World Cup of Hockey 28 (Everything Thread)

by **Esparmuran** » Sun Sep 27, 2015 2:14 am

OOC: ST currently hasn't posted a roster, so I'll use the names of their 27th WCoH roster.

Still kinks in Espar Women's team, ties against Sandwich Territories

5.50 k.

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

Olaf Skovgaard

Waterford, Sandwich Territories

It was difficult for most to place an expectation for the women's Espar hockey team. There were too many variables in place for there to be a popular opinion for the squad before tonight's game, and, again, nobody really knew what to expect. But tonight's game showed they could hold their own, at least to a team ranked 35-seeds lower. The Sandwich Territories Cavaliers were looking to build off their 0-1 win against unranked Maramark, but facing an unranked team right before a top-5 team would prove to be difficult to pull off two straight wins. Technically speaking, the Espar women's team would count as unranked, so it's surprising and relieving to see them pull off at least a tie in their first game.

The first period didn't give much hope for the Espars. Philip O'Keefe gave the Cavaliers a 1-0 lead forty-one seconds in the period on the power play. Annelie Jespersen got caught on high-sticking against Sandwichian Bevis Foster twelve seconds in. O'Keefe's first backhand attempt was stopped by Espar goaltender Hanna Abels, but he got the rebound and scored on the second attempt.

Sandwichian defenceman Grant Timothyson got called for tripping Lina Knudsen thirty-one seconds later. The Espars couldn't convert, in fact they almost gave up a shorthanded goal if not for some great goaltending by Abels.

Espar Signy Steensen tied the game 1-1 with 5:23 remaining in the second period on a slap shot from the slot that went past Sandwichian goaltender Harland Becket. The rebound of a shot by forward Tanja Østergaard came to Steensen, who had an open shooting lane.

Timothy Merckx gave the Cavaliers a 2-1 lead at 14:24 in the third on a slap shot from the right faceoff circle. The puck trickled out to the faceoff circle and Merckx shot it through traffic.

Espar Majken Kaspersen tied the game 2-2 with 42 seconds left in the third period on an Erick Armistead hooking minor. Kaspersen got the puck at the point, moved around Sandwichian forward Zechariah Payne and took a wrist shot that went past Becket on the far side.

Espar forward Ylva Frank left the game with a sprained ankle in the second period after getting charged by Cavalier Arrats Montgomery and did not return.

Katrine Carstensen and the Espar ladies will try to close off their group stage matches tomorrow with a W against winless Britonisea (remember them?), and Devonta will try to get their first win against the Sandwichians. In other group E games, Britonisea lost to Maramark 0-1, I suppose somebody had to win. Abanhfleft, who is leading the group in points, defeated Devonta, 3-1.

by **Novaya Zemlya** » Sun Sep 27, 2015 4:25 am

POLYARNAYA PRAVDA

World Cup of Hockey Blog
Anatoly Timofeyev reports live from Valanora and the 28th World Cup of Hockey

Ontorisa 1 - Novaya Zemlya 0

Well, that didn't go as planned. A reminder for all of us who had forgotten how frustrating this team can be at times. The no-look drop passes, the fancy toe-drag attempts, the leisurely backcheck - it was all on display tonight. Let me paraphrase the inevitable crash of my marriage: it's not that you lose, it's how you do it.

We are two games in and we have scored one goal. It is unacceptable. Coach Bobr needs to get his offense going or we will be on our way home faster than you can say "group stage exit". Now might be a good time to switch up the lines, because none of the top 3 lines are clicking.

I'll readily admit that before the game I could not name a single Ontorisan player aside from phenom Mejer Doristram, who is out with a torn ACL. It turns out they didn't really need him. The Ontorisans now sit atop of Group C with two wins. Meanwhile, top ranked Havl stumbled and only managed a 5-5 tie against Natanians and Nosts, which I'm sure they are not happy with. Natanians and Nosts on the other hand might be a team to look out for. They seem to have a good hockey program and finished in the medals at the international U18 tournament earlier this year.

Is it possible that we Novozemlyans have become a tad bit complacent after our WCoH 27 run? The players sure looked like they were expecting the two points without putting in the effort last night. We have heard the phrase "new hockey superpower" a little too often. Hockey Federation representives talk about how we belong in the top 10 of the hockey world. Well, if we don't score goals we don't belong in top anything. Plus, we were horrible in the last WJHC and our club teams, with no less than 15 national team players, did not impress anyone at the last Hockey Champions League. I want less talk and more winning hockey games, please.

The sky is not falling just yet, but if we don't win tonight against Nassau-Hessen it might very well be.

works? · by **Abanhfleft** » Sun Sep 27, 2015 7:46 am

Part One

Ignorance is Bliss, Part Two

Somewhere in the skies above Ceneisis
September 24, 2011

Trenton Rosenberg was having the time of his life.

At just fifteen years old, Trenton was not yet of legal age, at least according to Fleftic law. But it didn't matter to him, because he was one of the biggest things ever to come out of Lotharstadt, Xemlice Province. More specifically, he was one of the biggest rising stars in Fleftic ice hockey, and despite his tender age, he already commanded a starting place in the under-21 team's offensive line. All in all, things were really looking up for young Trenton.

But nothing was perfect, though, and because he was still technically underage, he was accompanied on this flight by his legal guardian, an uncle named Richard. As expected, Trenton had been selected to represent Abanhfleft for the coming World Junior Hockey Championships, but what he didn't expect was the possibility of having to play alongside the girls of the women's under-21 team. Not that he hated girls, but he had simply not expected to be playing alongside them at such an important juncture in Abanhfleft's history. But he knew that there was a reason why he might be playing alongside the girls of Fleftic ice hockey: there was simply too much talent between both teams for the federation to consider sending just one team or another. The possibility of sending a combined team was being seriously considered in the upper echelons of the federation, or so Trenton heard.

Just before Trenton had boarded the plane that would take them out of Kusavang and on to Porcusces, he had called up his older brother Cristobal, an offensive lineman for the Lotharstadt Jaegers. "Little bro! How's it going on there in Kusavang?" Cristiano called out from the other end of the line.

"I'm handling myself quite well, Cris," Trenton replied. "We're just about to get on a plane to Porcusces."

"That's good news, Trent," Cristobal replied. "That means the federation's picked you to represent the blue, orange and green!"

"Yeah, Cris, about that..." Trenton trailed off. "There are rumors that the boys and the girls are gonna be combined into a single combined team."

"Are you worried about that, Trent?" Cristobal joked. "Worried that some girl is gonna take your place on the defensive line?"

"Hell no, bro!" Trenton replied with a laugh. "No girl in the multiverse, not even a Fleftic one, can get me out of my place in the lineup!"

"Now that's the spirit, Trent! Now go show the world the might of the Rosenbergs!"

"You got that right, Cris! All right, big bro, catch you over in Porcusces."

"Catch you in Porcusces, little bro."

On approach to Porcusces International Airport

"Are the engines acting up again, Nacho?"

"Not really, Captain, no," replied Menachem "Nacho" Dobrovolski, the flight engineer onboard NQA Flight 1200. He was in charge of monitoring the various dials and gauges and equipment on the plane while the pilots concentrated on flying the plane. "Engines three and four are running nicely on the green zone, sometimes going up to the yellow zone, but nothing too dangerous yet."

"Keep an eye on those engines, Nacho," Captain Voldemars Daugavpils ordered. "We don't want those two conking out on us before we can get them looked at in Porcusces."

"Excited for your first trip abroad, Trent?"

"Hell yeah, Uncle Rich," Trenton Rosenberg replied. "I'm really looking forward to meeting foreign kids and smashing them up on the ice!"

"Hey, hey, go easy on the patriotic zeal there, kid," Richard Rosenberg said. "You don't want to make it too hard for the other teams to score against us, do you now?"

"Oh, don't worry about those losers, Uncle. If they really wanted to score against us, then they'd find a way to do so... Do you smell that?"

"What are you talking about, Trent? Did somebody cut the cheese or something?" Uncle Richard asked.

"No, it's nothing like that, Uncle. It smells like smoke."

"Smoke?" Richard sniffed the air. "Now I smell it too. Where is that coming from?"

"Captain, engines three and four are redlining!" Nacho Dobrovolski shouted. As more alarms went off throughout the cockpit, he cried out, "Them engines are on fire! They're on fire!"

"This isn't good," Daugavpils muttered. "Harmon, get to Porcusces and tell them we've got an emergency!"

"Yes, Captain," Harmon Talbot, the radio operator, said. He then went over to his radio console and made contact with Porcusces air control. "Porcusces says that we are cleared to land at any runway of our choosing."

"It's too late for that now," Daugavpils said. "We're going down!"

With a final groan and whistle, NQA Flight 1200 plowed into the fields just outside Porcusces, Ceneisis.

by **Ontorisa** » Sun Sep 27, 2015 8:01 am

www.Nationalsportsnetwork.ont
Semkaris: What a Hero!
The 27-year old has recorded back to back shutouts in two vital games to help keep Ontorisa's finals hopes alive.

Calvisburg, Ontorisa - Tolkos Semkaris is one of the best goaltenders in the OJL, leading the league in shutouts, goals against average and save percentage. It is no surprise that Semkaris is already showing his trade on an international scale as Ontorisa chalked another victory against Novaya Zemlya. However, the most odd thing was that it appeared the Ontorisan team was not trying half of the time. One of the most notable danglers on the team, Vecam De-ker-Peork, mostly pulled off little passes and a shot or two instead of his usual dangling through six players. The line changes were very casual and the shots could barely be classified as shots, except for the shots in the third.

