15th World Junior Hockey Championship - Everything Thread

[Fluvannia]

QUARTERFINAL RESULTS

          _#1 ONTORISA_ 5 - 3 _#13 NEW WALDENSIA_  
War Memorial Arena, Rochester

               _#2 ANTHOR_ 4 - 1 _#8 REPUBLIC OF DIXIE_  
FluvannAir Center, Oshkosh

   _#3 KELSSEK_ 1 - 0 _#7 ELEJAMIE_
John Paul Jones Arena, Charlottesville

        _#5 FLUVANNIA_ 4 - 3 (OT) _#6 NPC WEST FLORIDA_
Ferdinand Hurst Colosseum, Scottsville
(Score provided by Royal Kingdom of Quebec -- thank you!)

SEMIFINAL MATCHUPS

   _#1 ONTORISA_ vs. _#5 FLUVANNIA_
War Memorial Arena, Rochester

     _#2 ANTHOR_ vs. _#3 KELSSEK_
John Paul Jones Arena, Charlottesville

The Semifinals will be held Saturday, October 24. You have until 10:00 PM Central US Time for RP cutoff (about 47.5 hours). Good luck!

[Kelssek]

WORLD JUNIOR HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP
Kelssek squeezes past Elejamie and advances to semifinals

After a patchy progress through the group stage, Kelssek’s juniors finally got onto the same page and delivered a couple of well-oiled performances to advance to the semifinals of the World Junior Hockey Championships in Fluvannia.

Things finally started to click in a 5-1 eighth-finals win over United Osean States, a team that beat Kelssek 3-0 earlier in the tournament. That group stage loss had been full of misplaced passes, blown coverage, miscommunications, and indisciplined penalties. None of that now, and none too soon as the tournament moved into the loser-goes-home stage.

A big part of that is the players have been connecting much better. Pass completion rates went from abysmal to pretty good and that proved key to finding the way through a tough Elejamie defence. Jonathan Mac an Fhilidh got the game’s only goal but Kelssek created plenty of chances and put an impressive 41 shots on net. The move started with Andy Tabbiani pinching in to grab the puck and working it around behind the net, where Chris Brguljan's excellent pass found a lane straight to Mac an Fhilidh as the Kirkenes Dragons player skated through the slot.

Brilliance at the other end has also been key for Kelssek. Eunan Miyamoto and Alex Black have both been strong in goal and gave Kelssek the fewest goals against in the group stage. Black was trusted with the quarterfinal but it’s still hard to imagine how head coach Phillippe Oyseten will decide who to start in the crucial semifinal against Anthor – perhaps a coin flip.

[Fluvannia]

DIVISION STREET JOURNAL

Friday, October 23, 2020

1 Mark

CUBS WIN OT THRILLER; SEMIS SAT.

SCOTTSVILLE, Du. Piedmont -- The Fluvannia junior hockey team eked out a victory Thursday night in their quarterfinal matchup against NPC West Florida. One of the surprise teams to advance to the quarterfinals, the Red Sticks, as they are nicknamed, are one of the few participant nations with which Fluvannia has formalized diplomatic relations (the other is New Waldensia). Though this tournament marked their international hockey debut, the Red Sticks cruised to a second-place finish in Group B, and have been the only team so far to defeat Anthor, doing so in the group stage finale for both teams.

Those who have never been to a game at Ferdinand Hurst Colosseum -- including an impressive turnout from the visitors, despite needing to fly halfway around the world -- may not be familiar with some of the more unique customs of the fanbase there. In truth, the atmosphere is closer to what one would expect from an international soccer match, with a multitude of large banners, more constant chants and noise from the crowd, and even a few people managed to sneak in sparklers. (We cannot officially condone that last one, as these are usually against arena regulations and local fire codes.) While these mannerisms are not unknown throughout the FHL, it is the Scottsville crown that really have perfected them as an art form. In this case, the banners were replaced by multiple large Fluvannian flags, with both visitors and home team supporters decked out in blue. As with several of the group stage games, O Triune Realm was rendered by the capacity crowd with a notable degree of boisterousness.

And then the puck dropped. The Fluvannians, decked out in their alternate home white jerseys to avoid a conflict with the Red Sticks' blue, scored first, a ripper from the point by Iehira Tanaka at 6:26 of the first period. While this lead was very well-received in the stands, it did not last long. Kevin Gunningham fed Eddie Battle in a two-on-two and Battle was able to slip the puck behind Cody Pearson to tie the game at one less than three minutes later. To compound matters, Duane Carey's slap shot was tipped by Carl McClain, giving the visitors a 2-1 lead at 17:21 of the first, and it was this score that held at the intermission.

