World Cup of Hockey 23 - Everything Thread

[Qazox]

QOXSPORTS.com/Hockey

GAME 2 v. Jeckland

JCK 1-1-2--4
QZX 2-1-2--5

Unlike the WCoH opener against Frusennia, Qazox never trailed against Jeckland; but couldn't get comfortable as Jeckland kept pace through most of the match. Qazox opened the scoring with 2 goals in the first 5:21, both coming off of the stick of Issac VanDerJoy. The first goal came 1:23 into the game, as VanDerJoy took a cross-ice pass from Mike Lupido and slammed it home, making it 1-0. The 2nd goal came just under 4 minutes later, as VanDerJoy made a perfectly timed change, jumping onto the ice as Jeckland struggled to clear the puck and outracing 3 men to score his 2nd goal.

But Jeckland wouldn't go away, scoring twice on a power play, after a double-minor slashing call on Thomas Trufant at 19:15 in the first period. The first goal came just 11 seconds after the face-off, as Jack Rogers was caught on a deke. The second goal, which tied the game up at 2, came with 6 seconds left on the 4:00 powerplay (3:09) on a 3-on-2 breakaway. Qazox regained the lead at the 8:29 mark, as Oliver Huffman rolled around the net, sliding a shot just between the post and the goalie's skate to make it 3-2.

The 3rd period saw both teams trade goals, each side scoring twice, but Qazox scored last to earn the win. 4:22 into the period, Jeckland re-tied the game, at 3-all, as Zach Marion misplayed a puck that should have gone for icing, but instead saw a twisted wrister from 15 feet. Qazox would retake the lead again as Peter Bauer scored 8:15 into the period, making it 4-3. Bauer tipped an errant Trufant blast from just inside the blue line over the sprawling goalie. Jeckland wasn't done yet, re-tying it at 4 with 3:44 left, on a 3-on-1 breakaway as Qazox was caught during a line change, shades of VanDerJoy's 2nd goal in the first period. Fittingly VanDerJoy was instrumental in the final goal, screening the goalie on Carlos Branch's slapshot with 1:14 left. A high sticking call on Jeckland just 12 seconds after Branch's goal kept any last minute heroics from coming to fruition.

[The Fair Republic]

Wayne Rechyichch is pissed. Not at his players but at himself. He mismanaged the game vs Crystal Empire and a goal tied the game up at 2-2 with 23 seconds left to play. He left out the first line too long, they played almost the entire period uninterrupted save a pause of play when Marco Tetteris got into another fist fight with an opposing player and for a 3 minute breather when the second line came in. The resulting fatigue and the man disadvantage (Crystal Empire pulled their goalie in the final minute) caused a lapse in form in the neutral zone trap and led to the goal. He just faced a barrage of questions from the international media and received criticism and teasing by the Republic press and his cousin by marriage, national rugby coach Gideon Patrick respectively. All were deserved he admitted to himself. He blew a winnable game despite superb goal tending as normal by Kinnel and a relentless attack that shot 37 shots on goal compared to Crystal Empire's 22 and deserved the scrutiny that came with the late game mismanagement

Scoring Summary;
1st Period:
TFR: Goal by Bill Tammolds. Assisted by John Malcovitch (10:13) 1-0 TFR
CE: Goal (3:49) 1-1
2nd Period:
TFR: Goal by John Malcovitch. Unassisted goal (17:56) 2-1 TFR
3rd Period:
CE: Goal (0:23)

[Estope]

"This is Bob Grater and you're watching the Daily Recap, with all the highlights from todays sporting events. Our leading story tonight is the much anticipated high school soccer showdown between St. Thomas High School and their heated rivals, Eldora Catholic. With more on this we send it over to Christine, our number one reporter here on ESN 14."

[about 30 minutes later]

"Thanks Christine, what an epic showdown there. And that will just about do it for our show today, as you can see it was a bit of a slow day in sports. The remaining hour and a half of the show will be canceled for a rerun of the Estope's thrilling 11-6 victory over West Guiana way back in the WBC XXIV. Wait what is that? I'm sorry folks but it appears that we forgot to talk about our hockey team competing over in Saintland. We will have to give them some air time before we can show that replay of the classic baseball game."

"Thanks Bob. This is Cindy Sparks reporting live from Via Damascus Stadium in Saintland where Estope suffered their first defeat at the World Cup of Hockey. Sel Appa took the favored Estope to the wire and were able to score the go ahead goal late in the third period to win 2-1. This loss is absolutely devastating to this Estope team and could be potentially devastating. There is still time for them to turn it around and get back on track but..."

"Sorry Sam but we will have to cut you off there. The people want to watch that historic game. If for some reason you care about the hocky team, they will play again tomorrow against Anditia and we will be forced to broadcast it live on ESN 14, the fourteenth best channel in Estope to watch sports."

[Lzherusskia]

Home -> Hockey -> World Cup of Hockey

The Home Of Lzher Sports Since 2089

Two-For-Two! Lzherusskia Turn St. Paulus Into Upset City!
Pokrovski Seals Victory With Unbelievable Performance In Net

If August Pokrovski has to pay for anything while this World Cup campaign continues, his teammates sorely need a kick in the head.

Coming off his thirty-seven-save performance in the victory over Quebec, Pokrovski was rightly named the game's first star for his efforts, stopping another thirty-four shots and condemning Nova Anglicana to the ignominious position of having the worst record in the entire tournament so far - the Lions were flattened by defending champions Havl 6-1 in their opener. The result definitely flatters the Lzher defensive corps, who were bailed out by Pokrovski on multiple occasions, but a victory is a victory and with two high-profile scalps already claimed, morale in the Lzherusskia camp has to be in the stratosphere by now.

It is probable cause for concern that, for the second game in a row, the opposition opened the scoring. After being dominated by the Havl defense, Lions head coach Cecil Palmer was vocal about what he considered to be poor discipline and unsatisfactory offensive output - the team managed just twenty-two shots against Havl, and would have been not unfairly shut out entirely had Kermit Lea dug deep with a slap shot late in the third period - and Nova Anglicana responded accordingly, shooting early and often and blanketing Pokrovski with rubber.

Although Pokrovski was able to keep the game scoreless through most of the first period, the lack of offense from Lzherusskia's forwards meant Nova Anglicana were able to keep the pressure on and eventually, a smart play by Matt Grier saw Derek Jensen left open right on the doorstep for the game's first goal. Lord only knows what went on in the Lzherusskia dressing room during the first intermission, but one imagines it can't have been pretty, coach Andrej Reshetnikov not being known for his subtle approach to man-management.

Whatever it was appeared to have worked, however, as the team took just over three minutes to wrest the lead from the Lions, and with two remarkably different goals. The equaliser was a triumph of vision, as Grigol Gelashviliev threaded a pass through traffic and into Karl Myasnikovnik's crosshairs, while the go-ahead goal was a wonderful solo effort, Sam Kasyanenko picking Jordan Bergeron's pocket and putting on a show, deking Josh Russell halfway out of his skates and rifling his shot through Andres Kelly's five-hole.

Losing the lead in such a dramatic fashion appeared to take the wind right out of the Lions' sails, but their misery was only to be compounded less than five minutes later when Jay Schwartz was called for hooking. Replays suggested that Anton Veselovski, already hated by the Nova Anglican fans after his first-period hit on Jacques Crist saw the Lions' winger taken out of the game with a suspected upper body injury, deliberately made a meal of the hook to draw the penalty. Whether accurate or not, Nikolai Shcherbatiski took full advantage of the opportunity, screening Kelly's vision well and deflecting a point shot from Zakharik Tolstokozhev mere inches over the goalie's grasping glove - if not for the deflection, Kelly would have made the save.

To the dismay of the Lzher fans who'd made the journey, once two goals up the order came from the bench to sit back and defend it, flying in the face of Reshetnikov's pre-tournament promise to make sure his teams never took their feet off the gas. In all probability, his thought process before the World Cup was purely to stir the fanbase up and he never seriously suspected that the team would be in the position of potentially knocking off two higher-ranked opponents to start the tournament, so it's hard to condemn him for his change of heart.

However, as a player for two decades, Reshetnikov should have remembered that there is no such thing as a safe lead in hockey. His order for his offense to back off and turn the volume down meant the Lions were able to turn the heat up much more effectively, and August Pokrovski was forced back into constant, bullying aggression from the instant the puck dropped in the third period. Grier's goal, the result of a wonderful piece of work from Lea and great effort by Rene Robinson, was fully deserved, and it seems cruel to think that the Lions won the first and final frames yet slump to a second straight defeat.

Sadly, such is life in the world of hockey.

With six points, Lzherusskia sit tied with Havl at the top of Group Six heading into the third matchday. Our upcoming opponents are Quakmybush, who are ranked #36 in the world but who are seriously struggling, having suffered the same fate as the Lions in their game against Havl and also only managing to tie Hicana, currently unranked, two goals to two. In other words, there is absolutely no reason we can't play spoiler and drop the higher-ranked team again...although relying on otherworldly goaltending from August Pokrovski is a very dangerous game to play.