During the second period, just like the previous game, is when the scoring started. The captain, 24-year old Tealmos Wedernas, took a nice feed from Paukris Ceb-an-Mukai and snapped the puck into the Novaya Zemlya net, going right over the Novaya Zemlyan goaltender, Iosif Bezukladnikov's glove. We were more concerned about the lack of effort by the team during the win, as we spoke with the captain Tealmos Wedernas following the game.

Question: So what happened during the game? The effort appeared to not be there most of the night. Was there problems with players or something?

Wedernas: To be fair, we wanted to make the match fair, sort of. We saw that the opposing team was not bringing the A game the entire night, so we decided to even the ground.

Q: We saw you and the opposing team captain, Krasimir Yerokhin, exchanging words at the end. What was that about?

W: Guy was telling me to keep my head up for next time. I don't know anything about him, but he seems like a pretty nice guy off the ice. On it however, he looks more like a typical goon, nothing we can't handle.

Q: What do you make of the powerhouse, Havl, sitting on the bottom of Group C?

W: I've seen them play, they're a good team but they're going through a tough spot like we did in the past. Hopefully when we face them they're easy, but I hope they get out of their rut soon, preferably after they face us.

Ontorisa now leads Group C with a 2-0-0 record, but let's not forget the last time Ontorisa led a group. At the 27th World Cup of Hockey, Ontorisa led their group before failing to qualify, finishing the tournament with a 3-2-1 record.

Score Summary

1st Period
No Scoring Events
2nd Period
ONT Goal: Wedernas, Tealmos (1) [Ceb-an-Mukai, Paukris (1); Delsja, Rieaa (1)] - Even Strength Goal - Snap Shot Goal - 5:44
3rd Period
No Scoring Events

Box Score
1st 2nd 3rd Final
Ontorisa 0 1 0 1
Novaya Zemlya 0 0 0 0

Ontorisa Shots: 44
Novaya Zemlya Shots: 37

W - Tolkos Semkaris - 37 Saves - SV% 1.000
L - Iosif Bezukladnikov - 43 Saves - SV% 0.977

THREE STARS OF THE GAME - Presented by Velpoz Sports Equipment

1st Star: Tolkos Semkaris (37 SA, 0 G, SV% 1.000)
2nd Star: Iosif Bezukladnikov (44 SA, 1 G, SV% 0.977) 
3rd Star: Tealmos Wedernas (1 G, 0 A, 1 P, 1 +/-, 4 Hits)

by **The Sword Bloke** » Sun Sep 27, 2015 2:19 pm

SWORDEANS SLASH ZENIC
The Swordeans obviously defeated Equestrian States in the last WCoH group stage, in Grgeoryisgodistan & Ko-Oren. It was a hard earned victory from the Head Gnashers, in one of the shocks of the tournament. Though they ended up coming 2nd behind the ponies, everyone knew the Swordeans would have a drastic ranking improvement, and they did, rising up the ladder to 21st.

Well, in Valanora, we were drawn with 2 top 8 teams in Zenic & Cosumar, 4th and 8th respectively. Zenic hadn't burst onto the scene really until their success in Gregoryisgodistan & Ko-Oren, but Cosumar have been a force in many sports for a very long time. They are in Group D, like us. Last night, we had Zenic. And we defeated them, which meant 2 from 2, and that we had a good chance of making it into the Round of 16 now.

The defeat, like last time's shock, was hard earned. Though the puck didn't go through that net until there was 2 minutes left on the clock, The Swordean's defensive work was arguably superior the that of Zenic. The Swordeans dominated most of the game, and went off with a point.

The Sword Bloke isn't necessarily the hockey nation. Though hockey is one of the 4 major Swordean sports as well as soccer, baseball & basketball, there isn't as much junior participation as the other 3. The SHA (Swordean Hockey Association) are hoping a win, or at least a trip to the quarter finals by the boys will increase hockey play.

There are already hundreds of sports stores, sports card stores, etc. that promote hockey to young'uns. There are fun games, trading cards, even game worn skates. But why don't they like hockey? Because of the impact other, 'cooler' sports are having on it. Luckily, the Swordean adults follow it with a passion, probably because of how others they played it in the old days.
Some kids are following suit as well.

There are lots of events on right now; Shop Owner could be the president of Basketball across the multiverse; the World Hit Fest is on; WorldVision is on; the TOCAO tournament in Krytenia will be on soon; but best of all, the 28th World Cup of Hockey tournament is on. There's no reason to not watch the Swordeans. Why; because you'll get executed. But seriously, you have to support our nation! I know you will, or you'll be in a mass grave somewhere where you'll never be seen again.
You don't want that to happen, don't you?

by **Elejamie** » Sun Sep 27, 2015 2:57 pm

"... And now with day two of the World Cup of Hockey, We turn over to John Daverson. John?"

That's right, Steve. Good morning, Elejamie! Yesterday saw Elejamie bounce back from their miraculous yet dull draw with Quebec - the main highlight being the fight between Francisco Solano and Logan Guthrie; a fight that was as much of a stalemate as the match - with a 2-0 victory over the Unified Sunrise Islands. With Antonio Cervantes' nephew Pedro sitting on the bench for this match instead of usual backup goalie Peter Berg, as well as Neil Cuevas replacing Lupe as first line defenceman, it looked like it was going to be an easy game for the Icy Elephants. But the Unified Sunrise Islands weren't going down that easy. Here are the highlights:

The first period got off to an exciting start as Anatoly Kasputin made an attempt on goal just as he got the puck; unfortunately, it just hit the crossbar. Even when it rebounded into his path, the captain was unable to sink the shot, with his next attempt bouncing off the boards. Cerin Meloten was unable to put it past the goaltender either, with his wrist shot being caught. The USI, however, didn't make a proper shot on the Elejamian net until six minutes in, when a shot by their left-winger was easily caught by Antonio Cervantes. Seven minutes from the end, the match saw its first penalty, when their centre high-sticked Mike Cruikshank. Despite several good shots on goal, however, the match remained goalless at the end of the first period.

The second, however, was when the magic started to happen. Five minutes after the start of the period, Paul Morton won the face-off and knocked the puck to Lucas Madgwick, who scored off the one-timer to make it 1-0 to Elejamie. However, Elejamie were unable to extend their lead. Cerin Meloten's series of snapshots either went wide or went over; Ethan Swinburne's slap shot went out of play; and Felipe Barajas' wrist shot was saved by the goalie. The Elejamian side of the ice, however, saw little action, with eight shots from the Unified Sunrise Islands, three of them being anywhere close to the goal; a two minute slashing penalty for Bill Harrison in the ninth minute; and a fight between their right winger and George Lincoln, three minutes before the end of the period, which still ended 1-0.

The third saw Elejamie's second goal when, roughly a minute after the period started, Cerin Meloten passed it to Anatoly Kasputin, whose shovel shot made it into the opponents' net; Neil Cuevas was also credited with the assist. Despite this, however, Elejamie were unable to add to their score, even after their goaltender was taken off the ice for an extra attacker; the closest they came was an empty netter that was disallowed when Francisco Solano went offside. Fortunately, the Unified Sunrise Islands were still unable to pull one back, with their shots either going wide or being easily saved by Cervantes. At the end of the third period - which saw no penalties whatsoever - Elejamie emerged the 2-0 victors, taking their spot at the top of the group, undefeated so far.

In a post-match interview, head coach Michael Madgwick said "Although I am grateful for the win, I'm still looking for areas to improve. Toni's still making himself comfortable in goal, especially since he was a bit nervous going into that Quebec game. The defence are still backing him up, trying to prevent anything getting past him. If I had any complaints or criticism, it's that the offence isn't working as well as it should. Cerin and Anatoly were on fire during the last tournament, yet here it seems like they're struggling to get the shots in net. Hopefully all these problems will have sorted themselves out just in time for our next game."

"Speaking of which, how do you feel about your upcoming match against Kaboomlandia?"

"I don't see how we should any problems with them as a whole. I do, however, see problems on my side. As I've said, the offence will need to pick up the pace, as we should start concentrating on getting goals in. Yes, our defence is pretty strong, as our opener against Quebec can prove. But a strong defence is only a third - or a half if you count the goalie - of an excellent team. I'm pretty sure that, by the time we take to the ice tomorrow, we'll have all of the creases ironed out.

Going back to that first bit, however, I will say that there are a few players we might need to keep our eyes on. Derek Strachan, for example, will be a bit of a challenge but, hopefully, nothing that will cause too many problems for us. Dylan Brady's another guy we should look out for, although we put three past him last time and I'm sure we can do it again. Maxime Coderre might be a slight problem but, just as long as we try getting shots in as quickly as possible, he might pose less of a threat to us. Either way, it should be an easy game and I'm going to say that there's a very good chance that Elejamie will be going to the Round of 16."

Meanwhile, Quebec managed to edge out Kaboomlandia thanks to a single goal, whereas the Transalpine Republic thrashed Infinitzerland 6-3. Today, the Royal Kingdom of Quebec will see if they can give the unranked Infinitzerland a run for their money, the Unified Sunrise Islands will take on the Transalpine Republic and, in a World Cup of Hockey 27 Group H reunion, Elejamie will be up against Kaboomlandia. Will the Icy Elephants make it two out of two? Or will the Kings claw one back? Find out on Puck Drop.

Elsewhere in ice hockey, the Edgebaston Shamrocks have continued their plans on bringing in fresh faces by announcing they'll be turning to the Natanians and Nosts. Goaltender Miahi Március Álvares and right winger Karl Malthus, both of whom represented the nation at the Under-18 International Hockey Tournament, are two players that have caught the interest of head coach Du Júnior...

