World Cup of Hockey 42: Life, the Universe & Everything

[Waisnor]

Continuing our good streak

Waisnorian fans we're waiting for another victory with St.Saratoga after three victories in a row and jumping to the top half of the table. And their expectations were paid off:

At the beginning of the game, there was a rather interesting struggle for, to take the lead, both teams were striving for this, but the St. Saratoga team was able to do it, and on the 9th minute of the 1st period they unexpectedly opened the scoring - the forward of this team was able to do an impressive breakthrough to the goal of Denis Dementyev and sent the puck into the bottom corner of his goal.
Waisnorian team began to try to recoup their lag in the score, but their attempts were unsuccessful, and as a result, they ended the first period as the losing side. At this time, St. Saratoga was able to take advantage of the fact that, due to such attacks, the defense remained weakened, and in the 8th minute of the 2nd period, another striker of this team with one throw threw the puck into the Waisnorian goal, doubling the advantage.
It would seem that after this the team should have sat down in defense so as not to miss more, but Waisnor continued to attack, now with a reinforced attack, and such a game quickly proved to be useful - at the 16th minute of the 2nd period, David Blokha went to the St. Saratoga goal with lightning speed and scored the first Waisnorian goal of this match in the top corner.
After the puck was scored, Waisnor began to slowly seize the initiative in the match and began to create more dangerous moments, and soon another of them ended in a goal - already in the 1st minute of the 3rd period, Stanisłav Bednarek, after Vladislav Faskhutdinov served, went one-on-one with the goalkeeper of St. Saratoga and leveled the score with an accurate throw.
Now the Waisnorian team was already dominating the rink, and for complete domination it lacked one thing - the advantage on the scoreboard, for which it was necessary to score one more goal, which happened in the 5th minute of the 3rd period - David Blokha again distinguished himself, shooting on goal from afar and unexpectedly, apparently, even for himself, scored, bringing Waisnor forward.
Keeping in mind how they lost two goals themselves, Waisnor wanted to assert their leadership by scoring one or two more goals at the gates of St. Saratoga. The minimum program for this was fulfilled - in the 11th minute of the 3rd period, Vladislav Faskhutdinov scored his goal, receiving an assist from David Blokha and shooting perfectly into the lower right corner of the goal, scoring the last goal in the meeting.

After 4th victory in a row Waisnor is on 5th place in Group of Cups with 12 points. Their next rival will be unseeded BohemiaIV, which can prolong winning streak of Waisnorian hockey team.

Answering to Graentfjall:

What’s the social life of your nation like? How do your people like to relax and have fun?

Social life of Waisnor is very interesting, because there are many ways to express yourself, be it music, literature or other fine arts.
Among main Waisnorian wayf to relax there are, of course, TV series, which became very popular in early 2010's and are popular to this day with no signs of decrease in popularity. To clarify, WBC's second channel (Second Cinema Channel) is showing them almost all the time. Waisnor produces their own TV series and imports many American, British and Japanese series.
Also Waisnorians like to party, wildest parties are always happening on Independence Day, which is celebrated on 7th of June. Main square of capital, Grodno, is always crowded on this day with people going to party, and they sure do it) Government even decided to make 8th of June a day off for everybody to cool off) (This year celebratiobs will be epic, because it's 30 years of independence in 2021) Well, if COVID will allow this) (Also, some interesting fact, which is not pretty related to the topic - in 2011, in year of 20th anniversary of independence, people walked on the streets, making something like a Soviet manifestation with slogans and all) They went nearby President Palace for President, Anatoly Antipenko at the time, to wave to them )

[TJUN-ia]

After 14th-ranked Taeshan provided the 2nd roadblock for TJUN-ia in this WCoH, the Ice Jaguars headed to the Hagejoki Play Park for a double-header so important that how crucial it is is indescribable at this moment in time. Ølson Rasmussen knew that any more slip-ups in the remaining 7 games may cost him his job and so, with an eye towards job security beyond belief, he tried to rally his men for the duel with the Ice Storm of 29th-ranked Chromatika, the team level with the Jags as it stood in the group.

As it would turn out, this would be another contest where play was tight and goals were plenty as both Rasmussen and Suzanna Marmont looked to get a crucial win in the race for Top 4 in the Group of Swords. The first period would see both teams score a great team goal each, Loren Basalter's opener responded to by Teemu Pukaninen. The 2nd period would be absolutely chaotic as both teams ended up with 2 goals for their efforts, with Viktor Orban responded to by a Peter Marshall double which was then itself responded to by a superb shot by defenseman David Stewart. It was great for the neutrals but not for the actual fans as we headed to the 3rd at 3-all, but TJUN-ia would be calmed by an early decider: a nice goal by "Mr Consistent" himself in Julian Visipils, whose simple shot past Dorothy Belmont would be the goal that sent the points TJUN-ia's way in Part 1 of the Hagejoki Double Header.

Rasmussen can certainly breathe a sigh of relief after that performance, which saw his team break the tie and let them keep 6th in this group, but the next game will be a big one as the Ice Jags take on one of the literal Queens of Ice Hockey as a whole: Team Cassadaigua itself. 18 vs 8, oh my, and everyone knows this will be a very big game. GO JAGS!

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SCHEDULE (Group of Swords)
MD1: BYE
MD2: vs Graintfjall (22, 8 of Swords) - Eisstadion Háttmark, Haderhavn L 4-5 (T-10th)
MD3: vs The Grandest Empire (UR, 4 of Swords) - Grand National Arena, Gunzlach W 3-2 (T-8th)
MD4: vs Mapletish (UR, 5 of Swords) - SuperBangMunchVöllur, Zevogur W 1-0 (T-5th)
MD5: vs Kohnhead (26, 7 of Swords)- Elínmundur Heiðreksson Halle, Steinaux W 8-5 (T-4th)
MD6: vs Taeshan (14, 10 of Swords) - Hofvinger Community Arena L 4-6 (T-6th)
MD7: vs Chromatika (29, 6 of Swords) - Hagejoki Play Park W 4-3 (6th)
MD8: vs Cassadaigua (8, Queen of Swords) - Hagejoki Play Park
MD9: vs Xanneria (UR, 3 of Swords) - Hofvinger Community Arena
MD10: vs Lu Shan (UR, Ace of Swords) - Elínmundur Heiðreksson Halle, Steinaux
MD11: vs Recuecn (12, Trickster of Swords) - SuperBangMunchVöllur, Zevogur
MD12: vs Peoples Republic of Xabia (UR, 4 of Swords) - Grand National Arena, Gunzlach
MD13: vs Savojarna (3, King of Swords) - Eisstadion Háttmark, Haderhavn

[Banija]

"The Ultimate Measuring Stick". Banijan players talk about the huge importance of their rivalry game with Siovanija & Teusland


Banijan fans celebrating a team goal Græntfjall

Háttmark, Græntfjall- After Banija's bye, our national ice hockey team will face their biggest game of this tournament so far- Siovanija & Teusland. Now, the S&T game being the biggest of the tournament so far is true for basically every one of their groupmates. Back to back defending champions, undefeated so far(a perfect 7-0-0), world number ones, going for a historic threepeat. Everybody wants to be the ones to stop their reign of glory atop the hockey world. But who can be the team to step up?

That's thinking too big for this group stage game though. It doesn't give the context behind the game, especially when these two meet on the ice. This game has meaning- with us at 5-1, winners of 5 in a row, and them at 7-0-0, it will give great context over who can make the next stage of this tournament. This is a game, considering our connections with their players, that Banijan players will consider personal.

Look no further than Defenseman Antou Sene. "This game is the ultimate measuring stick for us." The defenseman said. "You know it from me. I'm from St. Jakob, Teusland's biggest city. Everybody knows about the big Banijan community in the city. As an Ehrenliga player, I know many of their players personally. I played either with or against many of them in the Teus Junior league circuit, and do the same now in the Ehrenliga circuit as we speak. Many of them my club rivals. Some of them are my own teammates. I know how good S&T hockey is, just how competitive it is, just how their hockey feeds out elite players. They are the level we aspire to in this sport- and that's why this game is so important. If we can hang with them on the ice, if we can beat them tomorrow night, then that's a great step forward for this program."

He's not the only one who understands how big of a game it is. Look no further than the star player and captain, Dewa Bangè. "I've been playing this game for the national team for a long freaking time." Dewa Bangè told media at the pre-game press conference. "We have climbed a lot of levels in this sport over the years. We look nothing like we used to all those years ago, when we were just starting. Now, we've earned the respect of pretty much all of our competitors. We are in that second echelon, right now. We want to be in that first echelon. Where we can prove that we can win a title."

"Look, we believe in ourselves." Dewa Bangè said. "But if we want to do the most, to actually bring a podium finish home to Banija, we've got to beat an elite nation. There is no way around that. Siovanija & Teusland is not only an elite nation- right now, they are the elite nation in this sport. Nobody would disagree. If we can hang with them, we can hang with anybody." A lot of players echoed the comments of the goaltender and defenseman, saying a combination of history, connectedness, and S&T"s titles make this game such an important one for the Banijans.

Banija v. Siovanija & Teusland. If S&T wins, then, functionally, them winning the group will be all but confirmed, and the rest of us will be fighting for three spots behind them. But if Banija can pull off what would certainly be a historic upset? Well, you'll have to look at this team differently. Even walking through St. Jakob, there are a number of Banijan flags out, at certain small businesses, at homes, even at the temple. And even at home- there's a lot of hope. At Sankt Adelheid's campus, the Teus Catholic University in Bwubanza, there is particular interest for obvious reasons.

Everyone knows, at this point, that S&T is essentially a deathstar who is on the path to wrecking everyone to complete the threepeat, and we're just another team in the way of their destiny. But what is sports without hope? Anything's possible!

[Cassadaigua]

Fillies sweep Savojarna,
By Chelsea Dufresne, Concord Heights Times

If you told your friends last night that you wanted to watch the big Cassadaigua vs Savojarna game, you would have needed to be more specific. In the World Cup of Hockey, Cassadaigua was meeting up with first place Savojarna in an important game for us (maybe not them as much, but after our loss to the Ice Dragons, we needed to get a win). In the Copa Rushmori, Cassadaigua was battling Savojarna in the semifinals. Out in Eura, Cassadaigua earned the big 2-1 win, and will take on Nephara for the title. In the World Cup of Hockey, the Fillies did similar, winning by a goal, this being a 3-2 final, to secure a much needed win. With it, the situation for the pink and black looks a lot better, as they are now 5-0-0-1. Those fifteen points give them third currently, and they are a point ahead of a fourth place tie which are both teams that they have a game in hand against. TJUN-ia is next, followed by a very important game against our hosts, Graintfjall.

If both teams played up to their ability, this had the makings of a good hockey game, and early on, that is exactly what we saw. Both teams played smart, making sure to establish themselves in their own end before making any large push. There weren’t a ton of shots in the first eight minutes or so, but business began to pick up when Jacob Thomas was whistled for a rather ticky-tack holding penalty. Sure, he held Anders Hejman, but it did not ruin a scoring chance so in the World Cup of Hockey, you would like to see the referee keep their arm down. While the Fillies killed the penalty, it led to some momentum for the Savojars until Savojarnas was also called for a weak penalty, this being on Denis Elegin for hooking Meghann Carmello. At least it went both ways, but this would get the first goal of the match, as a Courtney Burnett slapper from the point was deflected in front by Samantha Dryden to make it 1-0 at the 13:28. Give Cassidy Conti an assist there as well. This is how the first period would end, and the Fillies outshot Savojarna 10-9 in the period.

Savojarna continued to remain responsible in their own end, staying true to their system of an aggressive forecheck. Cassadaigua had done well in the first period against this, but this time Katie Quigley had a bad read on Brittany Gomes, and her pass was intercepted by the forechecker, Eythor Malinsson. He quickly moved the pass to Valeri Taranin, who one-timed the shot past Travis Anderson to tie the game at 4:06 mark. Not too long after, another shaky penalty, this being on Lauren Potvin gave the Savojars the power play, and they made the most of it on a Soren Falborg goal at 10:02. For the first time, Cassadaigua found themselves down a goal, but with the way this referee was calling everything as if it were a match between two club sides that hate each other, instead of an international match between teams with little history against one another, Cassadaigua hoped for more power play chances. They’d get a couple, but could not convert. Though shortly after one of them expired. Lauren Potvin led a 2-on-1 with Danielle Turnbull very well, and Potvin scored the goal at 17:15 to tie it at 2, which is where the second would finish. Savojarna outshot Cassadaigua 12-10 for the period.

In the third, Cassadaigua was the better team, getting much better chances, but were turned away from Niklas Hoyman on several quality shot opportunities. That made the one that went in at 5:33 a little surprising, but we’ll take it. Ashley LaPointe’s shot seemed innocent enough from the right slot, and Hoyman may have been screened, or maybe he just whiffed with the glove. Regardless, LaPointe’s goal, assisted by Jessica Hoover and Alyssa Peterson was a big one, and the bench was energized by the fourth line’s big goal. Now it would be the Fillies, utilizing a system that Savojarna likes to employ, using the same strategy against them. Savojarna had some good opportunities to get the game tying goal, but Travis Anderson made the stops. The toughest series was a Savojarna power play that began at 14:05, where he made three saves. In the end, the Fillies prevail, 3-2. They’d outshoot Savojarna 13-12 in the period (most of Cassadaigua’s shots early, and most of Savojarna’s late), giving both teams 33 shots for the game. Cassadaigua was 1-for-4 on the power play, and Savojarna was 1-for-5. Most people in the stands saw the penalties called as being technically correct, but soft calls to be making in a game of this stature. However, they did go both ways, consistently.

[Valanora]

Six wins from six has the Calcuttas feeling really good about their chances of not only advancing out of their group but also contending for the group title despite having last editions' runners up in group as well as local and historical rivals like Equestria, Kelssek, and Elejamie respectively. Ko-oren, the runners' up of last edition, as well as the Empire squad are tied for the second least conceded goals in the tournament so far, with each team only having given up six goals through the tournament as of now, with only Banija having given up fewer with five goals conceded. A fairly shop offense, second in this strong group with twenty-three goals, combined with that steely defense means the side has had a very balanced approach to their victories, being strong both in the defense as well as on the attack. Considering how the Calcuttas did in the last edition of the tournament, this is definitely quite positive signs for the fans of the team and the team itself, with the decision to overhaul the squad and go with a younger team looking to have been vindicated with the results.