BOX SCORE
0-1  NVA   14:15  Jensen (1)               Barrett (1), Grier (1)
1-1  LZK   21:27  Myasnikovnik (3)         Gelashviliev (1), Kasyanenko (2)
2-1  LZK   23:05  Kasyanenko (1)           Unassisted
3-1  LZK   27:53  Shcherbatiski (1) [PP]   Tolstokozhev (1), Kochakidzev (3)
3-2  NVA   52:49  Grier (1)                Robinson (1), Lea (1)

THREE STARS
Third Star: Sam Kasyanenko (1 goal, 1 assist, 21:27)
Second Star: Matt Grier, Nova Anglicana (1 goal, 1 assist)
First Star: August Pokrovski (W: 34/36, .944%)

PENALTY SUMMARY
PEN  LZK   05:07  Veselovski, 2 mins - high-sticking
PEN  LZK   08:32  Myasnikovnik, 2 mins - cross-checking
PEN  NVA   09:52  LaRose, 2 mins - holding
PEN  LZK   17:11  Veselovski, 2 mins - boarding
PEN  NVA   18:04  Foster, 2 mins - roughing

PEN  LZK   23:14  Yevdokimov, 5 mins - fighting
PEN  NVA   23:14  Riley, 5 mins - fighting
PEN  NVA   27:01  Schwartz, 2 mins - hooking
PEN  LZK   34:48  Kipriyanovski, 2 mins - cross-checkng
PEN  LZK   39:47  Nosov, 2 mins - boarding

PEN  NVA   44:01  Parker, 2 mins - tripping
PEN  NVA   46:13  Holguin, 2 mins - goaltender interference
PEN  LZK   50:40  Veselovski, 2 mins - slashing
PEN  NVA   57:33  LaRose, 2 mins - boarding

[HopNation]

Day | Oppenent (rank) 		| Their Record
MD1 | Valanora (3)		(0-2-0)
MD2 | Vilita & Turori (9)	(1-1-0)
MD3 | New Wolfopolis (UR)	(0-2-0)
MD4 | Aquitayne (46)		(1-1-0)
MD5 | Vaugania (23)		(0-1-1)
MD6 | New Koln (UR)		(0-0-2)
MD7 | Cassadaigua (29)		(1-1-0)
MD8 | Gallund (78)		(2-0-0)
MD9 | Caek of the Wolfen (UR)	(0-0-2)
Mashers Record (0-2-0)
Won | Lost | Tied

Hockey Special by Ringwald Griffinsmith and Orpheus Diomedes
Equal Again
It seems our guys are destined to tie, at least that’s what they have been doing thus far in the World Cup of Hockey. This has many surprised, even the two of us as we were discussing this game. To play the best two teams in the group on the first two match days and come away with a point in each of them, you couldn’t ask for anything better from the Mashers. Well, maybe two wins, but I don’t think there was anyone that would have thought we’d be in the position that we are in after these two games. This most recent game was against the Vilita & Turori Ice Cat Things who are coming into this twenty third World Cup of Hockey ranked number nine. Not only were their helmets a surprise to us, their game play was surprising as well. We fully expected them to control the puck most of the time, but the opposite was quite true as the Mashers dominated play early. HopNation actually struck first which seemed to really bewilder the Ice Cat Things. Then the side from Vilita & Turori settled in and the game evened out a bit, but not before our guys could notch one more goal. The Ice Cat Things would not be denied though as they fought back and ended up matching the Mashers tally. This game, similar to the first game saw little penalty action from either side as we had three power play situations, one for Vilita & Turori and two for HopNation. Neither side could capitalize on the power plays as both proved to have good penalty killing units. Overall a fun game to watch and we felt the Mashers played right from the first puck drop all the way to the final buzzer, where the Ice Cat Things needed about a period to get things going before they finally looked like they were even on the ice.
If this game and the first game are any prediction as to how the rest of this tournament will go for our Mashers we could be looking for them to advance past the group stage. Though it still is very early in group play, but coming out of the two, supposed, toughest games with two ties is something to be happy with. These two games could have easily had the Mashers looking at a double loss start.

Goal scorers for Ice Cat Things included:
River Suzgar at 17:17 of the second period
Emhaoi Linaozi at 10:32 of the third period
Total shots: 28
Goal scorers for Mashers included:
Robert Knutsen at 3:15 of the first period
Vaclav Ales at 7:35 of the second period
Total shots: 31

Well there’s the quick recap, now for our next set of players.

Line Highlights - Silver Line
#24 Vaclav Ales – Ales is a 26 year old from Nortal and will be playing right wing for this line. He is a great puck handler and rarely has it taken from him when it’s on his blade. The drawback Ales has is in his passing, not so much his decisions as they usually are good it just that sometimes he has trouble gauging how hard to send the puck across the ice. Many times it’s simply to slow and is easily intercepted on its way to the target. Because of this we both rate him as the number four right wing on the team.

# 88 Leos Kramr – Kramr is a 23 year old from Bayern and is the center of the attacking trio. He is a balanced center, not the best at anything and not the worst at anything. He truly is a middle of the ground player, although he can have an amazing shot at times so teams will want to cover for that. Overall we both pick Kramr as the number three center.

# 10 Robin Rune Nylund – Nylund is a 22 year old also from Bayern and will be the left wing for this line. He is a true gift to hockey, as he is a well-rounded individual both on and off the ice, but it’s the one ice abilities that get our attention. He can shoot in any situation, pass through defenders like they aren’t there, and play defense at times if needed, well other than his normal defensive duties that is. Without question we both pick Nylund as the number one left wing for this team.

Likely Defensive Pairing with the Silver Line
#07 Maria Jarmo Pekkanen – Pekkanen is a 29 year old from Rainiernugget and will play on either side for this pairing. Passing is his best attribute, although he can hit with the best of them as well. He could find himself in the sin bin if he doesn’t watch his temper as well, he tends to let other players under his skin if the game isn’t going well. We both place him as the number five defender for the Mashers.

#02 Ignac Radomir Pokorny - Pokorny is a 25 year old from Zorg and will also play on either side for this pairing. He is a speed defenseman and can chase down anyone. The speed can get him into trouble which we have already seen in the first game and ended up having him in the sin bin as with his speed there comes a lack of control at times. He is also a decent passer and we feel the two of them complement each other nicely. We agree, the number seven defender is he.


Howe’s Howl
I still cannot believe the way we have played, I mean I knew we had a talented bunch but playing two top ten teams to draws, I couldn’t have asked for more out of them so far. We’ve managed to put up decent numbers, scoring five goals in just six periods of play. We’ve stayed out of the sin bin for the most part, three trips in in two games for us is a good thing. The more we can stay out of there the better and I think the guys know that. We’ve been changing lines quickly and making sure we’re not over doing it and getting ourselves wore out. The schedule gets a little easier going forward but we can’t look past anyone. Next is another team like us, unranked and shaking things up a little. Though they can’t say they’ve tied the two best teams in the group now can they. The most recent was a top twenty five team and the first was in the top fifty, so still good teams. If we can win this game I think it will start to separate us from those other new nations, those other unranked nations, and maybe then we’ll get recognized as we enter an arena for once. Eh, either way we need to play well in this next game.

Match Preview – Game 3 vs. New Wolfopolis (UR)
This should be a good game here, two teams with two ties and five goals scored with five goals allowed. We will be playing them at Royal Square Garden, one of the indoor rinks which will be a nice change. Although we haven’t had some of the snow issues we’ve heard from others, guess that’s why it’s good to be one of the first games of the day. Since both teams are unranked it’s hard to know what to expect from the other side, they don’t have much history or at least none that we could find relating to hockey. They have a good bunch of guys listed on their roster, but who’s paired with who, we don’t know other than who they plan on putting on the ice first. The Mashers will probably have to look out for McNair as he seems to be a leader for them. It does seem there is some locker room angst surrounding fighting for them as the coach has threatened suspensions, but after a tie, now followed by another tie, we’re unsure if he will cave to the players whim and allow them to drop gloves. We hope they don’t, but if they do the Mashers will surely be ready for it. But somehow I don’t see the gloves coming off, not in this game, not with two unranked teams trying to make something of themselves in this World Cup of Hockey. We know for one that the Mashers want to be respected, not known for, or as, a bunch of brawlers. We see a semi clean game with the Mashers coming out on top.

Score Prediction – 3-1 in favor of the Mashers


Well that’s it for us today, wishing the Mashers best of luck in their second game. Brew on! Brew well Hoptonians!

[Cosumar]

Cosumar National Hockey Team

NICKNAME: Ice Dragons
COACH: Jerre Klepiten
ASSISTANT COACH: Kameron Scott
ASISTANT COACH: Walter Gastov
TEAM CAPTAIN: Zakk Klyde
VENUE: The Sweethaven Center In Stoneshore, Cosumar


Goalies
23- Martin Hurcumb
22- Rahul Nopaz
83- Darius Douglas

Defenders
6- Eric Kline
3- Kevin Harpin
2- Miles Sleek
21- Joel Novamo
4- Alex Johnston
24- Carson McKlerc
5- Fernando Nunez

Forwards
1- Thomas Hair
10- Zakk Klyde
14- Rohan Gohin
30- Jerry Garfinski
34- Michael Garriger
38- Riley Mrozek
24- Malibog Khan
68- Louis Morpont
47- Calvin Smith
83- William Warren
55- Karl Davenport
56- Harius Linko
87- Matthew De La Hugh



Cosumar's uniforms, designed by Sabre Inc.


