esparmuran]

National Herald/nationale Herolden - A Commonwealth of Crowns Herald Affiliate

5.50/k

---

Esparmuran and Arkiasis continue lossless streak

Olaf Skovgaard

Greencaster, Ko-oren

Esparmuran and Arkiasis tied today to become the last teams in Group G without a loss. Both teams fought hard, but not enough to close the deal for either. Arkiasian Joseph Campbell tied the game up 2-2 with 2:43 left in the third period to grab another point.

Orrell Beake had his fifth goal in three games in the tournament.

"I'm overall happy about everything but the outcome" Espar head coach Jimi Stack said after the game. "It's difficult to accept a tie when you know your guys had fought so hard for a win."

"This is a wake-up call for us." Espar captain Orrell Beake said. "It's not as serious as a loss, but you need to understand how important straight-up wins are. There are only seven matchdays and we're about halfway through. We're in a group with some pretty good teams and we need to be ready for them."

David Blorngren put Arkiasis up 1-0 on the powerplay with a ridiculous goal at 9:57 in the first. After being accidentally tripped on a teammates stick, No. 9 fell on his stomach and swiped the puck with his stick. Everyone expected Espar goaltender Wolf Paige to easily grab it off the ice and hold when it was coming toward him, but when he picked it up he accidentally swung his arm up and the puck flew out of his catcher and into the net.

Unfortunately for Arkiasis and it's huge chunk of patriots who travelled to Ko-oren, the Espars got it back right at the beginning of the second period on the power play. With room to maneuver at the top of the circle, Bailey Royston dished off to Beake, who buried
a one-timer past Arkiasian goaltender Zack Quirk at 19:23.

Beake had a chance to take the lead and would have ended up giving him a hat-trick, on a clear-cut break late in the period, but Quirk came up a big save, smothering the sniper’s forehand shot.

The Arkiasians pressed hard early in the third, but Paige stood tall, stopping 7 before the halfway mark. At 7:16, Svend Lauritsen scored after rushing the crease, but it was waved-off after officials ruled goaltender interference. Lauritsen argued the call for about three minutes and after punching a linesman and swearing and insulting the Arkiasis bench, No. 65 was kicked out of the game along with granting Espar left-winger Trev Fairchild a 5-minute roughing penalty since Lauritsen couldn't serve it.

Less than a minute later, Esparmuran scored for real on a Orrell Beake shorthanded breakaway goal. Beake was standing at the red line fighting off Arkiasians Joseph Rooks and Brandon Blake. Peder Oakley dumped the puck over to Beake from near Paige's crease and Beake was just too fast for the Arkiasian defencemen. 2-1 Esparmuran at 6:45.

With less than three minutes in the third, Arkiasia would tie the game on yet another power play goal. After Espar Lennox School broke his stick attempting to clear, and Arkiasian Joseph Campbell grabbed the biscuit and zipped right though all four Espar players and deked Paige into backhanding it into the net.

"We got a point, we can't act negatively about it." Stack said. "We just need to forget it and act on the positives."

Espar right-winger Alf Hummel was replaced by injury reserve Danny Faulkner because of an undisclosed injury.


In other Group G news, Firebolt has been the first and currently only team in the tournament to be eliminated, after four straight loses. Esparmurans last opponent, Vilita and Turori won 4-3 against Pay den Haut, who Esparmuran faces tomorrow.

Team Esparmuran vs. Team Arkiasis
0-1-1 - Goals Per Period - 1-0-1
(8,8,6) 22 - SOG - 25 (11,7,7)
1/1 - PP - 2/3
28 - Hits - 24
19 - FO - 12
Attendance: 12596
ESPARMURAN SCORERS:
Orrell Beake, Bailey Royston
Orrell Beake, Peder Oakley, Thorben Vernersen
ARKIASIS SCORERS:
David Blorngren, William Nygaard, Bradley Garner
Joseph Campbell
Three powerplay goals send Esparmuran and Arkiasis to a 2-2 tie.

OTHER GROUP G GAMES:
Firebolt 0–1 Bad Nazis
Vilita and Turori 4–3 Pays den Haut

[Novaya Zemlya]

POLYARNAYA PRAVDA

---

Sports>Hockey>Blogs
Elite League Blog | WCoH Blog | Division 2 Blog | Women's Hockey Blog | Junior League Blog | WJC Blog | Partizan Blog | Torpedo Blog | Foreign Leagues Blog

---

World Cup of Hockey Blog
Anatoly Timofeyev reports live from Aminey, Ko-oren and the 27th World Cup of Hockey

Day 5 - Feministvs Sanctvsterra - Novaya Zemlya 0-0

If anyone had told me before the tournament that we would draw against the 2nd seed, I gladly would have taken it. Now, with the way the team has been playing, I can't help but feel a little disappointed with 0-0. Our offense simply did not show up in this one. I mean, yeah, we saw some nice dekes and sick saucer passes but at some point you gotta put the puck to the net. Feministvs Sanctvsterra's Maria Arius got the shutout without breaking a sweat.

On a positive note, our defense looks rock solid and Bezukladnikov continues to provide us with world class goaltending. He now has 3 goals against in 4 games, simply unreal.

Elsewhere in Group F, Frusennia really seems to have found another gear as they completely annihilated Praciba 8 goals to 2. You know what they say: "I'd 8-2 be a Praciba fan right now". Ok, I'll see myself out.

