12th World Cup of Hockey [RP/Roster/Scores] - finito

[Sarzonia]

Someone might want to consider re-naming these Stars the Surge.

Another revenge victory for Sarzonia, this time by the score of 5-1 over Western Cuba marks the fifth consecutive victory for the Stars in the 12th World Cup of Hockey. They remain level with Toyur in the table with 13 points, but are still trailing in goal differential by three goals.

Finally, Sylvan Turcotte broke through a scoring slump, scoring two goals and adding an assist. Cameron Granato continued his hot play with a goal and two assists, while Mark Ridley and Steven Miller both added goals.

Matt Peterson wasn't as good against Western Cuba, only making 17 saves, but he didn't have to be. Sarzonia fired 29 shots to 18 for Western Cuba.

"I'm glad the defence made it much easier for me out there tonight," Peterson said. "Eighteen shots isn't a tiny number, per se, but the shots I was facing were all pretty easy. Except their goal."

Peterson was screened on the goal by a Western Cuba forward and didn't see the slapshot. Defenceman Erik Weinert slid in an attempt to block the shot, but was too late getting there.

"I should have done better with that," he said.

For Mark Browers, the final match against Krytenia will determine whether the Stars have a bye during the play in matches or have to gear up to play one of them. He said the team would rather get at least one point from the Aces to avoid the match.

"We're going to get after it against Krytenia," the coach said. The fact the Stars were facing Krytenia in hockey and in football was not lost on the team.

"It's going to be interesting, but both of us are going to be gunning to beat the Kryties," Turcotte said. "We're not taking them lightly on the ice and we know the football team's going to be gunning for revenge against theirs for the Mike Sarzo Memorial Trophy final."

Krytenia defeated the Stars 2-1 in the final of the Mike Sarzo Memorial Trophy in Mike Sarzo Stadium in Nicksia. It marked the third consecutive final the Stars lost since their victory in penalties over Starblaydia in the fifth edition during World Cup 48.

[Toyur]

Toyurska Sportnyhet

ANOTHER GAME, ANOTHER SHUTOUT
Toyur almost perfect in 4-0 rout of Krytenia
by Sven Magnusson

KYNYTHIN, QUINTESSENCE OF DUST (TP) - Toyur put their destiny in their own hands on matchday 9 after putting Krytenia to the sword by a 4-0 result.

Two powerplay goals, one in the first and one in the third, combined with goals in the first from Olof Knutsson and a second period marker from Jakob Hjerstedt. Niklas Aspelin and Anders Mjallby tallied on the powerplay.

With Euroslavia's 1-0 loss to Tretskivucia, the latter's first victory of the World Cup, it appears as though both Sarzonia, who were 5-1 winners over Western Cuba, and Toyur will get the two automatic qualification spots in the Motor Group. Both have records of 6-1-2, good for 13 points, but Toyur have a better goal differential and lead the group on that stat. With the form that both teams are in, however, teams will not be queueing up to play against them in the playoffs.

Toyur finish out qualification against Tretskivucia, with the new nation attempting to leave their stamp on the World Cup by beating one of it's top teams. Toyur will look to maintain momentum going into the playoffs, should they make it of course. The game can be seen on TSTV1.

Code: Select all

TOYUR vs Krytenia
SCORING SUMMARY

First Period

TOY N. Aspelin (4) (Holmberg, Linderoth; 11:19 PP)
TOY O. Knutsson (1) (Nyqvist, Stenmark; 14:42)

Shots on Goal: Toyur 10 (10), Krytenia 9 (9)

Second Period

TOY J. Hjerstedt (7) (Jansson, Gräslund; 4:17)

Shots on Goal: Toyur 11 (21), Krytenia 8 (17)

Third Period

TOY A. Mjallby (3) (Nylen, Knutsson; 13:22 PP)

Shots on Goal: Toyur 9 (30), Krytenia 8 (25)

Three Stars:
1. Olof Knutsson (Toyur)
2. Patrik Dahlin (Toyur)
3. Mattias Nylen (Toyur)


[Plutoni]

Plutoni ice hockey blog: WCoH 12, Matchday 9
Lucky seven, again

The national team scored seven goals once more, despite allowing one to Albundania, to clinch the Teapot Group title. Right wings Jofri Spendral and Mirsh Atzin both scored twice, Atzin's pair coming in the second period.

Spendral began the goalscoring with a 5:01 flick of Smed Kubalee's pass. Albundania never mustered a consistent attack, preferring to take wild and erratic shots, and Plutoni's defenders began by fishing out puck after puck. Turfli Jeamin eventually came forward to score on a counterattack, 8:13 into the period.

A frustrated Albundania began checking harder in the second period, but it only led them to the penalty box. Spenkil Difire scored on a power play, 6:25 in, while Atzin's second goal at 17:12 would also come with a skater advantage. Atzin's first, however, only required assists from Mukwal Kuyem and Derram Noklin at 13:04.

Albundania did eventually score, 5:39 into the third period. Soon afterwards, however, it would be Spendral once more, evading the left defender before scoring at 7:43. Pensban Gamela poked another goal into the top of the net at 15:16, and Plutoni had matched their new offensive high.

Comments:
1. aaaargh: Spendral was the star again, really, then Atzin.
2. bocky_boy: Atzin sure. Not sold on Spendral at all. Other teams you'd give captains credit for inspirational leadership or whatever but we're not other teams, let's not act like them.
3. aaaargh: Okay, but they both scored two goals. One of them even did it against six whole skaters. What makes Atzin better?
4. bocky_boy: Generally...actually...playing better than Spendral did.
5. taughtus: they should have videos free on the sit eso we call can see who di well!!

[Qazox]

Caleb Admele's Journal Entry Day 1512.

Thank god we needed that victory. Vikki (Victoria Shenko) stopped 28 of 31 shots, but thanks to a rare, for us at least, hat-trick by Greg (Thompson) and goals from Sandra (Guy) and Cassidy (Amos) we now just a win or draw vs. Mowhack Clans from making the playoffs.

We are thrilled about that news update from Qazox, though the 20-30 seconds when the video feed cut out and showed that code was weird. I think it was just a satellite glich, but supposedly there was a message in there. I don't know that stuff is a bit beyond my comprehension.

