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

[The Fanboyists]

How do you like them apples?
Well, mostly apples.

Theodur Braannur is a little monster, apparently. Seeing as, you know, he played his second game with goals scored and got a HAT TRICK as a result!

Kristin Maarks assisted on two of the goals, and Allaaks Oevachkun assisted on one goal, along with Mike Green on another, and Danielle Andicek had another goal for the Volunteers in a 4-1 rout of Qazox.

The Volunteers came out prepared and beat the living crap out of a Qazox team that had called 'fluke' on their last meeting, claiming tiredness and fatigue.

Well they were well rested this time, and it still didn't matter. If anything, the Volunteers were the tired ones, after running themselves ragged practicing most of the day yesterday (at their own insistance), and still put three more goals up on Qazox than they put up on them. Granted, not a shutout this time, but you can't win 'em all.

The scoring opened with Braannur, newly promoted to starting center, smashed one in, Stahlburg-style, so that the Qazians didn't even have a chance to stop it, with 8:41 left in the first period.

What followed was a score by Danielle Andicek on a powerplay after being set up by Mike Green to put the Vols up by two.

The second period held only a single score, one of two that were a Maarks-Braannur set-up-and-score, and put the Volunteers up 3-0. This was getting a little ridiculous.

The third period saw two scores: one Qazian, around the 14:00 minute mark, and a third goal (to the tune of Maarks-Braannur) that gave Theo Braannur his third on the day, as hats sailed onto the ice. 4-1, Volunteers. A clear victory.

There were a few fights, but Allaaks Oevachkun narrowly lost his in the third period, setting up the powerplay that allowed the lone Qazian goal, while Braannur and Maarks (because they apparently do everything on the ice together) got into a fight with two defensemen on the Qazian side, and all were sent off with fighting minors, as nobody could really determine the instigator.

The win not only places the Volunteers back where they belong: on top of their group, but also passes an important milestone for the team: they are now 2-1-1 against Qazox on the ice, making this the second sport where a Fanboyist team has a winning record against their rivals (the first, of course, being lacrosse). The only one that remains is gridiron where they remain behind in record (1-3, in case you were wondering).

Scoring:
Volunteers --- 2 - 1 - 1 --- 4
Qazox -------- 0 - 0 - 1 --- 1

[Cyrelia]

Webb watched from the stands as his team pummelled the Andrewboy defence, with the score standing at 4-1 Cyrelia were on fire! The powerplay left Andrewboy in a box defence, with Cyrelian passing circling the perimeter just waiting for that opening. The crowd's atmosphere was palpable, an air of excitement and anticipation rippling through the stands as the cheers waxed and waned with the team's attempts to score. Trynne received the puck and belted a slap shot from the point, the opposing keeper slashed with his glove arm and the puck ricocheted into the corner. Granns picked up the loose puck and deked around the closest defender, Webb saw Khuul floating in the opposite corner and smiled as Granns made the pass to Bale who stood in waiting behind the goal: they were going to score. Bale took the puck on his back hand and made for a wrap around, forcing the keeper to drop butterfly. As the goal tender dropped Bale changed direction and passed out to Khuul who raced in front of the net, a defender flailed but missed the pass and Khuul swept the puck around to the goal tenders weak side and flicked it over the keepers outstretched leg in to the back of the goal. Lights flared, buzzers sounded and fans screamed in ecstasy as Khuul punched a fist in to the air. Music played as the Cyrelian team high fived and switched up so the second line could take the face off.

Webb grinned from the stands, the team's confidence had soared since their win over the Fanboyists. He saw Shaw on the bench patting the powerplay line and communicated congratulations as they stepped off. With less than a minute to go they wouldn't see any more play this match but it didn't matter, they'd had a steamer of a match with two power play goals: the first scored by Yann with a stunning top left snap shot from the point and of course the second by Khuul. It looked like Dawn would pick up highest assists again, with Khuul scoring another goal earlier and Trynne scoring from a pinch. Granns had also had an impressive match with a second assist and a break away goal early in the second period. Webb stood and made to leave for the changing rooms, he hadn't played but Shaw expected him to be there. Shaw always made sure the team remained a team no matter who was ill, injured or otherwise.
---
Shaw sat with his team in the hotel restaurant after the match, it was nice not to be having this discussion in the changing rooms for once. Shaw liked a change of scenery everyonce in a while and the way the team had played today they deserved a treat.
"Now, not to put a dampener on ourlovely meal," He nodded at the hotel staff who stood a respectful distance away from their table, "But we still need our post game talk..."
Khuul cheered and Bale thumped him, Zanar grinning shouted "It was f*ckin' A, coach!" The rest of the team laughed and Shaw waited for the jubilation to settle.

"Aha, yes indeed I'm proud of you guys today. Your confidence out there is contagious not to mention your game play really meshed well together, however I need you guys not to get complacent. Yes we're second, yes we're in a good position but don't let this go to your head. Qazox lost one match and that dumped them to third so don't think it can't happen to you guys. I expect you to play every game as if its the most important of the division, not simply because it is but also because I know that if you play like you did today then you guys could go all the way." The team was silent now, it was rare that Shaw would say such bold claims in front of them team as he was usually so reserved in his appraisal. "I say could, because if we slip up now then we might lose our chance forever and I for one will not see that happen because of ego's or complacency!"

The first goal tender, Lymm, a man of few words at best stood and raised a glass. "Coach, you have guided us through this and I for one won't let you down." He downed his drink and sat back down, silent once more. The rest of the team nodded and muttered in agreement, Shaw smiled at this and felt his message aptly communicated.
"Now guys, enjoy the rest of your meals because tomorrow its back to the grindstone!" The team laughed, some mocked groaning and resumed their various discussions of varying maturity. Shaw stood, and left the team to it, he wanted to ring his wife and relax for a few hours...

[Plutoni]

Plutoni ice hockey blog: WCoH 11, Matchday 6
Clear at the top

A 3-1 defeat of Newmanistan, combined with Jeffgordonville's loss to Kenavt, puts Plutoni in sole possession of first place in the New Cleethorpes group. Though the Rockets took an early lead, Plutoni had equalized before the period was out and pulled away in the final period.