Period			P1	P2	P3	FS
Elejamie		0	1	1	2
U.S.I.			0	0	0	0

by **Kaboomlandia** » Sun Sep 27, 2015 3:01 pm

Kings 0, Ice Knights 1

"Hello hockey fans, we're on the air with Kaboomlandia and the Royal Kingdom of Quebec facing off tonight in Group F, in Unnamed Arena, Valanora. No kidding, that's actually what the arena's called. Starting goalies are Dylan Brady for the Kings, and Marc McDonald for the Ice Knights."

"Four minutes into the first period. Fairly even game so far, the Kings' speed against the brawn of the Ice Knights. Maxime Coderre finds Monte Allen breaking up the right wing, over the blueline. Coderre hits him with a pass and goes to the net. Allen flips the puck on goal, but Coderre couldn't get a stick on it and Dan Passmore gets the puck. He's looking for Anthony Mantha, but Tyson Nash gets a stick on it and the puck goes out of play."

"Eleven minutes in now, Kings killing a penalty to Jerome Smith for high-sticking. Brennan Hall controlling along the left boards, passes back to Lucien Ryu. He fires a shot, blocked by Kevin Bore who fires it all the way down the ice. Kevin Bore struggling to get up now, he's going to limp to the bench and be replaced by Pat Clooney on the kill. Hopefully he's all right."

"Down in the Ice Knights' zone, late in the first period. Lindsay on the ice with Strachan, no sign of Bore since that blocked shot on the penalty kill. Lindsay finds Strachan cross-ice along the blueline. Time winding down. Strachan fires a shot, and it's tipped by Blacken into the pads of McDonald as time expires. Coderre taking a hack at McDonald's padding, and now everyone's going to go at it, pushing and shoving! Seth Monahan's now found Blacken in the scuffle, and the two centres are now going to go at it! Wade Blacken and Seth Monahan drop the gloves and start firing haymakers at each other! A spirited fight, but Blacken's size is too much for Monahan, and they're both going to go down! An exciting end to the first period, but no score yet."

"Welcome back to the second period! Wade Blacken and Seth Monahan starting out in the penalty box for that fight near the end of the period, and we still have no sign of Kevin Bore. Alex Jackson wins the face-off back to Casey Lindsay, who is being double-shifted and playing admirably. He doubles back behind his own net to get a good view, and is going to fake, then go out around the forechecker. Casey Lindsay flying up the ice in his own end, looking for a pass...OH MY! Lindsay gets clipped and goes down hard, and there's going to be a penalty to Quebec! And, yes, I believe this will be a five-minute penalty, as Logan Guthrie is protesting. Casey Lindsay is still down, looks like a knee injury. The officials are confirming that, indeed, it is a five-minute penalty and a game misconduct to Logan Guthrie for kneeing. The Kings will go to the power play, let's see what they make of it."

"Kaboomlandia starting on the power play. A strange power play for the Kings, going back to what they utilized in yesterday's game against the Transalpine Republic. Scott Herndon is lining up as a forward with Tyler Martin and Adrian Philips, while Derek Strachan and Patrick Clooney man the point. Puck is dropped and Martin wins it back to Strachan. He walks the line, and takes a slapshot that went wide through a screen. Philips down low, controlling the puck. Back to Patrick Clooney, who passes straight over to Strachan. Winds up, fires, this time tipped by Herndon off the mask of McDonald, who didn't see it coming. Martin back to Clooney. Back to Martin. Tyler Martin throws it at the net. Off a pad and out to the blueline where Strachan winds up and fires...hit the crossbar! He just can't get any luck this tournament with the posts. Finally, Stanislav Markov gets the puck and shoots it into the Kings' end, where the Ice Knights can change."

"Nearing the end of the power play. Kings take it back into the Quebecois end, where the second power play unit, with Tyson Nash and Derek Strachan, who is looking like a cyborg out there with all the minutes he's getting. Nash shoots the puck off the end boards. Jerome Smith gets the puck and throws it on goal from a bad angle, where McDonald easily covers up...and Herndon showers him with snow. Seth Monahan doesn't like that, and he's going to go with Herndon, who is only happy to oblige. This time, though, Herndon is whaling on Monahan. Not a good decision by Seth Monahan to fight the Kings' big defenseman. At six foot eight and 255 pounds, Herndon outsizes Monahan by three inches and thirty pounds. Finally Monahan goes down, in what can only be described as an ill-advised attempt at intimidation."

"Three minutes left in the second period. Quebec gets over the red line and shoots the puck deep. Brad McCrimmon goes in after it, landing a hit on Clooney. Pat Clooney digs it out to Scott Herndon, but Soo Myron Kim strips him of the puck. Right out in front for Strojovic, SCORES! The Ice Knights get on the board! Colm Strojovic!"

"Finally, the end of a fight-filled second period, it's 1-0 Ice Knights. We've received information that Kevin Bore has suffered a broken foot from blocking that shot and will not return to the game."

"Third period, two minutes in. Kings looking to tie the game. Tyler Martin takes the puck up ice and passes off to Rutherford, but he gets absolutely steamrolled by Ian Blanc-Laperriere, the Quebecois defenseman. Now Scott Herndon is going to go after Blanc-Laperriere, and the two will drop the gloves. Darryl Rutherford didn't like that either, but Herndon got to Blanc-Laperriere first, and so Herndon will fight Rodolphe Gong. This game is turning into a circus."

"Darryl Rutherford up the right wing. Dodges a hit from Blanc-Laperriere and passes up to Adrian Philips. Philips is flying down the ice on a breakaway, and he gets slashed in the leg by Dan Passmore! Philips goes down, and the referee's arm goes up! Penalty shot, Kings, but not before Derek Strachan gets to Passmore! It's the rookie's first fight, and he's holding his own against Passmore! Strachan defends himself well, but goes down anyway."

"Philips in on the free shot. He fakes to his backhand and tries to go top shelf, but Marc McDonald gloves that nicely."

"Late in the third period, only one second left. Referees are going around to the players, and telling them not to fight. I think we can all see where this is going. The Kings have Strachan, Herndon, Coderre, Blacken, and Rutherford out there. The Ice Knights have Gong, Blanc-Laperriere, Monahan, Passmore, and Markov. The puck is dropped, and yes, they all go at each other and are going to drop the gloves. Oh well. Kings lose 1-0 to the Royal Kingdom of Quebec, and will need to win against Elejamie to stay alive in the playoff race."

Game Summary:

First Period:
Goals: None
Penalties:
KBM #12 Jerome Smith, high-sticking, 10:06

Second Period:
Goals:
QUE #57 Colm Strojovic (Kim), 17:04
Penalties:
QUE #13 Logan Guthrie, kneeing, 0:07. Game misconduct.
QUE #23 Seth Monahan, fighting, 4:58
KBM #5 Scott Herndon, fighting, 4:58

Third Period:
Goals: None
Penalties:
QUE #15 Ian Blanc-Laperriere, interference, 2:12
QUE #15 Ian Blanc-Laperriere, fighting, 2:12
QUE #97 Rodolphe Gong, fighting, 2:12
KBM #5 Scott Herndon, fighting, 2:12
KBM #9 Darryl Rutherford, fighting, 2:12
QUE #55 Dan Passmore, slashing, 11:36
QUE #55 Dan Passmore, fighting, 11:36
KBM #55 Derek Strachan, fighting, 11:36
QUE #15 Ian Blanc-Laperriere, fighting, 20:00
QUE #55 Dan Passmore, fighting, 20:00
QUE #23 Seth Monahan, fighting, 20:00
QUE #97 Rodolphe Gong, fighting, 20:00
QUE #5 Stanislav Markov, fighting, 20:00
KBM #5 Scott Herndon, fighting, 20:00
KBM #67 Maxime Coderre, fighting, 20:00
KBM #88 Wade Blacken, fighting, 20:00
KBM #55 Derek Strachan, fighting, 20:00
KBM #9 Darryl Rutherford, fighting, 20:00

Goals:
QUE: Strojovic
KBM: none

Goalies:
QUE: Marc McDonald, 23/23, SO
KBM: Dylan Brady, 21/22

Three Stars: nobody

by **Zenic** » Sun Sep 27, 2015 3:14 pm

“This is incredibly frustrating. We should have at least gotten the draw from that match,” Tawfeek said.

“Indeed, we should have. We had too many penalties. Which eventually led to the power play that The Sword Blokes scored on to get the win. As long as we avoid another performance like that, we will be successful. So, there’s absolutely no reason to panic, Lynda,” Henri Giehl told her. “Another beer, please.” The bartender nodded, grabbing a clean jug to fill up with beer. The two of them had decided to get a drink after the game against The Sword Bloke, mostly to help Lynda de-stress.

“How can you be sure that performance won’t happen again?” Lynda was still furious. Of all the ways to lose, this was the worst way: being competitive all the way until the end and allowing a mistake causing the loss. “They outshot us 10-3 despite us having one of the best scorers in Tendaji. And Hoedemakers with that tripping call was ridiculous: a first line defender shouldn’t be making those errors at such crucial times.”

The bartender gave Giehl his beer, which Giehl thanked him for, and took a drink. “As much as I don’t like to be negative, you’re right about Hoedemakers. Obviously, He seems to have lost a step in his speed due to his age. However, I don’t think we should worry and take him off the first line just yet.” Lynda looked at Henri with wary eyes. “Don’t you think you should deal with this now instead of when it is too late?”

“Don’t be so pessimistic, Lynda: he has earned the right to at least a few more starts to prove this was an anomaly at his age. He’ll start for the rest of the tournament, beginning with the game against Kazirstan, if he can prove he can still play at the top level. We owe him that much,” Giehl stated firmly.

