World Cup of Hockey 11 (Rosters/RPs/Scores)

[Plutoni]

Plutoni ice hockey blog: WCoH 10, Matchday 4
Lead blown against Jeffgordonville

Plutoni surrendered a 3-1 third period lead to draw 3-3 with Jeffgordonville. Those two teams, as well as Newmanistan, are all tied for the group lead with six points each. Newmanistan destroyed their regional rivals, BrightonBurg, 7-0; BrightonBurg face Plutoni next.

After Jimmy McReynolds' backhander gave Jeffgordonville the first lead of the game, Patrick O'Kneel and Matthew Wroder got into a series of checks that quickly escalated into a fight. Amid disapproval mingled with curiosity from the New Cleethorpes fans, Wroder held his own for some time before O'Kneel eventually punched him out. Plutoni continued undaunted on the power play, and Jofri Spendral tied the game.

Plutoni got on a roll during the middle of the second period, with Meefla Katlon's goal followed swiftly by one from a fellow center, Alexander Cashman, just after the ensuing line change. It would be Katlon that won the opening faceoff for the final period, but Plutoni was unable to capitalize on an early string of possession. With O'Kneel and Jack Solo on guard for Jeffgordonville, Shrindli Clom and Lintsa Tameen could only pass back and forth helplessly. Tara Farmer eventually intercepted one such pass, however, and quickly set up Martin McReynolds for another goal. Though Plutoni tried to hold on, Frederica Lyons would ultimately equalize with two minutes to play.

Comments:
1. bocky_boy: This would have been fun to liveblog, but I can sleep through the night now so I'm not going to risk anything.
2. flake: Yet more siblings doing well. Makes the "Stars of the Game" a little less clear, though at least one of the McReynolds would certainly be on my list. Maybe Katlon too.
3. eastbeast: i really need to watch more Open games, but we did seem a little excited after Wrodre put up a fight. Is that normal?
4. seb: Depends on who's playing, really. It seems like something the Divers would do, they're generally pretty aware of what's going on. Clom has to lead by example so yeah, not too far out of the question. Nice to see Wroder saving it for his opponents.
5. icebaby: Please, he's nowhere near as exciting as McCourt.
6. randomlurker: Yes, we have Jeffgordonville and Newmanistan to deal with. Yes, it was great fun to win the title again last time. But no, we are not still in WCoH 10. Please fix the header.

[Delaclava]

DNBSports.com

Paktur's line changes breathe life back into hockey team, keep them in WCoH

Ben Paktur, in response to Delaclava's 1 draw and 2 losses thus far, made several line changes. The lineup looked more energized, and Delaclava overcame a hat trick by Aoibhín Uí Cathail to win 4-3.

Urik Stokyweski was brought in to start instead of Ezekiel Faroza. With the exception of his lapses resulting in goals, Stokyewski was sharp, garnering 39 saves in his first action of the tournament.

A new first line of Tony Konala, Mark Ramsey, and Jarkko Temmonen also caused trouble the entire game. Konala had two early third-period goals, with Ramsey and Temmonen having two assists each. Sevanov scored midway through the period on a feed from Serena Holvlen, who got the puck from Jordan Resnar. Tertius Yardley scored the winner, jamming home a rebound after Jody Viesel's one-timer off an Ivan Darra pass was stopped by the Sorthern goalie.

Delaclava next faces Virabia. With Virabia being a very weak team, Delaclava will try to close the first half of the schedule on a positive note.

[Dancougar]

Last time, on World Cup of Hockey Side Story!

"We've had friends of employees back here before to have a look, and actually it's great for people to get a look at how we do things every now and then. But to go back to your question..." Chief shifted in his seat to try and get more comfortable. "Sometimes Todd and Leo would compare game notes to make sure everything matched up. I don't know if they were together that night, though."

Todd tensed up and rolled his seat back. The wheels squeaked and there was a small thump as he hit into his desk. "Wait, you don't think I did something, did you?" he asked.

Todd's sudden panic raised a little flag in the back of Russ' mind, but he ignored it for now. "Not at all, but we're trying to put the pieces together, and any information at this point would be handy..."

Leo Cashman... promising intern for AGAINST, the sports network which wants so badly to be DSPN but fails hard. After botching a match report for a playoff game against Sarzonia, Cashman atoned for it with his life, apparently unwilling to accept the traditional intern pink slip. But is that what really happened? Peter Klingenschmidt and Russ Pauli are on the case because there is no one else. No, seriously, there isn't. We looked.

"Oh, definitely, if there's anything I can do..." Todd's panic had subsided somewhat, but his forehead was already starting to show signs of sweat. "Here, I-I'll get you two some seats so you don't have to stand while you're here." Todd shuffled into a neighboring conference room and wheeled out two chairs. There was barely enough room in the cube for the three of them, but they managed.

Russ took a seat. "I was told that you used to work pretty closely with Leo Cashman on occasion," he began. "Is that true? What kinds of work did you do together?"

"We were both working on match reports for the network, he was on writeups and I was on video highlights," Todd replied. "The equipment we brought with us to Newmanistan wasn't very good, because AGAINST has always been in pretty perilous shape. We were excited that we got the domestic rights for the tournament, but then again, it's only because DSPN wasn't willing to pay much."

"What does the equipment have to do with anything?" muttered Peter. He was leaning in his chair so he could get around Todd and see the computer monitor, where grainy video of the Dancougar-Taeshan game was playing. "Don't tell me he always had to watch games with this heavy buffered streaming crap?"

"Well, almost," Todd said. "See, we were able to use the international feed for broadcasts, so there weren't any problems getting the video back home. But sometimes the equipment in our truck would malfunction, so he'd be watching the game and then the video would just cut out." He reached back and pressed the power button on the monitor. Peter's drop hung down as the picture disappeared -- Taeshan had been on the power play.

"And he would be stuck in the production trailer with no way to figure out what was happening, so he'd have to come to you later to get anything he missed?" Russ asked. "Why didn't he just sit in the press box in the arena?"

Todd put the monitor back on. Peter moaned loudly. Before the screen had gone off, Dancougar was up 1-0 in the third period. Suddenly there was a little 1 by Taeshan's name, too. "Buggeration, we let them score?" he cried.

"The network never did get us all of the press credentials we needed," said Todd. "It sounds like you don't believe me, but I didn't believe it, either. So Leo's sitting there, scrawling notes in his book from this grainy feed in a truck, and if the power kicks out or the feed gets interrupted, he's stuck. So he'd come to see me to fill in any of the gaps."

Russ made a note to ask the Chief if that was true before he left. That sounded too bizarre to be true. Then again, if another intern had been in charge of getting the credentials -- as Chief would confirm later -- suddenly the story seemed credible. "On the night of the Sarzonia game, did he come to see you for notes?"

"I ended up leaving a little early, actually," Todd replied, blushing. "My girlfriend was traveling with us. She'd always wanted to see Newmanistan, so..."

"How'd you manage that, you sly dog?" asked Peter, giving the young man a good punch on the arm. "You pay for her to come out and stay with you?"

"Chief was cool about it," Todd said. "As long as the work got done, he didn't mind if she stayed in my room, even if the network was paying for it. She asked me to go back as soon as I was done, so once I wrapped up the reel, I went back to the hotel to wait for her. I don't know if Leo came by that night or not."

"Can I get her name?" asked Russ.

"Laura Zhitnik," Todd replied, spelling it out for Russ. "Although we broke up a few weeks after the tournament ended. We haven't really been in touch."

"You broke up? That sucks, man," said Peter, giving him a pat on the shoulder this time. "I know what disappointment feels like. I mean... look at that, we could've won that one." He motioned to the screen, where the game had ended 1-1 with Taeshan. That was still a good result from Dancougar's point of view, given that the Knights were the group's top dog. "What happened?"

"She said I lacked ambition," Todd replied with a shrug. "She said I should go after an exchange with The Portland Press-Herald after the tournament, but I didn't feel like I was ready for it."

Russ and Peter got in the car and prepared to drive off. They were going to check with Cashman's family next, but Russ felt like he had a new direction to pursue. "The Press-Herald," he said once they were on the freeway. "Name ring a bell?"

"Wasn't Cashman in line for that thing?" asked Peter. "Chief said something like he and Todd were both kind of competing for it, but Cashman had the inside track."

"Bingo," Russ answered.

"Wait, you think that's a motive?" asked Peter. "You remember the security cameras caught nobody going into the hotel room besides him."

"From the hallway," Russ replied. "Remember all the stuff that was broken in the room. The balcony window was one of them." Peter turned on the radio. What, another game already? Now this was really starting to get confusing. Toiletdonia were the opponents this time, and Dancougar were already up 2-0 midway through the first period. "They were in adjoining rooms, so it might be possible for him to get in and out that way."

"But according to the earlier testimony, he wasn't in his room at the time of the murd-- err, suicide," Peter answered. Was Russ starting to bend his own thinking? Evidence was starting to come together, and it was indeed strange how the pieces were fitting together. Even so... "I'm guessing the girlfriend was with him, so at least she could confirm that."