That first goal had come through young Trevor Anderson, an inspired right wing, assisted by Patrice Lemieux. Despite a gritty Newmanistan defense, Lintsa Tameen eventually rounded Michael Reid to score with four minutes remaining in the period. The Rockets would have a slim edge during the second period, but couldn't make it count; Lilam Ostal denied multiple slapshots from Slava Kolosov, and the third period began tied. But the winning goal would come 5:16 later; Shrindli Clom set up Alexander Cashman, who passed up Steve Caldwell to score. Mirsh Atzin tacked on another goal with seven minutes to play.

Comments:
1. flake: Kenavt over Jeffgordonville, eh? That should give us some breathing room. In some ways even more important than our win, both Newmanistan and Jeffgordonville are looking tough.
2. icebaby: Oh please. We're going to qualify. I don't care how interesting you try to make it.
3. seb: Anderson was definitely a star of the game. Probably Clom also.
4. icebaby: Yes, Clom also. I do appreciate having a captain who's actually good and not just some figurehead.
5. bocky_boy: Wonder how much longer Clom has on the team. Our right defenders are stronger than the left, there's got to be some talent knocking on the door.

[Dancougar]

Last time, on World Cup of Hockey Side Story!

"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."

"Did he ever sound angry or depressed at all when he called you?" Russ questioned.

"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!"

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.

"The Sarzonia notes, Peter," Russ muttered, slapping his partner on the head with the papers he'd scooped off the floor. For now, he hadn't bothered to look at them, either, but he instinctively rolled them into a tube to make it a better whacker. "They should be the last ones in the book."

"Fine, fine, moving along, then." Peter slipped his phone into his pocket and turned through the pages until the writing ran out. Sure enough, there were the Sarzonia notes. "They're pretty spotty. The truck must have been pretty bad that night."

"What's the order look like?" asked Russ. He pulled his notepad from his jacket and handed it to Peter. "Compare it with the actual events."

Peter held the pad next to the page in question and did a quick scan. "These seem ordered, but there are missing ones, obviously," he said. "They don't seem to be filled in anywhere in the book, though."

"Try looking at some other matches," said Russ.

"Excuse me, the tea's ready!" Agatha was calling them from the top of the stairs.

"We'll be done in a moment," replied Russ. He felt like they might be onto something. He needed to figure out what Leo did when he normally had spotty notes.

"Here, look at this one," said Peter, handing him the notebook as well as the pad. "This game here, he's missing quite a bit of the second period and the start of the third. After the notes he took himself, he's got all the missing stuff written down. Timestamps on everything so he doesn't get mixed up."

"So the question then is why the Sarzo--" Russ began, but then he remembered he was holding the papers that had fallen out of the notebook. He only became aware of it when he fumbled the stuff Peter had handed him. He unfurled the sheets of paper and glanced over them. "But these are them! They're the missing notes."

"Hey, there's more than that," said Peter. "Look. There's stuff here that never happened."

Russ looked closer. Yes... out-or-order events didn't explain the errors in his match report, because some things had just been plain wrong. But here they were, right in front of him, on this piece of paper. The handwriting was different, too. "What's going on here... he must have used this instead of his own notes!" Russ exclaimed. "But this doesn't make sense. All he had to do was look at his own notes to see that there were blatant errors."

"Well, then the answer is simple," said Peter. "For some reason, he only used these."

"The question, though, is where did he get them?" Russ asked.

"Actually, the question is how the hell we're letting Kulverint stay tied with us," Peter replied. He'd whipped out his phone for a quick score check. Janni Niklaua had equalized in the second period for Kulverint and the Wings were trying to pour it on in the third, but the score remained locked at 1-1. A win could put some real distance between them and the bottom of the group. Russ, meanwhile, slipped the papers into his jacket and put the notebook back in the suitcase. "Hey, can you just take those?"

"I need to know where these came from," Russ replied. "Besides, the way those were tucked in there, I doubt anyone looked into it." He headed for the stairs when something on the desk caught his eye. He looked back. Peter went past him and started up the stairs. Russ bent over to take a look. It was a little bottle of pills. Wait a minute, these are...

"So that's where I left them!" Russ turned around and saw Agatha smiling behind him. He hadn't even heard her come down the stairs! "You understand, don't you, the pain of a mother who's lost her only son?" She reached out and grabbed the pill bottle. "Your friend is waiting upstairs," she said. "Come, the tea will get cold."

Later, after the interview ended, Russ and Peter got back in their car and drove away. It was unclear whether or not discovering the notes would lead them anywhere, but Russ had his mind on other things. He told Peter the story about the pill bottle. "So, they're anti-depressants, right?" Peter said. "Makes sense for her to have them. You can treat lots of things with those, you know."

"The prescription was for Leo, though," Russ replied. Peter was silent. "I managed to write down the physician's name before she got to me. She said that Leo was an upbeat guy, but I think she's hiding something. I need to talk to this guy because I'm starting to wonder about a few things."

"One thing at a time, dude, we still have to talk to the girlfriend," Peter said. He was fiddling with his phone.

"Speaking of that, you have a good signal, right?" Russ asked. He need to ask Todd something but he wasn't about to drive back to the studio now that they were out here. His crappy service provider meant that out here he was roaming.

"Uh, sorry, no bars upon thars," Peter said, clicking the screen. He was obviously checking the game and didn't want to be bothered. "Aaaand empty netter. Thing of beauty, that."

"Shut up and call Mr. Shane," Russ snapped, and Peter hurriedly went to the dial screen. "Ask him where and when he met his girlfriend on the night of Cashman's death. I have a hunch."

Peter dialed the number and waited for an answer. "Hey, yeah it's us again. Sorry to bother you. Yeah. No, you're still fine. Listen, you said you left early that night to meet your girlfriend at the hotel? Yeah? Oh, just the restaurant. About when? Uh huh. Dude, you waited for her? Seriously? I know, right?"

So Laura Zhitnik was late to their meeting! he thought. Now I'm really interested in what she has to say.