If my opponent RPs first, they may:

Choose my scorers: Y
Penalise my players: Y
Eject my players: Y
Injure my players: N
Godmod scoring: Y
Godmod injuries: N
Godmod other events: Y

Modifier: +2

[Neu Engollon]

"Bien-Welk, Neu Engollon! I'm Magda Wertauer and this is NETV Sports 7 Update. We finally catch up with the Ibex, our national ice hockey team that have astounded us in their debut couple games in the Cup. The first game was against the top ranked Avatarians, and the Ibex were expected to take a huge fall...but they didn't. They tied them. Fighting them to a mighty draw.
Primo Delmasso was the star of the game for sure, scoring one goal and assisting Maurice Terfram on another in the first period. In the middle, the Ibex lost their offensive momentum, but were able to still hold off the Avatarian attacks and that is where Reimsel and Farducci shined, fending off several shots by Vau and Skirata, as the Ibex enjoyed a rare two goal lead on their opponents, which they had never done before. There were plenty of high jinx and high sticks, but the fighting was kept to a minimum, and there were simple calls for minor stuff.

Then it all fell apart in the final period as the Avatarians got back in the game and stepped up their shots to close the gap on the anomaly that was an upstart Neu Engollon trying to show them up. Oooh! Flew too close to the sun, boys!

In the second match, against Nassau-Hessen, the Ibex triumphed 3 goals to 2, and are now sitting in a good spot to have a shot at making it in this Cup, the third one for Neu Engollon since entering the International field of play. Again, Delmasso came out to slam one home early on, bringing the intimidation factor that is becoming his trademark. The Hessians hit back, with Melbourne and Johnson each scoring a goal to swing the game to what looked to be a sure thing for Nassau-Hessen. Then Velper and Telhoffen led the Ibex offense back to the lead, knocking in the other pucks over the Hessian plane. Telhoffen's score was the one securing the win with less than 5 minutes in the third, and the handful of Neu Engollians to make it into Saintland went wild, hugging each other and shouting until they were hoarse. These may be early games for the Ibex in their possible journey to the Cup, but when you're underdogs, every little victory counts that much more than the top ranked veterans that can brush off a loss here and there as a bump in the road.

Now we see Neu Engollon face the unranked Crystal Empire and hopefully keep up this streak of no losses. It will be tough to compete for attention with the Goats, the rugby union squad, and the Rugby World Cup madness going on across the Confederacy, but the Ibex seemed to have launched some opening shots to show that they deserve some notice here, beyond all the rugby hoopla. Let's give it to them, shall we?

Next, we show more Round of 16 coverage from the Rugby World Cup here in Burgunden..."

[Ko-oren]

Most scoring:
1. Havl (12), 2. Perlasilangan/Sicoutimont (10)
Least condeding:
1. Gallund/Royal Barangay/Mohawk Clans/
Arkiasis/Gregoryisgodistan/Yttribia (0)
Record:
1. Havl 2-0-0 12-2 +10
7. Ko-oren 2-0-0 3-1 +2
60. Nova Anglicana 0-0-2 3-9 -6

vs. Equestrian States (13th) 1-0 W
vs. Saintland (26th) 2-1 W
vs. Howdeellow (UR)
vs. Kinzar (UR)
vs. Estope (22)
vs. Westbridge (UR)
vs. Sel Appa (57)
vs. Anditia (UR)
vs. Florgania (UR)

With no trace of some of the teams in this group, the Greenblues beat one of the teams that actually bothered to send a delegation to the WCoH. Not because they wanted, maybe, but more because they had to: they host this thing, after all. No trace? No, we haven't seen Howdeellow, Kinzar, Westbridge, Sel Appa, Florgania or even the Equestrian States yet in Saintland, and we even played the latter (Equestrian States, that is). That makes some of these games complete no-shows: lackluster, nameless teams, playing in an rink with no fans or anything whatsoever. Now, with five teams in this group new to the game anyway, neutral fan support is also not going to happen. Anditia is a nice exception to the picture painted here, and they beat Kinzar 5-1. Saintland is not doing as well as the home fans hoped, and lost both their first games, and Estope is with Equestrian States in the middle of the table. Some surprising teams at the top: Ko-oren and Sel Appa, two teams with a good defense but without a great offense, won both games. Now Sel Appa played Kinzar and Estope, and had a lucky win (despite most Estopians not really caring about that, it seems). Ko-oren played Equestrian States and Saintland, so two of the actual ranked teams, and won both games on defense: 1-0 and 2-1.

All three goals scored so far were on powerplay, and the only goal conceded was while the Greenblues were penalty killing unsuccessfully. Karkan Halbasund, of which some people suspect he was in Havl in between the last two World Cups of Hockey, went with roughly the same penalty killing and powerplay lines as usual, but the powerplay line now has Huang, good at reading the game and knowing where he is needed. In his young career, he has not even once managed to be caught offside, and additionally, he can prevent icing whenever his defense is in trouble and haphazardly gets rid of the puck. Zez is also on the powerplay line, and that makes the third line somewhat more impressive than the first line. As for defense: Telain and Mesumurgin are still doing great, so there is no need to have another player substitute them during powerplay. So far, Zez has been responsible for two assists and a goal, while Teradi scored two. The secondary assist goes to Telain in all three cases, but two of those were based on luck more than skill. Lastly we have the goaltenders, but we don't need to say much about them. Leligujilen is still keeping almost everything out anyway.

The next two games are against Howdeellow and Kinzar: Howdeellow might seem like an easy opponent but it turns out they earned four points so far. Kinzar, on the other hand, is an opponent we can beat: 1 goal scored so far, and they have lost both their games so far.

---

Ko-orenite Sports Encyclopedia - 9th Winter Olympics edition
Ice Hockey

The league
The national Ice Hockey league, or KNIHL, is a typical home-and-away season, with 30 games per team. The 16 teams included are all semi-professional, with only a handful players earning their money playing nothing else than ice hockey. The most successful team is arguably the Ko-oren Capitals, winning 4 out of 8 championships. To put this into perspective, their last championship was three seasons ago, and they won all four consecutively (seasons 2-5). Currently the Sturng Scouts are enjoying their first ever title, breaking the Othushun State Team’s two consecutive titles before that. The only other team to ever win a title is the Iliju Internationals, and these four teams finished 1st to 4th in the most recent season.
The KNIHA is also the only league ever to include a non-Ko-orenite team: the Democratic Republic of Koryo’s national team played in the league for a short while: seasons 5, 6 and 7. After the nation fell into a civil war, the team went back to the country, and did not return for the eighth season. The league as a whole is currently ranked 7th out of all leagues, but that is before the large gap that started a few years ago. After season five, the Iliju Internationals and Othushun State were left in the round of 16, but both were eliminated there. The Ko-oren Capitals, being the champions, entered the competition later and finished with the final eight teams.

All 16 teams are based around the northern and western coast of Ko-oren. The south also has a decent winter, but their summers are also pretty hot, which does not allow them to train in summer without an enormous cooling cost. The Tangku Regionals are the only southern team in the league, and they play in a larger complex that does not generate too much warmth otherwise, and this keeps their costs low. All other teams have summers that are not too hot either, and freezing areas are always close by for them. It is no surprise that the Iliju Internationals are among the best teams, seeing as their home city is up in the mountains, where they have temperatures below zero a few months per year, and no real hot summer to take care of.

The national team
The first tournament for the national team was the 19th WCoH. Here they were among the first teams to be eliminated, after eight out of ten group games. With two victories at the end, the Greenblues couldn’t have made themselves any illusion either. Carmadin and Slembana were barely better, but Ko-oren still ended up last in the group. This would also be the last WCoH before the reign of Havl started. Not that that was a good thing to us: the association forgot to enter WCoH 20. The 21st edition of the tournament was when Ko-oren was present again, in the Equestrian States. Ranked 92nd, the team was one of the lowest ranked teams, but with two more unranked teams in the group, nothing could go wrong, right? After a craptastic 0-0-3 start, the Greenblues won 2, tied 2 and lost 6. Last in the group again… it started to get painful. Back for a new batch of losses to be released onto them, the Greenblues played in WCoH as the 53rd team in the world, and with three unranked teams in the group this time, this could only be in our favour…? Actually, this tournament went quite well with 5 wins in 12 games. Four more draws saw Ko-oren NOT finish last this time, and actually they were in fourth, just three points away from a second round game.

The core of the team has stayed almost the same throughout these butt-kickings, and the team seems to start to learn from its mistakes. Some new players were added for WCoH 23, and together with the team that just missed the second round just one tournament earlier, this could be our year.

[Sicoutimont]

The Edmundston Enquirer
Day 2 of World Cup of Hockey 23 From Saintland

ST. PAULUS, SAINTLAND -- It's great to be a hero. Hear the roar of the crowd screaming your name, and be the one everyone's talking about at the game's end. Today in Saintland, Leonard Rampart was one of those heroes. The morning of today's game, Yves Lapierre came down with a stomach flu. He obviously would not be playing tonight. Forced to put in a replacement, Michel Nilonier chose Leonard Rampart to replace him. Rampart, the Vasal Lakers star defender, was chosen to the team, came to Saintland, but did not expect to play that much. "When Michel told me I'd be playing at practice, I was quite excited. I never thought I would be playing at the World Cup of Hockey." He also never thought that he would have the game of his life against New North Aqmuland.

