World Cup of Hockey 39 - Everything thread

[Neu Engollon]

“Good evening, Neu Engollon and our international viewers! You're watching the NETV Sports 7 Update. I'm Karl Demais."

"And I'm Magda Wertauer.
Thirty Ninth Hockey World Cup. Clayquot, Kelssek. We're still in Burgunden, Ibex are still in Kelssek, heading to Barnaby, so things are half right."

"Magda, they weren't going to fly us out there for what could have amounted to just a game or two."

"They used to...I don't want to use the word 'cheap', but..."

"Then don't. Didn't you just chew me out for being inappropriate and grudgy on air last week?"

"Stop. Just stop."

"You stop!"

"Moving on...the Ibex were able to overcome the Hinodejin offense and defense..."

"Quite well, in fact. They were in rare form tonight. Rumors that some of the veteran players have been feeling their age and literally not up to speed were dashed out there on the ice at the Portage Center in Clayquot."

"Yeah, it was like a highlights reel from ten years ago, except for Manon and Volkzein wearing polos and head mics behind the glass instead of on the rink in pads and skates."

"Four unanswered goals. It was quite a show of force from the Ibex. Roessler, Terfram, Velper, and Gavnic each had a goal, Velper and Roessler's being in the last couple minutes of the third period after the Hinodejins yanked their goalie. We have to give them credit for putting up a good fight until the end, but it was clear that they were outclassed by the time Gavnic was slamming home the very first goal in the first period."

"They did put up a fight. They wouldn't have gotten as far as they did if they just rolled over whenever another team showed some strength. The Ibex have rarely had anything handed to them in this Cup and this game was no exception, even though looking at the score without seeing the game play out, you may think otherwise."

"We're looking forward to another show of force again tomorrow night when they play Equestria in Barnaby. Stay tuned to NETV Sports 7 while we cut away for a quick sponsor break..."

[Kelssek]

Quarterfinals
Mercedini 1–1 Siovanija and Teusland (2–1 OT)
Valanora 0–2 Cassadaigua
Abanhfleft 2–0 Banija
Neu Engollon 4–2 Equestria

Semi-finals
Mercedini vs. Cassadaigua (Harbourside Gardens, Kirkenes)
Abanhfleft vs. Neu Engollon (Bantam Yard, Latrobe)

Final: Aréna Saint-Jacques, Outineau
3PPO: Public Service Workers Centre, Colwyn

[Kelssek]

Dennis Emberly sat down before the bank of microphones. "Well, it's never nice to lose and it's never nice to have your tournament end like that. Equestria are a good team and they showed that today. We clearly didn't get our offence going the way we needed too... they came at us hard and we didn't take our chances. And so that's how it goes."

The press pack were intensely suspicious, but before the press conference many of them had already had the chance to chew over the Riley Hesselboe situation and agreed that a frontal approach wouldn't be ideal. So start with the anodyne. "Coach, how much do you think the team missed Riley Hesselboe today?"

"Well, Riley's a great player, he brings a lot out there on the ice. But you know, we're up against a team that won all their games? Perfect record in the group, I think. So missing one player, even a very good player, I don't want to make too much of that."

"When did he get injured, and was it a really tough decision that he should miss the game?"

"Well, you know, after the last game, he wasn't feeling right, and it was a lower body injury, and we decided it was best he sit it out." Emberly cast an irritated glare at the press pack, hoping to dissuade further pursuit of this topic.

"So was it your decision to sit this out? The medical team?"

"Look, I... it was a decision we reached together. I don't know why we want to fixate on one player, it's not like he'd had been the difference. No player can be bigger than the team, and we haven't even talked about what happened during the actual game yet. If that's the story you're going with, that he lost because Riley couldn't play, no, we lost because Equestria were a better team. Okay?"

It all made no sense. Riley had been striding around the press box like nothing was wrong, so whatever the lower body injury was, it didn't seem like anything that would keep out the captain for an elimination game. Players went out on the ice hurt all the time, and the Kelssek Hockey League had started having concussion spotters because you couldn't rely on players to look out for themselves on something like that.

* * *
"Hi Riley, it's Gabrielle. Just checking in to make sure everything's ok?... What?... Right, I understand. Why don't we meet after practice Monday, when you're back in Latrobe?"

Internationale Hockey Club's general manager put her phone back on her desk. Gabrielle Fitzpatrick could barely believe what she'd just heard. The head coach cast a quizzical look from across the table. "So the injury...?"

"He isn't hurt at all. He said that Dennis Emberly benched him over some disciplinary locker room thing and the team just said he was hurt... Seriously? Have you ever heard of anything like this?"