---

World Cup of Hockey 11 QUALIFIER
Dareb, Quintessence of Dust

DANCOUGAR  1  0  2  -  3
KULVERINT  0  1  0  -  1

1st Period 
    8:15 DAN: A Brancanto (Jacaruso, Krizan)
2nd Period
    4:41 KUL: Niklaua (Yanrz, Niiai)
3rd Period
   14:36 DAN: Shingler (Greinke)
   19:03 DAN: Prier

W: Sarmiento (5-1-0): 28 SV, 1 GA

[Qazox]

No Excuses this time. We got owned by the Fanboyists 4-1. No let-lag, no late night parties, no sickness, no excuses other than Qazoxian hockey is not the dominating force it once was. Theodur Braannur had a hat-trick, as Caitlin Strasbourg stopped 39 of 40 shots, and Qazox wasted 7 powerplay oppertunities of 8; as the game got chippy late in the 3rd period, leading to the ejection of Hannah Askanti, as she slashed Allaaks Oevachkun in the back of the knee just before the end of the game. Askanti will miss the next game against Tocrowkia, in a game that could see Qazox fall into 4th place int eh group if they lose.

Scoring Summary
First Period
(FAN) 8:41- Theodur Braannur (1-0 Fanboyists)
(FAN) 11:09- Danielle Andicek PP (2-0 Fanboyists)
Second Period
(FAN) 13:07- Theodur Braannur (3-0 Fanboyists)
Third Period
(QZX) 14:00- Greg Thompson PP (3-1 Fanboyists)
(FAN) 16:41- Theodur Braannur (4-1 Fanboyists)

[Sarzonia]

While Sarzonia's basketball team fell short in the finals for the second consecutive International Basketball Championships, the Sarzonian hockey club is beginning to show signs that its run to the finals in the 10th World Cup of Hockey was not a fluke.

The Stars earned their fifth victory in six matches thus far in the 11th World Cup of Hockey, 5-2 over Ad'ihan. Now world No. 2 Valanora await. The only team that has defeated the Stars thus far in the World Cup of Hockey and one of only two clubs with a perfect 6-0-0 record in qualifying will now face the Stars.

They will do so with Sylvan Turcotte finally beginning to regain the form that led him to be the most valuable player not named Matt Peterson the Stars have. He scored twice against Ad'ihan and added two assists, adding in three brutal checks of Ad'ihan defenders for good measure.

"It was Sylvan Turcotte making a point," coach Mark Browers said. "He went out there to take over the hockey game and he did that."

Cameron Granato added a goal, in fact, the only goal that Turcotte was not involved with, into an empty net with 12.7 seconds remaining in the hockey game. Granato said the team would be prepared for Valanora.

"We don't need any additional motivation to face those guys," he said. "They're the only club that's beaten us so far. They're the second ranked club in the world. A victory for us would be a major step forward."

The Stars haven't forgotten that they dominated Qazox in nine matchups from the beginning of the previous World Cup until the end of their invitational tournament. However, they said the past has no bearing on the team's current standing.

"We have to take each match as it comes," said Peterson, who made 23 saves. "Now isn't the time to rest on our laurels. We haven't earned any in this World Cup yet."

[Newmanistan]

Newmanistan celebrated their championship in IBC 5 the way you would expect, in style. For everyone that had been through the ordeal, it was an enormous triumph, and Brittany Allison’s cutting down of the nets were shown all throughout the Empire. But it was not just the fans that were celebrating.

“Victory!” screamed an unknown man in front of a group of friends in what appeared to be a normal looking house in Dover City, far from the ghetto though not near where agents Merrill and Linville of the SFBI in cooperation with the Police Departments of both Pocono City and Dover City. “Victory is ours!” he shouted again as another box of money was delivered to the location. The men and a few women that were in the location cheered some more as they planned to distribute the wealth amongst them, that is why they gathered at this place. Why were this group of Dover Bloodhounds also declaring victory? Like a terrorist group that may consider the loss of one or two operatives as collateral damage, the threesome that was apprehended in the standoff were a small price to pay given the mission. The mission was their own betting on the Rockets to win the basketball championships when the Rockets were at their worst, right around the halfway point. It was then that they get great odds on their wagers, and today it was all about collecting the winnings. They had played the trend that the team had done better in with the lack of official Rocket Report articles, and as they essentially shut down the publication out of fear, Newmanistan got hot when they need to, and won that championship.

However, this is not only a basketball ordeal. You will recall that the editor-in-chief of the Rocket Report, Kevin Collins, had received two threatening letters demanding no reporters be sent to Quintessence of Dust, something which he defied and sent a crew there prior to the game against Brightonburg. They also had been working with defensemen Slava Kolosov and Alexander Starkov. Starkov plays his professional hockey in Dover City and was the easier target and the Bloodhounds, whenever they could, provided relief to his family. Starkov is a great defensemen making a lot of money but it wasn’t always like that for him when his parents moved here from Myedvedeya fearing that nation may no longer actually exist anymore. Alexander was a teenager, with known talents but since his parents had to do so much to move here, it hit them hard in the wallet. Two years ago in an interview Alexander described his situation, “I remember well like it was yesterday. My home (Myedvedeya) was going to disappear off the map and we could only take what we could carry. We simply went to the ticket counter and my dad said give us four tickets to the next flight out of here that has seats available. I don’t care where it is going I just need to get me and my family out of here.” The next flight was to Dover City. The family was boarded into a hotel room and lived there a week when Alexander’s father met a man in the hotel who befriended him. That man was a member of the Dover Bloodhounds, and when they realized he had a son of outstanding hockey talent, they set up his family quite well. In return, the family is to make no mention of the organization, and they haven’t. Starkov feels indebted to the Bloodhounds for their help, and they are sure to remind them of that as they take a 20% hit of his yearly salary.