"Unless she's in on it, too," said Russ. "Something doesn't seem right here. We'll see what we turn up at the Cashman house. After that, we'll have a chat with Miss Zhitnik. If she's on bad terms with Mr. Shane, then we might find some holes in the story."

"YEAH!! I mean, uh, absolutely right, definitely," Peter said. He was celebrating another goal, which made it 3-0 Wings. He was looking forward to an easy win during the drive to Cashman's house; if only this case was so straightforward.

---

World Cup of Hockey 11 QUALIFIERS
Dareb, Quintessence of Dust

Dancougar 1 - 1 Taeshan
   2nd 14:19 DAN: A Brancanto (Jacaruso, Foerster)
   3rd 16:51 TAE: Peters (Baker)
   [T Sarmiento (2-1-0): 29 SV, 1 GA]

Dancougar 5 - 0 Toiletdonia
   1st  3:32 DAN: Golombek (Chudzinski, Shilke)
   1st  7:19 DAN: Andreasen PP (Baillie, E Brancanto)
   1st 15:02 DAN: A Brancanto (Baillie, Prier)
   2nd  8:22 DAN: Shingler (Greinke, E Brancanto)
   3rd 12:46 DAN: Andreasen (Golombek, Shilke)
   [W Sarmiento (3-1-0): 21 SV, 0 GA]

[Qazox]

A come-from-behind victory sees Qazox in 2nd place with a 3-2 win over Cyrelia. With the first half of the qualifying stage up next, a game against Royalsoldiers, Qazox has a chance to at least be tied with the Fanboyists atop the group before their rematch.

Scoring Summary
First Period
(CYR) 13:18- Khuul (1-0 Cyrelia)
Second Period
(QZX) 1:02- Brian Charles (1-1)
(CYR) 9:20- Webb (2-1 Cyrelia)
Third Period
(QZX) 8:04- Roy Davis (2-2)
(QZX) 16:07- Carla Johnson (3-2 Qazox)

[Newmanistan]

For at least one day, there were no real mentions of Kolosov’s or Starkov’s wagering on Rockets games. They all felt that, for this brief moment anyway, they had come to an impasse and could focus on hockey. With a huge win over regional rival BrightonBurg, a game that could have been seen as one in which gamblers could try to persuade the Myedvedeyan-Newmanistanians (OOC: this is such a tongue twister, part of the reason I love it!) to tank, but that would not be the case. The Rocket Report had become defiant of the wishes of those that kept them from covering the World Cup of Hockey thus far, and had finally arranged for a reporting crew to head down there. Finding willing reporters was difficult, because not only did those reporters fear that they could suffer a worse fate then the basketball crew, but they were also aware that internet bloggers desperate for website hits and low rated sports radio talk shows wanting to increase ratings were calling for the demise of The Rocket Report. With some public opinion against the news source, it was an undesirable job. But at last, two reporters, Jason Hall and Courtney Whitman were up for it and were on there way to New Cleethorpes to cover the action. However, they would not make in time to cover the BrightonBurg match, so their work would begin in the game against backwards T Vanek, so we present to you an internet site out of Loudon’s moment-by-moment coverage.

Pre-Game- The game is about to begin. I’m Kimberly Lawton to give you moment by moment coverage. Newmanistan against BrightonBurg isn’t the OBI rivalry it could be in sports, but it is always exciting to watch these two nations with a combined population of 23 billion go at it.

(OOC: Times listed refer to the XX:XX mark of that period)

1st Period:

0:11- Great chance for the Rockets immediately. A nice pass from Matt Kalinski to Jacques Carpentier is gloved by the Bruins goalie and play is stopped.

0:25- GOAL!! Rockets get on the board immediately. Kalinski wins the faceoff, and after a few passes, defensemen Slava Kolosov is wide open in the slot, casually sneak in from his position on the left point. Jacques Carpentier feeds him perfectly, and a slapper timed at 102 MPH finds the back of the net to put the Rockets in front not even half a minute into the game. Kolosov from Carpentier and Bannister.

1:16- Following the goal, the second line puts in a great shift and I don’t think the Bruins have even had the puck in their offensive zone all game. A couple of shots are turned aside, and Newmanistan laready has a 5-0 shot advantage.

2:37- GOAL!! Give the fourth line some props! The Rockets have continued to dominate possession regardless of what line they have out on the ice. Loudon’s own Casey Vernace got the play in the offense zone and with Paul Stapleton parked in front of the net, Casey takes a shot that bounces off a defensemen’s skate. Stapleton, known for his fighting skills, gets to the puck first, and slides it past the goalie who we don’t believe saw it. In frustration at allowing our goon to score, a Brightonburg player slashes Stapleton and gets the appropriate penatly. They then fight, each getting five minute majors, but Rockets on the power play. The goal reads Stapleton from Vernace and Nedved.

4:37- The power play is killed off. The Rockets seemed to try to be too cute with the puck, and made extra passes when they should be shooting.

7:12- Rockets to their second power play as a Bruins player is called for hooking. Newmanistan is outshooting Brightonburg 10-0 right now.

7:53- GOAL!! Newmanistan jumps out to a big three goal lead as the power play unit learns from its mistakes of the first chance, and works the puck nicely. A Slava Kolosov shot is nicely deflected in front of the net by Matt Kalinski. In the books it’s Kalinski from Kolosov and Robertsson on the power play.

11:34- With the Rockets playing very conservative now, the Bruins finally register their first shot on goal.

14:06- Brett Stuart receives a holding minor. Nothing big, but he was guilty of the infraction.

15:32- GOAL!! With the Bruins power play looking very lethargic, James Clarkson jumps on a terrible pass and has an uncontested shorthanded breakaway. He beats the goalie over the blocker, and the Rockets are running away with this. It’s a shorrrtyyyy!!! Unassisted, and it’s four-zip.

17:17- Newmanistan is awarded their third power play of the game as a Bruins player gets a crosschecking minor. Following the whistle, a minor scrum behind the net leads to additional coincidental minors to a Bruins player and Brett Stuart.

19:17- The power play is killed with the Rockets getting two shots.

20:00- A wonderful period for Newmanistan is over, as the Rockets take a 4-0 lead into the locker room, and they have outshot their northern rivals 24-4. It doesn’t get much better then that.

2nd Period:

3:51- Rockets playing very conservatively to start the period. The third and fourth lines are getting quite a bit of ice time, and the Bruins are still not putting up much of a fight.

6:01- During a stoppage of play, a fan, likely a Quodite, incorrectly identifies Brightonburg as bordering Newmanistan to the east in the day’s trivia question. That’s Secristan, you idiot!

8:36- Newmanistan is going back to the power play. A Bruins player is whistled for interference.

8:42- GOAL!! Well, that didn’t take very long, and I doubt their player even had time to wipe the sweat from his brow in the penalty box. Matt Kalinski wins the ensuing faceoff, passes to Jacques Carpentier, who wrists the shot home. A bit of a soft goal, Carpentier from Kalinski, and it’s now 5-0!

13:24- Referee notices that powerplay distribution is a bit uneven and calls a rather ridiculous hooking penalty on Trevor Anderson.

15:24- The powerplay is killed off. Brightonburg gets one shot.

18:22- Scrum behind the net leads to coincidental minors to a Brightonburg player and Paul Stapleton.

20:00- And so ends a second period that saw the Rockets play very conservative and the Bruins perhaps looking towards their next game. Not a lot went on, as the Rockets outshoot Brightonburg in the second 7-5, and now leads 31-9 on the shots board.

3rd Period:

0:34- FIGHT! Well you had to see this coming. The players who were called for the minors late in the second period drop the gloves on their next shift. Paul Stapleton unloads a series a jabs, while his opponent counters with a couple, but Stapleton offers more and knocks down the Bruin player. We’re winning the fights as well.

0:53- GOAL!! Well, how about that? They say a fight can wake up a team, and on the next shift, the Rockets have an inspired skate, and the second line puts one past the goalie. Give it to Trevor Anderson, assisted by Jarkko Koskinen and Patrice Lemieux.

4:46- We’re back in conservative (aka feel sorry for them) mode again.

6:53- Brightonburg gets a couple of good shifts in a row, and Michael Reid is forced to make his first actually challenging save of the game.

7:42- Young couple gets a little too carried away on “Kiss Cam”, which predictably ends with a shot of the referee and linesman standing next to one another. They do not embrace.

8:50- Rather iffy interference penalty called on Koskinen. Either that or he was made about being rejected by the linesman.

10:50- Rockets kill the penalty, Bruins now 0-for-3 with the man advantage. They had one shot.

12:24- Referee realizes that the Rockets have had four powerplays and the Bruins three, so he had to even it up. John Bordeleau called for a ridiculous holding penalty.

14:24- Rockets kill the penalty, and allow no shots.

17:00- GOAL!! And the extra point is good! While in conservative mode, Newmanistan still puts a puck behind the goalie who is now grateful that only three minutes remain. Innocent passes amongst the second line forwards allow Trevor Anderson to pick up his second of the game, assisted by Koskinen and Alexander Starkov.