The game took place at the Apostolic Arena, which seats about 19,300 people, and is the largest arena in Saintland. It was scheduled for repairs in the summer, but it will still play host to matches at the World Cup of Hockey. The arena is located in St. Paulus, Saintland, the largest city in that nation. Sicoutimont will play 2 games at this arena, this first game against New North Aqmuland, and, the next matchday, against Swibia. The puck dropped for this game, and the action began. It was a very balanced game through the first period. Shots and opportunities came from both sides, and it was a difficult game to get a hold of. It seemed that every time a team would score, the other team would tie the score. Sicoutimont scored first, with Jean-Pierre Dandenault burying a hard wrist shot in the top right corner. 1-0. But the lead would not last long. Louis Lefay, the starting goalie for Sicoutimont, was strong early on, but the beautiful wrist shot from the Aqmuland forward could not have been saved by most goalies. Only 6 minutes into the period, the score was 1-1. Sicoutimont once again took the lead 5 minutes later, with Elso Kekkonen's first goal of the tournament. Set up in the offensive zone, Kekkonen blasted a slap-shot from the point which found its way past the goalie. 2-1 for Sicoutimont would not be the scoreline for long, though. Only 2 minutes later, New North Aqmuland tied the game once again. Neither team seemed to want to keep a lead. It was the New North Aqmuland side who would score next and take the lead, with a great passing play break-out leading to a 3-on-1, and they would not fail, gaining the 3-2 lead. Leonard Rampart scored the first of his goals this game at the end of the first period to tie the game. Similar to Kekkonen's earlier goal, Sicoutimont had set up in the offensive zone, and he blasted a one-timer to tie the score. 3-3 was how the scoreline would read with 20 minutes played in the period.

Coming back out of the dressing room, both teams knew that they could still win this game. Michel Nilonier's words in the room between periods was a simple message to his team: "When we come back in 20 minutes, I want there to be no doubt that this is our game to win." They would certainly try to push that message to the unranked side looking for a big upset. It was early in the period when Sicoutimont took the lead again. Jean-Luc Desjardins got his first goal of the game, a beautiful wrist shot on a break-away opportunity 5 minutes into the period. But once again, New North Aqmuland would not let the lead last long, scoring once again to make the score 4-4. But that would be the end of the scoring for the New North Aqmuland team. Before the end of the period, Sicoutimont would add 2 goals. Leonard Rampart had one, and Maurice Rolloton the other. This would give the team the 6-4 lead on the game Michel Nilonier wanted to show that Sicoutimont was going to skate away from this game with 3 more points. New North Aqmuland would not quit, however, and it would set the stage for a battle in the final 50 seconds.

New North Aqmuland played a hard game all the way through, and the final minutes were a battle. A shot rang off the post first with just over 2 minutes left in the game. After Sicoutimont iced the puck with 51 seconds left, however, with the 3rd Defensive and Offensive pairs on the ice, New North Aqmuland put all their stars on the ice and pulled the goalie. The face-off was won by New North Aqmuland, who pulled it back to the point. The first shot went wide of the net, and left Louis Lefay out of position. The puck bounced back in front, and the New North Aqmuland player wound up for a slap shot. Leonard Rampart, however, dove in front of the shot, blocking it. The puck rolled back out of the zone, and although Rampart was slow to get up, ended the offence for a short time. Rampart got up and started to make his way off the ice. The 1st pairs were now on, and got the puck back out of the zone quickly. It was a matter of time before Gaspard Richard, playing with the first line in this moment as the top defensive forward on the team, put away the game with an empty net goal to make the score 7-4. The buzzer rang, and Sicoutimont skated away with the victory.

It was a tough game for Sicoutimont, as New North Aqmuland would not quit. "They played a great game, all credit to them. Had Leonard not been on the ice, it would have been 6-5, and a much different story at the end of the game. He's not injured, although it may have appeared he was, just had the wind knocked out of him. Yves Lapierre's going to rest up, we'll see how he is tomorrow, but I might send him ahead to St. Ioannes so he can adjust before the tough game with Torisakia." Coach Michel Nilonier's words at the end of the game praised his substitute d-man. As of tonight, Yves Lapierre won't be playing against Swibia, he will attend practice at the Apostolic Arena tomorrow, and a decision will be made on whether he stays in St. Paulus with the team, or goes ahead to St. Ioannes. "I feel bad for the guy," said room-mate Archibald Laurier, "He's basically been quarantined off when you think about it, he's on the floor with all the team officials and doctors. But hey, at least I get the room for myself." Laurier and Lapierre also room together on the road for their club team the Riviere St-Denis Rangers. We'll have more updates from Saintland as the World Cup of Hockey's 23rd edition rolls into Day 3.

[Gallund]

[Maineiacs]

From MSPN--

Game Day 2 of the World Cup of Hockey didn't go well for the Tie-Dyeds, as they fell 2-0 to Hicana. Our defense was sluggish and sloppy; Hicana had 19 shots on goal, so the blame for the loss cannot be blames solely on L'avoie. Hicana C Josh Carlson skated circles around Maineiacs, scoring both of Hicana's goals. No goals for Maineiacs, but plenty of penalties, including a 5 minute major to Georges Duvalier, who mixed it up with Hicana winger Carl Smith. National mood is best described as "subdued". We were hoping to not lose to an unranked team during this tournament. Next up is our last best chance to rack up a win, as we play unranked Yttribia.

[Nassau-Hessen]

Eagles Edged Again, First Goals Scored

The frustration of the Eagles is beginning to mount. The Red and Purple know that they could've won the game despite having great efforts. The Eagles close out playing the number thirties with one goal to differentiate a tie to a loss.

It was a fine day at the Road To Damascus stadium, both teams anticipating a chance for their first win. The first period came soon, and most people knew at that moment that it was going to be a run for both teams money. The Ibex hit the net hard in the opening minutes and was rewarded with a narrow goal by Right Wing Primo Delmasso to start the game out (on a side note, this is getting common with him). Both goalies stood strong from hence in the first, both sides blaring an equal amount of shots.

The beginning of the second was the complete opposite of the first, with a strong Hessian offensive line, Gerry Melbourne tickled the twine with a sizzling screened slap shot. The Eagles kept rolling with a breakaway deke goal from Oscar Johnson to secure Nassau's first lead of the tournament.

The third period began three minutes in with an expertly aimed behind the net and under the pad shot from Remy Velper. It was a hard fought stalemate for the next ten minutes. Both sides have had an off the pipe shot to intensify it. Both teams ventured a little after possessing a hard knit defense, all of the sudden Neu Engollon broke out with a breakaway, pipe, and eventual goal on a rebound with a wide open net by third liner Nils Telhoffen. As in the last game, the Eagles fought back bravely and efficiently, but to no avail.

The Eagles are coming up against the Gyatso Kai Ice Bisons, whom have shown a disfavor towards them in their game by game predictions, saying that the Eagles expect to rely on little experience and have horrible colors (that part may be true, but you can't pick your national ancestral colors). Each team is eager to get a win that match, the Bison for a good grasp on the division, and the Eagles to get one on the win column and to prove the Bison wrong as Neu Engollon did, a team they were neck and neck with. Fights could very well be expected, it may be a rivalry in the making.

(2/6) @ Fair Republic @ Progress Stadium L 0-1
(2/7) v. Neu Engollon @ Via Damascus Stadium L 2-3
(2/8) @ Gyatso Kai @ Civitate Dei Arena
(2/9) @ Super Llama Land @ Royal Stadium Rink 2
(2/10) v. Crystal Empire @ Civitate Dei Arena
(2/11) @ Falcus @ Via Damascus Stadium
(2/12) v. Mohawk Clans @ Progress Stadium
(2/13) @ Middleton Valley @ Apostolic Arena
(2/14) v. Trans Alpine Republic @ Apostolic Arena

[Havl]

World Cup of Hockey XXIII - Havl 6, Quakmybush 1

St. Paulus – It was quite a sight at Via Damascus Stadium Friday night as #1-ranked Havl faced off against 36th-ranked Quakmybush while another game took place side-by-side on a second sheet of ice. Just 20 yards from where the reigning three-time champions strove to move to 2-0, Soviet Canuckistan played Norther Sunrise Islands for a place at the top of Group 5's standings.

"It's different, but not bad at all" said defenseman Brian Beierle. "[Via Damascus Stadium] is massive, so it makes sense to have two games going at once." Although the Havl-Quakmybush game started two periods later than their neighbors, there were a few coincidental moments, such as when Havl and Soviet Canuckistan scored at nearly the same time. "I scored, and the place went crazy," said Andrei Petrov. Meanwhile, Soviet Canuckistan had just netted the go-ahead goal in the third. "My goal put us up by three; I couldn't understand why the crowd responded like that." Despite the confusion, the crowd of mostly Santii fans toughed out the near freezing temperatures throughout the six games played at the stadium on Friday.