After a year of playing in the Empire Hockey League, he met Slava Kolosov at the all-star game, where they were teammates. Starkov realized that Kolosov’s family also fled Myedvedeya for Newmanistan and while his family was able to land in a low-to-middle class apartment complex, it wasn’t how Alexander thought they should live. Slava was still on an entry level contract, and that is the only way his family was able to pay any bills and Starkov knew he had to help. Calling his friends with the Bloodhounds, he told him of Slava’s situation, and they immediately pounced on their prey, getting a similar arrangement out of him. He too, feels indebted to the group, but he also admittedly enjoys the gambling end of it. The two were not yet asked to do anything questionable but that still remained a possibility.

Back at that home, the men and a couple women who had gotten together led the house with their winnings, and the house was vacated. The Dover Bloodhounds are a large scale gambling ring, but they do not have a central headquarters. Every time they get together it is at the house of one of their members, and the same house is never visited in a six month period. So if the police were to have any tips about one location, they were long gone by the time they could put the pieces together. They did not have any set patterns which could be predictable either, and with Dover City being the Gambling Central of Newmanistan, the locals wouldn’t see anything unusual from people making small talk in their neighborhoods about something they may have won or lost money on. Now, with basketball over, and their winnings earned, it was time to focus on the next target, the World Cup of Hockey. They were not happy that the Rocket Report had sent people to Quintessence of Dust to cover the game, and a foursome of operatives were sent to New Cleethorpes to seek them out. There wasn’t a ton of desire with the Empire to wager on the game with Plutoni, which was a shame because the Bloodhounds felt that Plutoni being a just a 1.5-favorite was insulting and set by other bookies who were too carried away still with the 7-0 demolition of Brightonburg. Unable to get pro-Plutoni wagers the way they would like, they made a few small bets. For them, Mirsh Atzain did more then just tack on another goal with seven minutes to play. That goal was the difference maker, what turned their loss into another day of winnings.

[Tocrowkia]

NordicNation.net

World Cup of Hockey 11 coverage

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Audrey Haviland (5:23 in 1st)
Audrey Haviland (1:22 in 1st)
Audrey Haviland (2:28 in 2nd)
Heilwig Graessner (3:41 in 2nd)
Leonore Rochholz (4:12 in 2nd)
Katharine Eisermann (6:02 in 2nd)
Sieghild Scheidies (3:33 in 3rd)

Back to back wins against Andrewboy and Royalsoldiers have seen the Nordics creep back toward contention. Tonight, in a dominating 7-0 shut out of Royal Soldiers, Audrey Haviland got her second career hat-trick and veteran goalie Ernst Harnoth obviously did his job well, turning away over two dozen shots. The offense was firing on all cylinders and the crowd, which had been despondent and in some cases, resentful of their home team was really into the game. "Definitely, this is what this team is capable of." Audrey Haviland said of the win. "We all knew those losses were unacceptable and we had to do better." and obviously, they did. However, Ernst Harnoth is rather tired after playing the last two games, so it puts the Nordics in the unenviable position of having to start Adrian Lais against Qazox, in a game that could decide rather or not the Nordics go to the playoffs.

[Eizen]

"No excuses! I don't care if your firstborn child, your grandfather, your mother, whomever is fighting on the front lines right now! We're here to win a measure of respect and you guys pissed away whatever we had with this losing streak!" Dunlop cursed as his players practiced. The top line in particular was taking a beating for their inability to provide badly needed offense.

Eizen's 14th war of expansion was going swimmingly as usual, but there had been little news from the family members of players on the Eizen National team.

"You think our brothers and sisters over there on the other side of the world want you to get all sappy right now"? Fuck no! They want you to kick some ass and get us back into a playoff position so that they can watch you by them time we've finished conquering that little shitbug of a country. It's time to win men."

[The Babbage Islands]

QUINTESSENCE OF DUST (BPA) -- The Babbage Islands stand in second place in their World Cup of Hockey qualifying group after six of a scheduled ten games. The Bumblebees' two most recent outings, against the two top seeds in the group, yielded one win and one loss. After a somewhat surprising 4-1 win over Toyur, the Babbage squad were defeated for the second time in the tournament by Cassadaigua by a 3-2 tally.

Both games were played without #1 goalie Emily Johnson, who was injured in game 4. Johnson should return to net for the next game against Chocolate Pencils.

Left wing Robert Ward has the hot hand for the Bumblebees at the moment, with two goals in each of the last two games. The other goals against Toyur came off the sticks of Alexis Rochette and Colette Rouleau. Tamara Lewis, Auguste Gironne, Isaac Clarke and Rouleau each provided two assists.

[Cassadaigua]

Andrew’s Blog

Yesterday against a strong team from The Babbage Islands, we were able to extend our perfect record to 6-0-0. They were without their #1 goalie, Emily Johnson, but in world-class hockey there is a much bigger difference in playing a team’s #2 then if you were playing at home in your countries league and that team was playing their #2. Ethan Collins is on the team because he is the second best goalie in The Babbage Islands, not someone who spells a starter in 10% of the game back home. Meghan Stafford continued her hot streak as she opened up the scoring four minutes into the game but the equally hot Robert Ward tied for the Bumblebees eleven minutes in, and the message was sent that this would be a real battle. I was able to give us a 2-1 lead midway through the second, beating Collins between the legs, but again Ward tied it, sending us even into the second intermission. After a most of the third period went with both teams having great chances, we were the team that would eventually find the back of the net, as Danielle Castleberry scored on a wrister from the slot.

The win will probably wrap up the group for us but we can’t get too ahead of ourselves, as favorable as the group table does look at this point. Up by five over the Bumblebees with two wins over them has us in a great position, and then we are up by six on third place Toyur. San Giorgio a Cremano is our next opponent.

[Cyrelia]

Shaw sat in conversation with Merrick as the team ran through a set of drills that would determine the style of play they would utilise to overcome Royalsoldiers in their next match, the last game resulted in a 2-1 win but Shaw wanted to be absolutely secure with his tactics before his team replayed the "underdogs" of the league. He didn't want a loss now, especially considering the blow to morale that a loss to such a weak team would cause after so much success.
"So, Merrick, how does the team look? I hope you're not letting them get complacent now..."
"Nah," Merrick replied confidently, "I've got them with their heads on right don't you worry."