“Let’s just hope this favor doesn’t cost us this tournament,” Lynda replied, finishing her drink.

by **Kaboomlandia** » Sun Sep 27, 2015 4:24 pm

Kings Lose Two Major Components

Coming off a 1-0 loss to the Royal Kingdom of Quebec, two reports of injuries surfaced. The first was defenseman Casey Lindsay, who is out for the season after suffering a torn MCL from a knee-on-knee hit from Logan Guthrie, who was ejected from the game. The second one was a broken foot suffered by defenseman Kevin Bore while blocking a shot killing a penalty in the first period. The Kings experimented with Derek Strachan and Tyson Nash on the second pairing. However, the third pairing will have to get by with Jacob Fennyman and fourth-line winger Manny Hayes, who will play both on the fourth line and third pairing.

Also, both Kings coach Frederic Allemande and Ice Knights coach Guy Aronnax have been fined $10,000 by the World Cup of Hockey organizers for intentionally starting a line brawl with one second left in the game.

by **Valanora** » Sun Sep 27, 2015 4:32 pm

"So the Calcuttas are back on the ice and hey for the first time in awhile the tournament is on our shores. So I guess the question is, how well do you think they Calcuttas will do, can they threaten for the championship like most sides who host the tournament do, will they continue to have this sort of yo-yo performance in the WCoH? One tournament it seems we're world beaters and then the very next tournament we seem like mere other rans, before coming out as world beaters just the next edition. It is quite maddening you know?"

"Well consider the side already has beat the second seed in their group, poor luck getting them in the first match of the group stage but hey we won, then I definitely think that the Calcuttas are poised to win the group. From there, anything can happen, considering the seeding system used in the WCoH as of late and will continued to be used in this tournament. It means we wont know who our opponents are until after the group stage, so anything beyond that is just speculation. If the team does continue to yo-yo though, this would be one of those tournaments where they would look like world beaters and it is quite frustrating how they can't seem to string two or three good tournaments together like they used to."

"Given that even Havl has lost one of their first two games, then I would say that the tournament is definitely there for the taking. Now the Calcuttas are going to have to play their best but something about playing at home seems to bring out the best in teams. Those crazy weirdos were able to do it previous edition, so yeah, let's go do this and win another tournament. With the EHL as the best league in the hockey world, we have the players with the talent to."

"Yes, well the results in the HCL could be a complete aberration, considering the turnover for most of the participants in the tournament as well as human based clubs. We have a unique advantage in that we're the organizers so we're always in and that our players do not age or lose their skills in the same way most of the competition does. Merely look at the Calcuttas squad, hardly a change in it over the last decade. So it works and it doesn't, as new players sometimes have new ideas or are just that more determined or better than their predecessors."

"Calcuttas still going to win this tournament."

"Maybe but it would be quite the feat if they were able to."

"Party pooper."

by **Valanora** » Sun Sep 27, 2015 4:58 pm

Matchday 3

Group A
Polar Islandstates 0-1 Valanora
Neu Engollon 4–6 Torisakia
Gim 4–3 Semarland

P Group A               Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Valanora                3    2   1   0     8    6   +2     5
2 Torisakia               3    2   0   1    11    9   +2     4
3 Neu Engollon            3    1   1   1     9   10   −1     3
4 Polar Islandstates      3    1   0   2     6    6    0     2
5 Semarland               3    1   0   2     7    8   −1     2
6 Gim                     3    1   0   2     7    9   −2     2

Group B
Oslesh 0–3 Feministvs Sanctvsterra
Polaaskan 0–1 Ko-oren
Norrehavn 1–0 HopNation

P Group B                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Ko-oren                      3   3  0  0    6   3  +3    6
2 Norrehavn                    3   1  2  0    5   4  +1    4
3 HopNation                    3   1  1  1   10   6  +4    3
4 Feministvs Sanctvsterra      3   1  1  1    8   6  +2    3
5 Polaaskan                    3   0  2  1    7   8  −1    2
6 Oslesh                       3   0  0  3    0   9  −9    0

Group C
Novaya Zemlya 1–0 Nassau-Hessen
Natanians and Nosts 3–4 Ontorisa
Warbern 2–7 Havl

P Group C                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Ontorisa                     3   3  0  0    7   3  +4    6
2 Novaya Zemlya                3   2  0  1    2   1  +1    4
3 Havl                         3   1  1  1   12   8  +4    3
4 Nassau-Hessen                3   1  0  2    1   3  −2    2
5 Warbern                      3   1  0  2    4   9  −5    2
6 Natanians and Nosts          3   0  1  2    9  11  −2    1

Group D
Firebolt 0–1 The Sword Bloke
Cosumar 4–0 Swilatia
Zenic 1–0 Kazirstan

P Group D                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 The Sword Bloke              3   3  0  0    4   1  +3    6
2 Zenic                        3   2  0  1    2   1  +1    4
3 Cosumar                      3   2  0  1    6   1  +5    4
4 Kazirstan                    3   1  0  2    1   3  −2    2
5 Firebolt                     3   1  0  2    5   6  −1    2
6 Swilatia                     3   0  0  3    5  11  −6    0

Group E
Maramark 2–2 Abanhfleft
Esparmuran 3–2 Britonisea
Devonta 1–1 Sandwich Territories

P Group E                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Abanhfleft                   3   2  1  0    8   4  +4    5
2 Esparmuran                   3   2  1  0    7   5  +2    5
3 Sandwich Territories         3   1  2  0    4   3  +1    4
4 Maramark                     3   1  1  1    3   3   0    3
5 Devonta                      3   0  1  2    3   6  −3    1
6 Britonisea                   3   0  0  3    3   7  −4    0

Group F
Kaboomlandia 2–2 Elejamie
Infinitzerland 2–2 Royal Kingdom of Quebec
Unified Sunrise Islands 2–4 Transalpine Republic

P Group F                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Transalpine Republic         3   2  1  0   10   5  +5    5
2 Elejamie                     3   1  2  0    4   2  +2    4
3 Royal Kingdom of Quebec      3   1  2  0    3   2  +1    4
4 Kaboomlandia                 3   0  2  1    2   3  −1    2
5 Infinitzerland               3   0  2  1    9  12  −3    2
6 Unified Sunrise Islands      3   0  1  2    6  10  −4    1

Group G
Gregoryisgodistan 1–1 San Llera
Knarland 1–3 Narsora
Nephara 0–1 Nova Anglicana

P Group G                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Gregoryisgodistan            3   2  1  0    3   1  +2    5
2 Nova Anglicana               3   2  0  1    3   2  +1    4
3 Nephara                      3   2  0  1    4   1  +3    4
4 Narsora                      3   2  0  1    5   3  +2    4
5 San Llera                    3   0  1  2    2   4  −2    1
6 Knarland                     3   0  0  3    2   8  −6    0

by **Natanians and Nosts** » Sun Sep 27, 2015 5:25 pm

Natanians and Nosts wins its first point on the WCoH 28!In a draw with Havl,did our team prove to be getting better or to be stagnated?But now,let's see the scoring moments:
"1st period:
- 2'-Sócrates takes the puck,passes to Oscar,he skates to the goal,but he passes the puck back to Sócrates,he shoots and goooooooooaaal!Natanians and Nosts 1,Havl 0.
- 3'-Petr passes to his teammate,but Iohannis intercepts and steals the puck,passes to Oscar who passes to Sócrates,he shots and sends it to the net, Natanians and Nosts 2 x 0 Havl.
- 4'-Adonis comes skating from the left.Caeso Fábius tries to take the puck away from him,but he fails.Adonis passes to Cash Rogers,whom shoots and it's a goal to Havl.Natanians and Nosts 2 x 1 Havl.
- 6'-Tyler receives the puck from Adonis,he looks to João Márius da Silva,who is saring him,but he passes to Cash,he shoots,but João Márius makes a great deffense,Cash recovers the puck passes to Adonis he shoots,but this time João Márius can't deffend.Natanians and Nosts 2 x 2 Havl.
2nd period:
- 1'-Havl changed their line...Graham Hatch has the puck he skates to the goal,shoots and unfortunately scores Havl's 3rd goal.
- 2'-Brad skates and passes the puck to Graham who's coming from the left and makes a direct shoot,succeded by another great deffense by João Márius,but the ball goes back to him,who decides to pass to Jim Pepperdyne and he scores again to Havl,even being Joao Márius third defense.
- 7'-Túlius receives the puck from Ricardus,he makes a good shoot,in our deffense rink,and I can't belive he scores!Natanians and Nosts 3 x 4 Havl.
3rd period:
- 2'-Iohannis has the puck and is going to the goal,he pases to Oscar who shoots and goooooooooaal!Natanians and Nosts ties the game:4 x 4.
- 4'-Adonis passes to Cash,he passes back to Adonis and makes a great pass to Tyler,Caeso fails to take the puck away from him,the passes to Cash,he has some difficulty with Carolus Mihai,but he goes on and shoots.Natanians and Nosts 4 x 5 Havl.
- 6'-Oscar steals the puck passes to Iohannis,he skates but prefers to pass to Sócrates instead of fainting an opponent,Sócrates skates,stares their goaltender,and shoots to score a beautiful goal!Natanians and Nosts 5 x 5 Havl!"