That is going to be put to the test though as the Calcuttas are going to go on a three game streak that will be quite tough for the team and will determine where the side is likely going to end up in what has been a very top heavy group, with upsets few and far between. It starts tonight when the team takes on Sarzonia, the team they are level on with points with but Sarzonia has played one more game and have had a loss come into their record where the Calcuttas have won all their games in regular time. Sarzonia has the best scoring output in the group, having scored twenty-five times in seven games, which is a very high tick and will make the defenders for the Calcuttas have to play quite well in order to try and contain them. They have been fairly stable at the back, having conceded just ten times in their seven games, which makes them difficult to break down but not impossible and definitely will be an intriguing matchup with the three scoring lines of the Empire squad up against the defensive lines of the Stars. If the group stays to form and the upsets continue to be rare, it should be a game that the Calcuttas eventually will be able to win via attrition and skill, though it going to overtime is not beyond the realm of possibility either with how good Sarzonia has been in the first half of the group stage.

However that game is all a warm up for the most difficult game that the Calcuttas will have in the group, which is of course Ko-oren and their infamously difficult to beat defensive lines and goalies. This is why the Sarzonia match will be so critical, it will allow the coaches to see how the forward lines are prepared to deal with teams that are able to fall back into a hard to beat defensive shell and ask you to beat them. That is not to say that Ko-oren can not get out and score themselves, as they have scored twenty goals through their seven games, including putting four past the eleventh Equestrian side in the last game. While they have won every single one of their games so far in the group stage, they were forced to go into overtime in one game in order to get the victory, meaning that if the Calcuttas beat them and win their game in hand over them, the Calcuttas will be at the top of the group. Yet that is far easier said than done, evidenced by the fact that Ko-oren was in the championship game last edition and the Calcuttas were eliminated in the first round of the knockouts. It will be the biggest question as to if the young players are ready to put in the effort and can handle adversity as no game against Ko-oren will not have issues that the team will have to overcome.

At the end of that gauntlet is the traditional hockey power of Kelssek, a team that has had a bit of poor fortune this tournament and seems to be the only top team in the group that has been victim of the upset bug in the group stage thus far. With two losses and a game that needed overtime to win, being the last game against Delaclava, they have been the odd side out in the group. A lack of goals is their biggest concern, with only a dozen through six games, as they have only given up nine goals in that time with three of them coming in their last game. With two games between then and now, it may be that Kelssek finds themselves before the Calcuttas come to take them on. With two unranked teams and then a resurgent Elejamie following the Kelssek game, it might be the last test the side will have before the knockout stages. Being the last game in this three game stretch of difficult games, it will be the most difficult, but all three games are games where the team has a good chance of securing points. It starts tonight though and the game against Sarzonia, where a win puts the Calcuttas alone in second place with their game in hand on Ko-oren.

[Kelssek]

Kelssek works overtime for win against Delaclava

Kelssek rode a roller coaster to come back with an empty net and score the overtime winner against Delaclava at the World Cup of Hockey in Græntfjall.

Eamon Coady crashed the net to open the scoring with 9:06 remaining in the first period. It was an important development, as Kelssek have struggled when conceding first at this tournament. But Delaclava struck back late in the first following a passage of play where Kelssek simply could not clear their defensive zone. A tired giveaway by Pieter Ostend was picked up by Radovan Němec in the neutral zone, and a quick pass put Medard Strnad racing into the slot to score with Brian Malley ineffectively chopping at his shins from behind.

The teams exchanged powerplay goals in the second period to go into the final frame tied 2-2, but while Delaclava came out with jump for the third Kelssek seemed to have lost their legs. A breakdown of coverage allowed Logan Wynne space to crack a one-time shot top shelf from the faceoff dot.

Kelssek were reeling and failed to take advantage of a powerplay midway through the period as the penalty killers repeatedly broke up attempts to find the pass. The urgency of a frenetic final minute with the goalie pulled seemed to have come too late. A stroke of luck was involved as Delaclava goaltender Tom Sutton coughed up a rebound from a long point shot by Kirk Betand onto the stick of Roch-Olivier Charron, who was able to lift the puck over the goalie’s pads and into the net as Delaclava’s players appealed for a goaltender interference call.

This time there was no sleepy exit from the locker room and within a minute, speedster Dylan Saranack intercepted a pass to race in on a breakaway and beat Tom Sutton high glove to record the winning goal.

The result means Kelssek managed to clamber back into contention but remain tied on points with Elejamie for fourth place and the last spot in the knockout rounds. Head coach Peter Dalton praised the team’s fightback in post-match comments.

“Ideally you don’t have to be in that situation but we found the urgency and belief when we needed to, and it’s hard to put a value on that. Of course any coach will want to see that kind of energy for the full 60 minutes,” said Dalton.

Dalton however refused to comment on rumours that Sean McCann had been benched because the Redswyth Union defender had been caught playing Irate Avians on one of the team’s tablets during the game.

Scoring summary
KSK: Coady (Hakemi, Ostend) 11:54 1st
DEL: Stnad (Němec) 18:20 1st
DEL: Wynne (Bullard, Ryan) 2:59 2nd PP
KSK: Betand (Franklin) 17:08 2nd PP
DEL: Wynne (Garrard, Clement) 5:04 3rd
KSK: Charron (Duneasler, Lee) 19:39 3rd
KSK: Saranack (unassisted) 0:58 OT

[Mercedini]

World Cup of Hockey XLII
Group Of Pentacles: When It Matters
@ Westfjall Arena - Laafjörður, Graintfjall

Where Was This Team Before Now?

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FINAL

WCOH | MD7

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MERCEDINI 3
NOVA ANGLICANA 1

(1-0) (0-0) (2-1)

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Laafjörður, Graintfjall

It seems as if the threat of early elimination had kickstarted the Mercedinian engine at the 42nd World Cup of Hockey, as the Kingfishers make it back-to-back wins with a massive result over Nova Anglicana to finally lift them back into the top four, and to peg back to former group leaders. It was a match which seems to be one sided on paper. but one sided the other way when it came to previous results and team form. The Kingfishers went into the game with lifted spirits following their 5-2 win over Gyatso-Kai the day before, while Nova Anglicana went in with six wins to their name, and looking for a seventh from seven. With Selignsky opting for a full strength squad last time round against Gyatso-Kai, it seemed as if the same setup wasn't available this time around, as he needed to rest a couple of the first line members. It gave some of the second line a chance to perform under pressure, and that decision paid dividends for the match in Laafjordur.

The match was a slow burner to begin with, as the fans settles in their seats hoping for a good match with goals galore. Indeed, they didn't get that, with the first goal going in late in the first period. Where Sergey Dolocic's opportunistic slap shot lit a fire in the dying embers of the first twenty minutes. It was chances like that which were the staple of the first two periods. Nothing more was scored in the second period, but not for the want of trying. Going into the third period, the Kingfishers only had a one goal lead in one of the more closely contested games of the round.

However, the Kingfishers weren't to be denied the win as Dolocic stepped up to double up, before Elias Kozhikina from the third line looked to make the points safe for Mercedini, they were three to the good with the time ticking away until the end of the game. There was to be no clean sheet as Nova Anglicana netted a consolation with a couple of minutes to go, bringing the score to 3-1. None of the teams could add to their tally following that, and so Dini saw off the former group leaders by three goals to one

Looking at the group, and we are past the half way point, so we are likely to see teams fall out of contention entirely as we approach the knockout rounds in Graintfjall. Thanks to the previously mentioned action, it's now Abanhfleft who top the Group of Pentacles, and are now the only team with a perfect record so far in the group. They have already played their bye match too, and so the Fleftics have a game in hand over some of their key rivals. Anglicana drops to second place but are tied on points with first. They are edged out of the top spot due to their goal differance and the fact they have played an extra game. Devonta lost to Abanhfleft, but remain in third due to other results. The big mover in the group is Dini who jump to fourth following their win and have head-to-head tiebreakers over first and fifth. Finally, due to Gyatso-Kai beating Fluvannia, the top seeds lead frog the the team they beat, they sit in fifth while Fluvannia drop to sixth. At the bottom, it's Grey County and Salzcovia who are still to get off the mark.

   Group of Pentacles             Pld    W  OTW  OTL    L   GF   GA   GD  Pts 
 1 Abanhfleft                       6    6    0    0    0   27   10  +17   18
   Nova Anglicana                   7    6    0    0    1   16    7   +9   18
 3 United States of Devonta         7    4    1    0    2   24   21   +3   14
 4 Mercedini                        6    4    0    1    1   22   10  +12   13
 5 Gyatso-Kai                       7    4    0    1    2   28   21   +7   13
 6 Fluvannia                        6    4    0    0    2   24   15   +9   12
 7 Le Choix                         6    3    0    1    2    9    7   +2   10
 8 Islands of Ventro                7    3    0    1    3   26   25   +1   10
 9 Suimede                          6    2    1    0    3   18   16   +2    8
10 Gergary                          7    2    1    0    4   12   19   –7    8
11 Anthor                           7    0    1    0    6   12   30  –18    2
12 Grey County                      6    0    0    0    6    6   21  –15    0
   Salzcovia                        6    0    0    0    6    7   28  –21    0

Next up for Mercedini is the Islands of Ventro, an unranked team currently sitting in midtable, and so are more than punching above their weight at this tournament so far. Selignsky will likely see this as a game to rest key players, but they must be wary not to take the game for granted. Three points are certainly in reach for the team, which means they will be challenging the top three, and could end up in it if the results go their way. We will give you coverage of the game in Laafjordur, plus what that means for the group as teams begin to drop out of the race to the knockouts. Goodnight!

Wikitravel: Mercedini
Overview | UNDERSTAND | Get In & Get Around | See & Do | Buy | Eat & Drink | Stay Safe | Respect

Mercedini is a collection of various islands situated in the South Novapax Sea, with the nation's only neighbour being Browzantine, which it shares a maritime border with. The nation gets it's name from the 'founding father' of the nation, Arcadious Merced, who was a descendant of the original settlers of the land, and the first leader of the new Republic of Mercedini. Since it's founding, Mercedini has been a parliamentary democracy and is currently governed by the Conservative Coalition Party, lead by Dimitry Larmai.

Mercedinian is the official language spoken by the majority of the population, but as you travel throughout the country you will find that there are several distinct Mercedinian dialects depending on the region you're in. Many of these might be completely incomprehensible to each other but practically all natives can speak the national standard. Shebyazyk is spoken in the northern region of Shebnatsiya, and Cosneaan Keel in select areas with large Cosneoltan immigrant communities.

Mercedini has a very diverse landscape, but can be primarily described as forestial, with the largest uninterrupted forest being found in Carshalia, which covers nearly one million square kilometres. Over one hundred islands and rocks are part of this nation, with the two major islands being: Extoni, which is an island off the east coast of Mercedini, and Darlastonia, to the north west of Extonia and north east of Greater Mercedini. The nation also has a large archipelago to the north of Extoni, known as the Kingfisher Islands, many of which are inhabited and a popular domestic holiday destination for the populace.

Mercedini previously existed as a single solid landmass before erosion and rising sea levels created the Sebrami Strait, splitting the nation into what we now know as Greater Mercedini and it's Eastern Islands. In the present day, Mercedini is geologically unextraordinary with no active volcanoes and only two mountain ranges in the nation: the Irst Highlands located in the North and the Yikulf Range in the south-west. Due to Forests being plentiful in the nation, rural walks and hiking considered a national pastime due to the sheer choice throughout the nation.

The climate of Mercedini is extremely varied and depends on where you are situated. In the south of the nation, including the major cities of Zoloroni and Langtree, the climate is warm with the average temperature reaching 20°C with warm winds originating from the Dovani Sea (which the nation's capital looks into). Sea breezes and common rain showers regularly reduce the temperature in both cities, although locals and tourists are recommended to avoid exposure in the sun for long periods as sunburn is common for the unassuming, especially in the summer. Temperatures are cooler the further west and the further north you go, with the region of Shebnatsiya regularly recording the coolest temperatures in the nation (highs of 10'c in the Summer, to lows of -15'c in the Winter).

Despite the Mercedinian people group being very homogenous, tourists and immigrants are welcomed to the nation because of the rather isolated position of the nation. Mercedini often seeks to make friendships and increase visibility of itself to those abroad, and has been a regular feature in sports tournaments, international song contests, and other international collaborative projects because of this. The nation sees itself as a nation of quality and professionalism, which has yet to be recognised by most of the multiverse. The government aims to create deep relationships with it's regional and international partners, with the mantra of 'the distant, yet loyal ally' the main narrative when it comes to foreign relations with others. Mercedini is a nation which seeks to be universally liked, even if it partners with nations which considers themselves adversaries.

Over the course of these mini-publications, we will cover everything to know about our nation, giving you the local's guide to the nation, and giving you the ins-and-outs of the nation before you have even set foot on hallow turf.

[Nova Anglicana]

Field Guide to the Social Lives of Nova Anglicans

Where can you spot a Nova Anglican in the wild, and what kind of things might you see them doing? Find out below!

Church

Where else did you expect them to be? Nova Anglicans orient a good deal of their social lives around church. For Anglicans, it's church on Sundays followed by coffee hour and adult discussion, with Sunday school for children. Youth groups often meet on Sunday evenings. During special seasons, Anglican churches will have Wednesday night potluck events that involve group discussion as well. Other churches may have weekly Wednesday Bible study. During the week, there may be choir rehearsal, prayer groups, men's or women's groups, outreach ministries, book clubs, morning prayer, or other events going on. Many churches will also host miscellaneous addiction groups such as AA or community groups like Scouting organisations during the week as well. Some even have formed sporting leagues, such as football, basketball, softball, or for the more adventurous, hockey, to build community and fellowship among different area churches. Churches are packed during Holy Week and Christmas, with many hosting community dinners, picnics, or other such events during that time.