As I said before we face Mowhawk Clans next and we're just really close to making it into the next round. We got a video from Qazox earlier today, from our new QHF (Qazoxian Hockey Federation) President, John Thomas so here's the link for all of you to see for yourself:

QHF Presidental video to WCoH team

We're sorry that you all had to travel arouund the world for the past 4 years. While we are rebuilding Qazox, there is a slight problem with all of you not being here. The travel expenses that you all have accrued will be covered by our Inmbursement of Castatrophic Utilities Program (ICUP). Under ICUP, the goverment will re-inmburse all of you for your medical, travel, lodging, food, training facility, exercise equipment and clothing expenses. We will also reimburse up to Z16,000 (approx. $4,750.00) of other addtional expenses that all of you might have accrued. We cannot express our sorrow of all the things that might have happened to you during this time. While we cannot permit contact with your immedaiate families as of yet, we are attempting to do so and...

wearethetruesurvivorsofthecatastrophe.
thegovernmentislyingtoyouandtheworld.
theviruswasfarmoredeadlythantheyclaim.
wehaveproofoftheliesovizyisspewing.
onceagainwearethetruesurvivorsofthecatastrophe.
andweknowthetruth.thetruthwillbeknown.

..the only thing left I have to say is bring back the Cup!

Signed, John Thomas

[Shofercia]

"Welcome back to the studio. Shofercia has just defeated Eizen 3-2, and there is one more game left. Against Valanora, the group leader. And Shofercia must win. On the other hand, Valanora does not have to win. They have already won the group. Valanora has been invincible, and only two teams played it to a draw, South Lorenya and Shofercia. Now, in order to remain in the competition, Shofercia must do the impossible. It will a very, very thrilling game."

The Pessimist: "Is there really a point to watching this? At best we'll get a draw, and than leave the tournament. Worse case scenario, we lose. This is why we should not have competed internationally. As the SSF pointed out, you need two years of training, not two weeks."

Moderator: "I am wondering, can you find something negative to say even about the SSF?"

The Pessimist: "I can, but I don't want to be knocked out".

Ozerov: "I think the SSF are quite good at knocking pessimism out of Shofercia. Not that we ever had much. The Pessimist was a one time sensation, due to his superbly flawed commentaries, but his fame is now all but lost. And we did get something good out of this. Alena and Aleshka hooked up. Now let's talk about hockey. While it is true that Valanora has not been defeated in this tournament, it is also true that Valanora is very, very tired. Overall, with the exception of Antarctistan, we played the second part of the tournament much better than the first. Initially we went 1-4 against South Lorenya. Now it's 2-3. Initially we barely defeated Mantwenic by 1 point. Now we crushed them by 4. Initially we drew against Eizen. Now we beat them, 3-2. Initially we drew against Valanora. But we have a chance at beating them. We played our last two periods extremely well. We need to get going from the first period, and we just need to go all the way. Hold nothing back. This may very well be our last game, so let's have no regrets about it. Keep everything as it was against Eizen, and go in, guns blazing. If Shofercia wins, four or more from Delaclava, Verablia, Secristan, The Babbage Islands and Taeshan lose, we could still get in. You never know how this might go. But we have to treat this like a playoff game, one that we cannot lose."

[Teinohikira]

Teinohikira Locker Room 4 HOURS 35 MINUTES TIL GAMETIME

"I can't believe we beat Mohawk Clans." said Giovanni.
"Well, I guess we got lucky!" said Coach Bilbo.
"At least we'll be able to go to the playoffs." said Daylon.
"First we gotta beat Delaclava!" yelled Alexei.
"Well, we can beat them, we did last time." said Connor.
"Doesn't mean we'll win this time." said Jimmy.
"First, we gotta be prepared!" said Jorge.
"We've already practiced enough for them." said Coach Bilbo.
"So what next?" asked Giovanni.
"We could review the plays we're gonna run." said Alexei.
"Yeah, that would work." said Daylon.
"Or see what plays they might run." said Jimmy.
"Well, we could practice some more just to be ready." said Connor.
"There's never a wrong time to practice!" said Jorge.
"We're probably gonna do all of what you guys said." said Coach Bilbo.
"We'll practice, look over the playbook, and see what plays Delaclava will run."
"Good enough for me." said Alexei grabbing his stick.
"I'm good!" yelled Giovanni.'
"Pantalones!" said Jorge grabbing his helmet.
"What?" asked Jimmy.
"Nevermind." said Jorge.

[Teinohikira]

Teinohikira Practice Session 4 HOURS 3 MINUTES TIL GAMETIME

"Alright, run the plays from yesterday and run the 2 new ones!" yelled Coach Bilbo.
Alexei got the puck, curved around Jorge, skated through Daylon and Connor and shot the puck, which was blocked by Jimmy.
"Yeah!" yelled Jimmy.
"Nice block." said Jorge.
"Good now do the next one!" shouted Coach Bilbo.
Alexei got the puck, swerved around Jorge, passed it to Giovanni, and shot the puck, which barely missed Jimmy's glove and went in.
"Yes! Goal!" yelled Jorge skating around the net and back to his position.
"Good job guys! Next!" yelled Coach Bilbo.
Giovanni got the puck, curved left, skated through Alexei and Jorge, but Daylon stole the puck as Giovanni got closer the the net.
"Good job man!" said Giovanni roughing up on Daylon's helmet.
"You're doin' good! Next play!" yelled Coach Bilbo.
Alexei got the puck, passed it to Jorge, who passed it to Giovanni, Giovanni pump-faked, passed the puck to Alexei who shot and barley missed the bar from the net.
"Yeah! Victory!" yelled Alexei with his stick in the air.
"Great! Now run the next two then we're done!" commanded Coach Bilbo.
Jorge got the puck, went to the outside, skated to the left, went to shoot the puck but was blocked by Connor, getting his stick in-front of the puck.
"Nice block there man!" said Jorge skating back to his position.
"Great!, now the last one!" yelled Coach Bilbo.
Giovanni got the puck, skated straight down the middle, skate to the left, then back to the right, as he passed the net when he skated to the right, he shot the puck which hit Jimmy's helmet and onto the ice.
"Okay, that's good guys!" said Coach Bilbo.
"Go back to the locker room so we can go over the playbook!"
"Okay." said the entire team.

[Valanora]

"So, we've won the group, pretty good that right? I mean, with a matchday to spare and everything."

"Yeah, it is nice to have the luxury of not stressing over the last game. Same thing can't be said for our opponents though, have to win to get in, not a position I envy for them."

"Aye. I talked to the coach earlier, said he was going to keep playing the top lines the same amount of minutes even though there is nothing to play for in the table, wants to keep the record of not having any losses in the group stage."