Merrick was an old pal of Shaws, it was why he'd been picked in all honesty. They used to be rivals, opposition players for two of the best teams in the professional league. But considering that Shaw had married Merrick's sister, any animosity had long since disappeared. Merrickknew how Shaw thought, and what he wanted, and as such presented as an excellent assistant for Shaw. Merrick also had enough play and coaching experience to be respected by the team, Shaw remembered one year how they'd gone gloves off over a dodgy hit (Merrick had always been an enforcer) and Merrick had absolutely hammered him infront of a stadium of fans, good times...
"Look, I've been watching them play and I think we're going to make these moves to exploit the oppositions weaknesses in their corners." Shaw pointed at his mini-rink whiteboard and scribbled a few plays, one of which was a dump and chase the others involving lead-and-wraps or deep slot passes. "If we emphasize shots to be placed on this side of their keeper I believe, after last match, that we should be able to score more efficiently versus their goal tender..."

Merrick nodded and picked up his whistle as he made to get back on to the rink. "I understand Shaw, hell I bet I even thought of those plays before you did!"
Merrick laughed and Shaw grinned boyishly as he retorted with a cheeky middle finger. "Off with you, assistant, now go and do my bidding before I tell your sister on you!"
Merrick waved off the jibe and called in the team for a huddle, he got on well with the team and Shaw felt confident that Merrick would translate his plans in to training and then the game.

[The Fanboyists]

"So...coffee's on me after the game?" Allaaks said, grinning, nursing his knee. That Qazian woman...that had been harsh. Really? In the knee? Now he was going to be out for the next two games, watching with Maarkus and Niekulus. Worse still, Caitlin was starting to show symptoms of something, and she would probably only get through this game before they got worse.

But that was for later.

He looked at Theo and Kristin.

"Kick their sorry asses for me. Skraeling to Skraeling, both of you. But don't tell Dani I said that. She'd be mad." He smiled.

Theo smiled back, although it was closer to a baring of teeth, bear-style. "Dae wuunt noe wuut het zum." (They won't know what hit 'em.) He paused, shrugged, and added, this time in English "But Kristin's a little small. Right? I mean, small and delica--"

"Shut up. I kicked that other guy's ass. And he was twice my size."

"Fair enough."

"But remember, seriously now, don't just go starting fights. Score first, knock anyone in your way out of your way, fight if they challange you. Or if they're really askin' for it."

"That's you Allaaks. Always reasonable." Kristin smirked. "But yeah, if needed, we'll leave that to the enforcers."

"Gya. God knows they're rarin' to hit someone."

Allaaks nodded, and went to rejoin Maarkus and Niek. Theo winced. "I think we're going to have some bruises after this one."

Kristin snorted. "If we win, you'll be hurting after tonight. Half those bruises won't be from the game."

Theo looked at her, almost wide-eyed, and both of them started laughing. "Just kidding. Unless you start a bar-fight and I have to bail you out. Then we really will be bruised from something other than the game."

"Nonsense. None of 'em can touch me."

"Says Mister 'Lets see how many I can plow through.'"

"That's me hittin' them. Not the other way around."

"What's the difference?"

Shrug. "Whatever. Let's get back to practice."

And with that, the friends skated off, back to work.

[Quintessence of Dust]

Cutoff now, scores and explanation forthcoming.

[Quintessence of Dust]

Group A (Kynythin)

Ad'ihan 2-3 StevePolis
Sarzonia 2-1 Valanora
Swartaz 0-3 Warkus

Pos                             P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
  1  Valanora                   7   6   0   1   27    9   18   12
  2  Sarzonia                   7   6   0   1   27   12   15   12
  3  Swartaz                    7   2   2   3    9   18   -9    6
  4  Warkus                     7   2   1   4   12   21   -9    5
  5  Ad'ihan                    7   1   2   4   12   19   -7    4
  6  StevePolis                 7   1   1   5   12   20   -8    3

Group Æ (Toonmar)

Andrewboy 2-2 The Fanboyists
Cyrelia 1-1 Royalsoldiers
Qazox 1-6 Tocrowkia

Pos                             P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
  1  The Fanboyists             7   5   1   1   19    8   11   11
  2  Cyrelia                    7   4   2   1   17   10    7   10
  3  Tocrowkia                  7   4   0   3   25   16    9    8
  4  Qazox                      7   4   0   3   25   20    5    8
  5  Royalsoldiers              7   1   1   5    9   25  -16    3
  6  Andrewboy                  7   0   2   5   13   29  -16    2

Group Á (Greschmeier)

The Babbage Islands 5-5 Chocolate Pencils
Cassadaigua 8-1 San Giorgio a Cremano
Euroslavia 1-5 Toyur

Pos                             P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
  1  Cassadaigua                7   7   0   0   25    7   18   14
  2  The Babbage Islands        7   3   2   2   20   15    5    8
  3  Toyur                      7   4   0   3   18   14    4    8
  4  Chocolate Pencils          7   1   3   3   10   15   -5    5
  5  Euroslavia                 7   1   2   4    6   15   -9    4
  6  San Giorgio a Cremano      7   0   3   4    9   22  -13    3

Group À (New Cleethorpes)

BrightonBurg 3-1 Jeffgordonville
Estresse Intenso 2-3 Newmanistan
Kenavt 1-3 Plutoni

Pos                             P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
  1  Plutoni                    7   5   2   0   24    9   15   12
  2  Newmanistan                7   4   2   1   20   10   10   10
  3  Jeffgordonville            7   3   2   2   12   10    2    8
  4  Estresse Intenso           7   2   1   4   12   14   -2    5
  5  BrightonBurg               7   2   0   5    7   24  -17    4
  6  Kenavt                     7   1   1   5   14   22   -8    3

Group Ä (Dareb)

Dancougar 3-1 Sibirsky
Kulverint 2-0 Toiletdonia
Taeshan 3-1 Vitius

Pos                             P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
  1  Dancougar                  7   6   1   0   20    6   14   13
  2  Taeshan                    7   5   2   0   19   10    9   12
  3  Kulverint                  7   3   1   3   16   14    2    7
  4  Toiletdonia                7   2   1   4    9   15   -6    5
  5  Sibirsky                   7   2   0   5   15   19   -4    4
  6  Vitius                     7   0   1   6    6   21  -15    1

Group Å (Highmark City)

Delaclava 2-2 Kelssek
Eizen 2-2 Sorthern Northland
Shivat 5-0 Virabia

Pos                             P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
  1  Shivat                     7   4   2   1   19   10    9   10
  2  Kelssek                    7   4   2   1   23   14    9   10
  3  Delaclava                  7   3   2   2   20   14    6    8
  4  Sorthern Northland         7   3   2   2   21   16    5    8
  5  Eizen                      7   2   1   4    9   15   -6    5
  6  Virabia                    7   0   1   6    7   30  -23    1

Shivat ahead of Kelssek on H2H results.