Jason State scored the game-winning goal in the first period.

It was another night of dominating offense from the three-time defending champions. State, Adam Fleer, and Andrei Petrov notched goals in the first period, with State earning the game-winning goal. Martin Klerx earned his first goal for Team Havl in the second period, and Sergei Skrbinski scored his first of the tournament. Quakmybush answered back late in the second with a goal from [Quakmybush 1st-line center]. In the staid third period, Donndelinger scored his second of the tournament to end the night with three points. He now leads the team with six points.

[Quakmybush goaltender] made 39 saves for Quakmybush in a game that saw Havl put up 45 shots. The Firing Squad proved its provenance by combining for 17 shots and 3 goals, including State's game-winner. "That's how we do it," said State. "We get up front and attack. We don't have the best shooting percentage, of course, but we manage to net a lot of goals that way."

"We weren't sure exactly what to expect against Quakmybush," said Donofrio. "There hasn't been a lot of information available about the team, and we had to look back to previous tournaments to find [gameplay] tape worth reviewing." The loss puts Quakmybush at second-last in the group standings.

With the win, Havl maintains the lead of the Group 6 standings over 96th-ranked Lzherusskia. Coverage of World Cup of Hockey XXIII continues on HTVM Saturday evening as Havl faces unranked Hicana live from Civitate Dei Arena.

Box Score

	1st	2nd	3rd	Final
Havl	3	2	1	6
Quakmybush	0	1	0	1

Team Leaders
Num	Name			G	A	Pts
17	Justin Donndelinger	2	4	6
11	Adam Fleer		2	3	5
2	Brian Beierle		1	4	5
19	Jason State		2	2	4
13	Andrei Petrov		1	2	3
15	Martin Klerx		1	2	3
6	Sergei Skrbinski	1	2	3
8	Andrey Pasternak	1	1	2
9	Brian Demerson		1	0	1
14	Brady Anderson		0	1	1
10	Joey Kaminski		0	1	1
18	Juna Mossil		0	1	1
3	Petr Zaradnik		0	1	1
16	Cooper Sullivan		0	0	0
36	Jay Marshall		0	0	0
12	Taro Tsujimoto		0	0	0
77	Tomas Holicek		0	0	0
7	Trevor Ventham		0	0	0
Num	Name		GP	W	L	T	GA	SA	GAA	S%	SO
29	Davis Rich	2	2	0	0	2	41	1.00	95.1	0 
30	Ty McLaren	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Scores and Schedule
Thursday, February 6		1Havl 6 @ 44Nova Anglicana 1 [Progress Stadium]	
Friday, February 7		36Quakmybush 1 @ 1Havl 6 [Via Damascus Stadium]
Saturday, February 8		1Havl @ URHicana [Civitate Dei Arena]
Sunday, February 9		1Havl @ URMaineiacs [Royal Stadium]
Monday, February 10		96Lzherusskia @ 1Havl [Civitate Dei Arena]
Tuesday, February 11		1Havl @ 21Svengarda [Via Damascus Stadium]
Wednesday, February 12		URSan Jose Guayabal @ 1Havl [Progress Stadium]	
Thursday, February 13		1Havl @ URYttribia [Apostolic Arena]
Fridaym February 14		10The Royal Kingdom of Quebec @ 1Havl [Apostolic Arena]

[Gyatso-kai]

Can Yue-LO!!! An ASPN Production.

Can Yue-Lo: TONIGHT!!! We talk about the scandals rocking the RGL! Can the Rev'ned Mustangs recover from such an embarassing post-season lost an regain their position at the top!

Shan Kisha:Also, is Ad'en Skirata off the market?!

Really Kisha?

What, got to give us girls something on this sports show...

Audience laughs

Alright, alright, well, let's get things started with the World Cup of Hockey!

My favourite tournament of the year!

Huzzah to that! Well, with the Ice Bisons off to a rough start, drawing 2-all against Nei Engollon, we have the final score from Saintland, with the Ice Bisons shutting out the Super-Llamabad Ice Tigers 2-nil.

There's our boys, right where they should be.

Should be?! They only scored twice on an unranked team?!

A win is a win, Yue-Lo. on't do this again like you did during the Incarnate cup when we only beat Waverly by a goal...

We were ranked fifth in the world!

And now we're nineteenth... We still shut them out. Zhao ha an impressive game, taking 28 shots and saving every one.

Yes, but did you see the Ice Tigers? Some of their players were carrying field hockey sticks.

Audience laughs

True true... and I think I saw one of their players reading Field Hockey for Dummies on the bench.

Audience boos, then laughs

Who knows what they were thinking! All I know is, the boys better do good tonight. The Nassau-Hessen team looks to be a good match.

Sure they are ranked 74th, defensively-minded, and not an ounce of experience, but hey, they have shown some mando'karla in their last two games. Sure they went down 1-nil against Fair Republic, but did you catch the Neu Engollon game?

I Sure did. The opening of the second period with that storng Hessian line ending with Melbourne's slap shot to equalise.

Then Johnson's go-ahead goal right before the end of the second? A beautiful deke if I ever saw one.

Shame they couldn't hold on to that lead, eh?

Tieing the match at 2-all in the third minute of play from Velper sure didn't help their momentum, and of course, that break-away from Telhoffen...

A thing of beauty. Telhoffen almost did the same to us, if it hadn't been for him running right into Ito Pakku.

Hey, the man may be old, but Pakku can lay out any player with the best of them.

Here's to hoping we can spread those Eagles out and get us a solid grasp on our Group. Now if only Mohawk can take their first loss...

True right on that, Yue-Lo. And on that note, we best be heaing into our first commercial break, brough to you by Bison Express.

[Valanora]

Valanora Times
Stumbling Start

It appears as if the EHL is not being the boon that it was thought to be when the national team players put themselves back into the fray. Instead of being toughened up after a season of grit and hard work they look tired and worn out. Perhaps it should have been expected, a transition period as the players get accustomed once more to playing in both domestic as well as international games. While being a club team had worked in the past, it was time to move on from that setup, and get them back to constant play was the way to move forward, back towards championship aspirations.

Yet in the meantime, the team needs to toughen themselves up not physically, but mentally and regroup from this stumbling start to the WCoH in Saintland. While the bad weather and outdoor arenas have not helped at all, nor having matches occur simultaneously with noise from the accompanying mach. To say the least, it has been quite the unconventional setup for the tournament as well as the format, but the members of competition committee decided the bid was sufficient enough to pass it. The Vanorian delegation will just have to deal with the situation that they have found themselves in and in a hurry or risk having their hopes of a reconquest of the tournament demolished before it even began.

It is a familiar sinking problem for Vanorian national teams, with their weakness being not in the ability to score, but in the inability to keep the opposition from scoring. The Marauders in World Cup have faced this problem for years and it has now seeped into the Calcuttas as well. Which leads to the inevitable conclusion that if the squad is going to rebound, it is not going to be a miraculous surge in defense prowess, but finding a way to simply outscore the opposition. While it will likely be entertainment gold for the neutrals, it is going to be an absolute headache for the coaches, but it is the most viable option the team has right now.

Luckily it is not a completely dire situation yet, two ties while not the best outcome is still two points in this rather long group stage. With even Vilita & Turori falling victim to the upset bug or maybe the sheer determination of HopNation, the Calcuttas do not have to worry about being quite left behind yet and with seven games left in this round robin, there is plenty of points still to grab and work your way back to the head of the pack. That has to start tonight though as the team takes on the group leads in Gallund, the seventy-eighth ranked nation in the world. Yet leading this group and the way HopNation has played has showed that rankings should only be taken with a grain of a salt, as the players will have to deliver on their skill if they are to grab the much needed victory.

[The Royal Kingdom of Quebec]

Montreal Gazette: Snowstorm, fogginess plagued the game, Quebec drew Svengarda

(St.Ioannes, Saintland)- Saintland. You gotta do better than just leaving the teams out to dry in middle of snowstorm when you host a primarily-outdoor hockey tournament.

With an anticipation of watching what was going to be an exciting game between Quebec and Svengarda, the Progress stadium was filled to a sell-out crowd. Most of the 17,670(some got standing room ticket) crowds in the attendance were Quebecois, some of whom played over $450 to get a ticket in this outdoor game. With these and some snowfall to add unique, special vibe into the game, everything seemed to be perfect for most fans.

Instead, it turned out to be one of the worst games ever played by the Ice Knights in history, as the both sides struggled to do anything significant in what was a very foggy and snowy match leading to a boring, injury-filled game leading to a 0-0 tie.

In the hours before the start of the game it started to snow to such an extent that constant shoveling of snow did not help the situation at all. Snowfall only grew and grew, to such an extent that by 22:30, the supposed time for opening faceoff, the rink was covered in 30 centimetres of snow.

In addition to that, players were barely able to see more than anything farther than a metre, thanks to extremely foggy conditions of the stadium by the time both teams stepped up into the rink. "It was as if we were in middle of snowstorm, blind with our ankles covered in snow." said Etienne Park, Quebecois third-stringer who only got to make 2 saves for the entirety of the game, "No one was able to see anyone unless they accidentally collided with each other or to the boards."