More stories:
Feministvs Sanctvsterra - Novaya Zemlya Post-game comments
Intoxicated hockey star on segway arrested by Ko-oren police
Fyodor Ryzhkov: "Segway? I don't know what that is"
Around the World Cup - Frusennia trashes Praciba 8-2

---

Day 4 - Novaya Zemlya - Valanora 2-1 Part XV

Most things have already been said about the miracle at Renée Lacroix Stadium last night, but here's a few extra thoughts:

• Coaching. Many of us were critical of Bogdan Bobr's ability to get all his players pulling in the same direction. We were wrong. You know the team is buying in when an undersized dangler like Nik Gavrilov is seen throwing hits and blocking shots, and a cherry picker like Dominik "What is this defensive zone you speak of?" Shelagin suddenly turns into a backchecking demon. I was one of those who said Bo-Bo should be fired. I'm eating some crow now, and, I tell you, it tastes delicious!
  
• I'm getting reports that public nudity arrests have increased by 1400 percent in Belushye in the last 12 hours. Sounds like people at home are really celebrating this win.
  
• Sergei Kutuzov. He has been criticized at times, but man what a game he had last night. He is finally turning into that dominant two-way center we would have wanted him to be a few WCs ago. Sure looks like he picked up a thing or two playing in the QHL, which I guess was the plan all along when the Federation decided to let players look for employment in foreign leagues.

I hate to be that guy, but missing the playoffs is still a distinct possibility. 3 wins in 3 games is nice and all, but we're still only halfway through. Let's hope the guys can keep their focus.

More stories:
Novaya Zemlya - Valanora Post-game comments
Iosif Bezukladnikov - 38 saves, named First Star
Yerokhin: "Luke, I am your... first line center"
Around the World Cup - Coconut incident in Gregoryisgodistan

[Bad Nazis]

Firebolt 0-1 Bad Nazis

First period: A rather dull period, not much action going on. Both teams seem to mostly try to get a feeling of each other. The physical play is practically non-existant. The only highlight is when Firebolt's Henrik Gustafsson shoots what might have been a really beautiful goal after 15 minutes, hadn't Bad Nazi David Schwartz miraculously saved it. Schwartz later confirmed that he had no idea what was going on, and that he caught the puck purely out of luck. The last five minutes gets a little spicier, but the period still ends 0-0.

Second period: The Bad Nazi players are frustrated and you can definitely tell. Ivan Kaminski tackles Saku Kuralien in the back and recieves a penalty, and Dragan Hasek is also penalized for cross checking Novak Cherov. Horst Dippel gets out for hooking Ilya Chekhov. Other than the aggressive game from the Bad Nazis, not much is happening. The goal chances are slim, and Nikolai Shelev is like a brick wall in front of the net, and David Schwarz is not bad either. It shows that he has learned from his mistakes in the first match against Pays den Haut.

After the second period, the result is still 0-0.

Third period: Finally, both teams are fully awake and the match can begin for real. It's speed, physical play, fun to look at, but still no goals. Both goalies are performing on top, and you could even describe it as an outright duel between Schwartz and Shelev!

After 13 minutes and 36 seconds Horst Dippel assists a score by Konrad Grebe, but it gets ruled out for high-sticking. The Bad Nazis in the audience are outraged and throw all kinds of insults and racial slurs over the referees. The players are angry as well, yell and threaten the referee and the Firebolt players, and start a fight; Grossman, Strasser, Kaminski, Grachyov, and Grebeshkov are penalized. Power play for Firebolt, 3 against 2.

The rest of the match go on the same way as the first half of the period, a more entertaining game, more chances to score, but still no goals from either side. Not until there's only five seconds left the first, and only, goal comes. Erich Krantz manages to fint Chelev, and fixes the victory for the Armed Republic of Bad Nazis with a well placed puck.

End result: 0-1 to Bad Nazis.

[Torisakia]

May 27, 2015
1:01 PM TST

BILBO FED UP IN GGS; RETURNS TO TORISAKIA

TOKAI, TORISAKIA - TNN received word from a reliable source that national team coach Mark Bilbo has left Gregoryisgodistan and returned to Torisakia. According to the source, Bilbo was seen leaving the team hotel with his luggage late last night. He later bought a plane ticket back to Tokai and departed sometime after midnight. A note left in his hotel room stated that he was leaving for personal reasons and was leaving coaching duties to assistant Lester Benscoter. Tokai International Airport confirmed a few hours ago that Bilbo did in-fact come back to Torisakia and was at his home in Tokai. Bilbo has not stated anything on social media or anything to the press. Benscoter spoke out on social media stating that he would 'assume my duties as head coach and stay in GGS', and also mentioned that he hoped he wouldn't be executed. No players from the national team have spoke about Bilbo's departure, as it may have come as a shock to them. The source says that it appears that Bilbo didn't and wasn't going to mention that he was leaving until he had returned in Torisakia; but somehow anticipated someone noticing that he was gone prematurely and instead wrote a departure note that he left on a nightstand in his hotel room.