"That is a bit silly, what if one of them ends up getting injured and we lose in the knockout rounds cause of it? He needs to play the third and fourth line more, let the first and second liners have some diminished minutes."

"I agree with you, I even tried to convince him out of doing such, but he has his mind on having an unbeaten group stage. I think it is his overzealous attempts to validate hockey and our dominance in the sport to the VSC."

"We both agree that the VSC needs to spend a little bit more time, effort, and money on the hockey program, but having an unblemished group stage wont do that if we lose early in the knockout rounds."

"You do not have to tell me that, it's the coach, but I sincerely doubt you will do anything to dissuade him from his course of action."

"So it is a futile cause then?"

"Probably as futile as getting the world to quit saying Valanoran or Valanorian and Vanorian or Vanors instead."

"Why do you think people have such problems with that?"

"I do not know, it's not like it is not in the pamphlets given out by our country, on our national website, or in our own press reports."

"Perhaps it is like some suggest and the humans are deliberately doing such to aggravate us?"

"I suppose that could be a valid point but where is the reward in causing us aggravation?"

"Some beings find enjoyment through seeing others frustrated or any other of negative moods."

"Who would be such a case?"

"It is not prevelent amongst the elves, so the odds our not anybody that we would know personally."

"Good. Now, back to hockey, do you think there will be another Hockey Champions League soon?"

"I hope so, it really was a great enjoyment for me and it would be a shame to see it go the way of the Cherry Cup."

[Quintessence of Dust]

Motor Group

Toyur 5-0 Tretskivucia
Western Cuba 0-2 Euroslavia
Sarzonia 7-2 Krytenia

 Pos  Team                       P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
   1  Toyur                     10   7   1   2   39   15   24   15  (6)
   2  Sarzonia                  10   7   1   2   38   17   21   15  (8)
   3  Euroslavia                10   6   1   3   24   20    4   13 (15)
   4  Western Cuba              10   3   2   5   12   23  -11    8
   5  Krytenia                  10   2   1   7   15   33  -18    5
   6  Tretskivucia              10   1   2   7   13   33  -20    4

Cuboid Group

Estresso Intenso 1-4 Newmanistan
Taeshan 7-0 Cosumar
Gordinisia 0-2 Quintessence of Dust

 Pos  Team                       P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
   1  Newmanistan               10   9   1   0   40   15   25   19  (3)
   2  Quintessence of Dust      10   6   2   2   22    8   14   14 (11)
   3  Taeshan                   10   6   0   4   30   24    6   12 (16)
   4  Estresso Intenso          10   3   0   7   16   30  -14    6
   5  Gordinisia                10   2   1   7   13   25  -12    5
   6  Cosumar                   10   1   2   7   12   31  -19    4

Bracket Group

The Fanboyists 7-0 Canamla
Septentrionia 0-3 Kelssek
Tarrentum 2-2 Virabia

 Pos  Team                       P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
   1  Kelssek                   10   8   0   2   29   17   12   16  (5)
   2  The Fanboyists            10   7   1   2   33   17   16   15  (9)
   3  Virabia                   10   5   1   4   28   24    4   11
   4  Tarrentum                 10   3   3   4   17   18   -1    9
   5  Septentrionia             10   3   1   6   19   24   -5    7
   6  Canamla                   10   0   2   8   11   37  -26    2

Fork Group

Sorthern Northland 3-4 Mantwenic
Shofercia 3-4 Valanora
Eizen 3-1 Antarctistan

 Pos  Team                       P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
   1  Valanora                  10   8   2   0   43   20   23   18  (4)
   2  Sorthern Northland        10   5   2   3   33   25    8   12 (13)
   3  Shofercia                 10   3   3   4   22   23   -1    9
   4  Mantwenic                 10   4   1   5   19   31  -12    9
   5  Eizen                     10   2   3   5   23   28   -5    7
   6  Antarctistan              10   2   1   7   16   29  -13    5

Teapot Group

Tyrrin 4-6 Tocrowkia
Albundania 3-0 Churchma
Plutoni 4-1 Sibirsky

 Pos  Team                       P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
   1  Plutoni                   10   9   1   0   45    8   37   19  (1)
   2  Tocrowkia                 10   6   3   1   36   22   14   15 (10)
   3  Sibirsky                  10   5   2   3   26   25    1   12 (18)
   4  Tyrrin                    10   2   3   5   19   25   -6    7
   5  Churchma                  10   2   0   8   10   32  -22    4
   6  Albundania                10   1   1   8    9   33  -24    3

The Babbage Islands (Impressionist Group) ahead of Sibirsky on wins.

Impressionist Group

Cassadaigua 5-1 Ad'ihan
Secristan 3-0 South Norwega
Silver Beach 1-2 The Babbage Islands

 Pos  Team                       P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
   1  Cassadaigua               10   9   1   0   41    7   34   19  (2)
   2  Secristan                 10   6   0   4   20   16    4   12 (14)
   3  The Babbage Islands       10   6   0   4   21   20    1   12 (17)
   4  Ad'ihan                   10   4   0   6   17   25   -8    8
   5  South Norwega             10   3   1   6   13   20   -7    7
   6  Silver Beach              10   1   0   9   13   37  -24    2

The Babbage Islands ahead of Sibirsky (Teapot Group) on wins.

Architect Group

Mohawk Clans 3-4 Toiletdonia
Qazox 3-2 Tutlingburg
Delaclava 5-5 Teinohikira

 Pos  Team                       P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
   1  Teinohikira               10   5   4   1   35   26    9   14  (7)
   2  Qazox                     10   7   0   3   35   27    8   14 (12)
   3  Delaclava                 10   5   1   4   35   29    6   11
   4  Mohawk Clans              10   3   2   5   23   38  -15    8
   5  Toiletdonia               10   3   1   6   27   35   -8    7
   6  Tutlingburg               10   2   2   6   34   34    0    6

Playoffs seeding and schedule

The top two teams in each group and the top four third placed teams qualified for the playoffs. (No team that finished fourth in their group had a good enough record to qualify in any case.)

For seeding the playoff rounds, a slight change has been made from WCoH11. This time, group position was the first tiebreaker used, meaning seeds 1-7 went to the group winners, 8-14 to the second placed teams, and 15-16 to the third placed teams.