Barnum Brown Athletics and N-City Peas are disputing Harrison Blackburn from Elejamie,the deatails of eac one of them we'll se later.Ad on the other hand,the Edgebaston Shamrocks wants Mihai(sometimes misspeled Miahi) Március Álvares and Karl Malthus.Let's see their interview:
"Well I,Karl Malthus wold love to go to play for the great team the Shamrocks are.Well I'll miss my family,and I'd be thankful if I could take one of my parents there.I am going to seek for any Elejamian college,and play for the Shamrocks!"
"I,Mihai still don't know if I'll go,I still have,more or less 1 year to decide,and I ask which universities there are next to the Shamrocks and I have some opportunities here,but to play in a foreign country would be great!I'll decide it as fast as I can,which I cheer to be soon,and to the Elejamians to be as cool and receptive as we are here,and obviously to have the most recent news from Natanians and Nosts in my free time!"

These were Mihai Március Álvares and Karl Malthus.After the break you'll have the news from the other games of the 28th WCoH!

by **Kaboomlandia** » Sun Sep 27, 2015 6:14 pm

Kings 2, Ice Elephants 2

"Welcome, hockey fans, to Unnamed Arena, Valanora! Here we have the Kaboomlandian national team squaring off against the Elejamian team in an important third game in Group F. Dylan Brady starting again for the Kings, while Antonio Cervantes is warming up in the Icy Elephants' crease."

"Two minutes in. The puck is dropped, Cerin Meloten wins the face-off back to Lupe, who circles back into his own end. Kings playing short here, as Kevin Bore and Casey Lindsay are both sidelined by injuries. Alex Jackson chases Lupe, who gets it up to Adam Keane. Keane up the boards for Anatoly Kasputin, the Icy Elephants' captain. Kasputin up the wing against Clooney. Kasputin drops the puck into his legs, then pulls it back up and he's by Clooney. Kasputin across to Solano, who scores! Francisco Solano opens the scoring just two minutes in for Elejamie! 1-0 Icy Elephants!"

"We're about midway through the first period, Kings on the power play after a penalty for flipping the puck over the glass to Greg Warren. Strachan at the point, winds up, fires and has that blocked to the corner by Cervantes. Adrian Philips back to Clooney, who goes across to Strachan, who shoots AND TIPPED IN! Scott Herndon in front of the net, the Kings have their first goal of the tournament on the power play!"

"Late in the first period, Elejamie in the Kings' zone. Lucas Madgwick flips the puck back to the blueline for Lupe. He shoots, but missed wide right of the net. Madgwick picks the puck up and tries to jam it past Brady, but the huge goalie stays on his post and covers up to end the first period. Kings 1, Icy Elephants 1."

"About five minutes into the second period. Pael Atenar behind his own net, gets Zack Murray to chase and comes out the other side. Gets the puck up to George Lincoln, but he gets drilled by Aaron Richards forechecking! Lincoln goes down hard, and Richards is going to the box for two."

"Elejamie on the power play. Lupe, slap pass to Paul Morton who can't handle the pass. Alex Jackson lunges, and gets it to Coderre, who clears. Elejamie has to go all the way down, Antonio Cervantes picking the puck up as the Kings change. Long goalie pass up to Harrison at the blueline, but an ill-timed line change means the whistle blows, catching Elejamie with too many men on the ice. Michael Madgwick doesn't like the call here, but he's going to send Morton off on this one. Four-on-four play should be interesting."

"Now, Kaboomlandia back with their 4-on-4 unit of Clooney, Strachan, Martin, and Philips. Martin wins the face-off to Philips. Adrian Philips cuts wide down the left wing, Adam Keane sticking right with him. Philips still with it, spots Martin cutting to the net. Adrian Philips with a little saucer pass, SCORE! Tyler Martin with his first goal, the the Kings have their first lead of the tournament!"

"Kaboomlandia needing to hang on to this lead to win the game. Six minutes in now. Kaboomlandia's holding their own, but will they get tired rolling four defense consistently? Carlos Sierra at his own blueline. He spots Smith coming at him, turns the puck over! Jerome Smith screaming down the left wing in on goal. Smith goes behind the net and finds Richards, who passes across to Jackson...NO! DID YOU SEE THAT? WHAT A SAVE BY ANTONIO CERVANTES! He reaches impossibly across the crease and grabs that shot to keep Elejamie in the game!"

"Elejamie playing wired now with the power play while Nash is off for tripping. Madgwick down low back to Lupe. Lupe to Adam Keane who winds, fires, scores! Adam Keane with a beautiful slapper from the point, tie game!"

"Rutherford and Solano jostling off the face-off, the puck is dropped, and here we go. Rutherford dropping the gloves with Francisco Solano. Both sides landing some nice punches and a flurry of shots on both sides. Finally, the referees will break this one up, and Rutherford and Solano are going to the penalty box for five minutes."

"Final ten seconds. Kings in the Elejamie zone, buzzing here! Herndon winds up and fires, missed the net. Aaron Richards behind the net, finds Martin out front, pad save Cervantes. Adrian Philips back to Herndon, who shoots, stopped Cervantes, rebound, MARTIN SCORES AS TIME EXPIRES! The referees immediately conference, and they'll review this goal! It looks like Martin gets that shot off before time expires, but the puck has to cross the goal line before the clock runs out."

"After further review, the puck did not cross the goal line before time expires. It is no goal."

"And we'll take a tie against Elejamie. It's better than nothing, certainly."

Game Summary:

First Period:
Goals:
EJM #3 Francisco Solano (Kasputin, Keane), 2:17
(PP) KBM #55 Derek Strachan (Clooney, Philips), 10:08
Penalties:
EJM #28 Greg Warren, delay of game, 9:34

Second Period:
Goals:
(4v4) KBM #19 Tyler Martin (Philips), 6:45
Penalties:
KBM #20 Aaron Richards, interference, 4:59
(bench) EJM #6 Paul Morton, too many men, 6:23

Third Period:
Goals:
(PP) EJM #7 Adam Keane (Lupe, Madgwick), 8:32
Penalties:
KBM #41 Tyson Nash, tripping, 7:53
KBM #9 Darryl Rutherford, fighting, 17:24
EJM #3 Francisco Solano, fighting, 17:24

Goals:
KBM: Strachan, Martin
EJM: Solano, Keane

Goaltending:
KBM: Dylan Brady 28/30
EJM: Antonio Cervantes 31/33

Three Stars:
1. Antonio Cervantes, 31/33
2. Adrian Philips, 2 A
3. Dylan Brady, 28/30

by **Transalpine Republic** » Sun Sep 27, 2015 6:32 pm

After competing at several tournaments together, this current crop of Transalpinian hockey players is getting somewhat older and less versatile than they used to be. Nonetheless, the Transalpinian Hockey Federation has decided to submit the same roster as the past two years of international hockey.

Line 1		
Lukas Maier	    D	Ingolstadt Polecats
Elias Leverenz	    D	Lucerne Voles
Axel Gehring	    F	Basel Hawks
Sören Vogel	    F	Valschloss Kestrels
Orel Müller  	    F	Vessen Badgers
Charles 
Favreau-Faure	    G	Annecy Chamoises

Line 2		
Jocelyn Faure	    D	Vessen Lady Badgers
Astrid Schröder	    D	Valschloss Lady Kestrels
Alena Käufer	    F	Lucerne Lady Voles
Mélanie Voclain	    F	Chevrec Lady Martens
Monique Voclain	    F	Chevrec Lady Martens
Melina Beaumont	    G	Neuchatel Lady Mountain Goats

Line 3		
Johannes Van Tonder D	Ebeick Weasels
Josse Voclaine	    D	Chevrec Martens
Kaspar Reier	    F	Ennesau Lynxes
Pavle Kasun	    F	Zug Wolfs
Miloš Kasun	    F	Zug Wolfs
Robert Frost	    G	Scheinfeld Condors

Line 4
Céline Lachapelle   D	Valois Lady Marmots
Charlotte Hausler   D	Scheinfeld Lady Condors
Astrid Jäger	    F	Basel Lady Hawks
Cecilia Koenigsmann F	Feixburg Lady Foxes
Aurora Gunther	    F	Ingolstadt Lady Polecats
Evelyn Metzger	    G	Zug Lady Wolves

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose My Scorers: Yes
Godmod Scoring Events: Yes
RP Injuries to My Players: Yes
Godmod Injuries to My Players: Yes
RP Penalties for My Players: Yes
RP Ejections for My Players: Yes
Godmod Other Events: Yes (But please, no deaths)

by **Nassau-Hessen** » Sun Sep 27, 2015 8:52 pm

Nassau Eagles Ice Hockey Team

Name: Eagles
Colors: Blue And Gold
Demonym: Hessian, Nassauite
Style Factor: -1
Ethnicity: Hessen
Home Ice: The Kizenian Ice Plaza

The Objective
As yet another shrouded mist of internal unrest besets upon Nassau, the coveted national hockey assembly will attempt to reactivate one last time before rejoining the fray. Not even having publicly shown rosters in the past four World Cups, the Hessen want to, more than anything, get back into the top-25 before civil affairs re-envelope the nation. Having surprisingly stagnated in rank after the first World Cup during the crisis, the Eagles' rank has steadily decreased for the past few years to the extent of being excluded from the top-30. From former Royal Alexandre contestants to this, Nassau dreams of exiting their present mediocrity and returning to this glorious status soon. The only obstacle is that the possibility of a return happening anytime soon is contingent on the fate of the next game against the historically dominant Havl (although they have been struggling as of late). Wherever the future takes Nassau, nobody knows, but surely enough it will come.