So they actually win a game and their coach flees back home. This is getting exciting, isn't it? First protests, then memery, now the coach left? We'll have to go by the store and buy more popcorn. While we could attack Bilbo for just getting up and leaving out of the blue, we'll have to sympathize with him for just this one article. Yeah, you better be disappointed. Just think of what's happened to him since he arrived in Gregoryisgodistan: he got detained because he lost his gum wrapper, the whole country of Torisakia is boycotting the tournament so no fans even show up to the games to see them play, one of his star players is being mocked on the Internet, and to top it all off their first two games were worthless ties. If that happened to us, we'd be ready to get out of their and hide our face in shame. There were rumors about him leaving after he got detained, but sources kept saying he was staying in GGS. It makes one wonder why he waited till now to leave. Why didn't he leave after he got detained? After the first tie? After the second? And what did he mean by 'personal reasons' in his departure letter? Family emergency? Mid-life crisis? Or did he just decided that enough was enough and fled? We're willing to bet the latter, personally. We feel that this will just add fuel to the fire that is the GGS Boycott. And just when we thought it was dying down. D'oh, I missed!

We guess it's time now to focus on the more important thing: Lester Benscoter as the head honcho. He's a 38 year old guy from Bronson Creek who has a Bachelor's in Sports Medicine who was the manager of the Port Tudor Konvicts ice hockey program from 2004 to 2013. He then became the head coach of the Addysl Rampage in December of 2014 and was selected as assistant coach for the national team a month later. SO as it looks, it would seem he's got a lot of experience under his belt, right? WRONG! In the ten years he was the general manager of the Port Tudor Konvicts, they had the lowest average salary per a player in THL history. Port Tudor also only averaged 42% attendance compared the the league average of 64%. When he took over at Addysl, things became worse. Addysyl garnered the largest losing streak in THL history in 15 years by losing 26 straight in a row. The only reason he was selected as the assistant was because of his high approval rating coming out of Port Tudor and into Addysl. Since then his popularity has dropped. So if you think that Bilbo was a bad coach, you haven't seen anything yet. Just expect this one little win they have to be one of their last for this entire tournament. We won't be surprised if people start protesting because our coach sucks so bad. We at TNN are actually counting on it. We'll ready the cameras, news anchors, and riot police later today.

TNN.tor: Help | Press | Advertise on TNN.tor | Sales Media Kit | Internet-Based Ads | Report a Bug | Corrections | Contact Us | Site Map | Parents | Careers
© 2015 Torisakia News Network. Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and Safety Information/Your Auerila Privacy Rights are applicable to you. All rights reserved.

[The Royal Kingdom of Quebec]

Clash of QHL dynasties: 2000s Quebec Nordiques vs. 2010s Kingston Knights (1)

These two NHL dynasties separated by a decade seem more alike than different. They were two of the most offensively dynamic and talented teams ever.

Yet despite their similarities and their closeness in time, they still represent two different eras of QHL hockey and two different types of teams.

The Nordiques played a smaller, 24-team Quebec Hockey League where two-team expansion would make it 26 in 2009. The longstanding participation of Team Quebec to the World Cup of Hockey just began in the 2011 season, when Hindmarsh Yoon marked a perfect end to his career with the Overtime Game-Winner in the match against 3rd-ranked Valanora. There have been a significant Norrish and other Commonwealth contingent of players in the league for many years. Despite this, however, Quebec Hockey League of the Nordiques' days were pretty limited in terms of diversity in talent.

The Knights played in a little bit bigger, 28-team league where non-Commonwealth players made a significant contribution. The numbers, over time, increased to the point where this season, almost 15% of the players came from overseas. The Knights featured Pavel Smirnov, Filip Tennfjord and Thomas Tey on their championship teams.

The Nordiques dominated the 2000s, winning 6 cups in 10 years. They enjoyed seasons in which they only lost 5, 8 and 12 games out of 78 in a season.

The Kingston Knights joined the tide after a long years of rebuilding and bottom-feeding for previous 7 years. They were the first dynasty to follow up with the Nordiques, winning four Prenneau Cups in 5 years from 2012 to 2017. Despite many opinions regarding how the Knights' dynasty could be extended if the Knights win the Cup this season, in this article the Knights' dynasty is going to be mentioned as ended, due to relatively long time gap between 2017 and 2019, if the Knights win the Cup.

Both teams were known for unprecedented skill and offensive talent. Both teams featured Hall of Fame goaltenders in Ken Dryden and Grant Fuhr. Both teams boasted the premier offensive talent of their day in Hindmarsh Yoon and Dave Clark. If the Knights had more depth, especially on defense, the Nordiques had much better creative offensive talent.

Which team would have won if they had played each other, in their prime, for the Prenneau Cup? For the purposes of this comparison, I'm looking at the dynasty years in general (2008 to 2011 for Quebec and 2013 to 2017 for Kingston). I'm also focusing on the rosters from the 2008-2009 Quebec Nordiques against the 2014-2015 Kingston Knights.

The 2008-2009 team was the one that won the first of four consecutive Stanley Cups. The roster at the start of the run was largely unchanged when they won their fourth Cup in 2011-2012, aside from gradual retirement of its stars by the offseason that would lead to the eventual changing of guards in the years thereafter.

The 2016-2017 Knights were the team that missed winning the Cup in between three wins in '13, '14 and '15 and the most recent win in '16. Their regular-season performance featured career seasons from a number of their players. They had a roster that was most complete out of all Knights rosters, and would yet to face some changes that currently mark the new beginning and new dimensions of the Kingston Knights in subsequent offseason(s) by Dan Aklavik.