17 June - Play-in round

A - Euroslavia v Sibirsky
B - Taeshan v The Babbage Islands

18 June - Round of 16

1 - Plutoni v B
2 - Cassadaigua v A
3 - Newmanistan v Secristan
4 - Valanora v Sorthern Northland
5 - Kelssek v Qazox
6 - Toyur v Quintessence of Dust
7 - Teinohikira v Tocrowkia
8 - Sarzonia v The Fanboyists

19 June - Quarterfinals

α - 1 v 8
β - 2 v 7
γ - 3 v 6
δ - 4 v 5

20 June - Semifinals

>_> - α v δ
<_< - β v γ

21 June - Finals

Final - Winners
3PPO - Lusers

[Teinohikira]

Play-by-play Commentary from Teinohikira's game

Commentators:
Jeff Rudazk
Billy Gaziantep


1ST PERIOD:
Borodin swerves around Stripes, passes by Gamienville, passes in-front of the net, shoots and SCORES!!Alexei Borodin, the season-leader with 9 goals, gets the puck in. Alexei Borodin is a 'Sidney Crosby' to this team, he is fanatical, he can score every time he get's the puck huh, Jeff. Who's Sidney Crosby? Nevermind. Well, Teinohikira takes a 1-0 lead against Delaclava here in the 1st Period with 16:43 to go. Teinohikira's chance for the playoffs depends on this game, if they win, they advance. If they lose, well they go home. If they tie, I do not know what will happen.

---

Temmonen has the puck, he goes left, OH! the puck was stolen by Stripes, he's home free, he passes it to Gamienville, Gamienville shoots and...SCORES!! Teinohikira extends their lead 2-0! Well, It was a nice steal by Stripes and he was home free, nobody could stop him, then he just passed the puck to Gamienville and he did the rest. That goal gives Teinohikira a wider lead and keeps them alive in the game. Let's hope Teinohikira gets more goals and wins. Yeah, don't want old Coach Bilbo to go 'GFO' on ya! Teinohikira up 2-0 in the 1st Period with 7:34 left.

---

Temmonen runs with the puck, he skates right, he passes it to Amselik, Amselik passes it to *name withheld* and he scores! Delaclava's *name withheld* scores to get them their first point of the night. Watch, *name withheld* moves upward, gets the puck, skates pass Orali and shoots and gets the goal. That's Delaclava's first point of the night and probably won't be their last. Yeah, they're coming on strong and playing aggressive, they could score big tonight. Teinohikira up 2-1 after Delaclava's *name withheld* scores their first point of the night with 4:23 left in the 1st.

---

PERIOD 2:

Amselik curves around right, he gets the puck he passes it to *name withheld* and he...scores! What a shot! Billy, did you see that? Yeah, he swerved right passed Sakillai, passed by the net and shot the puck right in! Wow, I've never seen anything like that! Delaclava now ties the game 2-2 in the 2nd with 17:26 to go. Wow, I can't believe that, *name withheld* just shot the puck in like there was no goalie! Yeah, he's lucky no one stole it from him. I've never seen that before. That's fanatical! The game is tied at 2-2 with 17:26 left in the 2nd.

---

Borodin gets the puck, he skated to the left, pump-fakes and he throws the goalie off-guard, shoots and SCORES!! Alexei Borodin with his 2nd goal of the night! Teinohikira extends the score to 3-2! I love Teinohikira's goal song! Cause' she got Jungle Fever, I've got Jungle Fever, we've got Jungle Fever Shut up Billy, You're making a fool out of me and you on national TV. Oh, sorry. Well, Teinohikira scores their 3rd goal of the night and I expect them to get more, at least 5 by the end of the night. Indeed, they've got the power, strength, and the muscle to play hard! Can this game get any better? Yeah. It was a rhetorical question Billy. Oh, sorry. Teinohikira leads 3-2 with 14:34 to go in the 2nd.

---

Temmonen has the puck, he skates forward, he passes it to name withheld, and he scores! That's *name withheld*'s 2nd goal of the night. He's getting good at this. Uh Billy, he's already good at it. Oh, sorry. Well, Delaclava ties the game again at 3-3 with 8:39 left in the 2nd. *name withheld* is like the 'Sidney Crosby' of Delaclava! Again Billy, Who's Sidney Crosby? No one, just forget it. The game is tied 3-3 with 8:39 left to go in the 2nd. Teinohikira trying to win and go to the playoffs, which so far they are succeeding. Teinohikira and Delaclava are tied 2-2 in the 2nd.

---

Stripes gets the puck, he passes to Gamienville, Gamienville shoots, hits the rim, Stripes gets it back, shoots and GOAL!!!! Stripes' 1st goal of the night. Giovanni Stripes is a good LWF, he gets goals, makes plays, and fights tough. Teinohikira regains the lead and we are about to head to the 3rd, where Teinohikira is 20 minutes from going to the playoffs. I love Teinohikira's goal song! Who sung that song? Stevie Wonder. Well, he's a good singer. Ok, Teinohikira leads 4-3 with only a tenth of a second left here in the 2nd.

---

3RD PERIOD:

Borodin gets the puck, he passes it to Gamienville, he hits it and bounces it off the glass to Stripes, he passes it back to Borodin and he...misses! Gamienville got it back, he shoots and...SCORES!!! Gamienville with his 2nd of the night! And he puts Teinohikira up on a 2-0 run and extends the score 5-3 early in the 3rd. Jorge Gamienville is the 2nd best player on this team just behind Borodin, he can get goals like that! Jorge Gamienville is the only player on this team that has scored in different periods a different way! He's good, he's real good. Teinohikira up 5-3 in the 3rd with 18:31 left.

---

Temmonen has the puck, he passes it to Amselik, he skates left, he passes to *name withheld* and he scores!*name withheld* with his 1st goal of the night! He gets Delaclava closer to Teinohikira extending the score 4-5 in the 3rd. *name withheld* is a good player, he loves the game, he's a nice guy, and he plays well. Delaclava is lucky to have him. They have a good player with them. Delaclava extends the score 4-5 with 10:37 left in the 3rd. Delaclava is catching up with Teinohikira and may ruin Teinohikira's chances of going to the playoffs.

---

Amselik has the puck, he passes it, Temmonen has only 5 seconds left to shoot, he passes it to *name withheld*, he's got 3, 2, 1...he scores! With 5th of a second left! Are you kidding me?! Oh my goodness! (Alexei Borodin is seen on the ice with his jersey over his eyes, like basketball players after a heart-breaking loss) The rest of the team is...oh my gosh. Alexei Borodin, is this the end for him? Well, Delaclava's celebrating while Teinohikira is mad as heck. Oh my goodness. Heartbreak City! There goes Teinohikira's chances of going to the playoffs. Well, maybe not, they could still go. Yeah, they could. Oh my goodness, what a game. Delaclava ties the game at 5-5 with fifths of a second left in the 3rd. Heart-breaker for Teinohikira.