Coach: Jefferson Dishmore - The ancient seventh year coach that's stuck with the program since inception
Assistant Coach: Xavier Wardell - In his second year, is on the hot seat
Assistant: Jarius Knox - Reliable defense and goaltending coach, sixth year

First Line:

LW Oscar Johnson - Main scorer, Jack of all trades, captain #76
C Ian Merrimack - A recent prospect with a significant speed #13
RW Olaf Liedland - A good mix of enforcer and playmaker, seasoned veteran, assistant #21
LD Earl Ferdinland - A goalies best friend, made breakout on the 26th WCoH #96
RD Collin Carlsson - A third-year rounded player, makes good rightside duo with Olaf #61

Second Line:

LW Gerry Melbourne - Reliable, tested, probable to one-time it #75
C Melvin Harlatrov - A consistent, physical, scorer, accompanies Melbourne #67
RW Allen Stalk - Once he got the call-up a WCoH ago, he hasn't disappointed, needs more crunch-time experience #84
LD Todd Harrison - Grown well into golden years, not a standout, but still useful and dynamic #40
RD Markus Kohl - Another rookie pickup this year, a bit of a gamble, no prominent skills #07

Third Line:

LW Gustav Hjalmerson - A man who has found a unique stability on the third line #11
C Theo Palmer - Picked up right after WCoH 25, shaky but sporadically on fire with scores #91
RW Ethan Belicheck - For the past tournament, he has held this forward pack together in chemistry #09
LD Nikolav Lemesh - A strong four-year veterans with tactical wisdom beyond his age #45
RD Gerald Hilton - An experimental rookie to see if he's a good fit for the team #48

Goalies:

Jacob Anders - Back for yet another season as starting goalie, amazing saves, aging assistant #30
William Klein - Great backup, reliable, trusty co-pilot to Anders #02

Reserves:

Frank Heimer #90
Luis Corey #32
Richard Fallengeno #83

RP Rights:

Choose Scorers: Y
Choose Scoring Events: Y
Penalize Players: Just Don't Overdo It
Godmod Scoring Events: Y
Injure Players: Y, Don't Go Crazy
Godmod Other Events: Y

Group C
Ontorosia (26)
Novaya Zemyla (17)
Natanians & Nosts (UR)
Warbern (UR)
Havl (7)
Nassau (32)

works? · by **Abanhfleft** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 12:18 am

Part One Part Two

Ignorance is Bliss, Part Three

1 mile outside Porcusces International Airport
September 24, 2011

The smoke rising up from the ground just outside the perimeter fence of Porcusces International Airport was black, as black as night. It was the blackest kind of smoke that paramedic Edmund "Eddie" Oaranos had ever seen, and that was saying something as he had seen his fair share of air crashes in his four years as part of Porcusces International's emergency personnel.

A few fire trucks from both the airport and the city fire department had already converged on the site and were busy spraying foam and water on the burning wreckage. As far as plane crashes go, this was one of the worst that Eddie had ever seen. There was barely any trace anymore of a plane, the Antonov An-12 having been reduced to a twisted pile of metal, glass and jet fuel. Surely no one could have survived such a devastating crash, and yet Eddie Oaranos still had to search. It was his job, after all.

He hopped off of his ambulance and got to work searching the site for any survivors. He found the mangled bodies of at least three of the five flight crew members near what he assumed to be the cockpit of the downed plane and left them behind for the others, as they were all beyond saving. Oaranos then went over to the rest of the plane where he found himself tripping over bodies, some burnt and others relatively intact and untouched.

Then Eddie nearly found himself kissing the ground after encountering yet another body in the wreckage. This one was of a a middle-aged male in a black tracksuit with no markings anywhere. Eddie turned him over and saw that the man's head flopped around and was at a crazy angle to the rest of his body. There was no question now that this fellow had died of a broken neck. Eddie could only pray that the man had died quickly.

Then he noticed that there was another body near the one he had just most recently tripped over. This one was quite younger, a teenager by the looks of it. He was also in a tracksuit, but his was blue and had the letters TR on the right chest and an impressive-looking seal or logo on the left. As Eddie bent down to take the teen's pulse, the teen coughed up blood and turned to his side, groaning in pain. Eddie backed away for a moment and then called out, "We have a live one here!"

"Everything's going to be okay now," Eddie told the teenager as the other paramedics rushed over to where they were. The paramedics took hold of the teenager, rolled him onto the stretcher, and then lifted him off the ground and began carrying him towards their ambulance. As the stretcher trundled through the grassy fields of the crash site, Oaranos stuck a needle connected to a bag of intravenous solution into the teen's right arm. "Just hold on, buddy, we're gonna get you to a hospital soon."

The teen's lips moved, but no sound except for some rushing air came out of them. Eddie leaned closer and said, "What was that again?"

"My brother," the teen muttered. "Meet my brother."

"You were gonna meet your brother today?" Eddie asked, in an effort to keep the lad talking. "Where were you two gonna meet?"

"The airport."

"The airport, huh?" Eddie shook his head. "Not today, my friend. First we have to bring you to the hospital, and then we'll call your brother and tell him to meet you there."

The teen's eyes began to grow heavy, and it was a struggle for him to keep them open. "Hey, hey, buddy, don't go to sleep on me, okay?" he said.

"So tired," the teen muttered, just as the paramedics got him into the ambulance. As they hooked him up to the monitoring systems, the teen turned to Eddie and said, "Tell my brother I'll see him later."

"You don't have to ask me to tell him that," Eddie replied. "It's just a short drive to the hospital. You're gonna be seeing him soon!"

Just as he said that, though, the monitor began flashing a red light as a flat line creeped onto the screen of the monitor following a few spikes and valleys. One of the other paramedics said, "He's fading! He's fading!"

"Get him some eph!" a third paramedic ordered. The one that had called out the teen's failing heart reached behind him for a large syringe filled with a clear liquid and then stuck the needle into the teen's chest. The second paramedic then began performing CPR on the teen, but after a few minutes it was obvious that their efforts were too little too late: the teen was gone, and was never coming back.

"Goddamn this shit anyway," Eddie muttered in dejection. But it was part of his job too. Sometimes he managed to save people; sometimes he didn't. It was all a matter of doing everything he could and letting nature do the rest.

The least he could do was find out who the teen was, and hopefully find his brother and tell him about what had happened. Eddie reached into the pockets of the teen's tracksuit and came out with a wallet and a cellphone. He opened the wallet and saw a green identity card inside with the teen's picture gazing out of the plastic window. The name on the card was Trenton Rosenberg.

Rest in peace, Trenton Rosenberg, Eddie thought before putting the wallet away and returning to the job of recovering the bodies of the dead and dying.

by **Firebolt** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 7:32 am

Firebolt Loses to Head Gnashers

Firebolt fell to The Sword Bloke 1-0 yesterday, putting the Broomsticks' tournament in jeopardy. The all-out offensive Broomsticks fired 55 shots on Swordean goalie Angus Foley, but their inept defenses meant they allowed 49 shots on PadBroom GH5. The game was filled with plenty of penalties by the Broomsticks, including a lot of slashes, spears, and fights. The game was deadlocked until late in the third period, when Shop Owner finally fought his way through four Broomsticks players to beat PadBroom GH5 with a snapshot.

by **Sandwich Territories** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 12:05 pm

My apologies to my group mates (Esparmuran in particular) for not posting a roster until now. I wasn't going to make any changes to the squad, to be honest, so its all good.

The Official Sandwich Territories WCOH 28 Squad

Official Nickname: The Cavaliers
Playing Style: +2

Kits

Ararat Athletics is a Sandwichian company, in case anyone actually cares.
Yes, there are Minnesota Wild patches on the shoulders and logos on the helmets...pretend they aren't of the Minnesota Wild...also I'm a Bruins fan so shhhh...

ROSTER

LINE 1:
LW: Huub Dreessen
C: Gerolf Fortier
RW: Philip O'Keefe
LD: Braith Conner
RD: Bevis Foster

LINE 2:
LW: Cash Ó Briain
C: Zechariah Payne
RW: Timothy Merckx
LD: Joord Mac Cába
RW: Grant Timothyson

LINE 3:
LW: Merritt Davin
C: Erick Armistead
RW: Merit Rice
LD: Joseph Bruce
RD: Arrats Montgomery

LINE 4:
LW: Malone Tennyson
C: Gilbert Kyles
RW: Terell MacRae
LD: Braith Connor
RD: Bevis Foster

GOALIES:
STARTER: Harland Becket
BACKUP: Trenton Hamm

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose My Scorers: Yes
Godmod Scoring Events: Yes (make it realistic though, please)
RP Injuries to My Players: Yes
Godmod Injuries to My Players: Yes (minor only)
RP Penalties for My Players: Yes
RP Ejections for My Players: No
Godmod Other Events: Yes

by **Novaya Zemlya** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 2:22 pm

POLYARNAYA PRAVDA

Bobr Unleashed

A typical goon?

VALANORA When the Novozemlyan team addressed the media following last night's game, reporters focused not so much on the 1-0 win vs Nassau-Hessen, as they did on Tealmos Wedernas. The Ontorisan captain made some headlines yesterday after he refered to Novozemlyan captain Krasimir Yerokhin as a "typical goon" in an interview with the National Sports Network.

It was after Ontorisa's 1-0 win on gameday 2 that the two captains could be seen exchanging words on the ice, which led to Wedernas making his comments afterwards.

Although you could hardly tell from watching the snoozer of a game, it is obvious that there is some bad blood between the two teams.

"Who? No, I have nothing to say about him," Yerokhin responded when asked to share his thoughts on Wedernas. The Novozemlyan centre made it clear that he was not going to be dragged into something that could distract his team and declined to comment further. This did not stop the journalists from doing their best to get a quote out of him, however.

"Are you a goon, Krasimir?" one slightly overweight reporter asked, which caused linemate Zakhar Golumbovsky to chime in. "Kras is a pretty lousy fighter, but he throws a mean elbow," he said, and continued: "I didn't hear what they talked about, but those guys were running their mouths all game. Kras probably just got tired of it and asked them to name a time and a barn so we could settle this thing."