Things did not progress any more favorably for the Cubs in the second period. Battle was able to set up shop in front of Pearson with the Red Sticks on the power play, as Will Malone was in the box for a high-stick; it was from this location that Battle banged home his second of the day to give his team a 3-1 lead at 11:06. Things began to grow increasingly chippy, as the Cubs did not want to be eliminated at home, and the Red Sticks did not want to let the Cubs back in to the game.

In the third period, we saw a definite shift in the quality of play from the Cubs. Pearson wasn't actually having a terrible night beforehand, but he was still obviously more focused. There was an unbreakable aspect to their play; where there had been chippy, sloppy play before, there was now more of a controlled, tempered steeliness. It was evidently something the Red Sticks hadn't expected, and that was made apparent by the tilt in the Cubs' favor in terms of controlling play. Several instances early on saw odd-man rushes for the Cubs, and while they were not successful, it was apparent that they were not about to be eliminated in such a lackluster fashion on their own soil. The comeback started at 12:13, when Preston Sihvola brought the puck in to the zone; a pass across to Bernard Cook allowed Sihvola to cut below the goal line and receive a pass back, which he then managed to wrap around an tuck between the post and the skate blade of Floradian netminder John Herbshire. At 19:10, with Pearson on the bench, the puck was cycled back to the point by Dennis Martau, where Barry Flowers picked it up and centered it along the blue line to Andrew Harris. After a back-and-forth with Sihvola, Harris teed up a snap shot that found its way through about five bodies in front and over Herbshire's right shoulder into the top corner of the net.

Despite the goal, the game wasn't over yet. After a chance by Reiji Narusomo to take a lead with about 15 seconds left -- Herbshire coughed up a supremely juicy rebound in front -- regulation time ended with the score tied at three. Because this game needed a winner, a full intermission was had, and the teams switched ends for the first of an unknown number of full-length, sudden-death overtime periods. Several good chances for the Cubs failed to produce a game-winner, as did a smaller but non-negligible number of chances for the Red Sticks. It was at 6:05 that the puck crossed the goal line for the final time that night. Morris and Flowers brought the puck in, and after cycling the puck, Flowers battled in front for control before the puck squirted back to Harris, who was closing in from the right faceoff dot. With Herbshire sprawled on the ice, Harris' shot was able to sail cleanly in to the net; Harris' own joyous hops across the ice mirrored the mood in the stands, which positively threatened to bring the whole building down. This reporter has been to numerous games at the Hurst Colosseum, and cannot remember an occasion on which the building was anywhere close to this loud. It is a credit to the folks that designed and built this arena that it withstood the vibrational onslaught provided by 18,387 roaring souls, and it is a testament to the young men on the ice that even when things seemed at their bleakest, they did not fold and instead dug deeper than they have perhaps ever had to dig before.

With the win, the Cubs are guaranteed at least two more games. First up is a semifinal matchup against #1 seed Ontorisa at War Memorial Arena in Rochester on Saturday. Should they lose that game, they will play the loser of the Anthor - Kelssek semifinal for bronze. Should they win, they will be guaranteed a medal and play the winner of the other semifinal for gold. First up: a team that was the only one to win six of their group-stage games.

Next game: Semifinal @ Ontorisa, Saturday at War Memorial Arena in Rochester

[Fluvannia]

That's the cutoff! Stay tuned to see how our semifinalists fared...

[Fluvannia]

SEMIFINAL MATCHUPS

 _#1 ONTORISA_ 1 - 4 _#5 FLUVANNIA_
War Memorial Arena, Rochester
(Score provided by Royal Kingdom of Quebec -- thank you!)

 _#2 ANTHOR_ 5 - 2 _#3 KELSSEK_
John Paul Jones Arena, Charlottesville

BRONZE MEDAL GAME

_#1 ONTORISA_ vs. _#3 KELSSEK_

FINAL

    _#2 ANTHOR_ vs. _#5 FLUVANNIA_

Both games held at War Memorial Arena, Rochester

The Final and bronze medal games will be held Sunday, October 25. You have until 10:00 PM Central US Time for RP cutoff (a little over 23 hours). Good luck!

[Ontorisa]

ONTORISA FALTERS ONCE AGAIN, WILL COMPETE FOR BRONZE MEDAL

Despite a strong showing at the World Juniors Hockey Championship, Ontorisa failed to compete at times when it was necessary.

Normally, when a defence-first coach takes over a team, you don't expect your team to let up 4 goals in a semifinals game of a tournament that means so much for an entire country.