20:00- And the game is over. Rockets destroy Brightonburg by the score of 7-0, the largest international hockey rout in history. Extra sweet that it was against them, for sure. Newmanistan is 2-4 on the powerplay and with Bruins 0-for-4 plus conceding a shorty. Brightonburg actually outshoots Newmanistan in the period 9-7, but for the game, shots are 38-16 Newmanistan.

[Eizen]

"Vat happened coach, perhaps your motivational skills aren't as legendary as you thought?"

"Save it Vidina, we got fuckin' hosed out there and you know it. You oughta be filing paperwork with the tournament organizers over how fucking terrible those officials are, I overheard Gryphon and Quagmire say they were going to shit in a bag and mail it to one of the official's home address tomorrow and i;ve half a mind to let them....*sigh*...you have the recording from the Emperor?"

"That I do. However it's not what you were expecting. The tape I hold in my hand is conditional upon your team reaching the next round. His majesty feels that he,lp from on high should be reserved for more meaningful games. But don't worry coach, i'm sure you'll think of SOMETHING. In the mean time, I think you'll be happy to know that my cousin is a high ranking official within the intelligence agency."

"How does that help me win the damnj game tomorrow?"

"It doesn't, but that goaltender who waved off that second period goal due to goaltender's interference? His house is going to burn down tomorrow in a very tragic and untraceable accident while he and his family are away. I thought that would at least cheer you up."

[Cyrelia]

Shaw looked through his papers as he read up in preparation for the upcoming match. The Fanboyists had been performing very well so far, and this was going to be the toughest match yet. They had not yet lost a match and Shaw intended to use this against their opponents, they would be overconfident and if Shaw could get his team to knock in an early goal then he might just be able to turn the tides on this one and really win back the confidence of his team. A television was playing over Fanboyist games of the World Cup, they played well as a team in all fairness, but Shaw felt his teams fitness well outstripped that of the opponents and this would have to be his strategy: win all the corners and race to every loose puck.
"They can't score if they never get hold of the puck..." Shaw muttered as he noted more strategies to practice in preparation for the upcoming game.

There was a knock at the door, Shaw grunted in recognition without looking up.
"Uh, sir," It was Webb, "may I have a chat?"
Shaw stopped what he was doing, he slowly pulled off his reading glasses and looked up at the young player. "What can I do for you, Webb?"
"Well," Webb shifted awkwardly on the spot, "I'd like to apologise for my behaviour yesterday. My attitude has not been befitting of an assistant and I want you to know I'm not going to disappoint you again, sir."
Shaw sighed softly and stroked his chin as he looked at Webb. The kid had talent, and the others looked up to him on his line which had been one of the reasons he'd chosen Webb as A in the first place, this was not the time to start showing doubts in his team. "Webb, I believe you, what I want to see is this new attitude translating onto the rink and in to the games. Do you understand?"
Webb smiled nervously, "Yessir, I won't let you down again, sir."
"You know Webb, everyone else calls me "Shaw". I'm not a sergeant or your teacher, ok?"
"With respect... Shaw... you're a teacher in a way. I mean when I was a rookie I learnt tricks and stuff by watching your old games, you deserve the title especially considering how far you've taken the team. We're all behind you, we want this as much as you do."
"Just... call me what ever you like Webb, now get out of here and focus on your training. We've got a big match and I want you to inspire the rest of the team with your efforts and attitude ok?"

Webb nodded and raced out of the room, Shaw paused before reutrning to his work. This team had the potential if they could keep their attitude on the right lines... He'd bring up a Defender for the offensive face offs in an effort to win the puck, it was a risk but they needed every chance they could get. Their fitness would make up for the more aggressive style of play and hopefully such a move would catch the Fanboyists off guard. They could win this...

[Quintessence of Dust]

Profound apologies for lateness, RP cutoff.

[Quintessence of Dust]

Group A (Kynythin)

Ad'ihan 1-1 Warkus
Swartaz 0-4 Valanora
Sarzonia 4-1 StevePolis

Pos                             P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
  1  Valanora                   5   5   0   0   18    5   13   10
  2  Sarzonia                   5   4   0   1   20    9   11    8
  3  Swartaz                    5   2   1   2    7   13   -6    5
  4  Ad'ihan                    5   1   2   2    8   11   -3    4
  5  Warkus                     5   1   1   3    7   13   -6    3
  6  StevePolis                 5   0   0   5    7   16   -9    0

Group Æ (Toonmar)

Andrewboy 4-5 Tocrowkia
Qazox 7-3 Royalsoldiers
Cyrelia 2-1 The Fanboyists

Pos                             P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
  1  Qazox                      5   4   0   1   23   10   13    8
  2  The Fanboyists             5   4   0   1   13    5    8    8
  3  Cyrelia                    5   3   1   1   11    8    3    7
  4  Tocrowkia                  5   2   0   3   12   15   -3    4
  5  Royalsoldiers              5   1   0   4    8   17   -9    2
  6  Andrewboy                  5   0   1   4   10   22  -12    1

Group Á (Greschmeier)

The Babbage Islands 4-1 Toyur
Euroslavia 0-0 San Giorgio a Cremano
Cassadaigua 2-0 Chocolate Pencils

Pos                             P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
  1  Cassadaigua                5   5   0   0   14    4   10   10
  2  The Babbage Islands        5   3   1   1   13    7    6    7
  3  Toyur                      5   2   0   3   11   13   -2    4
  4  San Giorgio a Cremano      5   0   3   2    8   12   -4    3
  5  Euroslavia                 5   1   1   3    3    8   -5    3
  6  Chocolate Pencils          5   1   1   3    3    8   -5    3

Euroslavia ahead on H2H.

Group À (New Cleethorpes)

BrightonBurg 0-5 Plutoni
Kenavt 3-4 Newmanistan
Estresse Intenso 0-1 Jeffgordonville

Pos                             P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
  1  Newmanistan                5   3   2   0   16    5   11    8
  1  Plutoni                    5   3   2   0   18    7   11    8
  3  Jeffgordonville            5   3   2   0   11    6    5    8
  4  Estresse Intenso           5   1   1   3    7   11   -4    3
  5  BrightonBurg               5   1   0   4    4   20  -16    2
  6  Kenavt                     5   0   1   4   12   19   -7    1

Plutoni and Newmanistan are tied for first.

Group Ä (Dareb)

Dancougar 2-0 Vitius
Taeshan 2-1 Toiletdonia
Kulverint 2-4 Sibirsky

Pos                             P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
  1  Dancougar                  5   4   1   0   14    4   10    9
  2  Taeshan                    5   3   2   0   12    7    5    8
  3  Kulverint                  5   2   1   2   13   11    2    5
  4  Sibirsky                   5   2   0   3   12   12    0    4
  5  Toiletdonia                5   1   1   3    6   11   -5    3
  6  Vitius                     5   0   1   4    3   15  -12    1

Group Å (Highmark City)

Delaclava 6-1 Virabia
Shivat 1-3 Sorthern Northland
Eizen 0-3 Kelssek

Pos                             P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
  1  Kelssek                    5   4   0   1   17    8    9    8
  2  Shivat                     5   3   1   1   10    6    4    7
  3  Delaclava                  5   2   1   2   15   12    3    5
  4  Sorthern Northland         5   2   1   2   15   14    1    5
  5  Eizen                      5   2   0   3    7   10   -3    4
  6  Virabia                    5   0   1   4    7   21  -14    1

Current Moderately-Tempestuous-Card Standings (top 8 only shown)

Pos                             P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
  À  Jeffgordonville            5   3   2   0   11    6    5    8
  Æ  Cyrelia                    5   3   1   1   11    8    3    7
  Å  Delaclava                  5   2   1   2   15   12    3    5
  Ä  Kulverint                  5   2   1   2   13   11    2    5
------------------------------------------------------------------
  Å  Sorthern Northland         5   2   1   2   15   14    1    5
  A  Swartaz                    5   2   1   2    7   13   -6    5
  Ä  Sibirsky                   5   2   0   3   12   12    0    4
  Á  Toyur                      5   2   0   3   11   13   -2    4

[The Fanboyists]

Volunteers pull off anoth--wait, they lost?

Unfortunately, the Volunteers lost for the first time in the tournament against Cyrelia, in what many fans will likely describe as the most BS-y game of the tournament, and charges of bribery are being levelled after an undoubtedly poorly referreed match, in which numerous clean hits by Artie Weiss (unusually clean for him), Honorius Skmyt and Thomas O'Daniel were punished and a few dirty hits by opponents went unpunished, allowing Cyrelia to win with :23 remaining on a 5 vs. 3 powerplay.

The game started off well enough as Theodur Braannur found the goal early on for his first goal in international play to put the Vols ahead, 1-0 near the end of the first period with Allaaks Oevachkun assisting.

The Cyrelians answered in kind about mid-way through the second period. There would be no further scoring until the ludicrous powerplay.