Sporting Arenas

What's the second thing you know about Nova Anglicans? Nova Anglicans are mad for sporting events. There are major leagues in football, hockey, baseball, basketball, and rugby, as well as minor league baseball and lower-tier football. Many Nova Anglicans live not far from some kind of professional sports team, and those that do live farther away will often get their fix with youth sports, hockey and football in particular. The fact that ticket prices aren't too expensive and family-friendly food offerings or policies make professional sporting events affordable for many types of families. With football and baseball running from spring to fall, rugby in the fall, and basketball and hockey in the fall and winter, there's almost always some kind of professional sport going on.

Park

It doesn't matter what kind of park. Local, provincial, national, dog, skate, historic or otherwise, Nova Anglicans love a good park. Whether it's a stroll along a path with a good friend, a nature hike, attending a youth sports event, letting the dogs play, doing some sweet kickflips or whatever it is the kids do these days, exploring and learning more about the nation's history, parks are a good place to find Nova Anglicans. You'll find them on bikes, walking, rollerskating, or even on horseback. Nova Anglicans love the outdoors; they prefer sunshine, but they're fine with cloudy skies too, as being that far north means you get used to less sun. If there's water at the park, Nova Anglicans love fishing or swimming in it, as well as kayaking, canoeing, or sometimes even model sailboats, battery powered or otherwise.

Bar/Pub/Restaurant

They need places to watch those sporting events, don't they? Some don't like the arenas or live a bit too far away to make attending certain events really feasible. So bars and pubs are often well-attended when there are big matches happening. Of course, some people like to go just to have a pint of Lion or one of the other Nova Anglican beers, and others like having a place to chat with friends after work. Another surprisingly popular thing that occurs in these places is public singing. Churches will hold hymnsings for their congregation and community in pubs and bars (at least the ones that approve of alcohol), and Nova Anglicans already loved folk music before everyone got into sea shanteys, so folk songs from Ireland, England, Canada, or sea shanteys are also popular for public singing events. And Nova Anglicans love to eat. Whether its the abundance of seafood, the fabulous produce, or just a good old-fashioned jiggs dinner, restaurants are typically packed. With the expansion of immigration, other cultures, including the various Esportivan ones, are increasingly opening their own restaurants and offering their traditional foods.

Seaside

Nova Anglicana borders the Atlantic Ocean in many places, so it's no surprise that Nova Anglicans love going to the seaside. The water can be quite chilly, so don't be surprised to see Nova Anglicans wearing anything from Speedos to wetsuits depending on their level of comfort. This is a great place to go swimming or especially fishing, though some individuals will surf as well. Some Nova Anglicans like soaking up all the sun they can while the sun is out, while others enjoy sandcastles, walking along the beach, collecting seashells, or buying delectable snacks from vendors. Nova Anglicana tries to make as many beaches public as it can and strictly enforces littering laws so that the beaches stay pristine. You're never too far from the sea in Nova Anglicana, so weekend trips as well as summertime vacations are popular.

Outdoor Markets

Be they farmers markets, antique markets, markets for craftsmen, or flea markets, Nova Anglicans enjoy shopping outdoors. It allows them to support local businesses and artisans, chat with friends and neighbors, and get some fresh air while doing it. It's rare the mid-sized town or entire county that doesn't have a farmers' market on weekends, and grannies love to get together and gossip while they look for antiques or bargains in flea markets. It's also not uncommon for Nova Anglicans to talk to vendors for half an hour once they get on some mutually agreeable topic.

Miscellaneous Discussion Fora

Finally, though it might not surprise you if you know Nova Anglicans, they like to talk with people. And not just being nosy about newcomers, but they also like talking to each other about thoughts, ideas, literature, and art. Go to a coffee shop, a library, a university, a bookstore, or many other places and you're likely to hear Nova Anglicans deep in conversation with each other. Expect discussion groups too. Nova Anglicans love discussion groups. They will talk religion, politics, music, books, artwork, philosophy, world events, or many other things. Nova Anglicans tend to congregate in groups, and these places are excellent for finding them.

MRC 1 0 2 - 3
NOV 0 0 1 - 1

Goals - Dolocic 2 (1st, 19:31, 3rd, 6:44), Kozhikina (3rd, 10:02), Jensen (17:18)

[Siovanija and Teusland]

Hockey Today Magazine

Hockey History

The Heavyweight Champions of Hockey
Part VI - The Mean Marlesee Machine

1967 marked a great deal of change for the Ehrenliga. The 66-67 season was the final one to be played with 6 teams, as before the next season, six new expansion teams joined the league. These teams were the Felsenkirchen Jets, Seelowe Marlesee, Kaiserhaven Knights, Rudar Trkev, Vrnovo Islanders and Orlovi Stavropol. This meant a great deal of change for the league.

First of all, of course, it meant money from advertising and television contracts went through the roof. Colour television was just coming through as well, and the new teams especially tried to take advantage of it - see the Vrnovo Islanders’ quite hideous deep-orange home jersey. The league was growing and attracting new sponsors, which for the first time could be seen on the boards and even on the ice itself.

The other thing was that the talent pool expanded. Double the teams meant double the talent. At this time, however, many of the players entering the new league were coming up from the brutal minor leagues, where you had to fight for every inch to survive - literally. There were concerns from purists over how this would affect the game, but most importantly, people who were willing to take advantage of it.

Before we get too deep into this, let’s track our belt. Franz Klauber retired with the first-ever Ehrenliga heavyweight championship belt, which we’ll call the Original 6 belt. To create a new belt, we simply took the first fight of the season after he retired, handed it to the winner, and move on from there. In this case, the opening fight of the 66-67 season saw Olympia Borograd’s Petr Stesliak face off against the St. Jakob Saints Otto Kirscher, with the fight won by Stesliak. He became the first man to hold the second belt, but would lose it just two games later to Kapitala Borograd’s Fyodor Potolkin.

Where were we? Oh, right - the expanded talent pool, and its consequences for the league. Most of the new expansion teams tried to pick up certain breeds of player - young guns, with potential, and some skilled players to lead their team. One team, however, had other ideas. Johan Greiss, a lawyer who had once played in junior and 7 games in the minor pro Metro League, was in charge of hockey operations for Seelowe Marlesee. He had always been a big fan of physical play, and noted that the game’s best player until that point, Wolf Bleich, had had quite a physical edge. Kapitala Borograd had also taken the final Cup of the Original 6 era with a squad made up of old, tough veterans. Greiss thought he could build a team similarly.

In the expansion draft, Greiss focused on a mix of experienced talent and young, hungry minor leaguers. But experienced watchers knew exactly what he was doing - especially when he picked up Elmo Stieler, a young defenceman in the minor leagues. Tom Schiff had been the team’s first choice, a strong winger. But Stieler was well-known in minor hockey arenas across the country as an incredible fighter. Not many could match with him, and his big frame and technique meant there were few on his size, let alone his level. Greiss was building a tough, big team.

That first year, Marlesee didn’t exactly turn too many heads in the league - winning only 9 games. Many expansion teams would fare no better - Orlovi Stavorpol won 12 games, the Kaiserhaven Knights just 16. But in the end, it meant that Marlesee also had the first overall pick in the newly instituted Ehrenliga entry draft. They used the pick on Lothar Weinwurm, a two-way forward coming out of junior whose highlight reel contained goals, assists, hits and fights - an ideal player for the brand Greiss was building.

In their second season, Marlesee started to show signs of being a team. They still weren’t great - winning 25 games and finishing 5th in the new Teus division, outside of the playoffs. But most importantly, they were beginning to look like the team Greiss wanted to build. Lothar Weinwurm was rookie of the year with an excellent campaign, team defence looked better, and there were positive signs for the young players’ development. And Elmo Stieler was quickly becoming the best fighter in the league.

From the word go, Stieler hadn’t been afraid of anybody. He had already played 3 seasons in the minors, and claimed that most players in that league were tougher than in the Ehrenliga: “In the minors, those guys are fighting for their paycheques, for their livelihoods, to get here… up here, you do see most guys lose an edge, because they’ve made it,” he claimed in an interview with our Hockey Today magazine. Stieler, however, seemed to recognize that part of the reason he had made it was his pugilistic skills. And supported by a GM and coach duo who wanted him to drop the gloves as often as was reasonably possible, he thrived.

With previous big fighters, we have been able to talk about their biggest bouts - who their top challengers were, and why. In Elmo Stieler’s case, he faced few challengers at this stage of his career. He was nearly untouchable. It was as if Franz Klauber had been reincarnated a few inches taller, a few pounds heavier, and with better training. Stieler wasn’t too bad of a player either - not a hall of fame level defenceman like Klauber, but certainly serviceable in Marlesee’s top 4.

Seelowe Marlesee quickly became the most physical team in the league in this era, and in the early 1970s, the amount of fights per game soared to over 1 per game, reaching a peak of 1.2 fights per game in the 1972 season. The Ehrenliga faced significant challenges on this - on one hand, advertisers loved it because it drew people in and gave them promotional opportunities. On the other hand, however, there were a great deal of complaints: an editorial in the Stelburger Zeitung the morning after a bench-clearing brawl between Marlesee and the Stelburg Kaisers reads: ‘our graceful, beautiful game… has turned into a bloodsport.’

The Ehrenliga introduced a new rule, with harsh penalties for the first player who left his own bench to start a fight. But it didn’t really help matters - these were the wild days of hockey, and with so many players competing for a still-small number of spots in the league, you had to fight to survive. The founding of the Republic Hockey League (RHL), a rival, meant the same thing: despite many enforcers and top fighters leaving for that league, the number of fights in the Ehrenliga actually went up, because the players who were left would do anything to keep their Ehrenliga paycheque.

Seelowe Marlesee had ushered in a new era of hockey in the Ehrenliga. They were big, physical, and took penalties. The press dubbed them the ‘Mean Marlesee Machine.’ They won fights, they won hatred of opposing fans, but most importantly? They won hockey games.

Seelowe Marlesee were becoming a force in the league, and after hiring a new coach that was more aligned with Greiss’ vision and trading for goaltender Bastian Sternhall, they became a true contender. Their first year in the playoffs, they pushed the Stelburg Kaisers to 6 games before being defeated as the Kaisers marched on to win the Cup. The next season, however, Marlesee returned - determined from their loss the previous season, and battle-ready. Literally.

Marlesee returned to the playoffs the following year and resoundingly knocked out the Felsenkirchen Jets in just 4 games. Marlesee were a team built for playoff hockey - the Jets were not. That set up a rematch with the Stelburg Kaisers. Quite frankly, Marlesee pounded them into the ground. The Kaisers had no time on the puck, no hope along the boards, and when Elmo Stieler fought Kaisers’ forward Gregor Schwarzer at the end of game 1, you could feel the momentum shifting. Marlesee would win the series 4-1 to advance to their first-ever Strauss Cup Final.

Olympia Borograd was waiting for them, alongside one of the era’s defining players, Stanislav Slezak. The smart, speedy defenceman would eventually have the Ehrenliga’s Defenceman of the Year trophy named for him, and is regarded as one of the best Ehrenliga players of all time. In this series, however, he didn’t stand a chance. Slezak wasn’t a great fighter, but he wanted to answer the call against the league’s best. He fought Stieler once, at the end of game 3 - a resounding win for the Marlesee defenceman. It is also the first time that a fight occurred in a Strauss Cup Finals game - and therefore, the first time the belt went to the Cup Final.

Stieler won the fight, and his Marlesee team won the Strauss Cup. Johan Greiss celebrated with them on the ice, a big smile, knowing that his vision had been proven correct, and his team had won the Cup. But the rest of the Ehrenliga wasn’t just going to sit around. They sat up, in fact, and took notice of this. Marlesee were going to have a fight on their hands - quite literally - to keep their crown.

That next season, however, Marlesee would be even stronger. They started the season 14-2-0, totally dominating teams, and Stieler hadn’t lost any ground as a fighter either. In each other those 16 games to start the season, he won a fight. A stat began to circulate that Marlesee had a .950 winning percentage in games where Stieler fought.

In the playoffs, again, Marlesee were the class of the league. It was a tough fight against the Stelburg Kaisers in the semifinal again - this time taking 7 games. In the final, it was Energija Chernovets. But the Canaries were a smaller, less physical team. They were incredibly skilled - they had won back-to-back Cups in 1971 and 72 - but couldn’t quite match Marlesee’s physicality. Elmo Stieler and the Mean Marlesee Machine ran them out of the building in 5 games en route to a second straight title.

A new era had been ushered into the Ehrenliga. But as new eras come, they also go - and the game grows and changes with them. The Mean Marlesee Machine would fall - but how? Stay tuned as our series on the history of the Ehrenliga’s fierce side continues.

[Le Choix]

Partie 1
Partie 2
Partie 3
Partie 4
Partie 5
Partie 6

Nous devons tous être purifiés pour rencontrer la Lumière.- Livre de Justice, Chapitre 10, Verset 11
"We must all be purified in order to meet the Light." - Book of Justice, Chapter 10, Verse 11

A Wing
Facility B, Espoir du Ciel, Le Choix

There was a facility in Le Choix where lives were being changed every day.

One of the biggest challenges The Chosen faced while existing in a small Theocracy was the voice of dissidence. Those who would speak out against how things were, focusing on how things were different and allegedly better in other countries. Those who tried to make sure that change would come, those who would see the way of life that had been set by those that came before in order to disrupt the Theocracy and perhaps, one day, open its borders.

There were three ways to deal with such peoples. Execution was permanent but required a valuable citizen to be removed from the Theocracy. Putting them through the Portal to Hell made sure that they would suffer for thirty days and in most cases die while providing valuable test data, but in order to keep up appearances, it wasn't possible to send everyone through those trials.

No, by far the most efficient way that The Chosen had come up with to deal with dissidents was the Rewritten Program.