"Coaches do a lot of ridiculous things. But for me, this is a new one."

"I've known some big egos in my career, who might have pulled a stunt like this. But in the World Cup knockouts?!" Gabrielle pondered if she might make a call up the Hockey Kelssek hierarchy, maybe the directors, but then had the thought maybe some of them thought this was a good way to handle players.

[Cassadaigua]

Marching On,
by Stacie Nolan- Defensemen

The chance to play Valanora is only exciting if you end up being able to talk about beating them afterwards. After a great group stage and an out of character win against HUElavia, we were matched up against a nation that does have a proud hockey history. That’s all well and good, but that does not mean anything if you do not get the win and our preparation for the match went very well.

This match took us to the city of Neorvins, known locally as the federal capital of Kelssek, with plenty of history and sights for one to see. For those who made the trip here to support us, perhaps you had the time to take some of that in and I hope you enjoyed yourselves. For us, the sights we would see would be of the hotel we stayed in, which was a pretty elegant stay, I must say. It was good to see the hotel decorated in a World Cup of Hockey theme, and they went all out with that, because there was a Cassadagan and a Vanorian flag on opposite ends of the front desk. In the lobby, there was even a game of “squares” where guests could buy a square for a certain amount of money and well, you know how it works. They did seem to emphasize Cassadagan decor over Vanorian decor a little more since they were hosting our team and not their team, but they had to give a little something to their fan base as well. Our rooms were all on the third floor, away from anything else that could have been a distraction. We spent our time going over the game tape as one would expect, and took what we learned into the practice. That is all what will happen for any game, though, so there is no earth shattering news there.

Arriving at Federation Arena, you could see there were some efforts to cover up the Neovrins Wolves logos throughout the facility, but that was not really that necessary. In the locker room, everything was set up well, and it was time to hit the ice. We were pretty impressed with the amount of you that made the trip, as it certainly seemed there was more of our supporters then their supporters at least from what we could see during warmups. At the start of the game, we pushed for it pretty hard, and that was instantly rewarded when Abby Dayton tipped in a rebound of a Danielle Cunningham shot (Shannon Fowler got the second assist) just 1:53 into the game, past Vanorian goalie Birk Dahlberg. We continued to take it to them, but their goalie seemed to settle down, and played much better. There are a lot of times in hockey where you a goalie giving up an early goal seems to wake them, and then you can’t get anything by them for the rest of the period. As we continued to get shots on net, that seemed to be the case. Overall, we took 17 shots in the first period. Valanora managed 7.

In the second period, we continued to control the play for the first ten minutes of the period, but there did seem to be a momentum shift in their favor for the second half of the period. Heather Stanford, our excellent goalie, stood up to the challenge, and was our saving grace as we allowed too many quality opportunities to go against us during that stretch. After initially outshooting Valanora 9-1 over the first ten minutes, we ended up being outshot for the period 13-12, but the score remained 1-0. The third period was more of the same with each team getting good chances while playing smart hockey and staying out of the penalty box. Our positioning in front of Heather was much better, so while the Vanorians pushed harder for the equalizer late in the period, we were where we needed to be and made sure Heather could see the shots coming at her well. This held up throughout the third period, and as Valanora pulled Dahlberg for the extra attacker, Cassidy Conti picked up an empty net tally at 19:38 to seal the win. We were outshot 9-8 in the period, but would out shoot Valanora 37-29. Each team was 0-for-1 on the powerplay.

Now, it’s on to the semifinals, and a rematch against Mercedini. When we last played them, the group title was up for grabs. Even though we had clinched our playoff spot beforehand, we wanted the group, so it was a meaningful game for both of us, and as you remember, we would prevail in the contest, 2-0. We were particularly strong in our end during that game, but this will be a little different as both teams can reflect on that game and try to make the necessary adjustments. The game will take place in Kirkenes, and we hope to see you there or otherwise have your support. Two more wins is all we need!

[Kelssek]

--- Oops! I forgot that the clocks where I live moved forward one hour last night. We are still open until 0200 UTC ---

[Neu Engollon]

“Good evening, Neu Engollon and our international viewers! You're watching the NETV Sports 7 Update. I'm Karl Demais. We are covering the final stages of the World Cup of Hockey in Kelssek. Neu Engollon's finest, the Ibex, have reached the semi-finals after eliminating Equestria tonight at False Creek Arena in Barnaby, 4 to 2. They face Abanhfleft next at the Bantam Yard in Latrobe. Here to give us a read on how the Ibex are doing is their acting captain for this Cup, Maurice Terfram. Welcome, Maurice."

