SavojarSports.sj - inside reports from all Savojarna
Savojarna prepares for its international hockey debut!
Savojarna plays a game that is mostly depending on tactical discipline and puck possession. While the Savojars do value a good deflection or rebound goal, and certainly have many players who can do such things, they usually prefer a pass to a shot from a desperate position hoping for a lucky bounce. Their players usually think fast rather than move exceptionally fast (but they are not slow either!), and while they don't have to hide from anyone except maybe Enemy Crushers, they are usually not physically superior. In defense, the Savojar employ a heavy defense aimed at trapping the opponent in the neutral zone and suffocating their play. They are unlikely to concede many odd-man rushes, but they usually let their opponent safely reach the neutral zone in favour of a more stable defense rather than a heavy forecheck. If you want to compare them to modern-day RL teams, the best comparison may be the Swedish or Finnish national team.
Style Mod: -1.25Coach: Fredrik Rundblad (44)
Assistant coaches: Denis Patrishin (41), Anders Parvanen (38)
Video coach: Linus Sjöberg (35)
Medical and physio staff: Dr. Pyotr Alexandrov (62), Dr. Valtteri Naumanen (45), Lisa Andersson (34), Kari Litmanen (32)
Press representative: Carl Törmänen (33) - please note that apart from mixed zone interviews and WCoH press conferences, only Törmänen is authorised to speak to foreign media.
Savojar National Team
Pos Nr. Name Age Club Style
GK 1 Petter Malmström 24 Dynamo Sjoedrhavn HYB
GK 30 Niklas Hoyman 26 CASK Thorsborg BFY
GK 35 Andrey Strakhov 31 International Pawlograd HYB
1st LINE
D 22 Erik Kristiansen 25 Dynamo Sjoedrhavn OFD
D 5 Jon Asgeirsson 26 ESK Storevik DFD
LW 40 Ville Stefansson 27 Lokomotive Markka SNP
C 18 Mikko Simonen 27 RHK Savojagrad PLM
RW 14 Pavel Rasnikov - C 29 Dynamo St. Andrei PWF
2nd LINE
D 13 Vyacheslav Glukov 28 RHK Savojagrad TWD
D 6 Dmitry Vasilyev 32 Dynamo St. Andrei DFD
LW 17 Johan Bryzhnev 19 Torpedo Belushya Guba (NZE) SNP
C 52 Anders Hjalmarsson 24 HK Metall Jarnstad PLM
RW 19 Tuomas Jaskinen 23 PT Hovikkära TWA
3rd LINE
D 27 Petteri Juranen 21 Aviator Virkaja TWD
D 12 Antti Toranen 26 CASK Thorsborg OFD
LW 34 Mikael Söderberg - A 27 CASK Thorsborg SNP
C 15 Frans Djurberg 23 Dynamo Sjoedrhavn PWF
RW 24 Igor Yurkin 31 SK Torpedo Pawlograd GRN
4th LINE
D 11 Nikolaj Hendersen 28 Dynamo Sjoedrhavn DFD
D 20 Alexey Yarchenko - A 29 RHK Savojagrad TWD
LW 8 Perttu Rantanen 20 PT Hovikkära PLM
C 29 Krister Jörgensen 24 ASK Landsmark PWF
RW 41 Jonas Gulbrandsson 21 Dynamo Sjoedrhavn PLM
RESERVES
D 4 Denis Antonov 22 Partizan Novaya Russica TWD
C 33 Jacob Andersson 21 Akademisk HK Sjoedrhavn PWF
RW 10 Juha Neronen 25 Aviator Virkaja TWA
Goalkeeper order: Hoyman - Strakhov - Malmström
Strakhov will start against Dylecte. In other games Hoyman gets to start unless indicated otherwise.
Special Teams: The Savojar team plays a powerplay focused mainly on shooting from the point and the circle. The two defenders play both in the area between the blue line and the top of the circle, but occasionally advance to the circle. The winger on the side of the puck moves to the circle to be open and get a shot off, the other winger moves towards the goal to assist the center in screening and opening shooting lanes. The center remains in front of the goal. In penalty killing, Savojarna lets the opponent play around the boards, but intervenes quickly if the puck moves inside the box. They play a PK with relatively little pressure.
PP1: Kristiansen - Glukov - Stefansson - Djurberg - Bryzhnev
PP2: Juranen - Vasilyev - Söderberg - Yurkin - Jaskinen
PK1: Asgeirsson - Vasilyev - Djurberg - Jaskinen
PK2: Hendersen - Glukov - Rasnikov - Yurkin
Style codes:HYB = Hybrid goaltender. Uses a sensible mixture of butterfly and standup styles. Average likelihood of rebounds.
BFY = Butterfly goaltender. Quickly drops into butterfly stance to make saves. Will concede more rebounds, but is harder to beat low.
DFD = Defensive defender. Sticks to the blue line and works a lot in backchecking. Blocks shots, checks and is hard to get past.
TWD = Two-way defender. Dangerous from the point and the top of the circle, but focuses on backchecking. Also good at breakouts.
OFD = Offensive defender. Usually a good shooter and passer, and will more frequently move deep in offensive play. Still is a defender though.
TWA = Two-way attacker. A forward who will be quick to fall back if the team loses the puck, and prevents odd-man rush opportunities.