Both teams initially refused to call the game, calling it unplayable, the officials threatened to double-forfeit the match if neither team took the ice, so after 20 minute holdover they did.
This, however, resulted in what was the prelude of many accidental collisions and injuries to come, as both Maxwell Belmont-Deschamps and Ekki Lundquist crashed into each other after taking the faceoff. Both players went down with undisclosed injuries and did not play for the game. The status of their injuries are not revealed to the public, even though it is, according to Head Coach Guy Aronnax, very likely that the Quebecois star will play again for the next match.

For the rest of the period neither sides were able to play much, with almost every passes ended up in nowhere, got stuck in snow or were intercepted by unaware opponent players on the ice. Players constantly lost their balances, and more often than not collisions occur due to lack of visibility on the ice. Soon, shortly after a 5-minute scramble to dig the puck from snow, the first period ended.

At the intermission snow got quickly shoveled by the all-Sanctii crew on-site, though it was quickly filled up right after and they had to do it twelves times more before the 2nd period started. Both coaches, knowing that their requests to suspend the game would be denied by the officials, did not raise any requests or strikes, and the game resumed 20 minutes later. By the time the audience couldn't see anything on ice, so they had to resort to the live broadcasts from QBC and other TV channels, as well as announcements made by referees, to figure out what was going around in the stadium.

Things went no better in the second period, as players constantly having to dig puck out of snow and collisions occurred. By the 3rd minute of the period another injury happened, with the victim being Hal Niemes. Niemes, while standing in front of the net, was shot in the head following after shot by sniper Alexandre Rioux. He fell into the ice, forcing Etienne Park to take over in his place. In the ensuing faceoff, George Howe, a 20-year old defensive forward, went on a body-to-body collision with Tatu Heikki while on an extremely quick rush. Heikki, absorbing the hit from an astonishing speed, fell backwards and head first. He did not return to the game as well, with his injury status remain unknown. Head Coach Guy Aronnax, during the break, told his player to just shoot once they found or shoveled the puck up from the ice, saying that it is better to just shoot and generate scoring opportunities. This, though with a good intension, resulted in a shoot-first game that caused the puck to be in all over the rink.
Later in the period Logan Guthrie launched a slapshot that seemed to have went in the net, but was controversially ruled in as a non-goal by the Sanctii referee in site, Marcus Hertineius. Raid boos were heard in the audience, only adding to the chaotic atmosphere at the stadium.

The third period, like the two before, didn't see any scoring, with the snowfall and fogginess worsening to such an extent that players just gave up on shooting pucks to nowhere for most of the time. They seemed to be tired, disoriented and most importantly of all wanted to give up on this game. It was mostly uneventful, with same old things happening all over again. Both coaches gave up on the game, and as the result players tried to run out the clock.
The game ended in a sad note as Soo Myeon Kim, after shooting an one-timer, crashed into the snow-padded ice after a collision with Brennan Hall on the neutral zone. He got knocked out unconscious and had to be carried out in a stretcher. Kim, post-game, was diagnosed broken leg and first-degree concussion. It is still yet to be found whether he will play in the rest of the tournament or not. On way or another, it was an unfortunate way to end the game as the referee whistled following a very tough save made by Niklas Gulbredsen.

It turned out to be that 37 shots in turn were generated in the game, 32 made by the Quebecois. However, it was also noted that 19 of the shots generated by both sides were on their own net, showing the lack of directions felt on-ice due to fogginess on-ice. In addition to that the puck got stuck on ice for 27 minutes, making it a very disjointed game far from being an entertaining one.

Following the game Logan Guthrie stated what most of felt about the game, as well as apologizing for not putting better efforts. "There was nothing we could do, with the extremely-tight schedule reserved for the teams and an awful weather during the game. Regardless, we are extremely sorry for not being able to generate our maximum effort and putting on a better game."

[Gallund]

[Middleton Valley]

"Ok, guys. Today we get our first win," encouraged Today S. Hopeless, head coach of the Middleton Valley Crazy Pups. "I know that last game things did not go as plan, but they were the highest ranked team that is in our group. Now, we get to face an unranked team that frankly has been using modified baseball bats as their hockey sticks. They don't expect to score much and try to run a very strong defense to keep the game in check.

I know that many of you were expecting a press conference after last game, but because of the threats by Gregoryisgodistan forced the press to leave the host nation. However, we can still do our part in sending a message to Gregoryisgodistan by scoring goals, something that they have not been able to do. We need to represent how Middleton Valley is so much more advanced than the complainers from Gregoryisgodistan. So, lets go out there and score some goals. On three. One. Two. Three."

[Vaugania]

OOC: The "Tomas" fellow is the coach of my team. he was listed on the roster as the captain for WCoHs 19 and 20.

Feb 8, 2013

Dear Journal,

As I have been for the past week or so, I'm writing this from City Centre, Liventia. It's a nice place and the Olympics have been fantastic thus far. My only wish is that I would be back on the ice once they are over. But we both know that this is it. My mind is made up and I know that I can't be running around like this at my age. I'm calling it quits as soon as the Games are over. It would be deceptive to come back to play.

Today, we lost to The Babbage Islands by a score of 2-1. Not a good day for is as we are now officially out of the competition. We still have hockey left to play, and you can bet that we'll play our hardest, but there will be no moving on. Here's to hoping Laurence or those curling goals can bring home some hardware since I couldn't. It has been a rough road for us. In 2 World Cups of Hockey, we still haven't been very successful. It's a shame that I can't be out on the ice having both the time of my life and earning the accomplishments of a life. Perhaps Jurgis will do better with the "C" than I have.

That is not to say that I haven't been blessed with what I have been able to accomplish and with the oppurtunities I've had. I've been blessed with a supportive family. I've been blessed with the greatest coaches. I've been blessed with the greatest teammates I've been blessed with the greatest fans. I've been blessed with the career of a lifetime. And now it is time to move on.

Tomas

---

Feb 8th, 2014

Dear Journal,

It's been a long time hasn't it? But once again I've found you and I think we ought to spend some time together one last time. This time, I'm in St. Petrus, Saintland. It's been a little chilly (and snowy) here, as have the politics involving the Sanctii and Vaugania, but the new president will be trying to smooth that over in the future. The Archbishop put out a nice statement after the late King Paulus XV was assassinated. But I am here to talk about hockey with you.

Today, we tied New Wolfopolis 3-3. We are still in the competition because this was only game 2 of 9, but I would have hoped for a start better than 0-1-1. We are going to play very hard for the remaining 7 games and get into the playoffs and move on from there. Now in our 5th World Cup of Hockey and my 3rd as coach, the first 2 with me as a player, we have been mildly successful, but we'll be looking to crack the top 20 when this one is over with. I better, because I think I am done for good after the Olympics in Saugeais. I'm not a coach and I have no idea how I've been able to keep this job over the past year. I am a player, just too old to take to the ice. The team will be in good hands of course. Jurgis has handled the "C" well and the other coaches are fantastic. One of them will surely have no problem taking my place and getting this team playing to its full potential. I have certainly had the ride of my life.

I have been 110% blessed by God. I've been blessed with a supportive family. I've been blessed with the greatest staff. I've been blessed with the greatest players. I've been blessed with the greatest crowds. And I've been blessed with the career of a lifetime. And now it is time to move on.

[Saintland]

Results for MD3

Group 1
Caek of the Wolfen 2–2 New Koln
Valanora 4–3 Gallund
Vilita & Turori 3–3 Cassadaigua
New Wolfopolis 0–1 HopNation
Aquitayne 0–0 Vaugania

   Group 1                        Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
 1 Gallund                          3   2  0  1    5   4  +1    6
 2 Valanora                         3   1  2  0   12  11  +1    5
 3 Cassadaigua                      3   1  2  0    9   8  +1    5
 4 Vilita & Turori                  3   1  2  0    8   7  +1    5
 5 HopNation                        3   1  2  0    6   5  +1    5
 6 Aquitayne                        3   1  2  0    5   3  +2    5
 7 New Wolfopolis                   3   0  2  1    5   6  −1    2
   Vaugania                         3   0  2  1    5   6  −1    2
 9 Caek of the Wolfen               3   0  1  2    2   4  −2    1
10 New Koln                         3   0  1  2    3   6  −3    1

Group 2
Levivania 2–3 Perlasilangan
The Royal Barangay 0–0 Torisakia
Sicoutimont 6–2 Swibia
Qazox 3–4 New North Aqmuland
Frusennia 1–0 Jeckland

   Group 2                        Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
 1 Sicoutimont                      3   3  0  0   16   8  +8    9
 2 Perlasilangan                    3   3  0  0   13   8  +5    9
 3 Qazox                            3   2  0  1   12  11  +1    6
 4 The Royal Barangay               3   1  2  0    1   0  +1    5
 5 Levivania                        3   1  1  1    5   4  +1    4
 6 Frusennia                        3   1  0  2    7   9  −2    3
 7 New North Aqmuland               3   1  0  2    8  11  −3    3
 8 Torisakia                        3   0  2  1    3   5  −2    2
 9 Swibia                           3   0  1  2    3   9  −6    1
10 Jeckland                         3   0  0  3    6   9  −3    0