[To be continued in upcoming slideshows....]

[Ko-oren]

World Cup of Hockey 27
Gregoryisgodistan and Ko-oren

Matchday 5 Scores

Group A @ Willingsley Arena
United States of Devonta 1–1 Vermark
Perlasilangan 1–1 Gregoryisgodistan
San Llera 3–3 Gregory Llama Land

Group A                                     Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Gregoryisgodistan                             4   3  1  0   12   2 +10   10
2 United States of Devonta                      5   3  1  1   15   9  +6   10
3 Vermark                                       4   2  1  1   12   9  +3    7
4 Unified Sunrise Islands                       4   2  0  2   15   9  +6    6
5 San Llera                                     4   1  1  2   11  16  −5    4
6 Gregory Llama Land                            5   1  1  3    9  19 −10    4 E
7 Perlasilangan                                 4   0  1  3    4  14 −10    1 E

Group B @ Lord Almighty Gregory Arena
The Sword Bloke 2–1 Neu Engollon
Sandwich Territories 2–4 Equestrian States
The State of Panem 2–0 The True North

Group B                                     Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 The Sword Bloke                               5   5  0  0   14   4 +10   15 Q
2 Equestrian States                             4   3  0  1   14   7  +7    9
3 Schutzenphalia and West Ruhntuhnkuhnland      4   2  1  1    8   7  +1    7
4 Sandwich Territories                          4   1  1  2   14  11  +3    4
5 The State of Panem                            4   1  1  2    7  12  −5    4
6 Neu Engollon                                  4   1  0  3    5  10  −5    3
7 The True North                                5   0  1  4    4  15 −11    1 E

Group C @ Enemy Crusher Biggy McParis Memorial Ice Hockey Arena
Norrehavn 3–5 Hopnation
St Saratoga 1–6 Royal Kingdom of Quebec
Genua-Venezia 1–3 Polkopia

Group C                                     Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Royal Kingdom of Quebec                       4   4  0  0   15   4 +11   12
2 Norrehavn                                     5   3  0  2   21  15  +6    9
3 Abanhfleft                                    4   2  1  1    9   6  +3    7
4 Polkopia                                      5   2  1  2   14  11  +3    7
5 Hopnation                                     4   1  1  2   10  11  −1    4
6 Genua-Venezia                                 4   1  1  2    7  14  −7    4
7 St Saratoga                                   4   0  0  4    6  21 −15    0 E

Group D @ Greglord Air Arena
Mapletish 1–6 Nova Anglicana
Damukuni 2–3 Torisakia
Kernansquillec 2–2 Communicar

Group D                                     Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Cosumar                                       4   3  1  0   16   9  +7   10
2 Torisakia                                     4   2  2  0   11   7  +4    8
3 Nova Anglicana                                4   2  1  1   14   5  +9    7
4 Communicar                                    5   2  1  2    9  13  −4    7
5 Kernansquillec                                4   1  2  1   11  14  −3    5
6 Mapletish                                     5   1  1  3    6  15  −9    4 E
7 Damukuni                                      4   0  0  4   11  15  −4    0 E

[Ko-oren]

- The Frozen Dragonfly: Unofficial home of Ko-orenite Ice Hockey -
Do or Die for Ko-oren

Let's not put it as black and white as in the title. Ko-oren isn't completely out yet, even with a loss in the next matchday. It's more the fact that if it doesn't happen tomorrow, qualification might be really far away. There's no sense feeling blue about that - after all, there are plenty of nations better at ice hockey than Ko-oren - but we would love to advance in the tournament that's actually in our own country. The loss to Ontorisa did not help, but it's not over yet.

The Ontorisan goal came out of the blue, when our defence was caught red handed being unorganised. The rest of the game was very contested, but the scoring was kept low by both goalies, in the form of their life. It was in the third period, many of the Ko-orenite players did something we don't get to see often: they saw red. They were angry. They want to get the points, they want to advance, especially in front of the home audience. This resulted in a remarkably blue and black Ontorisa, but it did not change the score: 0-1. Some of the Dragonflies should have been penalised, but the referee was inexperienced and green and did not dare to send some of our players off. The Dragonflies carried a white flag close to the end, when they gave up looking for the equaliser. The goalie was not pulled either.

We have heard no more bad things about Gregoryisgodistan. We might have criticised them too much in our writeup from yesterday, and maybe we should have said more about the issues in our own venues. It was a case of the pot calling the kettle black when saying that there are problems in Gregoryisgodistan, while there are plenty of security issues in Ko-oren. The Dragonfly Islands, the Wolf Islands and recently the Thaulandians have called for independence and are using the World Cup of Hockey as a means.

The government of Ko-oren, in accordance with the local governments that host the World Cup, has given the green light for more action against these groups. As happens once in a blue moon: an aggressive decision by the Ko-orenite government.

Looking at the Cup through rose-tinted glasses here: we will only play unranked nations from now on. Advancing so far is a grey area, it could go either way, but we're still banking on a Ko-orenite second place, with the top two all having played four games already. That, and the relative ease of schedule, but then again, we'd expect the Dragonflies to come away with a win versus Ontorisa.