There was a chamber in Facility A that was simply known as Le Cocon, or The Cocoon. People would be strapped to cradle-like machines and then left at the mercy of La Reine Rouge, which would use a part of its vast power to brainwash and rewrite the human mind to be more bendable to Chosen propaganda and to remove any trace of the original information that the dissidents had received. It also downloaded all that the dissidents knew into the system's data banks, to be studied later by La Reine Rouge and some of the scientists.

This facility took an average of seven to ten days for people, who were tube-fed throughout the process. The success rate was 88%; of the 12% that didn't take, a third died immediately from complications, a third turned into mindless drones who had to be ordered to do things at every waking moment besides taking care of their basic needs, and a final third were immune, meaning that they would have to be reprocessed to either be executed in secret or be sent through the Portal.

As Le Choix possessed advanced plastic surgery technology due to the power of La Reine Rouge, it wasn't very difficult to rehouse someone's mind in a completely different looking physical form and to reincorporate them into the population. The efforts of Le Cocon had steadily increased the percentage of The Chosen population that were at the very whim of the leadership to over 90%; the ultimate goal was to get that percentage to around 97 or 98 so that any population that would rebel would be instantly thrust into Le Cocon to be reprogrammed.

The saving grace on top of it all was that La Reine Rouge accomplished this rewriting without taking away free will. Sure, the dissidents' thoughts about the source of the information that they'd gotten from elsewhere was erased, but that was as far as that eraser went. Their minds were then given room to fill that hole naturally. The human mind was a powerful thing...

Le Cocon and the Rewritten were huge reasons why The Theocracy was possible; their biggest flaw was that like almost everything else, it depended on La Reine Rouge.

Which once again begged the question: What if La Reine Rouge went rogue?

[Fluvannia]

Caleb Gill woke up early. Start of the day: some light working out in the fitness room at the hotel the Fluvannian national team was staying in. Shower and shave -- not that the latter mattered as much at 19 as it did for some of the older members of the team. Traditional gameday breakfast (two eggs sunny side up, toast dipped in as much yolk as possible, some hash browns, and sausage). Hockey players aren't known for being the least superstitious or ritualistic athletes on the planet, and for good reason. Game day meant you do everything as identically as possible to every other game day. Don't screw up the rhythm.

The schedule he had hung on the wall in his hotel room had a big red circle on it around today. Nova Anglicana. Their junior team had upset Fluvannia at the most recent World Junior Championship -- the last time Caleb and teammate Teimo Peräjärvi were eligible, as next year they would be 20 and ineligible. Luckily their play had not gone unnoticed, and both had earned spots on the senior team. Lo and behold, they ended up in the same group as the Lions. Either fate was generous in offering an opportunity for payback, or it had a cruel sense of humor.

Caleb wasn't normally the type to hold grudges, but when you meet the same country again so soon after getting stonewalled by them, it's not exactly surprising that he felt today was the most important game of the tournament so far. He basically hadn't said anything all day until Teimo greeted him on the team bus to their morning skate, sporting a similar look of determination. Today was the day to bring the rain on whoever wasn't wearing blue. After all, as they say back home -- "don't poke the Bear".

[Quebec and Shingoryeo]

Part 4.

AUGUST 28, 2048
> 9:00 A.M. VIDEO ROOM, HVARFHEIM HATTMARK

It's a quiet, easy bye day morning for the Ice Knights. Some of them will make it to the video room session, where the video post-mortem is held over the Ice Knights' victory over Flekkefjord, but also the advanced analysis of the HUElavian national team that has been performing exactly as expected of them. The coaches and 14 players in attendance review the video and have a constructive discussion over the match. The Ice Knights have certainly had far more scoring chances than their opponents, but it was the defensive lapses that stood out for all of them. Not the second half they could call home over, but they were good enough for a B+ grade.

> 1:00 P.M. LUNCH AT ARANGCHON

'Today is going to be a good day,' Benoit Starmer-Jodoin, a veteran blueliner, informs me. The meal, consisting of the Korean-Quebecois spices, vegetables and the rare delicacy in whale meat, is quickly eaten and emptied.

The menu, consisting of lots of seafood and conventional bibimbap for those unable to eat the whale meat option, draws enough satisfaction for the players. The dinner ends up taking longer than expected, and the owner of the restaurant, a third-generation immigrant who made sure to drape Arangchon in the Tricolour Taeguk flag and the national team memorabilia, is at his happiest state in a couple of months.

> 4:00 P.M. LOUNGE AT HVARFHEIM HATTMARK

It's a quiet day off for the national team. The coaches hold a poker tournament. Decks of money is placed, but no one would make a win out of it. Once back home, the prize money would then be donated to charity of the winner's choice back home.

[Well...not exactly.]

---

At Matrix, a nightclub in Hattmark

Five members of the Ice Knights, Hwang Dong-Joon, Benoit Starmer-Jodoin, Chandler Amarilla, Hwang Jeong-Yeon and Nikos Aravossitas, were relaxing on the VIP section of Matrix, widely regarded by many as the nightlife hotspot in all of Hattmark. The Ice Knights had the entire day off after a very relaxing match, so the fivesome and Asher Lundrigan, the Sports Editor for Quebec City newspaper The Taegukgi, came to the nightclub early.

The night was still early, at around 9 in the evening, and they knew they had to go back to their hotel (preferably) early, by around 3 in the morning, so they had decided to embrace what’s going to be a relatively relaxing night. Besides, with lots of international fans and local youth deciding to take advantage of the situation, there could not have been any better timing for those dressed in Blue, Red and Yellow.

‘Okay, here’s the deal.’ Asher Lundrigan said to all of them as a matter of instructions. ‘I am going to make things straightforward for you guys, and it’s that none of you make it to the media.’ Said the journalist, who wasn’t satisfied with the behaviour of his players. Starmer-Jodoin and Hwang Jeong-Yeon were dressed in clean street clothes, while Amarilla, Aravossitas and Hwang Dong-Joon got themselves changed to a much cleaner dress shirt, a tie and pants. While all of them were wearing

‘Come on. Is that even possible?’ Benoit Starmer-Jodoin asked in amaze over how confident Asher was about this. ‘Somebody gotta be seeing us at some point.’

‘Well we have to, don’t we?’ Asher responded, not feeling happy about the question. ‘You idiots aren’t realising that this involves my job as well. Coaches know you guys are out, but that’s never been their concern. Making an embarrassment out of it, however, will be one, and that’s how all of you and I will cost my job. Remember that I have partner back in Montreal as well.’

‘Alright then, Asher.’ Hwang Dong-Joon responded. ‘So how are we going to handle the procedures, young chief?’

‘But first, we need something to get high off, before any of us go out and have dance or bring girls or guys over…’ Amarilla asked in a naive, teenage boy manner. ‘Like we are only two bottles drunk right now and the DJ here isn’t even with any good music..’

‘Well, I know all about nightclubs.’ Asher responded. ‘One thing you guys need to remember more is that the longer a tournament gets, the easier it gets for the dealers to access it. Hallmark’s a huge city, and you can find everything and anything you want. The key part, of course, is the right substance though.’

‘And tell us what that would be…’ Hwang Jeong-Yeon asked, slowing down the pace of their conversation. ‘Like cocaine isn’t fun, crack is a no-no because Hockey Quebec people could sniff the slightest bits.’

‘Well.’ Asher responded. ‘First, we aren’t doing those stuff. Bad, bad, bad. Even when I was bluing my own skin back in the day, I always stayed out of those. However, I do think that we have an alternative in a delicate mix of Tequiloa hallucinogens, marijuana...and Cocoa-bo.’

‘Cocoa-bo? Isn’t that just an energy drink?’ Amarilla asked in confusion.

Aravossitas chuckled and pat him on the shoulder. ‘Of course it is! But don’t you know that it’s also used as a recreational drug?’ The next thing they all saw were Amarilla’s face reddening with how inexperienced he has been over nightclub ethics. ‘Cocoa-bo is a weird substance. Sometimes, it works like an average energy drink, sometimes it works like roofies, and to some it works like steroids. This is why RQFA actually don’t allow it for the football guys, though Hockey Quebec has yet to say that.’

‘Spot on.’ Asher pointed his fingers back at Nikos in satisfaction. ‘That is exactly why you need them mixed with marijuana and Tequiloa hallucinogens, to first neuter it, and then add extra sen-sae-shyuns they have all the way back there. Think of them like booster shots of energy. Perhaps that might work out the best and we’ll be dancing like rabbits.’

‘I’m sold. Now, when’s the practice tomorrow?’ Hwang Jeong-Yeon asked.

‘Eleven a.m. Just come prepared by then, lads and lasses.’ Benoit responded. ‘Just remember one thing though - no fighting, no cameras and most importantly, no strippers. Especially no strippers.’

‘Aye, big chief.’ Asher responded, before they gave each other a nice high five. ‘Well, shall we hit the floor....?’

---

AUGUST 29, 2048
> 11:00 A.M. BRUNCH AT HOTEL
At the coaches’ table, the mood is as gloomy as well. They feel like they have made a mistake with letting players go do whatever they want during a bye day. Coach Varelin, in particular, feels like they could have used this opportunity for a more worthwhile teambuilding exercise. ‘There’s always things to do together, especially on a historic nation like Graentfjall.’ Varelin says. ‘I mean these guys are all adults and they should be having fun, but sometimes we forget that we may have been too loose on these guys.’

> 1:00 P.M. PRACTICE AT LOCAL ARENA, UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION

Ahead of their showdown against 7th-ranked HUElavia, the Ice Knights is making a voluntary practice to a local hockey arena, one of hundreds found in Hattmark where the youth hockey players and figure skaters share their spaces.

Sign in the arena, mindful of the WCoH Federation's Playing Code: 'Stay respectful of one another'

There are barely anybody at the practice- half the team did not make it. Coach Browne isn't satisfied and the assistants aren't either. Joakim Brackenbury-Lindauer, whose rural background from a small Abitibi town makes him the finest of the small town of 1,496 in Quebec, is among the first four Ice Knights on ice to come to the skating session with about 50 bantam and peewee-aged players. 'I like being the first player on the team to skate because it means that I get to enjoy fresh ice, before it gets much harder to skate to them.' he says. 'Of course, Jambonis do wonderful job, but they always take lots of time to do it, so it's never a bad idea to come first, finish last, and take your mind off whatever that's coming. I hope these guys will feel the same thing- young kids gotta learn the best habits right off the bat else they grow bad ones too soon.'

The young skaters are responding to the skating sessions, conducted by the coaches and the eleven still present at the practice, well.

'No matter how much fun we can have, it's still very important for us to be out there in communities.' Kim Kyeong-Hoon agrees with the right-wing. 'Having the entire competition in Graentfjall means different travel than we would under home-and-away, and that also means we get to engage with local communities lot more. It's a great experience.'

> 7:00 P.M. - QUEBEC VS. HUELAVIA AT ACE MultiArena, MOKOFEN

Unfortunately, whatever the positive vibes the Ice Knights had were quickly dissipated as they were humiliated 1-5 by HUElavia in what was an utter defeat in every shape and form. Much of the team, slowed down by their day off, had found themselves outskated, pokechecked and of course overrun. By the end of the match, there were not much left for the Ice Knights to be said, as the large Quebecois contingent throws a ton of tomatoes at them into the ice.

[Elejamie]

Coach Alex was feeling in a good mood. Three wins in a row now and they were sitting comfortably in fourth place halfway into their tournament run. They had a bit of a rough start with a narrow win in overtime against Sannyamathland before back-to-back losses against Sarzonia and Ko-oren made things feel a bit hopeless. And then came the match against fellow East Pacificians Kelssek, where they were able to triumph thanks to a solitary goal from James Han. Next up came a match against newcomers Pius Desurongcradis where things returned to normal and they grabbed a 6-3 win to go into their break. And, finally, there was a 5-4 win against North Alezia where they may have dropped the ball in the third period but they were able to keep it tight enough to get the three points. Things were starting to look up for what was once the best team in the multiverse before some dodgy stuff forced them to leave the competition. For a few editions, at least.

First up, the aforementioned match against Kelssek. The only major change was that Ricardo Bejarano was on the bench whereas Adrian Lambert was starting, primarily because Sorenson was feeling that a butterfly goalie would work better for this match even if statistically Bejarano was the better goaltender. Another change, albeit more of a minor one, was that Coach Alex had elected to play a more defensive game for this match. After all, Kelssek were a decent team and a small favourite to make it out of the group stage, whereas Elejamie were essentially that Viva La Vida song, so it would've been a bit of a struggle if they were going to do it normally. But if they tried to goad the Kelsseks into making mistakes, going off-side and taking penalties then maybe things wouldn't end up going so badly. Worst case scenario is they'd lose by a single point or two.

As expected, the match saw the Kelsseks outshoot the Elejamians 35-23. In fact, during the first ten minutes of the first period Elejamie had only made three shots on goal, all of whom seemed more like puck dumps than actual attempts to score. However, the plan did seem to work. Kelssek were going offside a little bit more than usual and the opposing offence were repeatedly left frustrated by the strong defence blocking or stopping every shot, not to mention the number of errors that had been forced upon them. Fortunately for them, they didn't have that many penalties; Rory Kirkland was given a two minute minor for slashing Lupe with 13:01 left in the first, Dylan Salanack was sent to the box for two minutes for interference with 6:12 left in the second and Machouf was given two in the box for tripping Ethan Swinburne with 3:59 left in the third. Fortunately, all of those penalties were killed off with little to no problem, not to mention that their opposition would get two more penalties (including a rare one for Cerin Meloten when he was sent to the box for two minutes after he accidentally dumped the puck into the bench and caused an unintentional delay of game penalty). However, Elejamie would still score the only goal of the night 14:43 into the second period thanks to a bit of clever deking by James Han and assistance from line-mate Rafael Espinosa and Diego Pinto. While it wasn't much, at least it boosted them up to joint sixth.

Next up came Pius Desurongcradis. Sorenson decided to change the goalie again, with Lambert returning to the bench whereas Cristian Serrano made his first start of the tournament between the pipes. Solano was dealing with a bit of a migraine that day so he was replaced on line four by Kiko Carpio, who made his competitive debut in this match; although he was selected at the last World Cup of Hockey, he didn't start any match and, as Elejamie went out in the group stage, he didn't have the opportunity to make it onto the ice. But he was hoping to make a good first impression despite him being on a line with the least ice time.

