The TDS Quick 'n' Easy Guide to the 31st World Cup of HockeyDo I have to tell you about what happened in the last one? I'm pretty sure I do, so I'm going to give you a quick recap. At the beginning of the tournament, we were riding high, winning all of our games by at least three goals. In fact, the highlights of the group stage were the 6-1 opening day thrashing of Ethane and the 6-0 drubbing of the Land of Dat Boi. In the round of 16, we managed to knock out the hosts, winning both of our games 4-2 and 4-1. Nordeana also end down quite easily, as evidenced by the 4-1 and 2-0 wins in both of our games. And then, for the semi-finals, we were up against our old friends Kaboomlandia. Surely a couple of easy wins, you might think? I don't know what happened there but let me just say that 7-6 and 6-4 aren't exactly what you call "easy". What the hell happened there? Did the defence fall asleep or something? Either way, it carried on to the final against Valanora. We won game one, 5-4 in overtime. Seems fair enough. Then they won game two 6-5 (also in overtime) to force a game three. Then, to add insult to injury, they won game three and thus the tournament with a 3-2 RT win.
However, they still received a warm welcome home, with Coach Madgwick saying that he'll try to bring the trophy home again next time round. Indeed, after a couple of particularly long and hard training sessions (which were played in between ENIHL games) just to get the defence to wake up, that seemed like what he was saying would happen. Unfortunately, there was a tragic accident a couple of days after the ENIHL season came to an end (with his team, the Davenport Dockers, winning both the league and the playoffs), where he broke his arm after he fell off his motorbike just outside of Davenport. As a result, he'll not only miss the tournament but he'll also miss the first couple of months of the season. However, not only will he still accompany the Icy Elephants to Hannasea but Coach Madgwick managed to find a suitable replacement: Stacy Saunders, the half-Quebecois former junior squad captain, currently with the Kingston Knights over in the Quebec Hockey League. There was a slight problem with his first match with the senior side, going down 3-1 in a friendly against Ficiscia (with Saunders, assisted by Bill Harrison and Mike Cruickshank, scoring the only Elejamian goal in the second period), although he managed to turn things round when the Declan Madgwick Memorial Stadium over in Davenport hosted the rematch, which also ended in a 3-1 victory but this time it was for Elejamie; Cerin Meloten scored the first goal unassisted after intercepting the puck from a pass by Baldur Hejman, Anatoly Kasputin bagged the second (assisted by Meloten and Adam Keane) and Paul Morton netted the third (assisted by Saunders). Here's hoping that Stacy will work his magic with the senior side as he did with the juniors.
Lucas Madgwick, who will sadly be missing the
tournament due to injury. However, he'll still be
joining the team for the trip and watching them
from the stands.
So, now that I've given you a little history lesson, let's take a look at our opponents over in the Guild of Pepperers Group, or Group H as I'm going to call it because it's much easier to say. And, first up, we've got Cosumar. In the last tournament over in Norrehavn, they came second in Group H, winning all but two games, thanks to a 2-2 draw against Nassau-Hessen (who would go on to finish third) and a 2-1 defeat to group winners Ko-oren on the final day; they would later go on to be swept in their Round of 16 series against Neu Engollon, losing game one 2-0 and game two 4-3. Indeed, this won't be the first time we'll play against them, as we also swept them in the quarter-finals of our successful WCoH29 run, winning game one 3-2 and game two 2-0. In other words, an opening day win is definitely on the cards, although it'll probably be only by a couple of goals.
Next, we have the Greater Vakolicci Haven. They're new to the tournament, which doesn't seem that bad, especially since Ficiscia managed to make it to the Round of 16 on their first go in Quebec and, back in the 27th edition, Prusy Krolewskie would've gone through to the next round had they not drew 6-6 to Havl (in fact, both teams went home and San José Guayabal, who beat Kaboomlandia 2-1, joined us instead). However, I can't seem to find anything about ice hockey - teams, history, players, popularity, you name it - when I did my research as I was making this article. However, one thing I did manage to find was how they did at the inline hockey part of the Multiverse Games from last year. Long story short, both their men's and women's team came dead last in their groups, with the men's team exiting the tournament without scoring a single goal; fortunately, their women's team managed to do a lot better, scoring six, but it still wasn't enough for them to get any points on the board. So this pretty much means that this will be an easy win.