[Gregoryisgodistan]

Perlasilangan 1–1 Gregoryisgodistan

SHOCKER! Ice Slaves Fail to Beat Perlasilangan

In one of the most shocking results of the World Cup of Hockey so far, Gregoryisgodistan's Ice Slaves, the favorites to win this tournament on their home ice, failed to beat the visitors (or technically, "hosts") from Perlasilangan, drawing 1-1 at Willingsley Arena. Gregoryisgodistan got the first goal with 18:20 left in the second period off a breakway from Prison Guard AQIIUS. This put the Ice Slaves up 1-0. They would hold the lead for most of the game, with Enemy Crusher Porky "Fatso The Third" McFattel rarely being threatened. He only made 19 saves through the whole game, but he only faced 20 shots on goal. But it was the 20th that blew the game. With 1:03 left and the Perlasilangan goalie pulled, their player wearing #23, whose name we don't know since they didn't submit a roster, passed it to #49, who skated towards goal. Enemy Crusher Bigward McFooples tried to take it away in the offensive zone, but #49 blooped it over his stick and continued to skate forward as the Enemy Crusher crashed into the boards. #49 then had a clear shot on net and went top right corner to beat the Enemy Crusher and even up the score. The fans couldn't believe their eyes - the Ice Slaves were actually not going to win this game. Indeed, about 40 seconds later, the final horn sounded and the result was 1-1.

After the game, Horse Beater LAL9120 told reporters "Well, it could have been worse. We could have lost to these minnows. But really, we should have won. This is a game we should have won and we squandered our opportunities. We had 41 shots on goal but only one went in. We had plenty more scoring opportunities with no shots on goal. We missed the target a few times and couldn't take advantage of any of our seven power plays. It's really unfortunate that we couldn't do more to win, but if we're going to have one bad game, I'd rather have it now against a minnow than in the knockout stage against Equestrian States or Quebec. At least we escaped with the point. We're in first place, and if we win out, we'll take the group. Of course, with Equestrian States probably finishing second in Group B with The Sword Bloke winning, that's not necessarily what we wanted. But we'd rather win the group than finish second, because it means we did better in the group stage. We're not going to strategically play for the best matchup. Leave that to Fool Theriault in soccer. We're better than that. And I'd love to go against those ponies again. I will beat those horses if we play them. I leave it up to them to figure out what I mean by the word "beat." Do I mean we will defeat them or will I actually physically beat them? Sometimes I think it's best to leave a question unanswered, and that's what I'm going to do here. And of course, The Sword Bloke is just one giant Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant whose leader, Shop Owner, strives to be as excellent and magnificent as Lord Almighty Gregory, emulating him by executing all his opponents and the heathens. But he will never be Lord Almighty Gregory, because Lord Almighty Gregory is God and Shop Owner isn't. And also because Kentucky Fried Chicken doesn't serve gruel or prune juice. And there's nothing else to eat in The Sword Bloke because it's all one giant restaurant. I think. I'm not quite sure. But we will beat them too if we face them. We will beat anyone we face. We are going to win this World Cup of Hockey. We are still undefeated - don't forget that. And we will win this tournament while going undefeated. Mark my words. This is the last time we drop a point. From here on out, we win every game we play. San Llera and those llamas from Gregory Llama Land who dare use the Lord's name in vain are all going to lose. We will beat them all. I may not be a Llama Beater, but we will beat the llamas one way or the other. And perhaps beat the horses in the same way, perhaps in the other way. Let them find out when we play them. And we're in Gregoryisgodistan so I won't be arrested for maybe threatening them. And I didn't really threaten them anyway seeing as I never defined the word "beat." Anyway, we're going to win the rest of our games from here to the end of the tournament, whether we face ponies, Quebecois losers, the hoppers from HopNation, or really anyone else. We will win our second championship. We will make our third final in four tournaments, and revenge the loss to Havl at WCoH 25 and the early elimination at the hands of the immoral elves at WCoH 26. And yes, I do mean immoral and not immortal. Anyway, good night. Go Ice Slaves!"

[Elejamie]

"And for all you hockey fans that missed the big game last night, here's John Daverson to fill you in. John?"

That's right, Steve. Last night saw David vanquish Goliath as rank 39 Elejamie managed to defeat the mighty third-ranked Havl in what is arguably the most tense, nail-biting match of the tournament. Despite the odds being heavily stacked against them, as well as Peter Berg replacing Antonio Cervantes in goal for this match, the Icy Elephants kept their cool as they snatched a heart-stopping 6-5 victory to remain top of the group. Here are the main highlights:

The first period saw the Havlans score the first goal a minute after the first minute; a slapshot by Brad Neubauer, assisted by Graham Hatch and Cash Rogers. A second goal came halfway through the period, when Taro Tsujimoto assisted Vinnie Roth in putting the puck past Peter Berg. Elejamie quickly bounced back three minutes later when Anatoly Kasputin managed to bag his first goal of the night, thanks to his unassisted wrist shot scraping the crossbar before hitting the back of the net. Forty-five seconds from time, Cerin Meloten, with some help from Greg Warren and Francisco Solano, managed to score his first - but certainly not last - goal of the evening. At the end of the first period, the score was 2-2.