Coach O'Daniel was livid at the referees, and after the game said "That's not our boys fault. That was some [expletive] officiating, and it cost us the game. There's only so much you can do on a 5-on-3 powerplay. I mean even the Plutonians can't reliably stop that. I mean, sure, we didn't do ourselves any favors with all the fights and the hits, but plenty of those were clean. Artie was even making a point of making sure the hits were clean. And that's saying something."

As it was, there were four seperate fights, all of which were instigated by Volunteers. The first wound up being a brawl with Niekulus Baakstruum (who, we are sorry to say, got his skinny little ass kicked) and Honorius Skmyt against Bale and Khuul, and Honorius knocked Khuul to the ground out of the way, and proceeded to body-slam Bale on the ice, resulting in a fighting major for him, and a minor for Baakstruum.

The second happened because Allaaks Oevachkun couldn't control his temper after a bad call on Artie Weiss. Weiss was nearly ejected from the game for clocking a ref that tried to break-up the fight, and was only saved by the fact that nobody was sure he was actually aiming for him. Both got minors, but won the fight with two of the Cyrelian defensemen.

Kristin Maarks and Theodur Braannur are either becoming very good friends, or are just getting their own propensity for fighting. Braannur started one with right-wing Webb, and was winning when Jones and Rhys came over to make a brawl out of it. After knocking Webb out (and he didn't return for the rest of the game, either), he started duking it out with Jones, and as Rhys was about to be cheatin' bastard, little Kristin embarassed someone else by slamming a guy probably twice her size into the wall to repeated cheers of "Bitch-with-a-stick!" Braannur got a major, and Maarks got a minor.

Finally, Artie Weiss did it again. He managed to pull off another brawl like he did this past year with the Mariners, in which he managed to start a fight with everyone on the ice. After shoving Dawn into Lymm, numerous Cyrelian players came over to give him a peice of their minds. He managed to flatten two of them before the remaining three beat the snot out of him, and he didn't return after his fighting major.

But at least we sort of won all the fights.

Which is good, because a legitimately clean hit by Skmyt and another by Mike Green managed to somehow get punished by blind refs, leading to the fateful powerplay that cost the Volunteers the stupidest loss in a game, ever.

The Volunteer's next game is a rematch with Qazox, and they need to be careful not to let a loss turn into a skid against their rivals.

[Quintessence of Dust]

A selection of articles from the In Brief section of the QBS website.

Antarctic Death Otters disrupt telecommunications

The Department of Sport apologised for releasing results from Day 5 of the 11th World Cup of Hockey too late for the morning editions of many international publications, but confirmed that a lodge of Antarctic Death Otters had chewed through the fibre optic cables at their press office. The Death Otters later slew seven members of the repair crew in their crazed frenzy, before playfully splashing around in the blood.

QROU defends Stereøtype

David Yellowback, spokesman for the Quintessential Referees and Officials Union, said they intend on fully backing Ingvild Stereøtype, the Quodite ice hockey referee whose officiation was called into question by Thomas O'Daniel, coach of The Fanboyists' national ice hockey team, after their surprise loss to Cyrelia. "While the HHL and Department of Sport are reviewing the game to see if any officiating errors were made, we plan on fully standing by Ingvild."

Stereøtype has provisionally been awarded the duties of refereeing the final, creating an unusual first after her husband Tryggve Stereøtype, the world's most famous rugby union ref, officiated in the final of the 12th Rugby World Cup, also held in Quintessence of Dust.

Liberals criticise "overreaction" to geography question

Members of the Northern Liberal Party today privately criticised representative Fina Reshing (SD-IN) for her commenting on "deplorable standards in national geography education" during Congressional Question Time. Ms Reshing's comments came after a fan at the Newmanistan-Brightonburg WCoH game was unable to locate either country on a map of One Big Island. She said: "Given the many interactions our country has had with this region, I am disturbed to discover this kind of basic information is not being taught our children. This raises the question: is our children learning?"

Other stories
Qapple releases new 19% ABV "Hockey Hooch" flavour for youth market
Mysterious spate of arsons in Highmark City under investigation
Stafford big hit at Klein & Klein show (Updated with photos)
Highmark City Irish plan hockey outreach program: "You can still play drunk, right?"
Ticket sales remain brisk despite Olympic build-up

[Toiletdonia]

After all that Toiletdonia have done preparing for this cup (none at all) they are staring at the front end of an impossible task. They need to win realisticly four of the next games and draw one to go through. HAoT (Hockey officals of toiletdonia) say "what..... sorry I was asleep dreaming of vodka.

[The Fanboyists]

"Crisper! Smoother! We need to be past any stupid mistakes!" Maarkus shouted from the sideline, watching the team scrimmage against itself.

"Shut up, Maark!" Niekulus growled next to him. "They can't do loads against the penalty-killers."

"They need to be able to, though. There's a game against our rivals tomorrow. Damned if we're losing to them."

"There's nothing we can do. It's all going to come down to Theo. And Kristin."

"Why?"

"Honorius is still getting his arm looked at, and the doc said he shouldn't play in the next two. And I'm out, so that leaves one non-enforcement center. And it's the kid. And if Honnur is out, than that also leaves the BWAS."

"BWAS?"

"Bitch-with-a-stick."

"Oh."

"Ya know, I shoulda figured this would happen."

"What would happen?"

"We'd lose about half our team to injuries by about half-way through qualifiers. I just didn't realize it would all be in one day."

"Game."

"No, day. Passing out drunk and hittin' your head is not a game-related injury, Maark."

Maarkus grinned. "Says you."

"Well, game-related. Not related to this game, though."

"Told ya drinkin' games count."

Niek rolled his eyes. To Maarkus' credit, he was a Skraeling, and had at least won the drinking game with a local. Admittedly, because his liver had already been due to fail in about ten minutes as it was, but...beggers couldn't be choosy.

There was a shout from the rink.

"Can we go back to sleep now?" That was probably Danielle. She, along with Theo and both of the Greens, had objected to the early morning practice. Allaaks, as usual, had already been there, and been his usually focused self, not complaining at all. "It's been two-and-a-half hours. Practice won't do us any good if we're passing out exhausted during the game."

"Fair enough. Back in." Maarkus was clearly satisfied. The new leaders had functioned well together, and the kid was showing some promise. Even if he did hesitate to hit people sometimes. He held his own well, was strong, and a better shooter than Maarkus was (not difficult to be, of course). He'd do.

They shuffled back to the hotel. They didn't have a coach with them. They'd practiced without. Because Coach O'Daniel was busy having a pissing-and-shouting contest with the officiating crews to make sure they didn't get screwed over again by stupid calls.

[Sarzonia]

With all the attention being paid to the International Basketball Championships and the investigation into the abduction of three Rockets Report journalists, many Sarzonians were paying little attention to their hockey club.

They were missing out on a good show.

Through the first half of qualifying, the Stars are currently 4-0-1, with only a 3-2 defeat to world No. 2 Valanora spoiling an otherwise undefeated run through the first five matches of World Cup play. The Stars have managed this in spite of Sylvan Turcotte struggling to find the form he showed in World Cup 10. The Sarzonian left winger has only scored twice with three assists, but Cameron Granato has picked up the scoring slack with five goals.

"Other teams are keying in on Sylvie," said coach Mark Browers, who is enjoying a second season of vindication after his job was threatened prior to qualifying in the previous World Cup. "It's opening things up for our other players."

Defensively, the Stars have also done well, conceding just nine goals in five matches. Goalie Matt Peterson has shined with a .921 save percentage and a 1.82 goals against average while playing every minute of every match.

"We know our task has only begun," Granato said. "We've got a lot of work ahead of us."

As for Browers, he may soon be leaving his post behind the Stars bench. The Board of Governors of the Incorporated Hockey Federation has formally offered him the position of executive director with a clause stipulating that he resign as Stars coach to assume the position. However, Browers has not indicated whether he would accept the position.

"I'm just trying to concentrate on each match one at a time," he said. "The time to discuss matters not related to this team's performance is after we're done here."

However, a source close to Browers said the coach would likely counter the contract offer with a proposal that allows him to remain behind the Stars bench while serving as IHF executive director.

"Mark loves coaching too much to want a desk job," the source said. "I don't know if that's going to work for the Board, but if they really want him as the exec, they're going to have to give in on it. Mark's not going to want to give up his [coaching] job."

[Cyrelia]

Shaw approached the medical staff tending to Bale and Webb, that game had been messy at best. In his opinion, his team's focus on gameplay rather than fighting gave his team the edge they needed to win. He'd have been far angrier if Cyrelia had lost, the Fanboyists persistent physical play had disrupted not just the play of the game but also the enjoyment for fans who didn't watch hockey purely for the brawls. Either way, it had been a hard fought and well deserved win. The opposition had only themselves to blame for the result, its all well and good being the most physical team but if you fail to translate that in to goals then its not worth the effort. Cyrelia had kept their focus on the puck and their goal scoring rather than the fistycuffs of the opposition and Shaw was proud that they'd kept their cool.