Well, Pascal Dufont, you have some work to do.

Falling 4-1 to the hosts in Fluvannia, Ontorisa has clearly shown that they need to work on a lot of aspects on their international hockey program. Being a 1st Ranked Seed means a lot, particularly since 2nd Seed Anthor managed to advance to the Gold Medal Game. All questions and eyes are now on the Bronze Medal game for Ontorisa as they prepare to match up against the 3rd Seed in Kelssek.

Bjorn Marrasgrad was the lone goal scorer for Ontorisa as they had taken a quick and early 1-0 lead, but then their strategy revolved around laying back and turtling on the lead. This led to Fluvannia scoring four unanswered goals, knocking out Ontorisa's gold medal aspirations. Marrasgrad, who had been scoreless up until this point in time, was one of the few forwards who appeared to be playing for something the entire game. His forechecking and face-offs were spectacular, and he was easily Ontorisa's best forward the entire game.

With the upcoming Bronze Medal game, look for Dufont to attempt some sort of recovery against Kelssek. Olli Quankossen is projected to take the spot of Mikael Ethwissen, as Ethwissen left the semifinals game with an injury.

[Fluvannia]

And that's the last cutoff! Good luck to all involved!

[Fluvannia]

BRONZE MEDAL GAME

_#1 ONTORISA_ 7 - 3 _#3 KELSSEK_ 

FINAL

   _#2 ANTHOR_ 5 - 4 _#5 FLUVANNIA_
(Score provided by Royal Kingdom of Quebec -- thank you!)

Both games held at War Memorial Arena, Rochester

Thank you to all our participants! Congratulations to Ontorisa on your bronze medal, and congratulations to Anthor for your championship! I have enjoyed serving as your host, and hope that everyone found this latest edition of the WJHC to be enjoyable. I hope to see you all next time!

[Ontorisa]

If you are interested in registering your WJHC or juniors players in general for the OJL Entry Draft, please TG me

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THE OJL'S FOREIGN-PLAYER PROGRAM GAINS TRACTION

Elejamie forward Adrian Becker highlights three of the Elejamie players who have registered for the 97th OJL Entry Draft.

The OJL Foreign-Born Player Incentive Program was part of the OJL's strategy to diversify the rosters and depth charts of the OJL teams for the upcoming season. Part of a 5-year contingency plan for the organization to boost diversity and increase overseas interest in the wealthy hockey league, it has been confirmed by the league that teams who develop and play foreign-players (players born outside of the Ontorisan Isles) would receive a financial incentive to do so.

Likewise however, it has also opened up the door for certain players. In particular, three Elejamie players have announced their intentions to register for the OJL Entry Draft. They follow as:

LW - Adrian Becker - 5'11, 200 pounds

Taken from the Elejamie team write-up:

A sniper who's well-known for his powerful close-range shots, quick feet and hands and an ability to remain calm under pressure. However, he's not really that great in the shootout or with penalty shots and, because he tends to go for simple shots instead of deking, that might put him at a disadvantage when he's on the good end of an odd-man rush. He also needs a bit of work on covering the point when it comes to defence.

D - Gregory Ericsson - 6'2", 180 pounds

Taken from the Elejamie team write-up:

An offensive defenceman to the point where he comes across as a modern-day rover. He's capable of making quick offensive plays in the neutral zone and past the opponent's blue line, he's able to make swift recoveries, isn't afraid to block a shot with any part of his body and can deliver one hell of a slapshot. However, his refusal to get up close to the opponent's goal (to the point where, if there's a face-off in their zone, he goes back to the blue line) might end up biting his team in the behind, especially if it's a penalty kill or a 3-on-3. He also needs a bit more training on how to take a hit.

G - Kevin Landon - 6'3", 203 pounds

Taken from a recent piece done on the goaltender. That can be found here:

Despite the language barrier between them, where one would speak only Spanish and the other can only speak English, Kevin has had nothing but positive interactions with Toni [Antonio Cervantes, the junior team's goaltending coach and 2x WCoH champion]. He seems to be the complete package: a mind-reader who can do a good job handling breakaways, quick reactions which can help break down attacks and begin counter-attacks, being quick enough on the draw to get behind the net to prevent the opposition taking advantage of a dead puck and a goaltender who's not afraid of using his stick to block the shots instead of relying on his pads and gloves. The only things preventing him from achieving true greatness? The five-hole, which seems to be his achilles heel and could prove to be a benefit to opposing players, and the fact that he does the bare minimum when it comes to his exercises. While he could be drafted high should he be entered in one, any future coaches will need to help fix these issues if they are to unleash his true greatness.