The second period wasn't just action packed, but had its fair share of dirt. First up - roughly four and a half minutes after the period started - Francisco Solano received a five minute penalty for boarding Rhys Dykstra; the resulting power play allowed Havl to break the deadlock, making the score 3-2 thanks to a goal by Martin Klerx, assisted by Carson West and Ravi Chandrasekhar. Undeterred, Meloten grabbed his second goal of the night five minutes later, thanks to Anatoly Kasputin. James Han put the Icy Elephants ahead with four and a half minutes to go, thanks to a well-timed slapshot and some assistance from Pael Atenar and Lupe. At the end of the second period, the score was 4-3 to Elejamie.

The third period didn't skimp on action either. Havlan defenceman Sergei Skrbinski received a two minute minor penalty for slashing. As a result, Elejamie managed to extend their lead, with Cerin Meloten's unassisted wrist shot completing his hat-trick. Unfortunately, Havl managed to get their revenge. With over thirteen minutes left in the period, Havl pulled one back thanks to Brad Neubauer winning the face off and Cash Rogers scoring the goal. Another tragedy occurred when Francisco Solano accidentally high-sticked Petr Zaradnik, earning him two minutes in the penalty box; this allowed Adonis Rydko - with line-mates Tyler Breckinridge and Jim Pepperdyne - to score the equaliser just before the penalty ended. Things looked tense, with a draw being the most likely outcome. And, with under five seconds remaining, it went to a face-off...

"Five seconds left. Meloten wins the puck and slides it over to Kasputin. Two seconds left. He shoots. Can he make it in time? GOAL! GOAL! GOAL! GOAL! GOAL! GOAL! ELEJAMIE SIX, HAVL FIVE! I'm sorry, I need a minute." Just as play restarted, the match was over, causing our ETV commentator to go mad. "THERE'S THE KLAXON! IT'S OVER! ELEJAMIE 6, HAVL 5! THEY HAVE DONE IT! ELEJAMIE ARE UNSTOPPABLE! BRING ON THE ICE SLAVES!"

Even the players on the ice couldn't believe what happened. Teammates started hugging each other as if they won the tournament. Danilo Barajas gave his twin brother Felipe a piggy back ride around the rink, lifting their sticks up in victory. Hat-trick hero Cerin Meloten even went over to the Havlan side and consoled some of the players, as did Elejamian goaltender Peter Berg. It reached fever pitch on the ice.

Fans who made the trip to Ko-oren couldn't believe what they had seen. Even after the players had left the ice, some fans continued to celebrate in the stands. A few fans even remained in shock, trying to figure out how a result like this was possible. In this bar not too far from the stadium, you could see the excitement on the fans' faces as Kasputin slapped the puck into the net. We caught up with one of them, who said "I very nearly spilt my beer when I saw the puck go in! We've done better than last time and I think it's fair to say that we're going to Gregoryisgodistan."

Fans back home didn't skimp on the celebrations either. As you can see here in Davenport, fans packed the streets and hosted a massive party to celebrate the victory. Similar parties took place in Playa de Rocas, Rosetta and Avon. ETV asked what this fan thought of the match: "At first, me and the guys were sitting there, burying our faces in our hands thinking we'd take them to another draw. But when we heard that Kasputin got it in, we lost it. Hell, my mate Arik literally stormed out of the house and ran down the street shouting about how we won it. We're going to win this tournament, I just know it! GO ELEJAMIE!"

In a post-match interview, Michael Madgwick, clearly shocked with the result, said "I don't know what happened out there, but my boys managed to pull it off. In fact, after that draw against Prusy Krolewskie, I was starting to have some doubts. Luckily, the guys went out there and put on one hell of a show. Are we going to win this group? Probably. Are we going to win this tournament? Maybe. Are we going to have a good time? Definitely."

The other Group H matches weren't short on thrilling matches, as Tsartsaroth's run of bad luck continued thanks to a 6-1 thrashing by the now second-placed Prusy Krolewskie and the Guayabalians managed to beat the Hessians 5-2. Tonight, Havl will see if they can bounce back as they take on Tsartsaroth; Kaboomlandia will return from their day off to face Prusy Krolewskie; Nassau-Hessen will have their bye day; and Elejamie will be up against San Jose Guayabal - same hockey time, same hockey channel.

Group F saw Praciba be on the receiving end of an 8-2 thrashing by Frusennia...

---

Period				P1	P2	P3	Final Score
Havl				2	1	2	5
Elejamie			2	2	2	6

[Valanora]

"Well that felt awfully relieving following the defeat to Novaya Zemlya, who just happened to fail to win today. We may be able to catch them after all, though that might not be likely, still there is the possibility to do so. Would be really great if we could overtake them, wouldn't you agree?" Balafindien Lanethdal asked his captain. Lanethdal was one of the younger members of the squad and still held quite a youthful exuberance that gave him also a bit of naivity when it came to the grander picture.

The captain gave the youngster a bit of a smile merely to support the young lad's confidence and enthusiasm. It was the likes of Lanethdal that would be leading the Calcuttas sooner rather than later, especially with all the turmoil going on with the VSC. Imenien Lithloth might have only been eighty years Balafindien's senior, yet he knew that if the VFA was granted their autonamy, then the VHA would soon look to follow suit. The VFA and VHA were the two largest components of the VSC and the VHA would want whatever rights that the VFA would get or threaten their own boycott of the VSC.