---

There's the game! Teinohikira gets so close with a 5-4 lead with 1 second left and Delaclava tied. Oh, what a game. Teinohikira could still make the playoffs. Yeah, you're right. I'm Jeff Rudazk, and I'm Billy Gaziantep, signing off from Dareb, Quintessence of Dust. Good night everybody. Cause' she got Jungle Fever, I've got Jungle Fever, we've got Jungle Fever Shut up man.

[The Fanboyists]

Hat-Trick Much?

Two hat tricks (from two players, silly) saw the Iron Tide win one of the largest victories of the group stages, 7-0 over Canamla. Both Theo Braannur and Dani Andicek recorded hat-tricks, with the remaining goal and an assist going to Maarkus Stahlburg. Two assists went to Kristin Maarks, one more to Honorius Skmyt, and two assists credited to Joe Quinn.

The game started with Dani Andicek finding the goal after a quick hit from Quinn four minutes into the first period. 1-0 Tide.

The next goal was Stahlburg's after taking a pass from Skmyt, slamming it past the Canamlan goalie three-quarters of the way through the first period.

The next goal came in the second period after Braannur took a pass from Kristin Maarks and scored his first goal of the game. This was followed shortly thereafter by a pass from Joe Quinn which led into a second Braannur goal on a powerplay. 4-0, Fanboyists.

The next goal led out of the second period as Andicek took a pass from Maarks and turned it into another goal. 5-0, Fanboyists at the intermission.

The next goal was scored eight minutes into the third period as Andicek took a pass from Stahlburg and swept it past the Canamlan goalie on the powerplay. 6-0, Fanboyists.

Then, as per rules, Artie Weiss committed a boarding penalty, and it left the Tide shorthanded. Attempted shots were blocked by Aandrik Stok, who started the game, and were picked up by Theo Braannur, who charged down the ice and did one of his signiture back-handed shots into the goal to finish the scoring, 7-0.

This game marks possibly one of the first in WCoH history where two seperate players on the same team recorded hat-tricks.

Aandrik Stok, who was the starting goalie for the game (Vaalhulm Aandrikson is out, sick) blocked all of the 23 shots he faced fairly easily.

Coach Kyle Smart stated afterward that "There was some really good defense being played both by Aandrik and by the defensemen; Joe and Artie played very well, and even the relief's played very well. The fact that we had that many scoring opportunities means that our defensemen and goalie were able to end Canamla's possessions very quickly."

He added "I'm not sure what got into Theo and Dani, but they were kicking some serious [expletive] out there. And everyone was supporting them, and that's what really makes me happy; this is a good team, and all the players on it support one another. I think we stand every chance of winning against Sarzonia."

And that is what everyone's focused on now; having secured the 9th seed in the Round of Sixteen, the Iron Tide will face the Stars of Sarzonia, who swept their last six games or so to secure the 8th seed in the Round of Sixteen.

The scenario is nothing new. This is the third tournament (out of six with playoff berths) where a Fanboyist team has had one of the middle seeds; either the 8th or the 9th (8th in WB X against Dancougar, 8th in WCoH XI against Taeshan). Both previous times were losses against established powers, and the possibility of this being more of the same looms large; the only tournament where Fanboyist teams have advanced is the World Lacrosse Championships, where both times they have advanced to the finals, losing once to Dancougar, and the other time triumphing over Newmanistan (who, we are saddened to announce, are apparently planning to undergo a period of isolation after the completion of their play in all current tournaments). The only other playoff berth? A significantly lower seed after squeaking into the WB IX playoffs by knocking out the host nation, only to be knocked out by...Newmanistan.

The only sport Fanboyist teams have faced Sarzonians in (that we remember) is in lacrosse, where, naturally, we won.

But this is hockey, which is rather different.

"We're underdogs, but not by much. This game can go either way, so we'll have to do everything in our power (that's legal, of course) to make sure it goes our way," stated Team Captain Maarkus Stahlburg.

[Sarzonia]

By the time of the opening faceoff, most of the drama the Sarzonian national hockey team had played with in the first nine matches of group play had evaporated. Toyur had won its match and was likely to be the Motor Group champions, so the match between Sarzonia and Krytenia was little more than a curiosity.

Absent from the pipes was arguably Sarzonia's most controversial player, goaltender Matt Peterson. Unlike the previous two outings he missed, this was voluntary.

"Give Kieran [Barker, the backup goalie] a chance to play," he said. "I'd like to see him get a win."

He did. Barker stopped just 11 shots and was able to mostly watch as Sarzonia routed Krytenia 7-2. The result gave the Stars their sixth consecutive victory after stumbling out of the gate with a 1-1-2 record in their first four matches.

"The defence just did a great job in front of me," Barker said. "Offensively, we controlled the tempo and I just had to make a few stops here and there."

The only troubling aspect of the dominating performance for the Stars was penalties. Sarzonia were whistled for 78 minutes in penalties, the majority of which coach Mark Browers said were "stupid penalties.

"The refs did a good job calling it," he said. "You can't be upset at the refs. We just sent too many of our guys to the penalty box." Krytenia converted 2 of 12 power plays including a five-on-three, a percentage Browers said "could use some improvement," but he added, "the problem is that we need to do a better job of thinking." Eight of Krytenia's 13 shots came on the power play.

Browers conceded that Krytenia's second goal came on a six-on-three power play with the Aces pulling their goalie for a sixth attacker with 1:03 left in the third period.

Meanwhile, Sylvan Turcotte proved his slump was a distant memory once and for all by scoring a hat trick. Ray Ohlendorf, Steven Miller, Mark Ridley and Cameron Granato also scored for Sarzonia (7-1-2, 15 points), who will face The Fanboyists (7-1-2, 15 points, second place, Bracket Group) in an eight vs. nine matchup.

Turcotte said the team was well aware that The Fanboyists were only the ninth seed due to a lower goal differential (21 for Sarzonia; 16 for The Fanboyists).

"They're a strong hockey club," Turcotte said. "They allowed the same number of goals we did which means they're a tough defensive team. We're going to have to keep our heads and keep ourselves out of the sin bin."

Meanwhile, Peterson said the extra day of rest from not playing in the play-in matches would benefit him.

"Would you rather me face 50 shots or have a day to scout the Iron Tide?" Peterson said. He also dismissed talk of a potential meeting with Plutoni in the quarterfinals if Sarzonia were to defeat The Fanboyists.