Then we've got Anthor. In both of their World Cups so far, they haven't gotten out of the Group Stage. In their inaugural tournament, they came dead last in Group H with their sole point came from a goalless draw against Kazirstan (who'd later finish fourth). They showed a small sign of improvement in Group F the following tourney, thanks to a 5-3 win over the Republic of Arkan (who'd go on to finish last with one win and four losses) which was then followed by a 3-3 draw against Western Bjorniac. but they could only manage a fifth place finish. So, naturally, they're hoping to turn things round and finally make it out of the group stages. While I can't imagine them beating us, I will say that there's a very good chance that they might be joining us in the Round of 16, so they're not a team to take lightly.
And, to round it off, we've got Tobiasia. Another newcomer to the tournament, although again I couldn't find anything ice hockey related. However, their women's field hockey played at the Olympics over in Paripana came fifth in their group with one win, two draws and two losses. Wrong type of hockey, I know, but at least it's something. In fact, I was going to bring up how the Greater Vakolicci Haven did in the hockey at the last Olympics (spoiler alert: Their men's team came second in the group with a 3-1-1 record, beat San Llera 1-0 in the quarters and lost 5-3 on penalties of Fluvique after the match ended 2-2. I can't seem to find any information about the finals, though, so drop me a line if they got the bronze or left empty-handed) but that seemed a bit excessive. Either way, we've got this in the bag. After that, we've got a day off, so the team can probably rest easy and celebrate Adam's 25th birthday.
So there we go. Of course, I could go on about how easy the group is and how the Icy Elephants will be making it to the round of 16 for the fifth time in a row. Indeed, it'd be something to pad this out. But, to be honest, what's more important will be is the question of who'll be joining us. Will it be the Anthoran Ducks or will it be the Cosumar Ice Dragons? On the one hand, the Cosumar squad have been in the World Cup of Hockey for a long time, going as far back as the twelfth edition. And, going through the results of previous tourneys, the last time they missed the knock-out stages was in the 26th edition. But, on the other hand, there's a good chance that Anthor will turn the tables and grab a surprise win, seeing as they managed to get a 3-0 win in the shootout after their match against Ficiscia (a team ranked 20 places higher) ended 3-3. Granted, they lost the following match 5-1 on home ice but it was still a sign that they could be in for some great things. Not to mention the 7-1 and 2-0 wins over the Second Ndakene Federation in a couple more pre-tournament friendlies. But still, if I had to choose... I'm probably going to say Cosumar. Sorry Anthor.
As for everyone else? Reigning champions Valanora will be in the Guild of Launderers Group (aka Group F), which will be pretty easy for them seeing as their biggest opponents are Vilita and Turori, ranked twenty places below them. Same goes with the Royal Kingdom of Quebec, who are in the Guild of Apothecaries Group (aka Group D) where their toughest opponents are the United States of Devonta (who are ranked 19th in the world alongside Torisakia, who are missing the competition). Gregoryisgodistan, who are going through a little bit of a rough patch lately (Ro16 exit in Valanora to Neu Engollon of all people, lost the finals in Quebec to us and another Ro16 exit in Norrehavn, again to old rivals Quebec), will begin their attempt at a comeback in the Guild of Mercers Group (aka Group A), alongside Nephara, Ilyseum and newcomers Tumbra and Beaverriver. And Kaboomlandia and Novaya Zemlya are in the Guild of Alchemists Group (aka Group C), alongside Aquitayne, Parah and the Second Ndakene Federation.
And there we have it. I was going to write a little paragraph asking where the likes of Ko-oren, Ontorisa and Norrehavn are but I'm pretty sure there's a good explanation for that. Besides, they're probably going to come back in the 32nd installment, fully refreshed. Either way, I'll just shut up and get myself ready for the opener against Cosumar. Here's looking forward to an exciting tournament.