"It would be a good run of luck if we were able to overtake them, yet they bested us in the game, so it is better that we leave them to fight their own fights rather than concentrating on them. We have our own challenges ahead, especially with tomorrow's game against Frusennia, especially with them likely coming off such an impressive vanquishing of Praciba. We are going to need to be completely on our game for tomorrow, we can not afford any slip ups or they most definitely will make us pay and often."

"Yeah, sixteen goals scored in just three games is so crazy, I really hope that Suiadan Lasséseth is ready for the onslaught that they are sure to provide. Hopefully the d-men will be able to give him so coverage and I guess we are going to have to play a bit more beneath our own blue line in order to keep them from wearing them out." The younger winger said, with Imenien giving a nod, it definitely was going to be a stern test. It was the sort of offensive output that might have been expected form the Calcuttas during their heydey, not from a team that was new to the tournament. The entire team was going to have to be ready or they were going to miss their chance to seize their destiny rather than being at the mercy of other's luck.

"That is why were are not taking the day off and putting in some time for fast break drills, Litheth wants us as ready as we can be. This is the game that will likely decide if we are going to be able to make it out of the group or not and we can not afford to be taken advantage of like Novaya did when we were high off of defeating the Feministvs squad. This match will require all the effort we have, so let's get going and see what the manager has for us tactics wise. Maybe a new wrinkle to overcome what appears to be an avalanche of an offense. With even Havl losing, no one can take anyone for granted."

[Havl]

Match Day 3: HVL/EJM

Pilots' Corner
Another quiet game from the Pilots representing Havl in the WCoH. (Box Score)

• Winger Tyler Breckinridge had an assist, the solitary point from a Davenport player in Tuesday's game.
• Defenseman Jim Innskeep was a minus three. So was his linemate, Adonis Rybko. Once again, that second defensive pairing is where they're finding chinks in Havl's armor. Coach D, are you reading my blog? Clearly not.
• I'm going to be honest. Haley Hasenpfeffer didn't look good out there. Six goals on 35 shots? That's a paltry 82% save percentage. In other words, better than one out of every six of Elejamie's shots were good for a goal...

Clearly the offense is the only thing staying consistent with this Havl team. Count on them for five goals against and allowing upwards of 20 shots on net.

Donndelinger (and HTVM) Facepalm Counter
We've been keeping track of the number of times Coach Donndelinger makes us wish he was coaching on another planet. To be honest, many of our "facepalm" moments have been directed at HTVM's Capital City-bent focus, so we're expanding the Facepalm Counter to include HTVM's moments of stupidity. So far, we're at fifteen facepalms.

1. Too Many Not Enough Men on the Ice: Donndelinger tried to give Elejamie a free powerplay during the second period when only four skaters took the the ice in a faceoff in Havl's zone. Don't believe me? Check the replay. A fifth Havl skater putters onto the ice about five seconds after the faceoff. (Yes, I know it was our very own Breckinridge who made the error...). Credit to the ref for counting the players before dropping the puck and figuring, "Hey, it's their fault." His job is to make sure there aren't too many men on the ice, not too few. I wonder if it's illegal to play with an extra man off the ice.
   
2. The Cap City Clique, Part II: Once again, HTVM made it seem like Havl's roster is 100% Captains. I won't lie; Neubauer and Klerx had a nice game. But what about Zaradnik? He was on the ice for two Elejamie goals, and he was pointless (in more ways that one, I guess). I'm not trying to give Zaradnik a hard time, but it's frustrating to see our national telecast have such a Cap City-centric broadcast crew. Even Brian Beierle was getting in on the fun; he praised Coach D for, in his words, "putting [Captains players] on the same line to build synergy." Synergy? Sure, Klerx and Chandrasekhar are on the third line, and Neubauer's line often has Zaradnik on D, but those pairings are bound to happen on an 18-man roster culled from a league that only has eight teams. No comment from Beierle about the fabulous Phantom line that has produced four points in three games.
   
3. Get Her Outta There!: Hasenpfeffer is a world-class goaltender. On any given day, she's the best 'tender in Havl and one of the best on the planet. But when she's allowing two goals on ten shots in the first period, it's time to look to Rowengartner. Even Elejamie knows when to switch it up. Coach Madgwick pulled Antonio Cervantes before the game in favor of Peter Berg. Let me be clear: I'm a huge Hasenpfeffer fan. So when I'm telling you to put Rowengartner in, you should know there's a real problem.
   
4. Veejay the Deejay: Did you happen to catch when HTVM cut to the broadcast booth an Veejay Thumberg was dancing to the venue's in-house music? *facepalm* Stick to your day job, Veejay.
   
5. The Postgame Snooze: I get it. Coaches have to do the post-game interview, even after a tough loss. They might be emotional. The game might be too fresh in their minds for them to make any insightful comments. But how can you explain Donndelinger's thousand-yard stare after the game? He looked like he'd just seen his first action in combat. His comments weren't very enlightening, either, even by Coach D's extremely vague standards. Here's a choice tidbit. When asked what he would do differently against Elejamie should they meet again: "I'd maybe try something different." Something different, eh coach? Quiet, don't give your secret coaching advice to the whole world! You would maybe try something different? How about calling in some real defensemen, pulling your goalie when she's struggling, and shuffling it up when the game's tied late. Ugh.