"Thanks, Karl. Glad to be able to share with back home. I feel like we've been here in Kelssek for a long time."

"Have you had any chance to see the sites?"

"Yeah, we have. We started out in Outineau. A lot of guys went to check out some art there and eat good food, took in some music. Reminded us a lot of Albertville. We have ridden the Velocit. Seen a lot of museums in Neorvins. We were in Barnaby for a couple days so some of the guys took a hike around Lake Konoha yesterday. I think we have gotten a good flavor of Kelssek. They have a pretty similar outlook to us back home, so it's helped to not feel so homesick."

"So, down to the nitty gritty, Maurice. How do you feel about getting to this point in the Cup? Do you feel that the team has struggled as much as the Neu Engollian media has implied?"

"Well, first off, Karl...You and Magda were two reporters that I think were saying that the most. That we were struggling because we lost our first group game. One game. So maybe own up to that, chief. We had a stumble at the start, sure, but those things happen. You get up off the ice and keep going and regain that balance. I think we did that. I think we proved that we were serious going into this Cup, even if we got taken by surprise a little by Anthor. They're a good team. They got the best of us. That's ok. We bounced back and learned a lesson."

"I'm sorry. You're right that you weren't given a fair shake there. It did seem like a tough group..."

"That's competition for you. It was a tough group. Every one of them had spirit. People want to discount Gergary and Tjun-ia because they were low ranked and unranked, respectively, but they came to play and try to fight their way out of the group. I say keep your eyes on them over the next couple years, because they were not messing around. They got heart and they got a drive. By the same token, Anthor and the Free Republics are no joke. Those are veteran sides with established organizations and a big back log of strategies to tap into. They integrate new players coming up from the collegiates and minors really well and we could probably learn a lot from them on that aspect alone."

"You think the Ibex don't do that as well?"

"I think the Ibex and the NEHL don't leave a lot of room for new blood to rise up. I count myself in that. My time has come and maybe it's time to be done. Some of the other vet players feel that way too. We are happy to play, but there has to be a time that we move on to make room. We're seeing new players go overseas now instead of waiting for prime contracts with NEHL teams that may be years out. I don't blame them...You can't. They're doing what they can to get some time on the ice in their prime."

"There needs to be more turnover, is what you're saying?"

"Yeah, sure. That's about exactly what I'm saying."

"This is great stuff. We have to cut out for a sponsor break. When we come back, we'll talk about Abanhfleft and their upcoming game with the Ibex. Stay tuned right here to NETV Sports 7..."

[Kelssek]

Semifinals
Mercedini 2–3 Cassadaigua
Abanhfleft 3–3 Neu Engollon (1–0 SO)

OOC: The final scorination will likely be late by an hour or so.

Final: Cassadaigua vs. Abanhfleft (Aréna Saint-Jacques, Outineau)
3PPO: Mercedini vs. Neu Engollon (Public Service Workers Centre, Colwyn)

[Cassadaigua]

The Dream Of Gold,
by Stacie Nolan- Defensemen

When this competition began, everyone in our locker room dreamed of winning the gold here at the 39th World Cup of Hockey. We knew it would take everything in our power, and we absolutely were well aware that no one other then many Cassadagans were predicting us to take this title. Being ranked 11th in the World, there seemed to be better predictions for people to make that did not have any loyalty to the Matriarchy, and that was just fine. We knew we were an underdog in this tournament. Not an impossibility or a longshot necessarily, but certainly not one of the favorites. Hockey is a funny game, though. There are other sports where it seems like you have a few teams that dominate, but in hockey, matchups are so vital. Having the pieces fall your way can also help, and as I said from the start, having a red-hot goaltender is all you need to have a run in a short hockey tournament. There is no position in team sports, sorry pitchers in baseball, that one player can dictate how a game goes like a hockey goalie. Soccer goalkeepers can make a case for themselves, but they do not typically face the workload that a goalie in our sport will. Heather Stanford has been brilliant, and even though she may not have needed to be in every game, that is what she has been, and we are sitting here now in the gold medal match with visions of winning our second title in this sport. It has been such a long time since our first one that only our grandparents can tell stories of what it was like. I will talk some more about that in a moment, but let me take this time to look back on our thrilling 3-2 win over Mercedini that put us in this situation.