Any especially complex permutations can be worked out by participants, but by my count:
- no team is yet guaranteed qualification (whether it is theoretically possible for Cassadaigua to not qualify seems, at this stage, a trifle);
- teams in pink cannot qualify through group and can only qualify through Moderately-Tempestuous-Card;
- teams in red have been eliminated (cannot qualify through group or Moderately-Tempestuous-Card).
Full Moderately-Tempestuous-Card standings (all eligible teams):

Gp.                             P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
  Æ  Tocrowkia                  7   4   0   3   25   16    9    8
  Å  Delaclava                  7   3   2   2   20   14    6    8
  Æ  Qazox                      7   4   0   3   25   20    5    8
  Å  Sorthern Northland         7   3   2   2   21   16    5    8
  Á  Toyur                      7   4   0   3   18   14    4    8
  À  Jeffgordonville            7   3   2   2   12   10    2    8
  Ä  Kulverint                  7   3   1   3   16   14    2    7
  A  Swartaz                    7   2   2   3    9   18   -9    6
  À  Estresse Intenso           7   2   1   4   12   14   -2    5
  Á  Chocolate Pencils          7   1   3   3   10   15   -5    5
  Å  Eizen                      7   2   1   4    9   15   -6    5
  Ä  Toiletdonia                7   2   1   4    9   15   -6    5
  A  Warkus                     7   2   1   4   12   21   -9    5
  Ä  Sibirsky                   7   2   0   5   15   19   -4    4
  A  Ad'ihan                    7   1   2   4   12   19   -7    4
  Á  Euroslavia                 7   1   2   4    6   15   -9    4
  À  BrightonBurg               7   2   0   5    7   24  -17    4
  A  StevePolis                 7   1   1   5   12   20   -8    3
  À  Kenavt                     7   1   1   5   14   22   -8    3
  Á  San Giorgio a Cremano      7   0   3   4    9   22  -13    3
  Æ  Royalsoldiers              7   1   1   5    9   25  -16    3
  Æ  Andrewboy                  7   0   2   5   13   29  -16    2

Qazox ahead of Sorthern Northland on wins. Eizen and Toiletdonia, and StevePolis and Kenavt, are tied.

[Plutoni]

Plutoni ice hockey blog: WCoH 11, Matchday 7
Plutoni vs. Kenavt: Liveblog

Looks like it's just starting now, so go for it!

Comments:
1. icebaby: I think whoever's in charge is really underestimating people's ability to be awake at odd hours.
...
7. seb: Goal for Plutoni! Unnal Pundra, assisted by Mirsh Atzin and Gregory Kotts.
...
14. seb: The Olympics are going on, right?
15. flake: [14] Yeah, they just started. First hockey games are today.
16. combatant94: [14] Yeah. You think Plutoni should enter some time?
17. bocky_boy: Goal Plutoni, Noklim unassisted.
18. icebaby: [16] But who would we send?
19. seb: It's not out of the question...we could probably find some winter athletes, and there's field hockey in the summer. But the way it's broken down, men's and women's, I think it's too controversial to try. Oh well.
...
30. bocky_boy: Goal Kenavt. Fabian Molyneux, assisted by Rollo Ballard and Korbin Newton.
...
37. bocky_boy: Kenavt penalty, two minutes.
38. flake: Plutoni are on the powerplay, Newton just barreled into Pilshaft. Hope she's okay, that didn't look good.
39. icebaby: What's she doing on the third line?
40. combatant94: [39] Skating?
41. seb: Goal Plutoni! Spendral on the powerplay.
42. bocky_boy: Goal Plutoni! Jofri Spendral, assisted by Lintsa Tameen and Shrindli Clom.

[The Babbage Islands]

GRESCHMEIER, Quintessence of Dust (BPA) -- A capacity crowd at the Northern Astrodome in Greschmeier watched in stunned silence as The Babbage Islands starting goalie Emily Johnson was carried from the ice for the second time in four games at the World Cup of Hockey. Chocolate Pencils tied the second place Babbage team 5-5.

Johnson collapsed in the goal at 18:11 of the first period with her Bumblebees down 2-0 to Chocolate Pencils. She was immediately rushed to hospital. Chocolate Pencils, on a power play at the time, then made it a 3-0 game at the 19:08 mark beating backup Ethan Collins.

But the Bumblebees would launch a comeback, as captain Tamara Lewis and defenceman Auguste Gironne combined for four goals in fourteen minutes to take a 4-3 lead: Lewis (from Robert Ward) at 7:11, Gironne (from Colette Rouleau and Joanne Arnold) at 9:28, Gironne (from Isaac Clarke and Lewis) at 12:15, and Lewis (from Rouleau) at 14:02 on the power play. Chocolate Pencils tied the game at 4-4 on the power play at 19:11.

The third period was largely marked by emotion and exhaustion, as both teams had maintained a frenetic pace throughout. Chocolate Pencils made it 5-4 at the 8:43 mark during a 5-on-3 power play. Defenceman Maurice Hebert scored the tying goal for the Babbagians at 19:19 with Collins off the ice for a sixth attacker, Rouleau and Lewis getting the assists.

Johnson's condition is unknown, and it has not been verified if her collapse is related to injuries sustained in game four.

The tournament resumes following a local holiday observance with Euroslavia facing off against The Babbage Islands.