The first period saw Elejamie get an early lead only 20 seconds in when Stacy Saunders and Adam Keane took advantage of a spread out Piesean defence and the former fired a shot at Earl Robertson; although the shot hit the latter's glove, it rebounded into Keane's sight and he fired a one-timer to sink it into the back of the net. That would essentially sum up the entire match, not just by showing how the Elejamians were menacing the opposing defence but also by how they were more offence-based as opposed to their last match. Keane would get his name on the scoring sheet again with 13:37 left on the clock when he and fellow defenceman Lupe assisted a slapshot from Cerin Meloten from the point. It wasn't all bad for the Phoenixes as with exactly ten minutes left on the clock Ethan Swinburne would receive a minor penalty for high-sticking Tom Typ; this would help his side score a power play goal about 34 seconds later thanks to a goal from Shorty Green that was assisted by Jimmy Karts and team captain Brian Arma. They even tried to go fro a second with exactly six minutes left but they had to abandon that plan when Green went off-side. With 1:52 left on the clock, Elejamie racked up goal number three with a goal from Danilo Barajas that was assisted by his twin brother Felipe and his other linemate Swinburne. Despite the Phoenixes losing a play with 10.2 seconds left in the period when Guy Bodrun was given two in the box for interference, not much else happened and Elejamie were leading 3-1.

The second period was fortunately a much quieter affair. Pius Desurongcrandis had finally gotten into the swing of things and were much more effective at closing down the Elejamian offence. However, they were still unable to break through their defence just as easily. Even when Arma made it 3-2 with 14:22 left, which was assisted by Karts (again) and Cotter, Serrano had just gotten a glove to it and it was only because he didn't stop enough of it that it went into the net. They even had a couple of power plays thanks to Harrison cross-checking George MacDonald with 11:16 left and Bill Judge charging Karts, although both chances saw them fail to score. Eventually, with 2:44 left, Lucas Madgwick would make it 4-2 thanks to a series of wrist shots from him and Adam Keane, as well as Espinosa because he won the face-off. Although there was a bit of pushing and shoving after the puck was frozen by Robertson, nothing came of it and the score would remain the same.

The third period was also a rather quiet affair. Bobert Hullin was given two minutes for goaltender interference with 17:59 left, although fortunately for his side that penalty was killed off easily. What wasn't killed off easily was when Michel Goulette was given a two minute minor for slashing Harrison Blackburn wih 10:03 left. At that point Adam Keane rounded off his hat trick of assists when he and Bill Harrison assisted Meloten's second goal with 9:44 left on the clock. After that, it seemed almsot hopeless for the Phoenixes but they were still able to prevent Meloten from getting a hat-trick or his team-mates from extending their side's lead. With a minute left and despite him showing some improvement, Piesean coach Bob Rosset had enough of Robertson and brought him off for an extra attacker. Elejamie would soon get the final nail in the coffin when Meloten simply tapped the puck into the empty net without any assistance at all thanks to him intercepting a pass from Doug-White to Hutooka. Final score? 6-3. While Sorenson was pleased to see his side making a bit of a comeback, Rosset was not a happy man and it's believed that he chewed his team out following the match.

Finally, there was North Alezia. While they were new to ice hockey they weren't completely unheard of to Elejamians. The two nations have participated in the WorldVision Song Contest numerous times and have even exchanged points with one another on a number of occasions. Not to mention they had previously played against each oother in Neu Engollon at the last AVBF Sevens, a game that Elejamie had easily won 26-10. A small difference was that their ice hockey team didn't seem to have an adorable cat mascot like the sevens team had but, regardless, it should be a fun game. Right? Also, Bejarano and Solano were back again on the ice this time, the latter making a full recovery whereas the latter now content with his little break.

The first period was essentially a back and forth affair. Elejamie scored first with 18:11 left on the clock thanks to Lucas Madgwick's snap shot just sailing over Hariz Maqqalba's stick; Diego Pinto and Carlos Sierra were credited with the assists. Then with 15:25 left on the clock the Bears levelled the score when Eren Mavidesh, with a bit of help from line-mates Bacqueles Zalleilesouis and Midaqqi Al Khalid, just managed to make the puck slide underneath Bejarano's glove. Then Elejamie regained their lead with 9:15 left on the clock, with Stacy Saunders' wrist shot bouncing off the post and into the back of the net, thanks to Lupe and Meloten supplying him the puck. And then, with 36.9 seconds left, Ishaq Matta scored his first of the night with a clever backhander that just caught Bejarano off guard, a goal that was assisted by Aziz Daud-Khanadarim and Hanafi Hurairah and levelled the scores at 2-2 going into the first intermission.

The second period didn't get off to a good start with the only penalty of the match, when with 19:44 left on the clock Lupe had delivered a hit on Makal Ma'avosham without realising he didn't have the puck. Luckily for Elejamie, they were able to kill it off and, exactly four minutes later, Lupe redeemed himself when he helped assist Madgwick's second goal of the night, which was a one-timer off of Keane's pass. Indeed, Lupe would score an unassisted goal with 10:34 left on the clock in a mad scramble in North Alezia's half of the ice where one side was trying to put it in and the other side was trying to clear it. And he would get one last assist with 3:23 left on the clock when he and he alone helped Espinosa get it in thanks to a powerful slapshot that Maqqalba was just unable to catch. At the end of the period, the score was 5-2 to Elejamie and it seemed like a cakewalk.

Except it wasn't. While it was unknown what had gone on in the Bears' changing room during that second intermission, all that was known was that it was enough to give them a boost. Especially Miqqalba who was easily saving some of Elejamie's shots on goal and diverting the rest that came close enough. It was enough to keep him on the ice even if the logical thing to do was to put on the extra attacker. But Matta was the real star of the period. With 14:33 left, he pulled one back with a one-timer off of Daud-Khanadarim's face-off. And then, with 6:41 left, he would complete his hat-trick with a simple unassisted wrist shot that Bejarano was just unable to tilt away with his glove; this would net him not only a round of applause from the Elejamian squad but also a standing ovation from the crowd, some of whom threw their hats onto the ice as was custom. Unfortunately, that was where the magic ended as neither side were able to put one more goal onto the board and Elejamie carried on their streak with a 5-4 victory.

So who was left in the second half? A whole cast of characters. Some new, some old and some that have been around but they had no real recollection of them. Poafmersia? Should be easy enough. Delaclava? A small bit of a problem but shouldn't be anything too difficult. Equestria? They had faced the ponies before and held their own and, with the way things were going, a win shouldn't be too hard to get even if it comes in OT. Iba Dwa? They might as well not show up. Their old rivals Valanora? Now that the Calcuttas are completely out of their dark age whereas Elejamie were trying to get out of theirs, this will probably be less like their matches against Havl back in the day and more like hell. Pluvie? A good way to let out their frustrations from the inevitable defeat to the Elves. The "ten of wands" had never been so apt for Coach Alex but, with the hand he had been dealt, he was trying his best to make it work. He had a good first half but now it was just a question of whether or not he could keep this going throughout the second. Here's hoping.

---

Period				P1	P2	P3	OT
Elejamie			2	3	0	5
North Alezia			2	0	2	4

Three Stars:
Ishaq Matta (NAZ) (3G, 1A, 4 points)
Lucas Madgwick (EJM) (2G, 0A, 2 points)
Lupe (EJM) (1G, 3A, 4 points)

[Graintfjall]

You live and learn. At any rate, you live.

Each day I will be offering a small piece of information about Græntfjaller life and offering a related prompt. These prompts are not required and there is no extra bonus for doing them compared with doing a match report or any other type of RP; they’re simply there because this long tournament format may lead to ideas running dry, and I’m well aware there are many other competitions currently ongoing. Feel free to respond in whatever format you like – or ignore them entirely.

MD8 cutoff

Græntfjallers begin their school life between the ages of 4 and 6. Following a year or two in pre-school, they move into the main education system which has four stages: junior, middle, lower secondary and upper secondary. The first three are compulsory; upper secondary education is not, although the vast majority choose to attend it. The education system has seen vast reforms over the last 20 years, including the introduction of selectivity and tracking, much to the consternation of older educators who remember a more egalitarian system. Although all children have a right to free education, private schooling has grown vastly with the introduction of a voucher program expanding access to chains of private schools. Upper secondary education, beginning at about age 16, offers academic and vocational tracks. Over fifty universities have charters, and there’s also an expansive system of vocational and technical colleges. Græntfjall performs well in international educational evaluations but there are growing disparities between rich and poor, and native and immigrant outcomes. What is school life like in your nation?

Group of Wands
Poafmersia 6–2 Elejamie
Delaclava 4–0 Pius Desurongcrandis
Equestria 3–5 Kelssek
Iba Dwa 2–0 Ko-oren
Valanora 6–5 Sarzonia
Pluvie 1–3 Sannyamathland

   Group of Wands                 Pld    W  OTW  OTL    L   GF   GA   GD  Pts 
 1 Valanora                         7    7    0    0    0   29   11  +18   21
 2 Ko-oren                          8    6    1    0    1   20    8  +12   20
 3 Sarzonia                         8    6    0    0    2   30   16  +14   18
 4 Kelssek                          7    4    1    0    2   17   12   +5   14
 5 Delaclava                        8    3    1    1    3   20   16   +4   12
 6 Elejamie                         7    3    1    0    3   19   21   –2   11
 7 Sannyamathland                   8    3    0    2    3   19   23   –4   11
 8 Iba Dwa                          7    3    0    1    3   14   23   –9   10
 9 Poafmersia                       8    3    0    0    5   26   23   +3    9
10 Pius Desurongcrandis             7    2    0    1    4   15   26  –11    7
11 Equestria                        7    2    0    0    5   18   25   –7    6
12 North Alezia                     7    1    1    0    5   19   21   –2    5
13 Pluvie                           7    0    0    0    7    8   29  –21    0

Group of Pentacles
Nova Anglicana 5–6 Fluvannia
Islands of Ventro 3–6 Mercedini
Abanhfleft 3–0 Salzcovia
Le Choix 3–1 United States of Devonta
Grey County 1–3 Anthor
Suimede 1–2 Gergary

   Group of Pentacles             Pld    W  OTW  OTL    L   GF   GA   GD  Pts 
 1 Abanhfleft                       7    7    0    0    0   30   10  +20   21
 2 Nova Anglicana                   8    6    0    0    2   21   13   +8   18
 3 Mercedini                        7    5    0    1    1   27   13  +14   16
 4 Fluvannia                        7    5    0    0    2   30   20  +10   15
 5 United States of Devonta         8    4    1    0    3   25   24   +1   14
 6 Gyatso-Kai                       7    4    0    1    2   28   21   +7   13 
 7 Le Choix                         7    4    0    1    2   12    8   +4   13
 8 Gergary                          8    3    1    0    4   14   20   –6   11
 9 Islands of Ventro                8    3    0    1    4   29   31   –2   10
10 Suimede                          7    2    1    0    4   19   18   +1    8
11 Anthor                           8    1    1    0    6   15   31  –16    5
12 Grey County                      7    0    0    0    7    7   24  –17    0
   Salzcovia                        7    0    0    0    7    7   31  –24    0

Group of Cups
Omerica 1–3 Quebec & Shingoryeo
Ranoria 4–0 Flekkefjord
New Waldensia 2–6 Kriegiersien
St. Saratoga 2–3 Srednjaci
BohemiaIV 3–4 Waisnor
Banija 1–2 Siovanija & Teusland

   Group of Cups                  Pld    W  OTW  OTL    L   GF   GA   GD  Pts 
 1 Siovanija & Teusland             8    8    0    0    0   34   16  +18   24
 2 Kriegiersien                     7    6    0    1    0   26    9  +17   19
 3 HUElavia                         7    5    0    0    2   23    8  +15   15
 4 Banija                           7    5    0    0    2   21    7  +14   15
 5 Waisnor                          8    5    0    0    3   23   19   +4   15
 6 Quebec & Shingoryeo              7    4    1    0    2   21   17   +4   14
 7 Ranoria                          8    2    1    0    5   15   18   –3    8
 8 Flekkefjord                      7    2    1    0    4   18   29  –11    8
 9 New Waldensia                    7    1    2    0    4   19   28   –9    7
10 Srednjaci                        8    1    1    2    4   20   29   –9    7
11 St. Saratoga                     7    2    0    0    5   19   24   –5    6
12 BohemiaIV                        7    0    1    2    4   11   24  –13    4
13 Omerica                          8    0    0    2    6   10   33  –23    2

Group of Swords
People’s Republic of Xabia 3–6 Lǜ Shān
Savojarna 1–4 Xanneria
TJUN-ia 2–14 Cassadaigua
Græntfjall 1–0 Chromatika
The Grandest Empire 1–3 Taeshan
Mapletish 2–1 Kohnhead

   Group of Swords                Pld    W  OTW  OTL    L   GF   GA   GD  Pts 
 1 Græntfjall                       7    6    0    1    0   23   12  +11   19
 2 Cassadaigua                      7    6    0    0    1   38   12  +26   18
 3 Savojarna                        8    5    1    0    2   24   16   +8   17
 4 Taeshan                          8    5    1    0    2   28   17  +11   17
 5 Reçueçn                          7    4    0    2    1   30   18  +12   14
 6 TJUN-ia                          7    4    0    0    3   26   35   –9   12
   Lǜ Shān                          7    4    0    0    3   25   19   +6   12
 8 Mapletish                        7    3    1    0    3   10    7   +3   11
 9 Chromatika                       8    3    0    0    5   19   26   –7    9
10 Kohnhead                         8    2    0    0    6   23   38  –15    6
11 Xanneria                         7    1    1    0    5   11   23  –12    5
12 The Grandest Empire              7    1    0    0    6   10   23  –13    3
13 People’s Republic of Xabia       8    0    0    1    7   15   36  –21    1

I have started to highlight teams that have qualified or been eliminated.