PWF = Power forward. A forward who plays with strength in everything he does, but also relies on skill. The most allround forwards on the team.
SNP = Sniper. A forward who will score more goals than assists. His job is simply to put the puck in the back of the net from every position.
PLM = Playmaker. A forward who has good overview and passing, and will score more assists than goals. His job is to create chances for the team.
GRN = Grinder. A forward using his body to annoy the opponent, get or keep the puck and push it into the goal. Especially good at forechecking.
JERSEYWho will...Score goals? Rasnikov, Bryzhnev, Simonen and Stefansson are top league scorers. From the defenders, all OFD as well as Glukov and Vasilyev may score. Vasilyev holds the record for the hardest slapshot ever recorded by a Savojar player, and may use it to score from the point. Glukov is also a good shooter, and will use that skill as well. The OFD may also move forward and shoot from the circle occasionally.
Amaze us all? If skill explosions and wonderful dekes are your thing, have an eye on Bryzhnev and Gulbrandsson. That brilliant cross-crease pass that leaves the teammate with an open net? Hjalmarsson and to a lesser extent Simonen got you covered. Finally, Hoyman guarantees spectacle in net.
Get into a brawl? Savojars are somewhat opposed to one-on-one brawls due to their huge sense of community. While the warrior culture is strong among the team, chances are that you'll get jumped by three at once if you hurt someone. The players with shortest fuses are Yurkin and Hendersen. Dmitry Vasilyev has a tendency to end up in fights instigated by the opponent, as he is known for his brutal checks. Those three are quite likely to end up in a fist fight, but all of the team know how to shove, push and wrestle you down (and also punch, if needed) shall you hurt their linemates.
Knock you out? Dmitry Vasilyev stands at 208 cm and 119 kg pure muscle. This is a giant that does not refrain from hitting you at all his speed and smaller players can be taken out by his checks even if they are clean. Apart from him, heavyweights of the team are Asgeirsson (197 cm/105 kg) and Yarchenko (194 cm/99 kg). Despite his size, Toranen (183 cm/80 kg) is known for his spectacular hip checks that sent many Savojar wingers to the ice face first.
Miss curfew? Savojars love a good drink, and while they have stopped doing the tradition of sacrificial mead-drinking before game days, they still practice it two days before (to sleep off the hangover). In this tradition, players are expected to prove their strength before the Gods by drinking large amounts of mead. The best at this discipline tend to be Strakhov, Jaskinen and Rantanen. Gudbrandsson is a very attractive guy who likes going out, and most likely to get to know the female players of other teams a bit better. Similar is said about Stefansson, but he never seems to find anyone meeting his standards...
(OOC: Ville Stefansson is secretly gay and you are open to RP on that. However, given the usual issues of discrimination in hockey environments, only his best friends on the team know. I don't know if I'll bring that up in RP, but the possibility exists and if you want to collaborate on that, be it by outrage or endorsement, feel free.)Spark controversy? Savojarna is a communist country, and while most players either remain silent on that or quietly endorse it, some are active defenders of the nation's politics. Those are Yurkin and Jaskinen, as well as Söderberg (who is a member of the left-communist Party of Liberation). All the players of PT and Partizan are required to be members of the Communist Party of Savojarna, as they own the team.
Transfer abroad? Generally, players from Army teams (CASK, ASK, Torpedo, Aviator) are hard to get away from their team, but sometimes do if the offer is good. Similarly, Dynamo (the police team) is not extremely fond of losing players. But then again, since the 1990s players have enough rights to enable transfer of everyone. Players disappointed with their current team are Stefansson and Andersson.
RP PERMISSIONSYou are free to do whatever you want as long as you do not:
- violate the rules of physics or reality. Godmodding in the sense of unusual but possible events is fine, godmodding impossible things is not. As a guideline, if it has never happened in a RL hockey match, don't do it (or TG me first at least).
- Kill any Savojars, including spectators and journalists etc. If it does... we are currently invading Brasilistan for rumours of them killing our citizens.
- Injure any player for more than until the next WCoH, or in a way that heavily affects me. As a rule of thumb, if you take out a 1st or 2nd liner, or if you take out more than one player, TG me first. If you injure them for more than the tournament, I will allow myself to shorten the injury for domestic purposes.
- Allow me to do the same thing to you that you do to me.
A note regarding fights in the streets or stadia: Savojars are a proud people that highly values warriors and fighting as a sign of strength and pride. We do also feel a strong sense of justice towards our own kind. Attacking Savojars will be a quick way to be surrounded by a bunch of their friends, or even complete strangers who happen to be countrymen. Also, while they may be on the lookout for a fight, if you obviously decline it and walk away, nobody will actually attack you. Attacking an opponent who either declines, does not expect or conceded a fight is seen as the lowest of the low in Savojarna, and only done by spineless cowards.
A note regarding international incident or cooperative RP: I am very inclined to do cooperative RP and also gladly outside the hockey world, be that diplomacy, trade or war. However, I'd like to ask you to TG me with your proposed storyline. If you do not do this, or I declined the storyline for some reason, and you carry it out anyway, I will consider your RP useless propaganda and not accept it as Savojar canon. (Unless I actually like it, in which case I may also TG you and ask where you want to go with it, obviously)