It was our second game against them, after defeating them 2-0 in the group stage. That made us confident that we could do the same thing again, but they are the second ranked team in the world, so they would certainly be able to make any adjustments that they needed. The setting was Harbourside Gardens in the city of Kirkenes. It is a fascinating city, the most populous in the nation of Kelssek known for the Panopti Tower and many nice boutiques throughout. We have seen so many great places here in Kelssek, and I really am grateful for the simple fact that we have had a little tour of the place as we have been here playing. There has not been a chance for sight seeing, but I will definitely be planning a trip out here in the off-season some time. With these games meaning so much more, the only sights we were seeing once again, were the hotel and the arena.

Right from the opening faceoff, Mercedini was quite aggressive in their style of play, making some risky passes while playing physical hockey, and this allowed them to control play for a little while. We needed Heather Stanford to come up big for us to withstand this push, and we were able to do that, and then, even with the momentum against, we scored the first goal of the game, coming at 6:08, thanks to the play of Holly Linnehan, our best forechecker, causing a turnover by their defensemen, and leading to a great opportunity since she had Mikayla Conrad to her right side all alone, mainly because Conrad just leveled the defensemen’s partner. This may have made the puckhandler second guess what he wanted to do with the puck, and a soft pass was played well by Holly still in the zone keeping the play onsides, who passed to the wide open Conrad, who lifted a shot over the blocker of the goalie to make it 1-0 in our favor. At that point, we were being out shot 7-2, but we had the goal on the board. It stayed that well until late in the period when Mercedini got the equalizer at 17:37, the first time we have given up a goal in the first period for this whole tournament. Shots were 13-8 in their favor.

We played better in the second period, and it was helped out with a couple of power plays that we had. On one of them, we picked up a goal, coming off the stick of Shannon Fowler on a point shot. I got the primary assist on the 5:38 goal, with Danielle Cunningham getting the secondary. This was another where we used Maddie McCarthy in front of the net either for a deflection or to simply act as a screen. One of their penalty killers was slow to react to her move to the front of the net, so Shannon was sure to wind up the slapper at that point. For a while, we were really taking it to them pretty well, but their goalie played well and kept it out of their net on the rest of our chances for the period. Overall, it was a period that we were happy with, and we led 2-1 moving into second intermission. We outshot Mercedini 16-8 for the period, now giving us the 24-21 edge.

Moving to the third period and trying to hang on to the one goal lead while our opponents did everything they could to try and tie the game back up made for some exciting action. That is, if your not a defensemen, but at the same time, that is the type of action you enjoy even if it gets stressful. For the most part, we were able to keep them from getting good scoring chances on Stanford, but that was not true for the whole period. At 10:06, one of those chances ended up getting behind Heather, and now we were all tied up. Just a little less then 10 minutes to play of this semifinal match to determine who’s playing for gold, and who’s playing for bronze. We were comfortable on our bench, and maybe part of that is that we did not feel much pressure. There were the better ranked team, and they already had lost to us once. We were confident, knowing that we had done it before. Another thing about hockey, is that you can score all the pretty goals you want. Sometimes, it’s just a bounce that goes your way. The Mercedini goalie was excellent after our second goal, but at 14:22 of the period, Mikayla Conrad threw a puck on net that took a strange bounce off a defensemen’s skate. The goalie attempted to play it, but Holly Linnehan got her stick to it first. Instead of trying to get it past the goalie, she knew that Meaghan Albritton had plenty of room on her side of the net if she acted quickly, so that’s actually what happened. The goalie made a lunge to get at the shot, but it was placed perfectly, and put us back in front by the score of 3-2. We went on lock down mode after that, and responded to all of the further rally attempts. When the final buzzer sounded, it was a sweet sound as it was an exhausting but rewarding match. Shots were 10-8 in their favor for the period, making them 32-31 in our favor for the game. Truly, evenly played. We were 1-for-3 on the power play, and they were 0-for-2.

At the start of the tournament, we were underdogs to win it all. Now, all we have to do is win one more game. If we do, then we are champions. In the way is a team from Abanhfleft, ranked 3rd in the world, and they have been a high scoring bunch during the tournament. It will be our biggest test yet, because even though Mercedini did have a better rank, the Fleftics have shown their strength throughout the competition.

Sixty minutes, and perhaps a little more. We’ll take a silver, but we might not want to look at it for a couple weeks if we did lose. Right now, it’s all about winning, and we’re ready to play. I know you’re behind us, and rooting for us. Let’s get this done!