[Qazox]

We have an excuse for this one. just 3 minutes into the game, making a kick-save, Qazox #1 Goaltender, Francine Hicks injured her left knee and had to leave the game with a torn right patella tendon; which will cause her to miss the remainder of the WCoH. With #2 goalie Caleb Admele a late scratch, due to personal issues, Qazox #3 goalie Victoria Shenko came into the game, not having played any competitive hockey in over 5 months; and it showed as she allowed 4 goals over the next 5:03, as Tocrowkia won tonight 6-1, pushing Qazox down in the standings to 4th. A pair of goals from Audrey Haviland and Heilwig Graessner were enough to ensure the win.

Now Qazox is most likely in must-win mode for the final 3 games, or else they could miss the playoffs for the first time in quite a while.

Scoring Summary
First Period
<Injury replacement: 2:54- Francine Hicks out/Victoria Shenko in>
(TOC) 3:09- Audrey Haviland (1-0 Tocrowkia)
(TOC) 3:45- Heilwig Graessner (2-0 Tocrowkia)
(TOC) 6:23- Heilwig Graessner (3-0 Tocrowkia)
(TOC) 8:12- Audrey Haviland (4-0 Tocrowkia)
Second Period
(QZX) 9:07- Greg Thompson (4-1 Tocrowkia)
(TOC) 18:11- Katharine Eisermann (5-1 Tocrowkia)
Third Period
(TOC) 11:40- Emilie Ubben (6-1 Tocrowkia)

[Tocrowkia]

NordicNation.net

World Cup of Hockey 11 coverage

Code: Select all

           1 2 3  F
QAZ       0 1 0  1
TOC        4 1 1  6


Goalscorers:
(See Qazox's post)

While Qazox continues to find excuses, the reality is that tonight the Nordics delivered a roundhouse kick in a 6-1 blowout that saw the two teams trades places. The Nordics ship has indeed appeared to be righted. "It felt really good to go out there and just totally mop the floor with em'!" Audrey Haviland, who scored two goals said after the game. "They can keep on making excuses, but that's all they are. Unlike them we own up to our mistakes and look where it's gotten us." the Nordics continue to streak, and look to be getting hotter, if that's possible. Leading the wild-card race, this is a team with everything to play for.

[Cyrelia]

Shaw frowned in his study, they had got lucky. Qazox had lost a shocking match to Tocrowkia and the Fanboyists had somehow drawn with Andrewboy, this meant that 1-1 draw with Royalsoldiers had not been the worst result ever. It did set a certain imperative on the next match, that Cyrelia must win in order to solidify their position in the group. Both Tocrowkia and Qazox were only two points behind and Shaw would not see his team get swung around so late in the division! By all means, the match versus Royalsoldiers hadn't been bad... It just hadn't been great nor to Shaw's expectations of his team. He'd given the defence some specific training drills to ensure that the rediculous wrap around never got the better of them again! That had been infuriating for him, Lymm had been given no support by his defence and the wrap around sneaked it under his skate. There were also a few silly tripping penalties that Shaw needed to stamp out of the teams play, he needed to remind them to actually hit the other team every once in a while.

Shaw sighed and pulled off his reading glasses before opening his desks draw to grab a bottle of Cyrelian, Fjorn region, whisky. It was an eighteen year single malt, one of his favourites, that his wife had given him as a special present for when he was out at the World Cup. It still had the attached label reading 'To my darling hockey fanatic, so that you don't lose your marbles when scheming great plays...'. He smiled, and took a dram of the amber liquid before returning to his work. He was confident his team could pull through...

[Cassadaigua]

Andrew’s Blog

Things are going well for us as we took advantage of an opponent that seemed to have their minds elsewhere, handling San Giorgio a Cremano quite easily, winning 8-1. The win makes us seven-for-seven, and should mean that we have clinched a playoff spot, but that has not been made official yet. We weren’t going to celebrate that anyway because making the playoffs was an expectation, not an achievement. If San Giorgio is going to make the playoffs at some point, they are going to have to play much more disciplined hockey as our five power plays goals made it a rather easy game. In the first five minutes of the game, they committed two minors, and we scored on each. The first coming from Kathleen Doyle, from myself and Adrienne Gaucher, and then the second coming from Gaucher from my sister and myself, the first time we’ve ever split assists like that on the national team. Later in the third, and again on the power play, I fired a puck behind the goalie to make it 3-0, assisted by Danielle Castleberry and another helper for Gaucher. Then with 3:11 left in the first period, we scored an even strength tally with the third line getting it: Allen Johnson from Laura Hanson and Nicole Rouse.

With a four goal lead, we thought that San Giorgio would realize they needed to play smarter hockey, but that was not the case at all as one of their players took a real stupid double minor. 42 seconds in, we scored on the first half of the penalty Castleberry from my sister and Doyle, and then 28 seconds after that we scored on the back end of the penalty as Meghan Stafford kept her streak alive. She was assisted by Rachel Castelli and Nicole Rouse. Six goals, five on the power play, and we were running away. The referee unfortunately decided he needed to even things up, as especially in an international game, your superiors will probably ask you why one team had seven power play chances and the other not one. We got three straight called on us towards the end of the period, and unfortunately one of them resulted in goal. Not to worry, we were back at in the third as Rachel Castelli scored six minutes in, from Stafford and Korey Fallstrom, and late in the period, the fourth line finished off the scoring: Jessica Ahrberg from Amanda Luciano and Brian Zuchovitsky. In the 8-1 rout, we outshot San Giorgio 36-20.

[The Fanboyists]

Alright, Seriously, What the heck?

So somehow, the Volunteers managed to tie with Toonmar group basement-dwellers Andrewboy, 2-2, in what is probably more embarassing than their only loss. Why?

Cyrelia's at least good. There's no particular reason to even be allowing teams like Andrewboy to even stay in the game. Which is why this tie is mystifying.

The scoring opened with Royalsoldiers putting up an unusual offensive show in the first period against an ill (with the flu) Caitlin Strasbourg, who, after nearly barfing a lung in the second period, was pulled from the game and went to the hospital for treatment.