Group 3
Saintland 0–2 Equestrian States
Howdeellow 0–2 Ko-oren
Kinzar 0–0 Florgania
Estope 3–1 Anditia
Westbridge 5–2 Sel Appa

   Group 3                        Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
 1 Ko-oren                          3   3  0  0    5   1  +4    9
 2 Sel Appa                         3   2  0  1    5   6  −1    6
 3 Estope                           3   2  0  1    7   3  +4    6
 4 Equestrian States                3   2  0  1    4   1  +3    6
 5 Florgania                        3   1  2  0    5   3  +2    5
 6 Howdeellow                       3   1  1  1    4   5  −1    4
 7 Anditia                          3   1  0  2    7   6  +1    3
 8 Westbridge                       3   1  0  2    5   7  −2    3
 9 Kinzar                           3   0  1  2    1   6  −5    1
10 Saintland                        3   0  0  3    2   7  −5    0

Group 4
Middleton Valley 2–0 Super-Llamaland
Transalpine Republic 0–1 Mohawk Clans
The Fair Republic 0–1 Falcus
Neu Engollon 5–3 Crystal Empire
Gyatso-Kai 5–3 Nassau-Hessen

   Group 4                        Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
 1 Mohawk Clans                     3   3  0  0    4   0  +4    9
 2 Gyatso-Kai                       3   2  1  0    9   5  +4    7
 3 Neu Engollon                     3   2  1  0   10   7  +3    7
 4 Falcus                           3   1  2  0    5   4  +1    5
 5 Transalpine Republic             3   1  1  1    5   5   0    4
 6 Middleton Valley                 3   1  1  1    3   3   0    4
   The Fair Republic                3   1  1  1    3   3   0    4
 8 Crystal Empire                   3   0  1  2    6   9  −3    1
 9 Nassau-Hessen                    3   0  0  3    5   9  −4    0
10 Super-Llamaland                  3   0  0  3    0   5  −5    0

Group 5
Free Republics 0–3 Gregoryisgodistan
Cosumar 2–0 Arkiasis
The United Regions 1–2 Oralana
Soviet Canuckistan 2–1 Darmen
Vettrera 2–5 Northern Sunrise Islands

   Group 5                        Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
 1 Soviet Canuckistan               3   2  1  0    5   3  +2    7
 2 Cosumar                          3   2  0  1    5   3  +2    6
 3 Northern Sunrise Islands         3   2  0  1   13   8  +5    6
 4 Oralana                          3   2  0  1    6   3  +3    6
 5 Gregoryisgodistan                3   1  2  0    3   0  +3    5
 6 Arkiasis                         3   1  1  1    1   2  −1    4
 7 The United Regions               3   1  0  2    7  10  −3    3
 8 Darmen                           3   1  0  2    5   6  −1    3
 9 Vettrera                         3   0  2  1    3   6  −3    2
10 Free Republics                   3   0  0  3    1   8  −7    0

Group 6
Yttribia 4–4 Maineiacs
The Royal Kingdom of Quebec 5–2 San Jose Guayabal
Nova Anglicana 1–2 Svengarda
Quakmybush 2–1 Lzherusskia
Hicana 2–3 Havl

   Group 6                        Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
 1 Havl                             3   3  0  0   15   4 +11    9
 2 Lzherusskia                      3   2  0  1    7   6  +1    6
 3 Yttribia                         3   1  2  0    6   4  +2    5
 4 The Royal Kingdom of Quebec      3   1  1  1    7   5  +2    4
 5 Hicana                           3   1  1  1    6   5  +1    4
 6 Svengarda                        3   1  1  1    2   3  −1    4
 7 Quakmybush                       3   1  1  1    5   9  −4    4
 8 Maineiacs                        3   0  2  1    8  10  −2    2
 9 San Jose Guayabal                3   0  2  1    6   9  −3    2
10 Nova Anglicana                   3   0  0  3    4  11  −7    0

[Gregoryisgodistan]

BREAKING: Six Enemy Crushers Executed in Saintland!

The pregame warmups started out ordinarily enough in the Free Republics-Gregoryisgodistan hockey match in Saintland. Both teams came out of the locker rooms and started skating and shooting. All of a sudden, with about ten minutes left before faceoff, the entire Gregoryisgodistan team yelled "THIS ONE'S FOR PORKY" in unison. At that point, Enemy Crusher Douglas Porkerson, Enemy Crusher Fatty McPorkawitz, Enemy Crusher Foofoo McTootles, Enemy Crusher Biggy McParis, Enemy Crusher Funny McBigfries and Enemy Crusher Quarreltine Thomas skated over to the Free Republics side and all tried to crush Republican players. Basically, every member of the starting lineup was being crushed to death. The players were unable to grab their guns due to being crushed. However, Sanctii police skated onto the ice, handcuffed the Gregoryisgodistani players, and placed them under arrest. All of the Republican players were fine, if a bit shocked. At that point, the Ice Slave Six, as they shall be forever known, were taken to the center of the square and hanged by the gallows for attempted murder. Unfortunately, there was only one gallows so they would have to wait their turn. When it was Enemy Crusher Biggy McParis' turn, the gallows collapsed under his 950 pounds of weight. This killed him instantly, but made it difficult to execute the remaining two enemy crushers, Enemy Crusher Funny McBigfries and Enemy Crusher Quarreltine Thomas. Eventually, it was decided that the police would drive those two to nearby St. Paulus and hang them by the gallows there. Fortunately, that gallows did not collapse under their weight, and the two were killed in a fairly normal matter.

Lord Almighty Gregory condemned the executions, saying "Those Sanctii police prevented the enemy crushers from doing their jobs. Worse, they had the enemy crushers executed for doing their jobs. At least the precious gallows of St. Petrus was destroyed by our enemy crusher. That is the one good thing to happen out of all of this. At this point, I must ask King Petrus XX to apologize for killing the enemy crushers and provide us with 100 billion greggygodbucks of compensation (OOC: due to us printing excessive amounts of money and causing hyperinflation, this is really only about 500 NS Dollars. But it sounds intimidating.) If the Devil King does not provide us with this compensation and apology within 72 hours, I will be forced to drop our entire arsenal of 1,000 solar powered bombs on his country. I should remind King Petrus that these bombs have the strength of nuclear weapons. They will annihilate his entire country during the World Cup of Hockey. Everyone will die. The other nations will blame King Petrus for provoking us and seek to kill the remaining three Sanctii citizens who are still alive. I hope it does not come down to that." (OOC: We really do have 1,000 solar powered bombs, but they have the strength of pipe bombs and a tendency to explode thousands of feet above the ground. The only way to get killed by one is to get hit in the head by a falling bomb fragment, which would kill you instantly due to its velocity.)

The Gregoryisgodistan paper, The Lord's Word, reported that Sanctii citizens were "trembling in fear" at the thought of Lord Almighty Gregory's sheer power and some were beginning to convert to the Church of Gregoryisgodistan and recognize Lord Almighty Gregory as their Lord and Savior in the hopes of staying alive. (OOC: The paper really did report this, but it's propaganda.) The solar powered bombs killed a total of 15 million people in Saintland and Free Republics earlier this year (OOC: last year, but remember that the Gregoryisgodistani New Year is June 1, not January 1, so it's still 2013 there.)

Oh, by the way, there was a game after all this mess. The Ice Slaves won 3-0 thanks to goals by Pervert Chaser JDJJ8138, Pervert Chaser LL00PP19F, and Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory Harry Rupertson. Enemy Crusher Franky "Fatso" McFattel was fabulous in goal, recording his third straight shutout. He is the last remaining enemy crusher on this team.

[Super-Llamaland]

Group 4
Middleton Valley 2–0 Super-Llamaland
Transalpine Republic 0–1 Mohawk Clans
The Fair Republic 0–1 Falcus
Neu Engollon 5–3 Crystal Empire
Gyatso-Kai 5–3 Nassau-Hessen

   Group 4                        Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
 1 Mohawk Clans                     3   3  0  0    4   0  +4    9
 2 Gyatso-Kai                       3   2  1  0    9   5  +4    7
 3 Neu Engollon                     3   2  1  0   10   7  +3    7
 4 Falcus                           3   1  2  0    5   4  +1    5
 5 Transalpine Republic             3   1  1  1    5   5   0    4
 6 Middleton Valley                 3   1  1  1    3   3   0    4
   The Fair Republic                3   1  1  1    3   3   0    4
 8 Crystal Empire                   3   0  1  2    6   9  −3    1
 9 Nassau-Hessen                    3   0  0  3    5   9  −4    0
10 Super-Llamaland                  3   0  0  3    0   5  −5    0

A Blog Post
-Jeremy Morrison

LOL, "Better than Havl". Well, Havl 3, Hicana 2. How did that work out, you shameless lie-spreaders?

That's right, Hicana may be doing better than we are (not hard to do), but seriously, better than Havl? Right. Totally. That's like saying Arana is better than Gregoryisgodistan (from the sports viewpoint, not morality) at the International Baseball Slam. Did you hear the news? The Worshippers o' Greg were so good, they had their rank halved to make things fairer. Maybe. They're still three times smarter than your average bear, so who cares?