"How are my boys, doctor?"
A weary physician rubbed his hands with a towel as he walked over, "Well coach, Bale can play for the next match but Webb has a concussion from that hit. I'd advise leaving him out for the next match..."
"But coach, I can play..!" Webb blurted out in protest to the physicians advice.
"Pipe down Webb, you played good today. Consider yourself forgiven, provided of course you listen to our esteemed physician's advisement to your condition."
Webb looked down, biting his tongue so to not reply. Shaw sighed, Webb would be sorely missed for the next match. He could see Webb's enthusiasm, and wished that he could overrule the physician but knew better than to risk the health of his players. His coach would not have let him play and Shaw would not let Webb play.
"Ok, well Bale you'll return to training as soon as the doctor allows. Webb, I expect you to adhere to full physio and recovery training. You'll return to duty after our next match, good job today boys you've made me proud."
---
The Federal Post

Hello readers, Dan Bull here to update you on the exciting progress with the Ice Hockey World Cup. As you know, our team has been performing beyond expectations so far and once again they've pushed beyond the norm to surprise us. They beat the previously undefeated, yes undefeated, Fanboyists 2-1 in what was a tense, and aggressive match! With four fights and plenty of penalties, this was not a match for those who appreciate the finer sides of hockey. For those who like a scrap and a fight this was one of the best matches in the World Cup so far, with a KO and even a referee taking a blow. Post game announcements informed us that Webb will be unavailable for the next match, after his fight he suffered a concussion. It looks like Granns, by far the fittest right winger will be stepping up to take position but Shaw has revealed that if needed his first line right winger (Dawn) will bear the burden of double shifts if his shooting ability is required.

Half way through the division stages and Cyrelia are in a comfortable third place, with Qazox and the Fanboyists squaring off one can hope that a win for Cyrelia will put them back into second place provided either Qazox or Fanboyists lose. The Cyrelian MVP for me so far has to be Dawn, while he hasn't scored the most goals and isn't the most skilled player his cool head on the puck and consistently high assist-count has earned my vote so far. The team does need to work on its physical play, as was clearly shown in the last match Cyrelia is not a physically strong team and if they are to survive another encounter with the Fanboyists they really will need to "man up". However, as Shaw said in his most recent interview with the media, "There's no use beating up the other team if you don't have a win to show for it." To conclude for todays article, Cyrelia are proving that their recent success is not fluke and that when given the chance they can consistently compete with the best of the best. I wish them the best of luck for, and await with a child-like enthusiasm, their next match.

[Estresse Intenso]

Independent Media
the pirate radio which is the only news source of Estresse Intenso warzones

So, if this information is right, we have played another home game in the World Cup of Hockey. It was easier this time getting some news from the borders, exchanging goods that are getting rare here. Look at the effort we are doing to keep you informed. Well, the news is that we lost again, making our campaign a bad one, even if our team had no big experience after all. But another question appeared and was discussed... we are playing home games??? Where the hell are we playing? The first possibility was hell itself, as surely that would be a better place to play than a city in Estresse Intenso. Other people pointed out that it could be in a subterranean area, but that wouldn't be possible... the bombs would simply made playing in such a place very difficult. Others suggested mountains, but airplanes are being brought down nearly as soon as they get into Estresse Intenso... and, of course, we couldn't ever consider the chance of a game in a big city, or even a remote one... the war is eternal in these places, and in less than one minute the game would be ended, substituted by a huge battle with dead players. So where? Not the Landau Institute, as it is under siege, and not Isla Pilsen, controlled by sapient goats.

We had to pay an expensive price in ammunition in order to get some information about the venues of the Estresse Intenso games. And we have discovered: ships in the Grammar Strait are being heavily protected by AOHC forces, and also foreign governments. Inside these ships, there are training centres for Ice Hockey, and the official home stadium of the Estresse Intenso team in one of them. So, the teams travel to these ships, where the game can be played without major interruptions. Yes, sometimes the ships receives attacks, bombs hit them, but the defensive systems are quick to reply, so these arenas doesn't seem to be in danger. More than this, as Landau Institute is under siege, getting on the Grammar Strait is a difficult thing to do if you are not prepared, so the amount of factions that could attack the sports ships is significantly lower than the amount of groups involved in the war. Of course, sometimes the ship can move, making the puck move too... sometimes an Energy Ray strikes it, causing some players to faint... but, in the end, a hockey game can be played in Estresse Intenso. Nevermind that rocket that hit the main ship two days ago.

[Cassadaigua]

Andrew’s Blog

Things continue to go well for us in Quintessence of Dust as we blanked the Chocolate Pencils by the score of 2-0, making us just one of the two teams who have reached the halfway point with a perfect 5-0-0 record. The other would be our former adversaries from the World Cup of Hockey 8 Final Valanora. Even though we have been perfect so far, we know that there is plenty of work left to be done and there is a bunch of teams that won four of their first five games which are also very legitimate contenders at this point. Still after five games it’s not possible to have anything better then a 5-0-0 record, and we are very pleased with the way that things went down. Yesterday’s win was what many would consider business-like, as we outshot the Pencils 28-16 and were 1-for-5 on the power play while they were 0-for-1. Meghan Stafford continued her hot streak, scoring at 9:29 of the first period, assisted by my little sister Samantha and defense partner Cheryl Tollner. Meghan’s adjustment to be able to play as well as she is has been a very pleasant surprise to all of us. We all are very aware of her talents from back home and she’s been pegged as a future phenom since she was like 15, but she’s arriving at this level quicker then expected and it is great to see. We picked up our second goal early in the second period on a Korey Fallstrom slapper. Meghan was on the ice here as well, and didn’t factor on the scoresheet, but she was in front of the net and perhaps screening the goalie. We appeared to score in the third period as well but Laura Hansen’s would be goal was waved off because her stick which deflected the puck was ruled to be over the crossbar and the replays showed that the right call, based on what the rule says, was made. It wasn’t really a big deal at that stage of the game, we would have lust liked to have seen Laura get her name on the scoresheet.

The second half will begin with the main nation that is a threat to us in the group, The Babbage Islands. We defeated Tamara Lewis and company on the opening day, but the Bumblebees have not lost since. They are a hard working team who will give us everything we can and they will be up for the game knowing they could still win the group. A win by us would essentially give us the group title, and a draw probably would in the long run but not immediately do that. Toyur is close enough to the Bumblebees for them to worry about, but not really for us to worry about unless we really begin to collapse, and we do not expect that to happen. Well that is going to be all for tonight. Samantha and I are going to go out, she was supposed to be here an hour ago, but the bus she was rising on broke down on the way back to the hotel.

[The Fanboyists]

There are roster changes going into effect as of tonight's game against Qazox.
~Allamunnic Sporting Commission

First Line - Lead Scoring and Balanced Line

LW#11 Danielle Andicek (Height: 5'11"; Weight: 162lbs; Age: 28) - Danielle is one of many returning faces on the team; she's everything that most of the team isn't: fast, agile, and very precise. Don't look at anyone besides her to do anything terribly finesse-based or acrobatic; she's the precision shooter and the most nimble Fanboyist player on the ice. That said, expect her to be moderately high-producing for goals and, more commonly, assists. Danielle is playing mildly injured, so her production will probably be down, some.

C#22 - Theodur Braannur (Height: 6'1"; Weight: 228lbs; Age: 17) - Theodur is a much more talented, but much less experienced player. He's quite aggressive, and is a near-superstar. Given a few years, he will likely be a star player. He is now the starting center after the injury of Baakstruum and Stahlburg. Theo is pretty fast, quite aggressive, and a good shooter. His main fault is inexperience. Theodur is also prone to fighting, as demonstrated in his last few games, and will play closely with Kristin Maarks, either assisting or being assisted by her, and helping her out in the event of a fight. Powerplay!

RW#02 - Kristin Maarks (Height: 5'6"; Weight: 141lbs; Age: 24) - Kristin is a noted player for the Huskies, and is a fast, accurate, and agile player. She's suprisingly aggressive, and is probably, in spite of her small size, remarkably durable and spunky. Kristin will probably be moderately-producing in terms of goals. She will likely not be penalized often. Maarks is apparently developing a close friendship with Theo Braannur, and the two will likely play together well, assisting and backing each other up in fights.

Secondary Players - The Replacements and Rotaters

LW#08 - Allaaksaandur Oevachkun (Height: 6'2"; Weight: 233lbs; Age: 25) - Oevachkun is a very prolific scorer, and lead the league in scoring last year. Oevachkun is a rough-and-tough player who's fairly prone to fighting and roughness, and is never short on aggression, even if he's smaller than many of the other players on the team. Allaks is a fast, accurate shooter, who will likely lead the team in scores. He normally plays for the Inneville Capitals. Allaaks has been a little lower producing than expected, and he's still likely to fight. But he will continue to likely produce well. Powerplay!