A visibly unimpressed Bogdan Bobr, head coach, was not at all interested in discussing the possibilities of a barn fight and stressed that the team needs to focus on the upcoming games. He also took the opportunity to lash out at members of the media.

"This is ridiculous. You media hacks blow sh*t out of proportion trying to sell papers. It's hockey. Things get said during a game. You move on. We're trying to win a World Cup here, while scoring less than one goal per game. Why don't you write about that, you morons? Now, unless anyone has an actual hockey question, I think we're about done here."

by **Gregoryisgodistan** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 2:35 pm

Gregoryisgodistan 1–1 San Llera

"Hello, and welcome to Unnamed Arena Somewhere in Valanora. Today's World Cup of Hockey game is between San Llera and Gregoryisgodistan. We are just about ready to get underway in the land of the elves who claim to be immortal but aren't because only Lord Almighty Gregory is immortal and he's not an elf. He's God. And God isn't an elf. But now we're ready to get underway, so let's get right to it.

...

"16:56 left in the first, Wickerson, to Guamo, shoots, Enemy Crusher Porky "Fatso The Third" McFattel blocks it, Millet shoots, stick deflection by Enemy Crusher Porky "Fatso The Third" McFattel, and now cleared out of the zone by Enemy Crusher Porkbert McPorkerstein. But here's Perrita, he'll hold it while things reset now try to get it in. Wickett shoots, saved in the glove of Enemy Crusher Porky "Fatso The Third" McFattel as Wickett barrels into him. And Enemy Crusher Porky "Fatso The Third" McFattel is not happy as he tries to crush Wickett to death. Meanwhile, the other five San Lleran players are all trying to pull him off and finally they do so as he tries to crush them too before the refs separate everyone. Meanwhile, Wickett is not moving. I don't think he's dead, but he may have broken all his ribs. And he appears to be breathing, so he's not dead, but he's unconscious. And he'll be taken off on a stretcher. That's not good for him. But the Gregoryisgodistani fans are going crazy over the attempted crushing. What a crush! It didn't work though. How sad.

...

"11:02 left in the first, Maura, to Pruneda who is named after the greatest fruit on Earth, the prune, he shoots, high, and now the Gregoryisgodistani fans are throwing prunes are Pruneda. He is getting pelted by hundreds of prunes thrown from the stands and is now throwing them off of him. He's eating one, I wouldn't do that, not that they're laced with mind control drugs because we totally don't do that to our prunes or our prune juice. But I still wouldn't. And now the brooms people are sweeping the prunes off the ice. And meanwhile some San Lleran fans are chanting the same obscene fruity chant that happened a couple nights ago, and the Enemy Crushers are piling into the stands to crush them. What fun. The San Lleran fans are all being crushed. Crush Crush Baby! What a thrill, what a Crush, it's the Enemy Crushers crushing the San Lleran faithful for chanting a certain fruity word.

...

"3:06 left in the first and we'll have our first penalty of the game, tripping on Prison Guard QQQQPPPAL. He'll go to the box and San Llera will have the power play. Faceoff won by Mantequilla, he passes to Maura, Maura shoots, and OH NO IT'S A GOAL PAST THE ENEMY CRUSHER IN NET. HOW SAD WE ARE LOSING TO SAN LLERA. What's Enemy Crusher Porky "Fatso The Third" McFattel going to do? He's going to try to crush Mauro, oh, but Mauro shoves him to the ground and now we've got a whole fight. Enemy Crushers are trying to crush the San Lleran players, most of them are being thrown to the ground, but it looks like Octavio Barbera has been successfully crushed by Enemy Crusher Bigmac Fatfrize who is now celebrating. But now he'll be ejected, oh wait, he's crushing all the refs. Well, he's still ejected and he doesn't protest, and the Ice Slaves are down 1-0. Here come the replacement refs.

...

"11:13 left in the second period, Ice Slaves on the attack. Enemy Crusher Bigmac Fatfrize to Pervert Chaser JDJJ8138, he shoots, saved by Viola in goal, Ice Slaves still trail. And what's this? It turns out Viola's pants are ripped and his butt crack is exposed. That's embarrassing. But here comes Pervert Chaser JDJJ8138, he's taking out his pervert chaser's knife, and he's going to dickapitate and castrate Viola in front of cheering, screaming fans. And now he'll have to come out while they stop the bleeding and maybe go to the hospital. He's likely done for the game. In comes Virella, wearing unripped pants, good for him.

...

"5:13 left in the second, Slave Beater KKALMN, to Actor 81248D8J, shoots from near the dot near the blue line, WHAT A GOAL!!!!!!!!! It's a tremendous goal for Actor 81248D8J, his second of the tournament already, and the Ice Slaves have tied this game up at 1. And the fans are going nuts, or at least ours are.

...

"9:47 left in this contest, San Llera on the attack, Gotay, to Mato, to Marines. Marines shoots, off the post and out. Maratato corrals it, flicks it to Mato, shoots, goal. No, high stick on Mato. Good call. We're still tied at 1. And the Enemy Crushers are telling the ref he's gotten out of one crushing for making that good call. And he's clearly thankful for that. So they won't crush him yet, or soon. Tremendous goal, but it doesn't count, and that's good for us.

...

"1 minute left, still tied at 1, would be a bad draw for the Ice Slaves but they'd still be in first place. Serraro to Artiga, Artiga shoots, deflected by Enemy Crusher Porky "Fatso The Third" McFattel, now sent down the ice by Enemy Crusher Porkbert McPorkerstein. Weatherman 92UDH9111 chasing after it trying to get it before it's icing, he does barely they say and now skates around behind the net. Centers to Pervert Chaser JDJJ8138 with 30 seconds left, he shoots, GOAL! NO, CREASE INFRACTION ON Pervert Chaser JDJJ8138. Horrible call, but the Enemy Crushers promised the refs one crushing exemption so they won't be crushed. It will be another faceoff, Won by the Ice Slaves, here comes Slave Beater NDNSHYQ19, streaking down the side, passes to Enemy Crusher Ronald Fatgoat, he shoots NOW IT'S A GOAL. No, it isn't, they called a crease violation AGAIN. I don't believe it. And now it's crushy time. Enemy Crusher Ronald Fatgoat is crushing all three referees who blew the call and they're all dead. We'll have our third set of officials for the game for the final 11.2 seconds.

"Faceoff won by San Llera this time, gets it ahead, but not enough time, there's the horn. 1-1 draw your final."

by **The Sword Bloke** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 3:02 pm

Shop Owner & Jason Harley Press Conference: Hockey in The Sword Bloke
Live from Valanora on Channel 81 News.

Journalist: Comgrats on your current WCoH form.
SO: Thanks.
Journalist: Now, I'm here to ask some questions about hockey in The Sword Bloke.
JH: OK.
SO: Put one up.
Journalist: What are your honest chances of winning, Shop Owner?
SO: Well, it's pretty much us, Zenic and Cosumar top 3 now. We have an easy game vs Kazirstan up next, and then we have Cosumar. We've won our first 3 games though, so hopefully by the end of the Kazirstan game, we've made the top 2.
Journalist: And of lifting the cup?
SO: Yea... We should, but Gregoryisgodistan, Quebec & Ko-Oren will provide fierce competition. Regardless, we're gonna get a nice move in rankings.
Journalist: Is this the best ever Swordean hockey team, Jason?
JH: It is. 2 tournaments in a row, we've shocked Equestrian States & now Zenic. Our win over the ponies was unbelievable when you believe we were 60-something the rankings. Now, we're 21st.
SO: Everything he said.
Journalist: Was the Firebolt win an easy one?
SO: Their defence was poor, and when they did get it to the attacking players, they did good, they just couldn't get the points. Luckily, we got one with 3 minutes left on the clock in the third period.
Journalist: I heard the Head Gnashers are gonna ride up the bookie lists soon!
JH: They will. And this time, we didn't rig them!
Journalist: Your chances are pretty good.
JH: They sure are!
Journalist: One last question. Will there be a hockey league in The Sword Bloke?
SO: Once there's renewed international interest in the Swordean soccer league.
JH: Yea. We have 17 hockey grounds, with capacities from 4,000 to 29,876 fans. We can really do well in the hockey factor of things.
SO: Well said, Jason.
JH: Thanks Shop Owner.
Journalist: Well, that's everything I have time for tonight. Good night!
Both: Good Night from Valanora!

by **Zenic** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 3:43 pm

It was quite a performance last night for our Frozen Survivors. A third straight 1-0 game to start off the World Cup of Hockey, the second time that resulted in a victory. In the previous game, Zenic were outplayed for most of the match by the upstart The Sword Bloke. Despite being outplayed by the lower team, Zenic almost came out with a draw until an error by Gustaf Hoedemaker put them down a man with two minutes left. The opponents took advantage, scored a good goal and skated off with the full two points.

On this match day though, Gustaf Hoedemakers got his redemption and Veronica Herut scored the game winner. The game was against Kazirstan, a team with much promise but still a long way to go. It was a slow game: both teams play an equally defensive style and were looking to rebound from a loss by getting their second win. Hoedemakers was solid for the entire time he was on the ice, a sign that the game against The Sword Bloke was a fluke and not the start of an alarming trend. Meanwhile offensively, Tendaji Jernej struggled again as he was once again covered by the best defender the entire game and was even double-teamed every so often. Luckily, Tennison and Herut had a phenomenal game where it became a bit of a competition to see who would score. Herut ended up winning that competition when she scored a slapshot goal with 3 minutes left in the second period. The team continued to play well and held out until the end of the game.