"They're a team that could very easily send us home if we aren't careful," he said. "We can't afford to look past The Fanboyists."

[Shofercia]

"So we pretty much lost."
"Yup. At least we checked the crap out of Valanora's first and second lines. What kind of a coach would play his first and second lines non-stop in a pointless game?"
"Probably someone that doesn't want to win? Then again we shouldn't have lost to Antarctistan, which is the main reason we didn't make it to the playoffs."
"True. Oh well."

[Qazox]

Caleb Admele's Journal Entry Day 1513.

What a load of crap! 7-3 and we finish 2nd in the group on Goal differential? You know what, it don't matter. We'll beat Kelssek and then whomever else we have to. Great news is I should be able to play in that Kelssek game, but coach is keeping Vikki (Victoria Shenko) in net just in case.

In that game vs. Tutlingburg, Vikki stopped 31 of 33 shots. (a pair of goals from Kunze in the 2nd period) while Frank (Davidson), Carla (Johnson) and Mike (Uwe) each added goals respectively in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd periods.

We face kelssek next and we're not that worried about them. They had a far easier group than we did and they scored 6 goals fewer than we did. They've just been cruising through while we've fought tooth and nail to advance.

Supisingly, Newmanistan's team is still here, despite the order from their country that all Newmanistanis are supposed to return home immediately. the rumor is that the virus that Qazox just had to deal with might have been transfered there and Dancougar. Dancougar itself dissapeared after that explosion a few years ago.

(OOC I'll attempt to update the wikis later tonight...)

[Qazox]

NEW BRUXEN HOTEL & CASINO
Offical Gambling Guide to
World Cup of Hockey XII
PLAYOFF EDITION

Pre-Tourney TOP 5 FAVORITES

Plutoni 5:2
Sarzonia 7:2
Cassadaigua 4:1
Valanora 8:1
Kelssek 8:1

PLAYOFF TEAMS and their current odds to win WCoH XII:

Toyur 10:1
Euroslavia 30:1
Newmanistan OFF BOARD
Quintessence of Dust 15:1
Taeshan 30:1
Kelssek 5:1
The Fanboyists 10:1
Valanora 7:1
Sorthern Northland 20:1
Plutoni 4:1
Tocrowkia 15:2
Sibirsky 30:1
Cassadaigua 5:2
Secristan 10:1
The Babbage Islands 25:1
Teinohikira 8:1
Qazox 12:1
Sarzonia 8:1

EDIT: Due to a printer error, the Sarzonia odds to win were not printed. Sarzonia should have been listed at 8:1 to win the WCoH. We apologize for the error.

LINES for Playoff games:
Play-in games
Euroslavia v Sibirsky Euroslavia -175
Taeshan v The Babbage Islands The Babbage Islands -180
Round of 16
Plutoni v Taeshan Plutoni -205
Cassadaigua v Sibirsky Cassadaigua -230
Newmanistan v Secristan NO LINE
Valanora v Sorthern Northland Valanora -165
Kelssek v Qazox Kelssek -155
Toyur v Quintessence of Dust Quintessence of Dust -145
Teinohikira v Tocrowkia Tocrowkia -160
Sarzonia v The Fanboyists Sarzonia -115

(OOC: The NSWiki page and the WikiStates Page for WCoH 12 are updated!)

[Quintessence of Dust]

Play-in Round

Euroslavia 2-2 Sibirsky (2-3 OT)
Taeshan 0-0 The Babbage Islands (1-0 OT)

Two results that serve as a useful reminder that, in WCoH12, overtime is sudden death.

[Plutoni]

Plutoni ice hockey blog: WCoH 12, Matchday 10
Last day, first seeds

The national team defeated Sibirsky 4-1 to finish the group stage and earn the number-one seed in the playoffs. They'll face the winner of a play-in game between Taeshan and The Babbage Islands.

Amy Pilshaft recorded the first goal, 12:12 into the first period, off a pass from a backtracking Amakar Flurian. Mukwal Kuyem scored 8:03 into the second period, assisted by Pensban Gamela, but Sibirsky got on the scoreboard at 14:06. Nevertheless, Plutoni scored on a powerplay 2:40 into the third period. After one of Sibirsky's defenders high-sticked, Jofri Spendral sent in Turfli Jeamin's pass. Finally, Mirsh Atzin scored with seven minutes remaining.

Comments:
1. icebaby: "High-sticked" is not a word.
2. taughtus: woo taeshn or babbage islands we've beat em both feore! go team!!
3. bocky_boy: Congratulations to Melanie Roy of Cassadaigua on winning the Sarmiento Memorial Trophy. Nice prize, hope we don't need too many more like it, though.
4. combatant94: Has that been announced yet?
5. bocky_boy: Oh...looks like Sarmiento had the best GAA in the group stage but the trophy's for the whole tournament. Never mind. Good luck Ostal!

[Toyur]

Toyurska Sportnyhet

GRIZZLIES ROMP INTO PLAYOFFS
More destruction than a bear at a picnic
by Sven Magnusson

KYNYTHIN, QUINTESSENCE OF DUST (TP) - Patrik Dahlin posted his second straight shutout and Toyur lit up Tretskivucia for five goals to take top spot in the Motor Group on matchday 10.

First period goals from Petr Rasmussen and Markus Gräslund, second period strikes from Jakob Hjerstedt and Mikael Stenmark, and a third period goal from Stefan Jansson lifted the Grizzlies past the Motor Group minnows, and put the pressure on Sarzonia to keep pace if they wanted to finish top of the group. The Stars did impress in their 7-2 shellacking of Krytenia, but it was not enough to move past Toyur at the top of the group.

Toyur now move into the playoff round seeded 6th, meaning that they will have to take on hosts Quintessence of Dust in Zyarn, whose arena is probably not as nice as Finntasia here in Kynythin. 'It's not going to be an easy task at all,' said head coach Viktor Brandin. 'They are a very strong defensive side. Only allowing 8 goals against through the tournament is a very impressive feat.'

Despite Brandin's caution, Toyur appear to matchup well against the hosts. Quintessence of Dust is a strong defensive team, but Toyur have been scoring goals for fun in the Motor Group and should be able to put a couple into the net. Secondly, QoD is not as impressive in the offensive end, scoring only 22 goals for in 10 games. If Toyur can contain the QoD forwards, it should go in their favour. A tight scoring affair, but definitely one that the Grizzlies can manage if they play carefully.

The playoff encounter with the Quodites can be seen on TSTV1.