[Cassadaigua]

Records fall against TJUN-ia,
By Chelsea Dufresne, Concord Heights Times

The game between Cassadaigua and TJUN-ia seemed like it would be a competitive matchup. Heading into the game, the Fillies and Ice Jaguars were separated by just three points in the group standings, and they had played the same amount of games. The two nations have commonly been placed in the same group in other sporting competitions, so Cassadaigua was never going to look at TJUN-ia as the 18th-ranked team in the competition, but instead one that was much closer to them in those overall ranks. Prior to the game, coach Rachel Belmont had stated, “We are coming off a big win against Savojarna. That was very important, but we have to carry the momentum off of that or else it would not mean anything. The Ice Jaguars have been good thus far, and they will bring their A-game, so we must be ready.” Perhaps, in some respects that is a bit of a cliche of a quote, but the team’s mind was in the right place. However, this game would not become what was expected.

While we expected T-JUN to bring their “A” game, the jury is still out as to if what they did bring would even qualify as a “Z” game. Never once did I think I was going to be talking about a game where the Fillies scored fourteen goals. And if we ever were, wouldn’t that come against the laughing stock of the group? You know, the type of nation that signs up to a competition for the first time, and does absolutely nothing else afterward? Certainly, not against a nation with a high level of pride like TJUN-ia has. After the game, Rachel Belmont almost felt guilty about the result, telling me, “We’re all competitors, and for whatever reason, TJUN-ia did not play anywhere near as well as they are capable of playing. But you know, they are three points behind us before the game starts, and you have to get in the top four of the group. At some point, goal differential may become a key tiebreaker, so there is no packing it in because you feel bad for the other team. I know they know that, and we’ll meet again and they will be much better when we do.” The fourteen goals scored by the Fillies shatters the team record for goals in a game.

It didn’t take long for the ladies in pink and black to start giving the goal judges a work out. Brittany Gomes beat Jakob Vaduz high, to the blocker side on what seemed to be an easy shot to stop, just 21 seconds into the game (Cassidy Conti assisting), but the Fillies would certainly take the early advantage. Off the next face off, won by Lauren Potvin, Meghann Carmello beat Vaduz in a similar spot, high and above the blocker, assisted by Potvin, to make it 2-0 in favor of Cassadaigua, and the game was only 36 seconds old. Fillies fans in the stands were enjoying this one, but certainly things would settle down afterwards. For a few minutes, they did, but Ryan Pericic would be called for hooking, and the Fillies converted quickly on the power play, as Cassidy Conti scored, coming at 3:46, assisted by Brittany Gomes and Katie Quigley. Three shots, three goals; so when Vaduz made a save on Cassadaigua’s next shot, the arena erupted in a loud sarcastic cheer for the TJUN-ia goalie. After the initial wave of goals, things settled in, and TJUN-ia would even get one back at 11:52 of the period, from Julian Visipils, to make it 3-1. But another penalty, but the Fillies power play back in operation, and Conti would get her second, from Gomes and Samantha Dryden, at 14:57 to make it 4-1. That’d be the score after one, with Cassadaigua outshooting TJUN-ia 10-6 in the period.

The second period started with the player they call Chula in goal for the TJUN-ia, as they wanted to see if he would fare any better than Vaduz had while the game still could be in reach for them. Though this would not be a good day for the person wearing #99 on the back of his uniform, as the 21-year old completely flopped under the spotlight of the big game. Shelby Coufal (Jacob Thomas, Natalie Edmonds) scored at 2:35; then Danielle Turnbull (Meghann Carmello, Kayla Kelly) at 3:59. On the power play, it would next be Courtney Burnett (Cassidy Conti, Brittany Gomes) at 6:14, and then Ashley LaPointe (Jessica Hoover, Kristina Petit) at 9:03. All of the sudden, the scoreboard read 8-1, and we still had a little more than half of the game to go. TJUN-ia would try to stick with Chula a little longer, but Jennifer Everson’s goal (Cassidy Conti, Katie Quigley) at 11:51 sealed the deal for Chula, and Vaduz was back in net. For Chula, he faced eight shots, and allowed five goals. Of course, Vaduz did not fare much better, allowing a goal to Kristina Petit (Alyssa Peterson, Samantha Dailey) 12:46, shortly after he was re-inserted. At this point, all of the energy seemed to be sapped out of the Ice Jaguars as Cassadaigua scored their six goals in the period, now leading 10-1. They’d outshoot TJUN-ia 13-3 in the period.

Early in the third period, it was starting to look like Cassadaigua had called off the dogs. But after Danil Svengren had an over the top celebration of his goal at 6:03 of the period, the Fillies bench seemed annoyed. I won’t bore you with a diatribe about school life in the nation, but the hockey school of etiquette says when you cut a 10-1 lead to 10-2 this late in the game, when the opponent has seemingly backed off, anything more than a couple glove pats is going to be over the top. Belmont had played the third and fourth line for most of the period up to that point, but after that goal, the normal game planning of giving the top line, top line minutes and down the chart accordingly was reinstituted. Not too long after, Cassidy Conti completed her hat trick, assisted by Dryden and Gomes, at 9:21. A minute later, Meghann Carmello was on the board again, assisted by Lauren Potvin and Courtney Burnett, at 10:26. Up 12-2, the push continued by the Fillies, and Carmello earned a hat trick of her own, assisted by Potvin and Danielle Turnbull, at 13:28. The final goal was off the stick of Jessica Hoover, from Ashley LaPointe and Alyssa Peterson, at 16:14. All skaters in the lineup registered at least one point. Prior to the Svengren goal, shots in the period were 6-1, TJUN-ia. They would end up 11-7, Cassadaigua. For the game, the Fillies outshot the Ice Jaguars, 34-16. Cassadaigua was 2-for-5 on the power play, and TJUN-ia was 0-for-1.

It will be much harder in the next game, which is against the hosts from Graintfjall.

[Siovanija and Teusland]

Hockey Today Magazine

Hockey History

The Heavyweight Champions of Hockey
Part VI - The Winds of Change

Every dynasty must fall. It’s a simple fact of life. In 1417, the Siovanijan Empire fell. In 1895, the Teus Empire fell. It’s a maxim that doesn’t just apply to geopolitical concerns, either - the Stelburg Kaisers’ many dynasties have been stopped before. TMW haven’t won every Formula ST race in history. FC Teussen Stelburg don’t win the President’s Cup every year. And so, like all others, Seelowe Marlesee’s dynasty would fall too.

After Marlesee crushed Chernovets in the Ehrenliga final, they became perhaps a bit overconfident. Johan Greiss told the press “It might not come for many years… there aren’t players in the league like our players. It’ll take a new generation before we get dethroned.” Marlesee in fact started the next season with 12 games unbeaten in a row, and looked good enough to defend their title again. Going almost unnoticed, however, were the changes going on in Chernovets at the time.

After their loss in the Strauss Cup Final the previous season, Chernovets looked to retool and buff up their squad. They knew their star players had what it took to be champions - Radim Michalek and Eduard Masek were both some of the top stars in the league at the time. They added, however, a ton of size to their middle six and the top four, and those players they already had stepped up their game as well. Masek, previously thought of as a more skilled D man in the mold of Stanislav Slezak, fought for the first time in his career. And Michalek became much stronger in his own zone, playing hard and heavy. They were a team built to take on Marlesee, while still retaining their character of skill and high-tempo offence.

When playoff time came around, both teams cruised their way through their respective divisions. Chernovets defeated the Vrnovo Islanders in 5 games, before knocking out Olympia Borograd in 6 games to reach the Final. Marlesee defeated Eisbaren Stelburg and the Felsenkirchen Jets, both in 6 games, to become their opponents.

The Strauss Cup Final was a brutal, physical series that served as the very definition of playoff hockey. Chernovets still didn’t win the physical battle - Marlesee were the Mean Machine for a reason. But they could compete, they could fight back. And rely on their skill to win them the Cup. When Energija Chernovets skated away with the Strauss Cup, they were bloodied and bruised. But they were champions.

Johan Greiss’ comments, in a way, were proven right. There was a new generation - but it came about much quicker than expected. There was no room anymore to be just skilled, or just physical - you had to offer a mix of both to make it in the Ehrenliga.

Seelowe Marlesee were now the ones needing to adapt, and to their credit they did, signing a few more scoring wingers to add to their lineup. Elmo Stieler was still the heavyweight champion of the Ehrenliga, although he was fighting less as the team focused on more of a balance of play. After the loss to Chernovets, they would go out in the first round in the next season to the St. Jakob Saints, but did make it back to face Kapitala Borograd in the next year’s Cup Final, losing again in 6 games. They had brought in a new era, and just as quickly seen it come down.

For the Ehrenliga’s heavyweight champion, however, little changed. He was still winning fights, but he was held back by his coaches a bit more than in his heyday. Fighting was starting to slightly decline again as well as the Ehrenliga’s new rule on third man in and players leaving benches meant that tensions weren’t so quickly resolved with fisticuffs as before. It was still, however, part of most games - an average of 0.87 fights per game by the 1978 season.

Stieler had yet to lose a fight in the Ehrenliga when Marlesee rolled into Vrnovo to face the Vrnovo Islanders on a Saturday evening in the middle of a cold January. The Islanders had become a solid playoff team - in slightly less eye-damaging orange now - and were built tough, too. Young winger Stefan Simonov was earning praise for his physical attributes, and skill as a fighter. When the two dropped the gloves, there was an expectation that Stieler would win, but perhaps on some level a feeling of hope for the younger man. The Vrnovo Daily described it the next morning as ‘the fight of the century… two of the best fighters our game has seen going at it.’ It was a long fight, a difficult fight, and the home crowd cheered when Simonov became the first person to knock down Stieler. The two men shook hands afterwards, a moment photographed and titled ‘Passing of the Torch.’

Stieler wasn’t done quite yet, however. A few weeks later, the Islanders would come into Marlesee, where another physical game awaited them. Stieler and Simonov faced off again - and this time it was Stieler who came out on top. Marlesee fans wildly cheered their fan-favourite defenceman, who reasserted himself - and while unknown to the crowd that night, took back the title after having lost the longest streak in the belt’s history to date.

That offseason, however, things would change once again in the Ehrenliga. In the Teus Major Junior Hockey League, one young man had been tearing things up, setting new and impossible-to-catch records. Anatol Weisz was a prodigy, compared to Wolf Bleich from a young age, and the name on everyone’s lips for a few seasons. There was talk that multiple teams considered tanking the 1979 season just to earn the right to draft him. In the end, however, it was the Kaiserhaven Knights who picked the small, skilled centre from Stelburg.

Size was the only criticism of Weisz - some said he would never survive in the new Ehrenliga. But Knights owner Peter Pozl had an idea - perhaps Weisz would never be a hitter, or able to defend himself. But if someone was on the ice with him who could defend him, teams might be afraid to go after him. Who was the scariest man in the Ehrenliga? Elmo Stieler. And so, the Knights traded a few prospects and cash considerations to Seelowe Marlesee to bring Stieler on board. At the press conference after the trade, Pozl publicly referred to Stieler as ‘the bodyguard.’ A new era for enforcers was beginning again.

[Gyatso-kai]

.:: From the ASPN Blog After Thoughts in a Blip ::.
0640 hours, 04 April 2021.2

Look, I work in an hour, that deadline for tonight's article on "The Emergence of Gyatso-kai on the Multi-verse Stage" is about an hour after I'm supposed to get off work...

And you know what they say about restaurants... The only guarantee is your In Time.

So as I sit on the tub summoning the will to shower, I guess I should take a quick look at the standings.

---

Because I'm an idiot who writes when somewhat drunk, I forgot that Nova Angelica had suffered a loss, even though they were tied with Abahnfleft for first in the Group of Pentacles. Unfortunately for them, a loss to Mercedini followed by the bye, with Abahnfleft winning over Salzcovia and Devonta dropping 3-1 to Le Choix means the pious Angelicans find themselves at the #2 spot, sandwiches between Abahnfleft and Mercedini. The Bisons, coming off the bye today and looking for a little redemption against Nova Angelica — redemption for our current tournie and not because we lost to N.A. recently — will be playing in an later timeslot at The Lilypad Arena in Akurgarten (no fun characters for us to use today ><)

So basically, once I write this article tonight for ASPN (which I'll submit after the deadline and hope my editor doesn't chew me out), I'll get to enjoy the game.

Now what to sacrifice to Magaret for a win tonight... Goat, or virgin...

[TJUN-ia]

Final: Cassadaigua (8) 2-14 TJUN-ia (18)

Goals
1st
CDG - Gomes (Conti)
CDG - Carmello (Povtin)
CDG - Conti (Gomes, Quigley)
TJU - Visipilis
CDG - Conti (Gomes, Dryden)

2nd
GK Change (TJU) - Shinawatra for Vaduz
CDG - Coufal (Thomas, Edmonds)
CDG - Turnbull (Carmello, Kelly)
CDG - Burnett (Conti, Gomes)
CDG - LaPointe (Hoover, Petit)
CDG - Everson (Conti, Quigley)
GK Change (TJU) - Vaduz for Shinawatra
CDG - Petit (Peterson, Dailey)

3rd
TJU - Svengren
CDG - Conti (Dryden, Gomes)
CDG - Carmello (Potvin, Butnett)
CDG - Carmello (Potvin, Turnbull)
CDG - Hoover (LaPointe, Peterson)

Pain.

It is what all TJUN-ians know very well in this day and age.

Tonight, at the Hagejoki Play Park, our Ice Jags were hunted down and slaughtered by the Queen of Swords herself and we have no idea what to do now.

Maybe TJUN-ia was never meant to play hockey in the first place.

Maybe Ølson Rasmussen was never supposed to be in this position in the first place.

Maybe Chelsea Dufrense should shut her fucking mouth about what is considered "over the top" at 10-1 down.

If TJUN-ia somehow survives this massacre, then maybe we are a nation on Margaret's lap.

If we don't, then nobody would mind at all: what is the point anyway with a -9GD after MD8.

Unranked Xanneria may give us some joy...but for how long.