LW/C#03 - Erika Stopher (Height: 5'11"; Weight: 176lbs; Age: 23) - Erika is a good, all-around player with solid skills, if a bit uninspired, talent-wise. Erika played for the Thomasburg Steelers.

RW#03 - Skaade Saen-Vaalhulm (Height: 5'6"; Weight: 156lbs; Age: 18) - Skaade is another budding player, also a bit short on experience. Along with Theodur, she had yet to enter the draft when offered a spot on the Volunteers. She's a good precision shooter, and lacks some of Theodur's aggression, but she is a quite active and effective player in her own right, especially after she gains some experience. She will be a little lower-producing than Theodur, but not by much, and should get similar amounts of playing time.

Third Line - Enforcers and Penalty-Killers

LW#25 - Haanryk Muhlburg (Height: 6'3"; Weight: 309lbs; Age: 21) - Haanryk is the leading enforcer for the New Copenhagen Crimson, and is usually only too happy to deliver jarring hits and play rough. He is very aggressive, and will usually put heavy hits on opponents, but will have low goal output.

C#01 - Thomas O'Daniel (Height: 6'5"; Weight: 291lbs; Age: 23) - Thomas is similar to Haanryk, if a little less thug-like in the way he does his job. He's a good defender, and, along with Daniel Peake, is the highest producing of the three enforcers. Powerplay!

RW#04 - Daniel Peake (Height: 6'4"; Weight: 287lbs; Age: 25) - Daniel is a very large, powerful, and accurate player, who is the most high-producing of the enforcers, and is murderous on the powerplay. He was a key player for the New Copenhagen Crimson. Powerplay!

Defenders

First Pair

LD#28 Artie Weiss (Height: 6'4"; Weight: 294lbs; Age: 30) - The only person worse than Stahlburg in terms of acts of random aggression is Artie Weiss; Maarkus can't resist a good hit; Weiss can't resist delivering any kind of hit, again, legal or illegal. His usual method of separating attackers from the puck is to simply ram into them or muscle in, leaving it to his teammates to make sure that they get the puck from there. Artie is pretty low-producing in terms of goals, even by defensemen's standards; there are three-year-olds with more subtlety and accuracy than him, but there are rhinos with less power. In other words, he'll get the puck in if he's perfectly on target. Which might happen once a year. Artie played for the Wilsonville Mariners.

RD#24 Sheila O'Connor (Height: 5'8"; Weight: 141lbs; Age: 24) - Sheila played for New Vienna Huskies, and is a reliable defender, good at separating attackers from the puck by hook or by crook, and is more than willing to smack some heads to get it back and away from their own goal. Sheila is unlikely to be heavily penalized, and probably won't get too many goals, either. Perhaps a few assists.

Second Pair

LD#52 Mike Green (Height: 6'2"; Weight: 208lbs; Age: 24) - MIke Green is a player from the Inneville Capitals, and is the highest-scoring defenseman in the league. He is quite fast, finesse-based, and good at blocking shots and stealing the puck in ways that don't get a penalty called on oneself. However, he's still fairly prone to fighting, and is a rough-and-tumble player, who may get penalties and suspensions put on him. He will likely lead the defensemen in scoring. Powerplay!

RD#36 Joe Green (Height: 6'1"; Weight: 275lbs; Age: 23) - Joe is, like Honorius, a new face on the team, which isn't necessarily bad. He replaces Steve Papadopolous, and serves much the same purpose: he's not flashy, but damn he's reliable. He's a good stabilizing and calming influence, and he has a workman-like air to him, of dependability. Well, dependable he is; he'll prevent plenty of shots in non-penalty-causing ways, and of all the defensemen on the team, is the best shooter, meaning his goal-production may not be much worse than Stahlburgs. Not that that's saying much. Joe played for the Inneville Capitals for three seasons. Younger brother of defensman Mike Green. Powerplay!

Third Pair

LD#06 Marie DuPont (Height: 5'8"; Weight: 178lbs; Age: 25) - Marie is a skilled player, with a decent amount of experience. She won't be the most-played of the defensemen, but she is reliable enough to fill a gap if necessary.

RD#18 Joe Willems (Height: 6'1"; Weight: 212lbs; Age: 25) - Joe is a competent player, and a good, reliable, stabilizing defender. Don't expect much scoring or penalties from him. Joe played for the Northwatch Rangers.

Goalkeepers

GK#10 Caitlin Strasbourg (Height: 5'7"; Weight: 164lbs; Age: 28) - For a third year in a row, Caitlin was the leading goalkeeper in the Fanboyist Hockey League, which is a little hard to believe: she's not that big, and doesn't exactly fill the box all that well. However, she's crazy fast, has quick reflexes, and very good peripheral vision. Strasbourg is also the elder sister of WLC player Kathryn Strasbourg. Caitlin will make most saves, except the ones she can't. Which usually isn't many; Fanboyist goaltending isn't spectacular, but with good defensemen standing in the way, there are plenty of shots that won't get through to her in the first place. Caitlin made the New Vienna Valkyries defense one of the best in the league this past season. Also, she's a good shooter, which ordinarily won't make much of a difference, but she's been known to sneak in one of those laugher-shots from the goal to the other goal. She enjoys it, too. Not above taunting opponents.

GK#66 Vaalhulm Aandrikson (Height: 6'7"; Weight: 318lbs; Age: 24) - Vaalhulm is a man that, simply put, clogs the goal. It is nearly impossible to get shots past him for the good and simple reason that there is not much of an opening ever present because of his size. He isn't fast, but at his size, and at goalkeeper, that's not exactly a major problem. He played well for the Wilsonville Mariners. He was an early draft pick a few years back, and led a nut-crushing defense.

GK#04 Piotr Ivanovich (Height: 6'0"; Weight: 256lbs; Age: 28) - Piotr is a good goalie who played for the New Danzig Knights, and led a prime defense in the league. Piotr is noted for keeping his cool under pressure, even if he doesn't make the truely spectacular saves.

[The Fanboyists]

Game Follow-Up
contribution by Archie O'Daniel, Maarkus Stahlburg, Danielle Andicek, and Theodur Braannur

We know a lot of people, Cyrelians in particular, are making a lot out of the loss. And to be honest, we're not sure why. Yeah, so we lost. Yeah, so we were undefeated up till that game. Big whup. Undefeated in this doesn't mean much, as long as you win when it matters; we made a couple mistakes, along with some poor officiating, those cost us a game. It's as much our doing as anything else, but that doesn't mean anything. Not for a moment.
~Archie

It doesn't really matter for a simple reason: we've still got four wins, and there's a half of qualifying to go. If we don't pick up on our mistakes and do something about them, then this will be a problem. But that doesn't mean anything yet, as we have yet to tell. We're doing everything we can, running extra practices, the whole deal. So, in the end, it's going to be one win for Cyrelia, and an insignificant blemish on our record. We'll bounce back. It's what we do. Do we play rough? Yeah, we do. If you don't like it, deal. There isn't anything 'finer' in hockey, unless you're some white-collar, wimpy pri--
~Maarkus

Sorry about Maarkus. He's been losing his temper since his injury. Anyway, a lot of what he says is right; we play how we play, and if you don't like it, that's your own problem entirely. Don't whine about if you get on that rink. Anyways, there was some lack of focus, but not much. We just didn't do our job the right way. That's it. We're going to buckle down on that, and knock some heads. And there really isn't a 'finer' side of hockey, to put a finer point on it. The roughness is part of the game. Completely. If you think it isn't, you're playing and watching the wrong sport.
~Dani

Rest assured, we're going to fight it out, if we need to. But that's not the point. It's physical play, that's it; it there's someone in your way on the rink, you don't ask him to get out of your way, you force him out of the way, however you're going to. But we're not losing focus. That's the last thing we're doing, and we're working hard to focus going into tonight's game against Qazox. We're going to come out, play hard, and show everyone that the last one wasn't a fluke, as everyone claimed it was; tired or not, we're definitely better than a group of college kids, no matter how good they are. So remember folks, get your blue on, and GO VOLS!

PS - Keep cheering Kristin on. She likes it! ;D
~Theo

[Plutoni]

Plutoni ice hockey blog: WCoH 11, Matchday 5
BrightonBurg outshone

Plutoni strolled to a 5-0 victory over a poor BrightonBurg team. After building up a 3-0 lead in the first period, they only tacked on one further goal in each of the ensuing periods, but were comfortable throughout the game. The result puts Plutoni in a deadlock with Newmanistan at the halfway point of the group stage. Jeffgordonville are also tied with them, but with a goal differential lower by six, and lead the Moderately-Tempestuous-Card race.

Unnal Pundra began the barrage with an eighth-minute goal, assisted by Gregory Kotts. The Bruins fell down to five players soon after, but that didn't last long: Meefla Katlon flicked in a goal on the power play. A Derram Noklin blast closed out the first period with Plutoni cruising. Mukwal Kuyem scored the only goal of the second period, 11:24 in, assisted by Amakar Flurian and Shrindli Clom. Lintsa Tameen recorded the final goal of the game 5:07 into the third period.