Code: Select all

TOYUR vs Tretskivucia
SCORING SUMMARY

First Period

TOY P. Rasmussen (3) (Nylen, Mjallby, 4:03)
TOY M. Gräslund (1) (Forssell, Brahe; 11:19)

Shots on Goal: Toyur 11 (11), Tretskivucia 7 (7)

Second Period

TOY J. Hjerstedt (8) (Jansson, Aspelin; 7:26 PP)
TOY M. Stenmark (1) (Berglund, Axelsson; 13:19)

Shots on Goal: Toyur 10 (21), Tretskivucia 8 (15)

Third Period

TOY S. Jansson (5) (Linderoth, Holmberg; 9:22)

Shots on Goal: Toyur 9 (30), Tretskivucia 10 (25)

Three Stars
1. Stefan Jansson (Toyur)
2. Markus Gräslund (Toyur)
3. Patrik Dahlin (Toyur)


[Quintessence of Dust]

A selection of articles posted on the In Brief section of the QBS website.

¡SCIENCE BLAST! predicts close game in playoffs

¡SCIENCE BLAST!, Quintessence of Dust's most popular and most irresponsibly dumb science TV program, has made an unusual foray into the world of ice hockey, by testing what will happen when the hosts meet Toyur in the Round of 16. Toyur had one of the most potent offences of the WCoH12 group stages, scoring 39 goals in a group that contained Matt Peterson, the Stars goaltender biologically incapable of having a bad game, while the Grey Hawks allowed only 8 goals in their 10 games.

This has led many to ponder what will happen when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. ¡SCIENCE BLAST! exhaustively tested a number of scenarios to gather data, including: crashing a car into a brick wall, firing a crossbow at a metal shield, dunking a chunk of molten volcanic rock into liquid nitrogen, trying to batter open a chastity belt lock with an eighteen inch dildo, and starving for a week before being presented with a can of Chunk-o-Meat Tinned Meat-Like-Chunks. The results ranged from whiplash and massive internal bleeding to explosive diarrheoa and a citation for public decency, rendering two predictions: a 4-4 tie decided in overtime, or a 1-0 win for Toyur.

Next week, ¡SCIENCE BLAST! tests whether or not two heads really are better than one by exposing one thousand lab monkeys until they either evolve into two headed mutants or spontaneously write the entire Chumbawamba back catalogue lyrics.

Cross-checking, tripping, fighting up 22% at grammar convention

DIC-CON, the annual convention for dictionary enthusiasts (thesaurus enthusiasts need not apply) has seen an outbreak of hockey-related violence at its popular Word Or Schmord? Panel after a Plutonian blog questioned the validity of "high-sticked". Advocates of permitting the word into the dictionary (and thereby allowing its use in such popular board games as Scrapple, Flungo!, and Dic-Jam) made their case with a combination of a detailed slideshow on the evolution of the word "stick" into an intransitive verb, and brutal checks into the convention wall of any who disagreed with them. Speaking for the responders, a University of West Sponson linguistics student argued that one could only "high-stick" something, making it inadmissible as a verb, and strengthened his argument by dropping gloves for a couple of minutes with the Panel chair.

Ratings variable for playoff stages

QBS insist their programming has not suffered from a severe drop-off in viewing figures for the play-in stage of the WCoH knockout stages, and predict strong showings for a number of the Round of 16 games. (OOC: All 8 of which are being shown on QBS's 2 channels by...um...magic.) The most popular are expected to be Quintessence of Dust v Toyur, Sarzonia v The Fanboyists, and Newmanistan v Secristan. Meanwhile, stadiums have reported brisk ticket sales for the Round of 16 games, especially for Cassadaigua's return to Greschmeier and the third Valanora v Sorthern Northland match-up of the tournament.

Ostal, Roy considered frontrunners for Trophy

With group stages completed, Plutonian and Cassadagan goaltenders Lilam Ostal and Melanie Roy are considered hot favourites to win the one-off Lawrence Sarmiento Memorial Trophy, in aid of the Victims Of Unspecified Huge Fuck-Off Spatial/Temporal Whatever Nation Destroying Vortex Things Support Charity. Both posted sub 1.00 GA averages for the group stages, with several shutouts to their name. But the awarding committee says playoff performance will undoubtedly play a role in the final decision. They also all but ruled out awarding the trophy to home favourite John Romkema, who also posted a favourable GAA.

[The Fanboyists]

Tension? Not really. This batch of hockey players knew what tension was, and there was a lack of it here.

Maarkus called the team up as they prepared their pads. He was a little choked up, clearly, with his eyes damp and his voice catching once or twice.

"Hey, y'all. I figured now's as good a time as any to tell y'all: if we lose here, a lot of us won't be coming back next year. Announcement's offical. Short of a run to the finals, all non-committed year-round players won't be permited to continue involvement internationally. So, this might be my last game with y'all. And Dani's, and Artie's, and everyone elses. So let's make this night special, aright? Play your hearts out, and we'll see if we can't win us a championship."

There were nods all around. Theo and Kristin were practically hugging. The duo had become almost inseperable over the last four years, and they didn't want those days of duo-ship to end. Honorius was looking almost despondent, but then he promptly became all smiles again, just in time to cheer up a team-mate who was beginning to choke up himself.

Watching through a window, Kyle wasn't the slightest bit worried. How they played tonight would be how they played. He knew they wouldn't let each other down, and he had his team here, now.

Now the only thing left to do was to go out and win where nobody thought they should.

They'd choked often enough in the first round of playoffs. Three times, to be exact, as a nation.

Now, as Smart saw it, it was time they inflicted the same on someone else. Sarzonia was an excellent team to make their first mark on.

[Valanora]

"Amazingly we are playing Sorthern Northland again in the first knockout round."

"You know, if one did not know any better, one could make wild accusations such as fixing by the organization committees of both the World Cup and the World Cup of Hockey with the amount of times we have faced that particular nation as of late in each sport."

"Such an accusation would be baseless and pointless in the end, there would be little evidence to support such a claim, no?"

"Oh I highly doubt that there would be any such traces of evidence even if such a thing was actually happening."

"Then why bring up the possible scenario?"

"It is merely a statement of a certain curiosity from an observation, nothing more."

"Oh, I guess I misinterpreted your meaning then."

"All is well, no harm done in simple misinterpretations. None the less, I do not like such a fixture for the Calcuttas, not losing once out of the two meetings thus far has been good fortune, a third time is pressing luck to the extreme."

"You think that the Sortherners have a honest chance at upsetting the team?"