In the end, maybe nothing ever matters in this sport anymore...

---

SCHEDULE (Group of Swords)
MD1: BYE
MD2: vs Graintfjall (22, 8 of Swords) - Eisstadion Háttmark, Haderhavn L 4-5 (T-10th)
MD3: vs The Grandest Empire (UR, 4 of Swords) - Grand National Arena, Gunzlach W 3-2 (T-8th)
MD4: vs Mapletish (UR, 5 of Swords) - SuperBangMunchVöllur, Zevogur W 1-0 (T-5th)
MD5: vs Kohnhead (26, 7 of Swords)- Elínmundur Heiðreksson Halle, Steinaux W 8-5 (T-4th)
MD6: vs Taeshan (14, 10 of Swords) - Hofvinger Community Arena L 4-6 (T-6th)
MD7: vs Chromatika (29, 6 of Swords) - Hagejoki Play Park W 4-3 (6th)
MD8: vs Cassadaigua (8, Queen of Swords) - Hagejoki Play Park L 2-14 (T-6th)
MD9: vs Xanneria (UR, 3 of Swords) - Hofvinger Community Arena
MD10: vs Lu Shan (UR, Ace of Swords) - Elínmundur Heiðreksson Halle, Steinaux
MD11: vs Recuecn (12, Trickster of Swords) - SuperBangMunchVöllur, Zevogur
MD12: vs Peoples Republic of Xabia (UR, 4 of Swords) - Grand National Arena, Gunzlach
MD13: vs Savojarna (3, King of Swords) - Eisstadion Háttmark, Haderhavn

[Kriegiersien]

Goalkeeper Jody Becker took a last sip, thinking about the goals he had conceded against Waldensia and closed his eyes.



“Surprise test!”, his teacher Miss Wilmington shouted.

It was a math test and he wasn’t prepared. And he was fully dressed in a suit. Awkward.

Question one:
How many goals made St. Saratoga against Srednjaci? Add that to their overall score.

He couldn’t remember. Did someone tell him that?

Question two:
The Top Goal Scorer runs with 15 mph. The ice has a temperature of -1 Celsius. It is 10 PM.
What is his goal ratio and name of his pet?

Jody threw his hands up in despair.

“Don’t forget to write down your name…”

Jody scribbled his name on the paper, but his quill broke…

“On the right side and the name of the opponents best striker on the left side.”

He’d put his name on the wrong side and tried to erase the written hieroglyphics with his eraser, but that only made a big blot.

“How big is Græntfjall? Becker!”, his teacher suddenly shouted directly at him.

He tried to remember how Grandfall was even written and stuttered some words..

“Too slow! Goal time!!!”

Suddenly 3 Zambonis chugged slowly in his direction, pushing pucks in front of them.

„Stop them! Stop them!“, his teammates shouted, but he couldn’t move.

Helpless he had to watch how the Zambonis and pucks passed him left and right. Every time a goal horn sounded in his ears.

“How many goals did we got? How much do we need to score to win against St. Saratoga to compensate your failure?”, his teacher, who suddenly looked like Coach Ferrero, shouted at him.
“I am so disappointed of you”, his mother said, crying.

More goals were scored, while he just couldn’t move. Even the shots coming straight at him passed him as if he was goo. Every time a sound like from an odd bell ringed out.
Maep. Maep. Maep.

He awoke, his smartphone ringing.

What a terrible nightmare. Jody wiped away more sweat than after the last training.

[Waisnor]

Calm before the storm

Waisnorians fans were getting ready to celebrate another easy victory over unseeded BohemiaIV, but in reality this match turned out to be way more hard:

Unexpectedly for the Waisnorian fans, BohemiaIV took the initiative and began to carry out frequent attacks, which the defense could no longer cope with. On the 6th minute of the 1st period, it cracked - the striker of this team found a gap in defense and instantly threw the puck into the bottom corner, opening the score.
Such a game was able to give confidence to hockey players from BohemiaIV and establish itself as the dominant side of the match, for which it would not hurt to score another goal. At the 12th minute of the 1st period, this happened - another BohemianIV striker was able to go one-on-one with Denis Dementiev and skillfully beat him, scoring the puck into the bottom corner of the goal.
But this state of affairs seemed to provoke the Waisnor team even more, which really wanted to recoup and used every chance for this. At the end of the 1st period, on the 19th minute, Stanisłav Bednarek walked along the flank to the gate of BohemiaIV and scored in the lower left goal, making the score 2-1, still in favor of BohemiaIV.
However, one conceded goal has not yet worried BohemiaIV and she continued to prove that it is she who is the leader at the rink. The events in the 4th minute of the 2nd period once again confirmed this - the striker, who scored the first goal against Denis Dementyev, repeated his breakthrough to his goal and again scored a goal in his gates.
Waisnor had already waas losing two goals in the last match, so hope remained in the hearts of the fans. On the 13th minute of 2nd period, she became even stronger - Bednarek scored a double thanks to an excellent pass through the Bohemian defense and an accurate shot to the top of the goal.
Now the Waisnorian national team tried to equalize the score in every possible way so that they did not have to interrupt the unbeaten run ahead of time. At the 1st minute of the 3rd period, this tactic paid off - David Blokha caught a pass from Mikhail Belov and, breaking through at lightning speed at the gate of BohemiaIV, threw the puck into the center of the gate.
In order to finally get out of the hole in the second half of the match, it was necessary to score one more goal, and the Waisnorian team also stubbornly strove for this. The 13th minute of the 3rd period was a turning point in this regard - Stanisłav Bednarek finally became the best player of the match, shooting the puck from a distance and hitting the center of the goal, ensuring Waisnor's fifth victory in a row.

Although, this streak may end soon - next rival of Waisnorian team will be Banija - Trickster of Cups and 9th seeded team. Banjia, Waisnor and HUElavia are currently battling for 2 places in knock-out stage with 15 points each and this match is very important, which even can be deciding. So, we are waiting...

[HUElavia]

HUElavia Shines in Emphatic Victory!

Quebec and Shingoryeo 1-5 HUElavia

Coming into Matchday 7, HUElavia was coming off a dominating 5-0 victory over Flekkefjord, and looking to continue racking up victories to assure their spot in the Round-of-16 in Graentfjall. Their next opponent was a familiar one: Quebec and Shingoryeo. A nation that HUElavia has sporting history facing off against and having a friendly relationship between the two nations was a match that both teams and fans alike were looking forward to. Once the players came on the rink, the anthems were played and the puck was dropped for the game to commence!

The opening goal came late in the 1st period, when Pellan was being covered by Ilchenko, giving a pass to Jeong-Hyeon, who gave a one-time shot past a reaching Vasilevskiy into the goal to make it 1-0. The Quebecois Crowd jumped up and cheered with joy and passion, while Jeong-Hyeon was given hugs and fist bumps by her teammates for the opening goal. The 1st period ended with Quebec and Shingoryeo having the lead and the HUElavians were frustrated, but motivated to get something more. They would come alive in the 2nd period, as a counter attack early in the period had Garcon-Chevalier take the puck from Cha-Meunier, and give a long pass, where Gachev went past Starmer-Jodoin to go one-on-one with Heeney, and blast it past her into the goal to make it 1-1. The HUElavians jumped with joy and many cheers to support the goal, while Gachev celebrated with his teammates. 7 minutes later, Talon took a shot that went around the net, got picked up by Meghni, and a pass was sent to Ovetchkin, who sped past Yi, and took a blast at Heeney, which got blocked, and in the rebound by Castilho, it was tapped into the goal to make it 2-1. The crowd cheered for the goal once more, while Castilho celebrated with his teammates in one of the corners. Late in the period, an error by Heeney allowed Petit to get the puck and slide around to essentially an empty net and tip the puck into the goal to make it 3-1. The crowd was celebrating with joy and passion for the quick moves and the goal while Petit celebrated with the bench for the great goal. In the 3rd Period, halfway through, a face off was done, which was won by Gachev, he passed it to Dominguez-Garcia, who gave a one-timer to slap it past Heeney into the goal to make it 4-1. Late in the Period, Quebec and Shingoryeo was on the attack looking to get some goals in and ended up pulling Heeney with three minutes left, and Vasilevskiy won the puck away from Deok-Seon, giving a quick, long pass to send it down the rink and into the empty goal, making it 5-1. The crowd jumped and cheered with joy and passion for the goal, the first time seeing Vasilevskiy scoring a goal in a match, while the players went to Vasilevskiy to congratulate him for the saves and the cheeky move for the goal. Shortly after, the match ended 5-1, and the team and fans happy with the result.

After the Bye, HUElavia sit in 3rd Place with 15 Points, holding on the position due to the Goal Difference of +15, over Banija (15 Points, +14), Waisnor (15 Points, +4), and Quebec and Shingoryeo (14 Points, +4). The next two matches will be against Unranked Omerica, who are in 13th with 2 Points and Already Eliminated, followed by 21st ranked Ranoria, who 7th Place with 8 Points. Caetano will start against Omerica, and Mayhuasca will start against Ranoria. The team is continuing with their training and studying film, but are feeling confident in their play, especially with the significant uptick of goals from the team, as well as having one of the best defenses in the tournament, currently tied for the 3rd least conceded goals up to now. The fans continue coming out in droves and singing songs giving praise to the team, all while enjoying the food and people of Graentfjall. Here's to what can be a great two games and getting closer to a spot in the Round-of-16!

FORCA HUELAVIA! VAMOS HUELAVIA! GO HUELAVIA!

[Valanora]

In the battle on the ice between the Empire and Sarzonia, it was predicted to be a battle of attrition and one that would see a low scoring game given the strength that both teams had shown in keeping goals from being scored on them. Only one of those two predictions came true however, as both teams exploited the others blue line numerous times for an eleven goal thriller that the Calcuttas were able to emerge as the victors from. It was by the far the hardest game that the Calcuttas have had in their games in Græntfjall, though the first in what everyone is expecting to be a gauntlet of a three game stretch that will help figure out the Calcuttas' fate in their top heavy group. Noel Norberg might have had a night to forget on the whole of the night, having conceded five times, twice being errors on his part, but he made a series of saves in the second period that allowed the Calcuttas to keep within touching distance of Sarzonia and enabled the team to have their third period outburst that allowed the team to grab the three points from the occasion.

It started well for the Calcuttas, with Kristian Simonsen putting a goal on the board just two minutes into the game, giving the team some early momentum. However just after the halfway point of the first period, Sarzonia was able to get their first goal on the board and within forty seconds of their first goal, they were able to put a second goal on the board and put a heavy gut punch to the Calcuttas. With four minutes left in the period, Sarzonia put another goal on the team and looked like they were going to put a stranglehold on the game and keep the Calcuttas from playing their game or getting even a point out of the game. However off the faceoff, the Calcuttas were able to gain possession and push into the Stars zone, circling the puck before Jesper Nordström's shot from the blue line was deflected by Aleksander Olsen in front of the Sarzonia goaltender and put it five hole, bringing the team back within a goal, where the first period would end.

The teams would trade goals in the second period, the Stars having another goal in the fifteenth minute and could have had a few more if not for the saves by Norberg while the team tried to get their feet back underneath them. Maja Zahl would bring the team back within a goal two minutes before the end of the second period and the scoreline would be Valanora three and Sarzonia four heading into the third period. That's when the top line started playing like the top line and the young phenom of Eva Strömberg went to work, getting the first goal of her third period hattrick just forty-two seconds into the period to bring the scores level. She would score on the powerplay in the fifteenth minute, as the Calcuttas took their first lead since halfway through the first period. She would finish off her hattrick with three minutes to go, catching the Stars in the middle of a line change and putting one in the top corner where the keeper had no chance at stopping it. However Sarzonia would get a goal with an extra attacker on with twenty seconds left to go, but would not be allowed a chance at the equalizer with the Empire winning the high intensity game.

That sort of game has a way of not only being physically exhausting, but mentally as well, which is not good when you consider it is Ko-oren that the team has to vie with next, a game that could put some distance between the Calcuttas and the chasing teams at the top. Ko-oren was at the top of the table but were somehow beat by Iba Dwa two to nil while the Stars and Calcuttas were having their offensive shootout. Ko-oren is a very good team, one of the best given they were the runners up in the previous edition, and they are going to be quite disappointed to have been beat by a team that everyone would have thought to have been a guaranteed three points for them. With the Calcuttas being physically tired after their game with Sarzonia, it does not make for a good mixture and could spell the end of the perfect start the team has had in the Winter Queendom. Or we may yet see those youthful legs and exuberance come to bear and that championship pedigree that has those six stars on the sweater come out, with the side looking to get back into a position where they might yet add another star to their sweater.

[Quebec and Shingoryeo]

Part 5.

AUGUST 30, 2048
> 8:00 A.M. PRACTICE AT AN UNNAMED ARENA

The Ice Knights come for an early practice, and are currently at a local arena. This time, however, it is without any media or local access, something that the coaches made it clear to hundreds in front of the arena. 'It's inevitable and don't ask why,' was all that he says.

The gigantic captain, the one who has stepped somewhat nicely into his father's mould, is Benoit Starmer-Jodoin. Like his father, who used to be the star, seven-feet blueliner for the Winnipeg Giants and the Ice Knights side that won when Benoit wasn't in conversation, Benoit wears the "C", regardless of the controversial selection that it was at the beginning of the national team training camp a month ago.

After the embarrassing match against HUElavia, where he was visibly frustrated with the turnout of the match and the pelting of the tomatoes, he is wearing street clothes. It wasn't his choice-it was the coaches who have decided to give Starmer-Jodoin a day off. The message is pretty clear, especially since it's not really something that a twenty-three year old should be getting anyway, and Starmer-Jodoin knows he is going to play less minutes today.

The coaches have known Starmer-Jodoin as Benoit's eldest of five children, and they knew something was wrong last night when he was having troubles turning when lapping on his skates. That's not something that bag skates would really solve in a single day, coaches Browne and Varelin agreed. As he watches the others skate, this time with better job along the boards, Starmer-Jodoin cannot help but to wish that he would be back there.