Game 3 Predictions
The next game will see Havl face unranked, mysterious, and hard-to-pronounce Tsartsaroth. It's the first time these two teams have met. Tsartsaroth have yet to win a match in this tournament. So far, they've lost to Elejamie, Kaboomlandia, and Prusy krolewskie.

I predict that...

• Havl will score five...again. It's happened three games in a row, now. Let's hope that's enough to keep Tsartsaroth at bay.
  
• Beierle will struggle to say "Tsartsaroth." He struggles with almost everything else in the booth these days. And it's a tongue-twister of a name to boot. He's going to have to say it a lot in tonight's game. Don't be surprised if he coins a new nickname for the unranked squad just to avoid saying Tsartsaroth.
  
• The defense will bounce back. I called it in the last game; Havl's defense is a roller coaster in this tournament. Four against, then a shutout, then six against in a loss. What can we expect against Tsartsaroth? I'll predict a conservative two goals against.
  
• Cash Rogers will score a hat trick. Say what you want about Cash. He's too flashy; he doesn't know when to shut up; he has an attitude problem. The bottom line is that the man can score, and he seems happy with his "Firing Squad" linemates. We haven't seen a multi-goal game from the Kenwood native in this tournament, but I can assure you it's coming. Will it happen against Tsartsaroth?

Around the Tournament
The Royal Kingdom of Quebec and, surprisingly, The Sword Bloke remain the only teams to have won all of their matches so far. Gregoryisgodistan leads Group A after Perlasilangan led them to a one-all draw yesterday. Cosumar leads the wild Group D, and Havl is stuck behind the fun-to-say Prusy krolewskie in Group H.

You can catch tonight's game live on HTVM starting at 10 WGST. Join our #lowflyingjets livecast to share your thoughts on the growing support for South-Eastern Havlan independence.

Team Leaders

Num	Name			G	A	Pts	Games Played
9	Brad Neubauer		2	5	7	3
33	Cash Rogers		4	2	6	3
13	Graham Hatch		1	3	4	3
8	Tyler Breckinridge	1	3	4	3
15	Martin Klerx		2	1	3	3
11	Jim Pepperdyne		1	2	3	3
14	Adonis Rybko		1	2	3	3
10	Vinnie Roth		1	1	2	3
3	Petr Zaradnik		0	2	2	3
18	Carson West		0	2	2	3
20	Ravi Chandrasekhar	0	2	2	3
22	Rhys Dykstra		1	0	1	3
12	Taro Tsujimoto		1	0	1	3
6	Sergei Skrbinski	0	1	1	3
5	Jim Innskeep		0	1	1	3
16	Travis Hampstead	0	1	1	3
36	Jay Marshall		0	0	0	3
4	R.J. Murgatroyd		0	0	0	3

Num	Name			GP	W	L	T	GA	SA	GAA	S%	SO
31	Haley Hasenpfeffer	3	2	1	0	10	85	3.33	88.2	1		
1	Jon Rowengartner	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0.0	0

Scores and Schedule
Date	Team	Opponent			Score	Result	Venue	
May 24	3Havl	17San Jose Guayabal		5-4	W	Willowbourne Indoor Arena, Willowbourne, Ko-oren
May 25	3Havl	27Nassau-Hessen			5-0	W	Willowbourne Indoor Arena, Willowbourne, Ko-oren
May 26	3Havl	39Elejamie			5-6	L	Willowbourne Indoor Arena, Willowbourne, Ko-oren
May 27	3Havl	URTsartsaroth					Willowbourne Indoor Arena, Willowbourne, Ko-oren
May 28	3Havl	URKaboomlandia					Willowbourne Indoor Arena, Willowbourne, Ko-oren	
May 29	3Havl	URPrusy krolewskie				Willowbourne Indoor Arena, Willowbourne, Ko-oren

[Kaboomlandia]

Kings Practice Notes: 5.27.15

As the Kings prepared to get back on the ice against Prusy Krolweskie tonight, here were some notes from the morning skate and subsequent media session:

• Manny Hayes skated on the third line with Monte Allen and Wade Blacken, signifying a possible entry to the lineup. Hayes hasn't played yet this tournament.
• Lyle Mace took the majority of the shots, but coach Allemande dismissed this as a simple cold for Dylan Brady, and he is expected to start his fourth straight game tonight.
• Jerome Smith also had the practice off after being crushed into the boards by Tsartsaroth defenseman Robert Wesley. He will be a game time decision. If he can't go, winger Maxime Coderre will take his place and Hayes will play on the third line. If Smith does play, enforcer George Burrows will sit. He has a goal and five penalty minutes in three games, but isn't much more than an energy winger.
• The defense pairings are expected to remain the same, though keep an eye out for seventh defenseman Caleb Connor. With the struggles of the third pairing, a shake-up could be needed. Derek Wellman is the most likely to sit.

The Kings will look to build on a lethal power play that scored four times against Tsartsaroth and has five of their ten goals so far, as well as their penalty kill, which is perfect as of yet (knock on wood). The talent is all there. Now the team just needs to come together.

Projected lines if Smith doesn't play:
Philips-Martin-Rutherford
Coderre-Jackson-Richards
Hayes-Blacken-Allen
Burrows-LeBoeuf-Manfred

Herndon-Bore
Clooney-Lindsay
Fennyman-Wellman

Brady
Mace