Overall, it was the best performance from the team this World Cup. They outshot Kazirstan 5-2, had only 4 minutes of penalty the entire game and had possession of the puck for 70% of the time (42 minutes). Besides Hoedemaker and Herut, there are two other players who performed spectacularly: Olii Piatek and Stanford Alan Medeiros. Piatek, captain and the foundation of the team, once again performed like a true captain, allowing 0 goals and making both saves while the ZEHL finals MVP Medeiros finally got the assist on Herut’s game winning goal after setting up 3 out of the 5 opportunities for his teammates.

For the remainder of the group stage, Zenic will go against Swilatia on the 4th match day before facing Firebolt on the final match day. The squad hopes to pad their goal differential against Swilatia to give them a better chance to leapfrog The Sword Bloke and win the group. But they will have to also beat a Firebolt team that is as talented as Kazirstan and cannot be underestimated as well as hoping The Sword Bloke lose at least one of their remaining games.

Clearly, it’s a bit of an uphill battle to get first in the group and avoid a Round of 16 against another top 10 seed but still very much doable. Let’s see if they can accomplish this feat.

-- Pauline Ferzi

Pauline Ferzi is a homegrown talent, having lived most of her life in San Valerie. She attended New Citium University and majored in sports journalism. She joined The Leinz Herald soon after graduation and returned to San Valerie after the Zenic national hockey team’s headquarters and stadium were constructed. She is now the lead reporter on any and all news hockey related and looks to have a promising career.

by **Elejamie** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 3:46 pm

"... For more of the World Cup of Hockey, we turn to John Daverson. John?"

That's right, Steve. Good morning, Elejamie! Yesterday saw Elejamie draw 2-2 with Kaboomlandia. Despite looking like they were going to have the upper hand, Elejamie struggled for most of the match. Indeed, with things looking bleak in the Elejamian camp, only time will tell whether they'll be making an early exit or if they'll manage to make it through to the next round. Here are the highlights:

The first period saw Elejamie score first as Francisco Solano made it 1-0, thanks to some help from Anatoly Kasputin and Adam Keane. However, Greg Warren received a two minute minor for delaying the game when he shot the puck into the crowd; the resulting Kaboomlandian power play managed to level the score, with Avon Stars defenceman Derek Strachan - with some assistance from Patrick Clooney and Adrian Philips - being the first person to put the puck past Antonio Cervantes this tournament. However, both sides couldn't really add to this: Felipe Barajas' snap shot was caught by Dylan Brady; Jerome Smith's barrage of shots kept hitting the goal; Maxime Coderre's slap shot ended up breaking the glass; and Lucas Madgwick's last second attempt on goal was also saved. And so, at the end of the period, the score was 1-1.

The second period wasn't as eventful. After a flurry of missed shots, Anatoly Kasputin very nearly put Elejamie 2-1 up when his shot seemingly crossed the ice. Then, under five minutes after the start of the game, Kaboomlandia's Aaron Richards got a two minute interference penalty when he crashed into George Lincoln. However, the Elejamian power play wasn't enough to level the score and, thanks to an ill-timed line change, the bench received a two minute minor to the bench for too many men on the ice; Paul Morton earned a stay in the box on Elejamie's behalf. Indeed, little over twenty seconds afterwards and with both PK teams on the ice, Tyler Martin put Kaboomlandia ahead, assisted by Adrian Philips. Despite their best attempts to level the score, Elejamie ended the period 2-1 down.

The third period saw what was arguably the greatest save in the World Cup of Hockey. Six minutes into the period, Alexander Jackson very nearly made it 3-1 to Kaboomlandia when Cervantes managed to pull off the Save of the Year, when he managed to just get a glove to the puck just before it crossed the line. As you could see here, he reaches all the way across the crease to keep it out of the net. Fortunately, following a two minute minor for Tyson Nash, Elejamie managed to tie the game up on the powerplay, thanks to Adam Keane, his slapshot and assistance from line-mate Lupe and Lucas Madgwick. And then, three quarters of the way through the period, there was the big fight betwen Francisco Solano and Darryl Rutherford:

"Some pushing and shoving there from Rutherford and Solano. Puck's dropped and now there's a fight! The gloves are off as Franny Solano and Darryl Rutherford are trading blows! Left hook from Solano! Another left! Another left! Now Rutherford's giving him the right! And another one! They really want to win this fight! But I guess the refs have to break it up and give them five minutes each in the penalty box."

Not much happened afterwards. Cerin Meloten's wrist shot hit the bar. Keane's snap shot went just wide, with the rebound from Solano being saved by Brady. And Kaboomlandia looked like they had pulled off an incredible victory when Martin tried to get a second goal in the dying seconds, only for it to be disallowed when it had gone in just after the match ended, with a 2-2 scoreline and both teams earning one point apiece.

In a post-match interview, head coach Michael Madgwick said "I'm not proud of that line change - and, indeed, I do apologise if I've let - and I wish we could've done better than the draw. The offence still needs some work and we should . We need this win next game if we're to stand a fighting chance in this tournament. The Transalpine Republic will be a tought opponent, no doubt, but I'm sure we'll be able to pull it off."

"How do you feel going into your next game, which could decide whether or not you'll be going through?"

"I'm a bit nervous, really, as the Transalpine Republic have been having a great tournament. Despite that goalless opener, they thrashed Infinitzerland 6-3 and, although they haven't played it yet, I'm pretty sure they'll do the same with whoever they're playing. This is where we should REALLY concentrate on the offence; get them all charged up so we can actually get some goals. Because we really need this win. We're not going to settle for a draw or a loss."

Antonio Cervantes, who made the amazing save, later said «I don't think I'll be able to pull that off again. In fact, I was certain that it had crossed the line until Carlos had told me that I saved it just in time. I was lucky, that was all. It wasn't a special move I had been saving up for the tournament, it was just God being on my side.»

Meanwhile in Group F, Quebec could only scrape a 2-2 draw against Infinitzerland; whereas the Transalpine Republic grabbed the only group win of the night to move to the top of the table, with a 4-2 victory against the Unified Sunrise Islands. Today, Kaboomlandia will be looking for their first win of the tournament as they play Infinitzerland; the Royal Kingdom of Quebec will be up against the Unified Sunrise Islands; and, most importantly of all, Elejamie will take on the Transalpine Republic to regain their spot at the top of the table. Will they be able to do it? Puck Drop! Same hockey time, same hockey channel!

In Group C, Havl began their comeback with an amazing 7-2 victory over Warbern. Havl had began their tournament with a surprising 1-0 loss to Novaya Zemlya, before drawing 5-5 to the unranked Natanaians and Nosts...

Period			P1	P2	P3	FS
Kaboomlandia		1	1	0	2
Elejamie		1	0	1	2

by **Kazirstan** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 4:03 pm

Hello, I'm Elenia Zhamanakova, and this is KBS news at 11.

*camera changes, anchor swivels in chair, graphic appears in top-right corner of screen*

President Bakiyez goes ahead with the planned procurement of a brand new aircraft carrier despite heavily divided public opinion. *graphic switches* The far-right terrorist group 'Black Sun Rising' claims responsibility for a bombing attack in Hrodna Oblast that killed two Federal Guardsmen earlier today. *graphic switches again* In World Cup of Hockey Action, Kazirstan fell 1-0 to Zenic.

*camera switches back, anchor swivels in chair*

But first, during a post-game press conference, head coach of Team Kazirstan, Evgenia Petrovna, responds to comments made by Shop Owner of Sword Bloke.

*clip plays*

Journalist: Coach Petrovna, what do you have to say about Shop Owners' statements referring to a game against Kazirstan as "easy"?
Petrovna: Fuck that guy, we'll show him.

*clip ends*

Now, to Ilya with the weather...

by **Valanora** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 4:41 pm

Valanora Times
Calcuttas On A Roll

Through the first three games of the tournament, the Calcuttas have yet to taste defeat, winning two of the first three matches and having to settle for a tie in the other. While these results are indeed encouraging, especially given the sides misfortunes last tournament, the signs of being fragile are there that need to be remedied if the side has any true desires of progressing deep into the tournament. Both of the victories for the Calcuttas have only been by a single goal and apart from the goal fest with Neu Engollon, what is supposed to be a high flying offense has sputtered and generally not produced many chances. That being said, the side is doing just enough to get by and are on course to win the group, though Torisakia and Neu Engollon are on their heels should the team fall to the upset by either Semarland or Gim.

The upcoming game against Gim should be one that serves as a bit of a morale builder for the side, with the debutants looking quite outmatched compared to our side. Though the new participant does have a win, it came against fellow group bottom ringer in Semarland that was a very close affair, while they have been exploited by the better sides in the group. A win here and a large one would not only do wonders for the sides confidence but would all but secure the group for the Calcuttas with the side holding the tiebreaker over Torisakia and Neu Engollon as of this printing. That will not excuse the side from going out there and giving the sort of effort that is expected from a national team that has multiple WCoH titles in its trophy case.

Looking at the tournament as a whole, the nation is enduring the hosting well, although the likes of Gregoryisgodistan has made it difficult for local law enforcement as well as the citizenry who are offended by their nation and culture. The tournaments organizers have politely asked that all teams and fans adhere to the local laws while in the Eternal Realm and so far it seems to be going rather well, for the most part. At the same time, we as hosts have to also be accepting that others do not share our own outlook on life and unique culture, like those religious states that have to allow alcohol when hosting tournaments. It is a good learning experience for both sides, as long as an incident a la that person non grata murder nearly sixty years ago occurs. Be vigilant, be safe, and enjoy the rest of the tournament everyone.

World Cup of Hockey 28 (Everything Thread)

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