"If this was a few years ago, I would have said no, none at all. Lately however, it seems that parity among competitors in many different fields is quite high. I would not put it past any side in any sport to not have at least a slim chance of taking results that must would find highly unlikely, such as a Calcuttaa loss."

"Yes, I could see where you are coming from though as you said last week, more success for the minor teams breeds more enthusiasm yes?"

"For the newer teams it does but it seems to have the opposite effect on the established teams as well as those older sides that seem stuck in the traditions of the old ways."

"Surely a compromise between the two sides could be reached, each side seeing that they need each other to succeed."

"I would hope so but as has been proven in the past, humanity are a stubborn and prideful race, some too blinded by their own passions to see reason and logic in any arguement that goes against their own."

"How sad that they have not risen above such petty differences for the betterment of their race."

"Indeed my good friend, it is a sad and tragic thing, that hopefully one day will be but a distant memory."

[Teinohikira]

Teinohikira Practice Session 3 HOURS 54 MINUTES TIL GAMETIME

"C'mon, back to the center!" yelled Coach Bilbo.

Alexei passed the puck back to Jorge, who skated left and shot the puck by Jimmy and scored

"Yeah!" screamed Jorge
"Nice shot man." said Alexei.
"Let's hope this practice will help us today against Tocrowkia." said Connor.
"I just wanna make it to the Quarterfinals!" said Giovanni.
"If we play good, we'll get there." said Daylon.
"Just hope we don't screw up!" said Jimmy.
"I...probably think we will." said Jorge.
"Yeah, but I think we can win." said Coach Bilbo.
"I got to keep my money that I bet!" yelled Alexei.
"Me too!" said Daylon.
"We all did!" yelled Giovanni.
"I bet $100 that we beat Tocrowkia!" said Connor.
"I bet $1000!" yelled Jorge.
"Just hope you keep the money." said Jimmy.
"I'm pretty sure I won't." said Jorge.
"Well, whatever happens, I'm still proud of you guys for playing hard!" said Coach Bilbo.
"Thanks man!" said Alexei.
"You're a good coach too." said Jimmy
"Thanks guys." replied Coach Bilbo.

[Quintessence of Dust]

Round of 16

Taeshan 3-4 Plutoni
Sarzonia 5-5 The Fanboyists (5-6 OT)
Valanora 3-3 Sorthern Northland (3-3 OT) (Valanora wins 4-2 on SO)
Kelssek 3-1 Qazox
Cassadaigua 6-1 Sibirsky
Teinohikira 1-4 Tocrowkia
Newmanistan 3-1 Secristan

Scorinated by Kelssek

Toyur 1-0 Quintessence of Dust

19 June - Quarterfinals

α - Plutoni v The Fanboyists @ The National Stadium of Sports, Highmark City
β - Cassadaigua v Tocrowkia @ The Eli F. Baker Memorial Arena, Zyarn
γ - Newmanistan v Toyur @ Hljómalind, New Cleethorpes
δ - Valanora v Kelssek @ The Teapot Dome, Joeport

[Teinohikira]

Teinohikira humiliated, loses in heartbreaker

Yes, Teinohikira, who made it to the playoffs, lost a heartbreaker to Tocrowkia. Teinohikira was humiliated horribly and cannot show their faces again in QoD. Teinohikira was not prepared for this game and sucked horribly at it. Every Teinohikira fan at the game left at the end of the 1st period when the score was 2-0. Teinohikira has decided to abolish their hockey team and end their franchise. The play-by-play of the game wasn't written because the editors were too upset to post one. Coach Mark Bilbo of Teinohikira has resigned as head coach. All 6 of Teinohikira's players have chosen to leave and some have chosen not to play hockey anymore. Alexei Borodin, MVP of Teinohikira, has decided to leave hockey forever and not play it ever again. Teinohikira has ruined their franchise as a hockey team and will never play in the WCoH again. Which would be greatful to the WCoH teams. Bye!

[The Fanboyists]

Go on, Take the Monkey and Run, Sarzonia!

Through the qualifiers there had been flashes of the FHL player Maarkus Stahlburg, but only flashes.

Through the qualifiers there had been flashes of the dynamic duo of WCoH XI Kristin Maarks and Theo Braannur, but only flashes.

Both returned in that first playoff game. Both Stahlburg and the dynamic duo had hat-tricks on the night. Stahlburg's third was the over-time clincher that has the Iron Tide now facing it's first Quarterfinal match in a sport other than lacrosse, against two-time champion Plutoni.

Sarzonia matched them tit-for-tat throughout regulation, answering Braannur's goal and Kristin Maark's two goals, alongside two in regulation by Stahlburg.

It started with Maarks making her first --hehe mark of the night by slipping one past Peterson after a setup by her partner Braannur as the second line started the night. A few minutes later, a Sarzonian goal tied things up, only for the first period to end on a second goal by Maarks after a setup by the other Braannur brother.

The second period started with two goals as Andrik Stok was overloaded with shots, leaving the Tide behind by one, 3-2 at the half-way point of the period. Then Artie Weiss took a boarding penalty, giving the Stars the power play. Another score. 4-2, Sarzonia.

With the first line in, Dani Andicek took a shot, which was deflected back to her. Preparing to take another shot, she instead passed it to Stahlburg who took the shot. 4-3, Stars still leading.

Of course, it didn't last. The Stars answered to re-establish a two-goal lead. 5-3, Stars.

End of the period.

Then, shorthanded off an off-side minor and with the second line back in, Theo Braannur broke free off a turn-over, charged down the ice, and back-handed it in for a goal to close the gap again. 5-4, Stars in the lead.

Finally, after a boarding call against the Stars' center, Stahlburg contributed to the power-play in a big way, sweeping a goal past the Stars' goalie to complete the comeback tie. 5-5, tied with only five minutes remaining in the period.

No further scoring in the period.

In overtime, the Tide's physical play and size allowed them to win the face-off, and to quickly turn their first possession into a strong wrist-shot by Stahlburg to defeat Sarzonia, 6-5 in overtime amid cheers from the crowd of "Roll Tide Roll!".

The win has the Iron Tide facing the humans and robots of Plutoni, the champions of WCoH IX and WCoH X. It'll be a tough one, but then, so was Sarzonia. There's no reason they can't win.

"We'll just have to dissapoint Qazox's odds-makers again, now, won't we?" goalie Aandrik Stok said to reporters, referring to a Qazian betting report issued going into the playoffs heavily favoring Sarzonia to win.