Comments:
1. combatant94: I can't remember how it was done the last couple times but I'm glad there aren't any goals for or against in the tiebreakers. Should be a good second half.
2. bocky_boy: Bah, almost caught that one with the delays. Oh well, I'll take it!
3. seb: Kuyem's fine but I'm a little worried about what kind of replacement it makes for Wroder.
4. icebaby: Think you're missing the point there. Kuyem's stronger and tougher, though you're probably hoping it doesn't come to that.
5. seb: Sorry I can't live up to your brutal expectations.

[Qazox]

A 7-3 win over Royalsoldiers, thanks to a hat-trick from Issac Maynerd in the 2nd period, sees Qazox technically in first over the Fanboyists, though they have beaten us. We have the rematch tomorrow, in which jet-lag won't pay apart, we hope.

Scoring Summary
First Period
(QZX) 6:41- Wesley Knight (1-0 Qazox)
(RYS) 11:42- Center #2 (1-1)
(QZX) 16:22- Leslie Gregg (2-1 Qazox)
Second Period
(QZX) 2:14- Issac Maynerd (3-1 Qazox)
(QZX) 4:56- Issac Maynerd (4-1 Qazox)
(QZX) 7:09- Issac Maynerd (5-1 Qazox)
(RYS) 19:20- Left Wing #3 PP(5-2 Qazox)
Third Period
(RYS) 9:18- Right wing #1 (5-3 Qazox)
(QZX) 12:27- Mike Uwe (6-3 Qazox)
(QZX) 19:48- Shawn Quentin EN (7-3 Qazox)

[Newmanistan]

OOC: After an annoying and somewhat aggravating day made better by the basketball result, I am not in the right frame of mind to work on my general gambling theme now, so I’ll be doing what I did yesterday.

Pre-Game: This is Kimberly Lawton for Loudonsports.co.new and welcome again to my moment-by-moment highlights of the World Cup of Hockey. The Rockets are about to face-off with kenavt and will be hoping to build on their huge 7-0 demolition of Brightonburg. Will this be a letdown, or will the team go into halfway on a high note.

Pre Game 2: Just notice that there’s a Rocket Report crew here. Good to see them back in the action.


1ST PERIOD:

0:36- Kenavt records the first shot of the game, from Kelsey Warden. So already I guess things will be different today.

1:18- You know, it is cool that Kenavt players have names unlike the Bruins players.

4:25- A couple of soft shots both ways, not a ton of action yet.

6:04- Brett Stuart called for cross-checking.

8:04- Rockets kill penalty, Kenavt records one shot.

8:37- Nice wrap around attempt by Connor da Vincho. Nicer spread-eagle save by Michael Reid.

10:16- Rockets beginning to take control of the action now, have recorded four shots in the last thirty seconds, but Richard Asbury is up for it. Newmanistan will need to work harder to score tonight then they did in getting a touchdown against Brightonburg.

12:11- Rockets fans do the typical “We got Breee-aiiirrrr!” (Briere) taunt of Kenavt. Never understood this. The number 48 is often associated.

12:37- GOAL!! Well perhaps the taunt motivated the Rockets. A great shift by the sky blue allows Ryan Spencer to poke home a rebound of a shot from John Bordeleau, putting us in front by a goal. Spencer from Bordeleau and Mattais Robertsson, officially.

15:06- GOAL!! Kenavt responds. Yep, this is going to be more difficult then last night. Nice deflection of a Connor da Vincho shot by Kelsey Warden for the goal. Kells has looked good tonight.

18:27- A bunch of people arrive late to the game and have missed most of the first period. There were some hefty traffic jams, I’ve heard. Newmanistanians were able to get here early.

20:00- An evenly played period concludes with Kenavt holding a slim 10-9 shots advantage.

2nd PERIOD:

1:46- Group of Rockets fans chant “The Sabres suck!” during the chicken dance song. What’s the deal with sabres anyway? That and the “we got Bree-aiiirrr” chants, I just don’t get.

2:32- Kenavt fans begin to retaliate the chant with something about “look at the standings” and “we love Miller”. Don’t get that either. We’re ahead of them on the group table.

5:55- Rockets to the power play. Holding on Cleve Hynam.

6:21- GOAL!! Great power play work. Rockets cycle well, and a shot from Slava Kolosov from the point finds the back of the net. Can’t see how any goalie would see the puck through that kind of a screen. Kolosov from Carpentier and Kalinski.

7:28- Rockets to another power play, Rollo Ballard called for slashing.

9:28. Kenavt, or check that, Richard Asbury kills the penalty after making five saves during the two minute.

10:13- An incredible save again by Asbury. Without him it could easily be 4-1 or 5-1 right now.

14:22- GOAL!! Kenavt ties up the game as Brendan Kent powers home a rebound of a Jani Barclay shot in front of the net.

14:50- GOAL!! Ok, what has just happened? Suddenly, the Rockets are down by a goal. A Connar da Vincho slapper, after a nifty deke, beats Reid and now Newmanistan is trailing.

15:03- Newmanistan is becoming unraveled. A sloppy tripping penalty on Slava Kolosov, after he was beaten by da Vincho is rightfully called.

17:03- Rockets kill the penalty, though allow three points.

19:26- Kenavt goes back to the power play. This time it’s Mattais Robertsson with the lazy penalty (tripping again). Thank God the period ends soon so coach Hennessey can rip into these guys.

20:00- Period ends with shots 14-13 in favor of Kenavt, eleven of their shots coming in the final six minutes of the period. They are outshooting us 24-22 at the moment.

3rd PERIOD:

1:26- Rockets successfully kill off the remaining penalty time.

5:23- This time, a fan correctly answers the day’s trivia question, but it was very easy. (Who was the last team to win a title before Plutoni). I guess after a member of the Northern Liberal Party criticized Quodite public education after a fan here incorrectly identified the locations of Newmanistan and Brightonburg on a map of One Big Island, the stadium officials decided something easier would be better.

7:03- Kenavt in a brutal defensive shell right now. But it’s working.

8:38- I love how young people react to seeing old people on kiss cam and then acting all surprised that they gave each other a peck on the cheek. You know, love doesn’t stop when you become older.

9:42- Shots for the period so far: Newmanistan 2, Kenavt 1. The Rockets need a spark.

10:50- FIGHT!! I think they heard me. The fourth line just had an extended shift and it ends with Paul Stapleton and Adam Manuel dropping the gloves, and it’s a pretty good tilt. Away from the main action, Alexander Starkov and Gilbert Gessel exchange a few blows, but Stapleton-Manuel is the main event. Five minute majors to Stapleton and Manuel, two minutes for roughing for Starkov and Gessel.

11:14- FIGHT!! Rockets back to old ways as James Clarkson does everything he can to pick a fight with a Kenavt player. Stefan Fulke obliges, and they go at it. Each get five minutes for fighting, but the Kenavt bench isn’t happy about this, as their coach wants two more minutes to Clarkson. Eventually, the ref adds two minutes. A bench minor to Kenavt for delay of game, and the Rockets go on the power play.

12:48- GOAL!! The power play gets it done again! Captain Carpentier scores the game tying goal off a nice pass from Matt Kalinski, and we are 3-3! Jan Nedved also gets an assist.

13:26- Now it’s Kenavt taking a bad penalty. Erik Hawes for hooking.

15:26- Kenavt kills the penalty fairly well, allowing a modest two shots. Neither too challenging for Asbury.

16:33- Rockets continue to pepper Asbury. They have owned the third period, but will they get a game winner?

17:57- GOAL!! It’s Putnam Lake’s Trevor Anderson getting a huge score, deking Asbury and firing home a wrist shot. Ryan Spencer was a good decoy on the left side, but you just knew Anderson was always going to shoot. The lone assist goes to Jarkko Koskinen. Spencer only gets an assist in theory.

18:35- Kenavt pulls Asbury for the extra attacker.

20:00- And the game is over! An entertaining game for sure, but the Rockets survive. Newmanistan outshot Kenavt 11-5 in the third and ends up outshooting them for the game 33-29.

[Dancougar]

Last time, on World Cup of Hockey Side Story!

"The network never did get us all of the press credentials we needed," said Todd. "It sounds like you don't believe me, but I didn't believe it, either. So Leo's sitting there, scrawling notes in his book from this grainy feed in a truck, and if the power kicks out or the feed gets interrupted, he's stuck."

"On the night of the Sarzonia game," Russ began, "did he come to see you for notes?"

"I ended up leaving a little early, actually," Todd replied, blushing. "My girlfriend was traveling with us. She'd always wanted to see Newmanistan, so..."

"Something doesn't seem right here," Russ said. "We'll see what we turn up at the Cashman house. After that, we'll have a chat with Miss Zhitnik. If she's on bad terms with Mr. Shane, then we might find some holes in the story."

Leo Cashman... promising intern for AGAINST, the sports network which wants so badly to be DSPN but fails hard. After botching a match report for a playoff game against Sarzonia, Cashman atoned for it with his life, apparently unwilling to accept the traditional intern pink slip. But is that what really happened? Peter Klingenschmidt and Russ Pauli are on the case because there is no one else. No, seriously, there isn't. We looked.