[Kelssek]

Bronze medal match
Mercedini 3–3 Neu Engollon (3–4 OT)

Final
Cassadaigua 3–3 Abanhfleft (4–3 3OT)

[Cassadaigua]

This Special Moment,
by Stacie Nolan- Defensemen

At the start of this tournament, a group of hockey players, coaches, and support staff boarded a plane from Cassadaigua and were on the way to The East Pacific. The destination was the nation of Kelssek, a place that has become almost synonymous with winter sports, given they have hosted the Winter Olympics multiple times. They are also known for hockey, making it a great location for the 39th World Cup of Hockey. Tournament guides and predictions were made available by many both within Kelssek and overseas in an effort to stir up interest for the tournament. They predicted many of the usual suspects to end up playing for the championship at the very end.

At the start of this tournament, older younger fans within Cassadaigua talked about the World Cup of Hockey, some able to share their stories of the Dagan teams of the past that participated in the tournament, and maybe even our team from World Cup of Hockey 10. Younger fans could only dream of our nation having success. For many, they may have accepted a good run in this tournament while believing that our national hockey program can be and should be as good as any of those nations that the prognosticators frequently picked to win the gold in Kelssek.

Last night, there was only one game left to be played. Both our team and the Fleftics of Abanhfleft had turned away all of the opposition to meet here for the championship. It no longer manner what teams were ranked, or what kind of experience anyone had in this tournament before. Just one game remained, and in hockey, anything could game. In our preparation, we did not do anything different for this game then we have before any other game. It is a system that has worked for us, so while we arrived here in Outineau amid a lot of extra fanfare and a lot more people wanting us to give interviews, it was just another game that we had to prepare for. The Fleftics have been able to score quite a bit up to this point, so we all knew that we had a lot of work to do, but it’s a challenge that we were eager to take on.

Once it was time to play, none of that mattered. Sixty minutes (or so we thought at the time) of hockey were left to be played, and it would be all about execution at this point. All of the cliches about staying out of the box, not turning the puck over, etc etc, applied as well, but you would hope that the referee would keep the whistle in his pocket unless with was an obvious and glaring penalty. That is what we would get out of him today. The first period saw both us and Abanhfleft play a little conservatively for the first few minutes, but that did not take long to change. We had the first great scoring chance on an opportunity for Danielle Cunningham, but a great stop by their goalie (Abanhfleft also uses the secret roster strategy), kept us off the board then. At 11:19, Cassie Browning got us on the board first with a well placed wrist shot, assisted by Cassidy Conti and Lexi Hamlin, giving us what would prove to be a short lived lead, as a 13:34 equalizer was scored by our opponents. They scored again at 17:40, and we went into intermission down 2-1, and it was the first time that we trailed after a period at any time in this tournament. Shots were even at 10.

In the second period, we got an early power play that we did not do anything other then generate good puck possession in the offensive zone. That gave us some momentum, and at 7:18, Maddie McCarthy one-timed home a pass Danielle Cunningham (the lone assist) to even up the score. For a while we controlled the play, but the tide turned when we took a couple penalties, though killed each of them off. Shots were even at 2, with total shots to this point in our favor, 22-20.

After the second intermission, each team looked to get the go-ahead goal, and it led to wide open end to end action for a while. That, of course, is stressful, if one is a defensemen, but we stood up to the challenge. Our own challenges were also turned away, and despite all of this end to end action, the score remained tied at two. Then, we struck. A two-on-one by Danielle Cunningham and Abby Dayton led to the two of them passing it back and forth before Abby fired it five-hole, giving us the lead, 3-2, at 14:06. Smiles over that goal lasted 49 seconds. I wish it would have given us more momentum, but the Fleftics did not waste any time, quickly tying it up at 14:55, and we were all tied up again. Five minutes and five seconds would go by after that, and we were still tied up.

So, it was on to overtime. Next goal wins, and there would be no skills competition to determine this one. Instead, it would be decided how every tied game in Cassadaigua is decided: playing overtime or overtimes until there is a winner. I don’t know if that helped us out any as this game drew on, but many of us have been through long overtime periods on regular occasions. One overtime was not enough. Nor was two. When overtime games draw on like this, you will often see that it is not one of the top players on a team that gets the big goal. Instead, it is one of the players who did not have as much ice time that gets that big goal, and at 6:34 of overtime three, it would be Lauren Potvin on a perfectly placed backhand, assisted by Shannon Fowler and Jessica Zabinsky, that will be replayed for generations upon generations in Cassadaigua.

Now, all of those fans, older and younger, will now the tale of World Cup of Hockey 39. We weren’t the common pick at the start of the tournament, but it is only us left standing after it. We will be home tomorrow and we look forward to celebrating with all of you. Also, thank you to everyone here in Kelssek for your trememdous hospitality during the tournament. I will be back here one day to visit, and now that visit will be a little more special.