In all fairness, it took a lot of persuasion for Starmer-Jodoin to accelerate his development. Under most circumstances he would have gone straight to college hockey after a couple of years in the major juniors, where he was heads and shoulders above his opposition. Starmer-Jodoin had already committed to Mount Ester University, one of the most prestigious universities in the country located in Bathurst, Acadie, for a hockey scholarship as a sophomore.

Of course, life would eventually get in the way, as his draft-1 season would indicate. 52 games, 27 goals, 43 assists and 71 points, later, his stocks became high enough that nobody, not even his parents Yves and Hannah, were able to guarantee that he would be playing for the Lancers come that fall. And their prediction came true- Benoit came to the QHL Draft one late thursday afternoon in June, and came home selected as a first overall pick for the Attawapiskat Avalanche, who sacrificed three draft picks and a top-line blueliner, for the chance at 1OV.

All the plans had to be redrawn. The rest came along, however, as five seasons would indicate so. 'The life has been so hectic for me since being selected first overall that, uh, it's hard for me to believe to this day,' Benoit says to me. 'And sometimes you gotta catch up to it all. Not easy, but you gotta. I'm slowly getting to it, though it hasn't been the easiest.'

> 11:00 A.M. BUS TO WMM ARENA, ILSBURG

The Ice Knights are once again heading to Ilsburg, where they most recently played against Kriegiersien in a remarkably poor match. This time, however, the atmosphere’s slightly better, though that may be because the mood cannot sink any lower at this point in time.
At the front two rows of seats, where the coaches are sitting, the mood is upbeat. The coaches do think that the Ice Knights are going to play a much better game against Omerica, an unranked opponent who have not been doing well all competition long. ‘Well, these lads and lasses gotta get it rolling, because if we can’t against Omerica, that would be embarrassing,’ Browne says in what may have been an overconfident display.

> 2:00 P.M. QUEBEC AND SHINGORYEO VS. OMERICA, WMM ARENA, ILSBURG

After some unexpected delays and much frustration, Brianne Kigatilik is starting for this match. She is excited enough about it, while her teammates give her a couple of pats to the shoulder. No matter how these players are all stars in their own teams or about to become one, icetime is a sensitive matter for all. On the lounge, some of the players are resting, mostly to watch a couple of QFL games.

'It's a good time to cooldown for once, before the game starts,' Brianne Clements says, the fourth-liner from Labrador State University still getting used to the grind. 'You know, everybody get to know each other at some point, as we all climb the ladder and whatnot. Social media helps enabling that as well.'

And it seems to everybody that an unorthodox approach, after a humiliating loss, may have worked out quite nicely after all. On what's their first afternoon match this tournament, life goes along fine for the Ice Knights. The Ice Knights, like how they did with Flekkefjord three days prior, start off hot with a 3-0 lead established before the end of first period. After that, it was mostly 1-2-1 trap game played with the third and fourth line players, who are finally getting much-needed minutes.

Brianne Kigatilik is having a solid moment as the goaltender tonight, saving all 23 shots (the goal she allowed was a penalty shot, on the penultimate minute of the second period at 3-0 mark) and looking impressive in 3-1 win.

Later in the day...

Hong Deok-Seon and Brianne Kigatilik were sitting on a VIP section of their restaurant, Róskjallarinn, at the heart of Hattmark. It was half past six in the evening. The Ice Knights' victory had gone well, and the restaurant ran strictly by reservations by at least a month in advance. This had meant that unlike a lot of the restaurants, where the Ice Knights or other national team fans would bombard the players for an autograph, they would be left alone. The dress code of suits and ties for gentlemen and dresses (or suits, though less so) for ladies, while mandatory for the Ice Knights, had meant that at least they'd be noticed less by those not familiar with the Quebecois national hockey team.

'Man, who would have thought that the dinner after a win would be this great.' Brianne said to Deok-Seon, who was smiling back at his girlfriend. After the match, the national team was given the evening off, with the condition being that there is a ten p.m. curfew. With still four hours to spare, they were deciding to enjoy their time off together.

They had known each other for about a decade now - it must have been one of those prep school hockey matchups from eternities ago. Both the goaltender and the centreman were getting good grades, and were originally bound for a college career until Hong went the other way- the direct express train to the team that hasn’t won much since their dynasty years in 1980s, the Gaspe Oilers. Little did they expect to see much of each other, aside from on the ice, but who knew? A decade later, they met through a friend of Brianne’s from college days, and by the end of the summer cottage trips, they were all together.

‘Aren’t we the luckiest?’ Deok-Seon chuckled, as they slowly let the jazz music subside into their mind.

'A date in middle of the World Cup of Hockey, how ingenious.' Brianne responded.

[Graintfjall]

“You know,” said Arthur, “it’s at times like this, when I’m trapped in a Vogon airlock with a man from Betelgeuse, and about to die of asphyxiation in deep space that I really wish I’d listened to what my mother told me when I was young.”

“Why, what did she tell you?”

“I don’t know, I didn’t listen.”

Each day I will be offering a small piece of information about Græntfjaller life and offering a related prompt. These prompts are not required and there is no extra bonus for doing them compared with doing a match report or any other type of RP; they’re simply there because this long tournament format may lead to ideas running dry, and I’m well aware there are many other competitions currently ongoing. Feel free to respond in whatever format you like – or ignore them entirely.

MD9 cutoff

Græntfjaller family life has been strong influenced by its Catholic heritage, and even in the 21st century, the nuclear family of a heterosexual, monogamous couple marrying and raising children remains the norm. Largely spared the social revolutions of the 1960s thanks to the cultural seclusion under the then-dominant communist regime, Græntfjall has been a little slower than some countries to adopt the emancipation of women and extend legal and social rights to homosexuals, although significant progress has been made in the last two decades, helped by Queen Júlíana’s public embrace of feminist and gay rights causes. Modernity has brought more variety in the family unit, such as co-habiting unmarried couples, including same-sex couples who can enter civil partnerships, and the legalization of divorce and consequent growth of single parent families or share custody arrangements. In remote mountain communities a tradition of polygyny (but not polyandry) is occasionally practised, but has largely become obsolete; interesting it’s in the most modern urban communities around universities and intellectual circles that polyamory is becoming more socially (but not legally) acceptable. What is family life like in your nation? What does a “typical” family look like?

Group of Wands
Sarzonia 6–2 Pluvie
Ko-oren 1–0 Valanora
Kelssek 3–1 Iba Dwa
Pius Desurongcrandis 3–4 Equestria
Elejamie 0–3 Delaclava
North Alezia 1–2 Poafmersia

   Group of Wands                 Pld    W  OTW  OTL    L   GF   GA   GD  Pts 
 1 Ko-oren                          9    7    1    0    1   21    8  +13   23
 2 Valanora                         8    7    0    0    1   29   12  +17   21
 3 Sarzonia                         9    7    0    0    2   36   18  +18   21
 4 Kelssek                          8    5    1    0    2   20   13   +7   17
 5 Delaclava                        9    4    1    1    3   23   16   +7   15
 6 Poafmersia                       9    4    0    0    5   28   24   +4   12
 7 Elejamie                         8    3    1    0    4   19   24   –5   11
 8 Sannyamathland                   8    3    0    2    3   19   23   –4   11
 9 Iba Dwa                          8    3    0    1    4   15   26  –11   10
10 Equestria                        8    3    0    0    5   22   28   –6    9
11 Pius Desurongcrandis             8    2    0    1    5   18   30  –12    7
12 North Alezia                     8    1    1    0    6   20   23   –3    5
13 Pluvie                           8    0    0    0    8   10   35  –25    0

Group of Pentacles
Anthor 2–5 Suimede
United States of Devonta 3–1 Grey County
Salzcovia 2–3 Le Choix
Mercedini 1–1 Abanhfleft (8–7 SO)
Fluvannia 10–4 Islands of Ventro
Gyatso-Kai 4–3 Nova Anglicana

   Group of Pentacles             Pld    W  OTW  OTL    L   GF   GA   GD  Pts 
 1 Abanhfleft                       8    7    0    1    0   31   12  +19   22
 2 Fluvannia                        8    6    0    0    2   40   24  +16   18
 3 Mercedini                        8    5    1    1    1   29   14  +15   18
 4 Nova Anglicana                   9    6    0    0    3   24   17   +7   18
 5 United States of Devonta         9    5    1    0    3   28   25   +3   17
 6 Gyatso-Kai                       8    5    0    1    2   32   24   +8   16
   Le Choix                         8    5    0    1    2   15   10   +5   16
 8 Suimede                          8    3    1    0    4   24   20   +4   11
 9 Gergary                          8    3    1    0    4   14   20   –6   11
10 Islands of Ventro                9    3    0    1    5   33   41   –8   10
11 Anthor                           9    1    1    0    7   17   36  –19    5
12 Grey County                      8    0    0    0    8    8   27  –19    0
   Salzcovia                        8    0    0    0    8    9   34  –25    0

Group of Cups
Waisnor 0–5 Banija
Srednjaci 5–2 BohemiaIV
Kriegiersien 4–1 St. Saratoga
Flekkefjord 3–2 New Waldensia
Quebec & Shingoryeo 6–5 Ranoria
HUElavia 7–2 Omerica

   Group of Cups                  Pld    W  OTW  OTL    L   GF   GA   GD  Pts 
 1 Siovanija & Teusland             8    8    0    0    0   34   16  +18   24
 2 Kriegiersien                     8    7    0    1    0   30   10  +20   22
 3 HUElavia                         8    6    0    0    2   30   10  +20   18
 4 Banija                           8    6    0    0    2   26    7  +19   18
 5 Quebec & Shingoryeo              8    5    1    0    2   27   22   +5   17
 6 Waisnor                          9    5    0    0    4   23   24   –1   15
 7 Flekkefjord                      8    3    1    0    4   21   31  –10   11
 8 Srednjaci                        9    2    1    2    4   25   31   –6   10
 9 Ranoria                          9    2    1    0    6   20   24   –4    8
10 New Waldensia                    8    1    2    0    5   21   31  –10    7
11 St. Saratoga                     8    2    0    0    6   20   28   –8    6
12 BohemiaIV                        8    0    1    2    5   13   29  –16    4
13 Omerica                          9    0    0    2    7   12   40  –28    2

Group of Swords
Taeshan 0–0 Mapletish (0–2 SO)
Chromatika 3–0 The Grandest Empire
Cassadaigua 1–0 Græntfjall
Xanneria 0–6 TJUN-ia
Lǜ Shān 1–1 Savojarna (2–3 SO)
Reçueçn 5–1 People’s Republic of Xabia

   Group of Swords                Pld    W  OTW  OTL    L   GF   GA   GD  Pts 
 1 Cassadaigua                      8    7    0    0    1   39   12  +27   21
 2 Savojarna                        9    5    2    0    2   26   17   +9   19
 3 Græntfjall                       8    6    0    1    1   23   13  +10   19
 4 Taeshan                          9    5    1    1    2   28   18  +10   18
 5 Reçueçn                          8    5    0    2    1   35   19  +16   17
 6 TJUN-ia                          8    5    0    0    3   32   35   –3   15
 7 Lǜ Shān                          8    4    0    1    3   26   21   +5   13
   Mapletish                        8    3    2    0    3   11    7   +4   13
 9 Chromatika                       9    4    0    0    5   22   26   –4   12
10 Kohnhead                         8    2    0    0    6   23   38  –15    6
11 Xanneria                         8    1    1    0    6   11   29  –18    5
12 The Grandest Empire              8    1    0    0    7   10   26  –16    3
13 People’s Republic of Xabia       9    0    0    1    8   16   41  –25    1

I have started to highlight teams that have qualified or been eliminated.

[Cassadaigua]

Traditions,
By Chelsea Dufresne, Concord Heights Times

After the last game, I had sixteen goals to talk about. After this one, I only have one goal to talk about. Thankfully, the right team scored it. Lauren Potvin’s unassisted goal on a breakaway at 5:02 on the first period would end up holding up for the entire game. Who needs fourteen goals when you only need one?

I’ll talk a little more about the game in a bit, but right now I want to talk about traditions, and more specifically, traditions that involve eggs and bunnies. It might not be like this is many other countries, but here in Cassadaigua, many of us celebrate this thing called Easter, which entails lying to your children that a life-size rabbit is capable of traveling the multiverse and giving them a bunch of sugary sweets that will make them especially hyper the next day, and probably for many days. Unlike another tradition, which involves a jolly man with a beard, you can’t threaten your kids that they must behave or else they will be on naughty list. Evidently, the rabbit does not keep a naughty list in the same manner. Or maybe he/she/it is conspiring with the jolly man with the beard because the sweets that it will place in a basket will only serve to make the children hyper, thus adding more names to the naughty list and allowing the jolly bearded man to save money on elf labor. That’s of course, if it all was real. Which brings me back to the lie that you must tell your kids if you wish to participate in this tradition. Which, of course, you have to, because their friend’s parents probably are participating, and they are probably just participating because they think you are participating. It’s all one evil circle!

Then, of course, we get to the eggs. Another one of those traditions. Coloring eggs, yeah that’s fine. Fine, if you remember to hard boil them. If you have forgotten to hard boil them when your kids are ready to embark on this tradition, then you are in trouble as a parent. Remembering to hard boil them on a random thought that came into your head, and having them ready when the kids are ready. That, my friends, is a small victory! Of course, your job here is not done, because you must hide the eggs while they are sleeping so you can have an egg hunt the next morning. You want to be able to enjoy this hunt, but what is the degree of difficulty for your hiding spots? You don’t want them to be too easy, but they can’t get frustrated either. Of course, once you have an older one, they’ll start to remember your hiding spots, so you must plan accordingly. They’ll never understand all the work that goes in to embarking on this tradition, but in the end, it will all be worth it.

Back to the hockey game, it was a great match for Travis Anderson, stopping all 28 shots that the Ice Wolves managed to put on him. Cassadaigua outshot Graintfjall 29-28 for the game, and each team was 0-for-1 on the power play. Don’t look now, but Cassadaigua leads the Group of Swords. They’re also just four points ahead of fifth. Plenty of more work to do.