Back to hockey. The Ice Tigers are only making things worse for themselves, losing two-zip to the team from Gyatso-Kai, the team that beat us at WC 66 quals. Goals from Into Pakku and Hei Hayate in the first period doomed the Tigers to an 0-2 start.

But 0-2 is better than 0-3, and that's what the Tigers became after becoming victims of Middleton Valley. Two-zip again. We haven't scored a single goal this World Cup. It's hard to win if you don't score, and that's what we're (or we aren't) doing.

We'll have to improve greatly if we want any chance of surprising the world at WCoH 23.

[Cassadaigua]

(OOC: Writers’ bloc today.... so lets tie up some loose ends: )

So, what has happened to some of the more recognizable “other” names from the Kinson case?

Marie Tannenbaum- The CRIU agent that assisted Meghan Kinson both in the rape and murder of Seth Johnson and Ashley Stokes was arrested by CRIU per orders of the judge the evening of the “not guilty” verdict. Seeing that her back was against the wall, Marie accepted a plea bargain to plead guilty to several charges, ranging from being an accomplice to murder, to forging of documents. The plea bargain allowed her to be spared the death penalty, but she will be spending the rest of her life behind bars.

Cordelia Naylor- The other CRIU agent that assisted Kinson was stubborn at first in accepting any kind of plea bargain, but after Tannenbaum admitted her guilt, there became no way that Naylor was going to get off on anything. Many well known defense attorneys, including Sarah Reynolds, refused to take her case, calling it a “waste of their time”. Naylor eventually pleaded guilty, and while at first the courts wanted to punish her for her indecision by sentencing her to death, they did agree on a similar sentence of life behind bars.

Rachel Samuelson- The 4th party of the group of four that raped Seth Johnson and refused to testify has continued to remain stubborn, and claims she is still innocent and had nothing to do with it. She’s got some legal advice now that with Kinson and Stokes deceased, and Lauren Beckett likely unwilling to want to get further involved, that she probably could get off with a lesser punishment. Rachel will be, therefore, taking her chances in court. Prosecutors are certain of a conviction, and it is probable that she will serve at least 25-30 years, if not life, in prison.

Lauren Beckett- Beckett is currently under witness protection. She has received many death threats since her testimony, and therefore the court is making sure to give her an escort whenever she is out in public, and keeps her whereabouts a secret. She had to sell her house, and her family now lives in a secret location.

Sarah Reynolds- The defense attorney that represented Kinson has taken no financial hit to her reputation and will continue to serve in her role. However, she has decided to take some time off for rest and relaxation before she takes on another high profile client. Reynolds wrote several articles about the security in the Free Republics airport as she attempted to return home from the World Bowl, pointing out all the things that were done to her that would be illegal in Cassadaigua (and may even be illegal in the Free Republics).

Katie Parker- At home, the President of CRIU began a comprehensive internal investigation of her organization, including additional background checks on all current employees to make sure there are no more bad apples. This investigation has led to the firing of three additional officials. She understands that CRIU is going to have a long way to go to restore the trust of the organization to the Cassadagan populace, but is accepting of the challenge. Parker is also believed to be working with Free Republics officials about things she may have noticed at the stadium (remember she attended that game) that could have played a role in the assassination of King Paulus XXV. You will hear more about that in the future.

[Hicana]

"Better than Havl! Better than Havl!"

That was what the fans of the Hicana squad were chanting after Hicana made their name known with a 5-0 victory today after defeating Maineiacs 12-1. The team is on a roll, but the Sanctii (OOC: Hicanan spies dressed as ticket officials) ticket officials didn't let any Hicana fans in for whatever reason, so the dejected fans trudged home to watch (OOC: A doctored tape of the game).

"Better than Havl! Better than Havl!"

All the enthusiastic fans helped as the team has surged to first place, shattering records as they win in style. The team looks to go undefeated, and the team manager (an actor) says it is because Hicana works hard, and all else are lazy, especially the 0-3 Ice Tigers.

"Better than Havl! Better than Havl!"

Twelve goals per game is ridiculous for this unranked squad, but they are winning in style! The fans look forward to their next game. Who's it against? Who cares?

"Better than Havl! Better than Havl! Future world champs!"

[Gallund]

Valanora defeats Gallund 4-3
After winning two straight Gallund drops to Valanora

1st Period - After winning with a shutout in their pervious two games Gallund dropped their first game today have losing 4-3. Valanora started the scoring off in first with a power play goal after Balafindien Lanethdal was hooked by Kent Clausinment. Valanora sent out their first power play line of Lithloth,Falasumé, and Taltauré and they made Gallund pay after Lithloth made a cross ice pass to Taltauré who put the puck past Rovsky to lead 1-0. Valanora then kept putting the pressure on as the Calcuttas kept their shifts short while not allowing Gallund to get a change it who kept having to ice the puck. Gallund was out of breathe and Altmer Pelmint had to take a delay of game penalty because of it. This put Valanora on the power play again and Gallund coach, Klein Templow, was not happy. Valanora sent out their first power play unit, the one that scored before, and they came close to it again. Falasumé was crashing the net after a Lithloth shot that was blocked by Remet Temliter when the puck came to him and,when Rovsky was out of position, took a shot but Rovsky dove across the crease and committed thievery on Falasumé with a goal save. Gallund killed the penalty near the end of the first period when Pelmint left the box and got a breakaway pass from Carwen Timlis and did a little forehand-backhand magic and scored five hole on Suiadan Lasséseth who fell out of his Vanor jock. The first period ended tied 1-1 with shots on goal 12-9 Valanora.

2nd Period - Gallund came out with a bang hammering six shots on goal in under a minute on Suiadan Lasséseth who held the fort. The Calcuttas came right back hammering five shots on Rovsky who stoped all of them leaving both teams dumbfounded on what just happened. Gallund's Rannba Niei took a charging penalty against Edenien Miththanlhûn who had his head down. Gallund's PK wasn't happy about that because they were getting ran over and embarrassed. Valanora's power play struck again near the end of the power play. Lanethdal,Galaethrin, and Lanethas were sent out for it. Lanethas took a slap shot from the right side faceoff dot and beat Rovsky high short side, a bad goal to give up. Gallund would fight back though catching the Vanors on a counter-attack and made it work when Dalter Bengalin stole the puck away from Baralaedur Bireme and made a pass to Jamiston Naremo who took a solid wrist shot top cheddar over Suiadan Lasséseth's shoulder. The game was tied 2-2 with five minutes left in the second period. The Calcuttas forward Málassnen Mallithar then made a solid saucer pass to Balafindien Lanethdal who skated past the Gallund defender, Benerals Miklis, then dished the puck backhand back to Málassnen Mallithar who beat Rovsky, who was sliding cross crease, for Valanora's third goal of the night. Valanora would ride the lead and momentum into the third period up 3-2.

3rd Period - Gallund sent out a new goaltender for the third period after Rovsky gave up three goals in two periods. The new goalie was #30 Binpol Zanser who seemed up to the challenge at training camp. Zanser would of liked to start his international career better than giving up a bad charging penalty but that's exactly what happened fifty-six seconds into the third period. Amfeler Portlikech and Remet Temliter were caught on a line change when the Calcuttas forward Amonion Galaethrin got the puck and skated in on a breakaway. Amonion Galaethrin thought it was time to show off his fancy moves but was flipped into the air by the Gallund goalie Binpol Zanser who skated out of the crease to stop Galaethrin in his tracks. Galaethrin stayed on the ice for a bit, but would draw a charging penalty, then return for the power play and would be fine. The bad penalty almost turned worse after a failed clearing attempt by Amfeler Portlikech when the Vanor Lanethdal took the puck and walked in on net where Zanser shut the door on the Calcuttas player. Gallund would end up killing the charging penalty. The Grizzly Bruins were falling behind and needed to pick up the pace but before they could Valanora found themselves on a 2-on-1. Imenien Lithloth stole the puck with Amonion Galaethrin skating with him had a Gallund defender, Silmin Arstro, in-between. Lithloth sauced a pass over Arstro's stick and all Galaethrin had to do was tap the puck home to make the game 4-2 Valanora. Gallund still fought back pulling Binpol Zanser with 2:30 left in the third. Gallund had five forwards on the ice as they tried to put the puck past Suiadan Lasséseth. Gallund found a hole with forty-five seconds left in the game when Andy Klecklin tapped in a dirty rebound off Suiadan Lasséseth's left pad after shot from the left side face-off dot from Doug Camasgiten. But that goal wouldn't be enough as Gallund still needed one more for a tie. Valanora ended the game with a 4-3 victory over Gallund.

Scoring Summary -

1 Period - Valanora - Laerbelidon Taltauré - ASST: Imenien Lithloth
1 Period - Gallund - Altmer Pelmint - ASST: Carwen Timlis
2 Period - Valanora - Erynolë Lanethas - ASST: Balafindien Lanethdal, Amonion Galaethrin
2 Period - Gallund - Jamiston Naremo - ASST: Dalter Bengalin
2 Period - Valanora - Málassnen Mallithar - ASST: Balafindien Lanethdal
3 Period - Valanora - Amonion Galaethrin - ASST: Imenien Lithloth
3 Period - Gallund - Andy Klecklin - ASST: Doug Camasgiten, Jamiston Naremo