From the information they had, Cashman's apartment had been left pretty spartan when he started his internship. It was easier for him to commute from home, so even though he still had a lease, he'd moved most of his things back. The rest, and the things he had with him on the trip, had followed after his death. Now that the apartment had a new tenant, there was no need to check it out. Instead, Peter and Russ pulled up to a small house around fifteen miles outside of Stoneridge in the suburb of Fruitmarsh.

It didn't look like much from the outside. It was only a single story above ground, although the driveway sloped down into the back so the basement was probably finished as a second floor. An beat-up car sat in the driveway, a maroon Empire Motors model of some kind. The sidewalk leading up to the front door was lined with mounds of dirt that they guessed once housed a flowerbed. This being the middle of winter, though, they couldn't expect to find anything growing, especially this far north.

They rang the doorbell and a short woman in her mid fifties answered. Although wirey, she looked in good health and her strides did not show a hint of weakness. "May I help you two gentlemen?" she asked politely.

"Mrs. Agatha Cashman, correct?" asked Russ, showing his badge. "We're here to inquire about your son, Leo."

Agatha's face didn't change, but Russ noticed one of her eyebrows twitch reflexively. "Well, it'll be warmer inside, that's for sure," she said at last, stepping back. "Please do come in. I'll prepare some tea." They were led into the main room. Russ and Peter sat on a sofa and Agatha returned after starting the tea water. The kitchen was adjacent to the room so she'd be able to hear when it was ready. "I apologize if anything's a mess," she said.

"Not at all, ma'am," Russ replied. "We just had a few questions, if that's all right." She sat down in an easy chair opposite the couch. A coffee table sat between them, and Russ shot Peter a mean look to make sure he didn't put his feet up on it. "Was Leo excited about covering the tournament?"

"Oh yes, it was always his dream to be a sports writer," Agatha replied. "He wasn't always so sharp, I'll admit, but he was a hard worker and he always tried to do right. He called me while he was in Newmanistan all the time to tell me about how tough his job was because they didn't get him his pass. Can you believe it?"

"That's what I heard," said Russ. Now that the mother had confirmed that fact, too, there was no doubt that Leo Cashman had indeed required secondary sources to do his job. "Did he ever sound angry or depressed at all when he called you?"

"Oh, no, he was always cheerful despite everything," she answered, placing her hands on her lap. "He tried so hard to see the positive side of things. He knew that he would get plenty of opportunities if he did well, so he didn't let anything discourage him!" A whistling noise started to build up from the kitchen. "Oh, dear, it sounds like the water's ready!"

As she got up from her seat, Russ put his notepad back in his pocket. "We were told that all of Leo's belongings were returned here and his apartment was completely cleaned out. Is that true?"

"Yes, everything's here," Agatha replied. "It's all in his old room, now. He was living here while he was working in Stoneridge. He was closer to the studio that way."

Russ and Peter rose. "Can we take a quick look?" Russ asked. She nodded and said that his room was downstairs, so the two of them went to check while she headed for the kitchen. When they opened the door, they were met by a fairly clean room with a few articles clipped out and affixed to the walls. A laptop computer sat closed on a desk and two suitcases were sitting on the bed, which was neatly made with the sheets pulled tight. Russ unzipped them and sifted through the contents. Eventually he came across a notebook.

"So you want to peek at his notes for that day?" Peter asked. It was the first time he'd spoken, and therefore Russ' first indication that he was even paying attention. Peter reached for the book and opened at a random place in the middle. A few sheets of paper fell out of the book which Russ reached for, but Peter didn't pay attention. "Good call. We should look for the source of the discrepancy. Things we know to be factually wrong." He turned a few pages. "Pretty decent notes in here. Stuff like Dancougar goal, twelve nineteen third period, Jacaruso from Chudzinki and Wolsky, power play, Wings two Vitius nothing."

"Vitius wasn't in the... hey, are you even reading the right game notes?" Russ pulled down the book to reveal Peter hiding his cell phone, which he was using to stream live updates from the Wings' current game. Why, oh why was he surprised?

---

World Cup of Hockey 11 QUALIFIER
Dareb, Quintessence of Dust

DANCOUGAR  0  1  1  -  2
VITIUS     0  0  0  -  0

2nd Period
   6:14 DAN: Baillie (Jacaruso, Prier) 
3rd Period
  12:19 DAN: Jacaruso PP (Chudzinski, Wolsky)

Win: Sarmiento (4-1-0)   25 SV, 0 GA

[Quintessence of Dust]

With no otters about, a punctual RP cutoff today.

[Quintessence of Dust]

Group A (Kynythin)

Ad'ihan 2-5 Sarzonia
StevePolis 2-2 Swartaz
Valanora 8-2 Warkus

Pos                             P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
  1  Valanora                   6   6   0   0   26    7   19   12
  2  Sarzonia                   6   5   0   1   25   11   14   10
  3  Swartaz                    6   2   2   2    9   15   -6    6
  4  Ad'ihan                    6   1   2   3   10   16   -6    4
  5  Warkus                     6   1   1   4    9   21  -12    3
  6  StevePolis                 6   0   1   5    9   18   -9    1

Group Æ (Toonmar)

Andrewboy 1-5 Cyrelia
The Fanboyists 4-1 Qazox
Royalsoldiers 0-7 Tocrowkia

Pos                             P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
  1  The Fanboyists             6   5   0   1   17    6   11   10
  2  Cyrelia                    6   4   1   1   16    9    7    9
  3  Qazox                      6   4   0   2   24   14   10    8
  4  Tocrowkia                  6   3   0   3   19   15    4    6
  5  Royalsoldiers              6   1   0   5    8   24  -16    2
  6  Andrewboy                  6   0   1   5   11   27  -16    1

Group Á (Greschmeier)

The Babbage Islands 2-3 Cassadaigua
Chocolate Pencils 2-2 Euroslavia
San Giorgio a Cremano 0-2 Toyur

Pos                             P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
  1  Cassadaigua                6   6   0   0   17    6   11   12
  2  The Babbage Islands        6   3   1   2   15   10    5    7
  3  Toyur                      6   3   0   3   13   13    0    6
  4  Euroslavia                 6   1   2   3    5   10   -5    4
  5  Chocolate Pencils          6   1   2   3    5   10   -5    4
  6  San Giorgio a Cremano      6   0   3   3    8   14   -6    3

Group À (New Cleethorpes)

BrightonBurg 0-3 Estresse Intenso
Jeffgordonville 0-1 Kenavt
Newmanistan 1-3 Plutoni

Pos                             P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
  1  Plutoni                    6   4   2   0   21    8   13   10
  2  Newmanistan                6   3   2   1   17    8    9    8
  3  Jeffgordonville            6   3   2   1   11    7    4    8
  4  Estresse Intenso           6   2   1   3   10   11   -1    5
  5  Kenavt                     6   1   1   4   13   19   -6    3
  6  BrightonBurg               6   1   0   5    4   23  -19    2

Group Ä (Dareb)

Dancougar 3-1 Kulverint
Sibirsky 2-4 Taeshan
Toiletdonia 3-2 Vitius

Pos                             P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
  1  Dancougar                  6   5   1   0   17    5   12   11
  2  Taeshan                    6   4   2   0   16    9    7   10
  3  Kulverint                  6   2   1   3   14   14    0    5
  4  Toiletdonia                6   2   1   3    9   13   -4    5
  5  Sibirsky                   6   2   0   4   14   16   -2    4
  6  Vitius                     6   0   1   5    5   18  -13    1

Group Å (Highmark City)

Delaclava 3-0 Eizen
Kelssek 4-4 Shivat
Sorthern Northland 4-0 Virabia

Pos                             P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
  1  Kelssek                    6   4   1   1   21   12    9    9
  2  Shivat                     6   3   2   1   14   10    4    8
  3  Delaclava                  6   3   1   2   18   12    6    7
  4  Sorthern Northland         6   3   1   2   19   14    5    7
  5  Eizen                      6   2   0   4    7   13   -6    4
  6  Virabia                    6   0   1   5    7   25  -18    1

No teams have yet qualified or been eliminated. Teams marked in a rather appalling shade of hot pink can only qualify through the Moderately-Tempestuous-Card.

Current standings in said regard (top 8 only shown):

Gp.                             P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
  Æ  Qazox                      6   4   0   2   24   14   10    8
  À  Jeffgordonville            6   3   2   1   11    7    4    8
  Å  Delaclava                  6   3   1   2   18   12    6    7
  Å  Sorthern Northland         6   3   1   2   19   14    5    7
------------------------------------------------------------------
  Æ  Tocrowkia                  6   3   0   3   19   15    4    6
  Á  Toyur                      6   3   0   3   13   13    0    6
  A  Swartaz                    6   2   2   2    9   15   -6    6
  Ä  Kulverint                  6   2   1   3   14   14    0    5