Kristin Maarks and Theo Braannur, dominating as we've come to expect, had a goal and assist each. Because that's just how they go, apparently. They've turned into arguably the most dominating duo in the group at this point, doing much of the scoring for the group's leading team (though if they keep this up, there won't be much of a lead, will there?). Vaalhulm Aandriksunn filled in from there, and no more shots made it in, probably because there was not any actual room for them to go in around his massive frame.

The first Fanboyist goal was an easy shot by Maarks after a quick set up by Braannur and Andicek to get the Volunteers back within striking distance of the lead.

An early third period goal tied the game up on the powerplay (as Braannur was set up for an easy one by Maarks) but they never managed to actually gain the lead, due to numerous penalties (there were shouts from the crowd about bad officiating, but it wasn't as bad as the Cyrelian game), and the game ended with a 2-2 score. The Volunteers remain atop their group, but with their lead shrinking as Tocrowkia switched places with Qazox (who fell to fourth place) and with Cyrelia cementing its' second-place spot.

Next game is against Royalsoldiers, followed with a rematch with Tocrowkia and a must-win game against Cyrelia (regardless of clinching or not; they shouldn't lose to the same team twice.

Scoring:
Volunteers --- 0 - 1 - 1 --- 2
Andrewboy --- 2 - 0 - 0 --- 2

[Newmanistan]

THE ROCKET REPORT

WE’RE BACK!

New Cleethropes, Quintessence of Dust- As you know, things have been very difficult for us here at The Rocket Report. But whoever it is that may be out there, that does not want to see our publication in print or on the airwaves, let us assure you that we will not just stubbornly give in. Our basketball reporters went through a terrible ordeal, but in the end law enforcement prevails. The basketball team had a wonderful triumph with limited coverage from us, but for all of you internet bloggers out there who are so desperate for hits that you make ridiculous statements concerning those basketball events, our resurgence is a big “screw you”. In our return, the Rockets did not choke or anything, and unlike The Babbage Islands who could only draw with (is it white or dark) Chocolate Pencils, and Jeffgordonville, who lost to BrightonBurg, there would be no upset here.

Estresse Intenso, the nation that borders Cafundeu, was looking to have some hockey success out here in Wysteria and things haven’t been terrible for them, necessarily, just not good enough. Still they played hard and pretty smart hockey for the most part. It looked like one of the bigger fights of the game might occur between a couple of their own players after a 2-on-1 rush was whistled down for offsides. Itamaraty was so upset by this that he went over to his teammate, Lazarento who was a split second early and they begin pushing at each other. The gloves dropped and they appeared ready to go (OOC: Based on your description of the team, I;m assuming you find this acceptable as long as it’s not a big ol’thing). The Rockets could only look on, baffled, as to what they should do about the situation and the linesman had to break the two of them up. No punches were thrown, only pushing, and the referee felt that assessing a ten minute misconduct (not a game misconduct) was the best solution. However, they needed the penalty box attendant to sit between them, until Lazarento was made to sit on the Rockets side until or unless a Newmanistanian player was sent to the box. Strangely enough, this kind of thing seemed to ignite Estresse Intenso, who scored the games opening goal at 13:12 of the first period on a wrister by Kohmleier.

During first intermission and the team still trailing 1-0, coach Hennessy couldn’t help but make mention of the mini fight between Estresse Intenso players given that his own team has had some chemistry problems. Even though we haven’t seen much of it in the last two games, there appears to be some sort of rift between the Myedvedeyan-Newmanistanians and the rest of the team. On the ice, they seem to be working well, but off of it, things are pretty clear that they don’t say anything to one another. Hennessy wanted to be sure that his team did not become like that. In the second period, Newmanistan had a jump to their skate, and scored an even strength goal at 4:32 of the period as a Brett Stuart ice-level shot somehow slipped underneath the goal pads of Marrone. A few of his teammates were pretty clear in their showing of the frustration thinking that it was a soft goal. At 9:54 of the period, the Rockets took their first lead of the game after a wild pileup in the crease. It appeared as though Marrone made the save of a Trevor Anderson shot, but the whistle never blew, as the referee could see that he did not have the puck completely covered up. Newmanistan kept poking away at it and Marrone didn’t seem to know where it was, and eventually the stick of Jarkko Koskinen slid the puck just barely across the goal line. Upset by the lack of a whistle, Estresse Intenso players began shouting, only to be yelled at by Rockets players, and two fights broke out, one between Brett Stuart and Itmaraty, and the other between Steve Caldwell and Nilsen. Physical play picked up in the second period, but the Rockets one goal lead held up through intermission, however it would only last four minutes into the third period as Bragendgic wristed a shot over the glove of Michael Reid. With the game tied at two, play was pretty intense, and for a while it looked like it could do either way until Jacques Carpentier slapped a shot over the blocker of Marrone, assisted by Derek Bannister to make it 3-2. However the Rockets would not come out of this unscathed. Late in the period, Bannister was injured after an open-ice hit from Ferraco. Though the hit was clean, Bannister landed awkwardly and had to be helped off the ice. The first line left wing suffered a torn hamstring, and will likely miss the rest of the World Cup of Hockey, although definitive word on that isn’t in yet. What we do know is he will be out for a while. Expect Brett Stuart, who has played well, to move up to the top line.

The win improves the Rockets to 4-2-1, and they are solidly between Plutoni and Jeffgordonville after seven games, picking up a lot of help from northern neighbor BrightonBurg in their win, and with Jeffgordonville as the next opponent, the Rockets have a great opportunity to get a big result for qualification to the next step, something that hasn’t always happened for Newmanistanian hockey.

- - - - -

Not part of the Rocket Report:

News of The Rocket Report’s summary of this game did not sit well with the head-dogs of the Bloodhounds as their threats to the publication’s office did not go heeded. If the team lost to Jeffgordonville after this, things might not be pretty. Although, they might not be anyway, even if the team wins.

[Sarzonia]

The Sarzonian national hockey team had been searching for that one signature win to point to for later evidence of their progress as a hockey club since the 10th World Cup of Hockey began.

After a one-goal defeat to world No. 2 Valanora in the second match of qualifying, they got their signature triumph with a 2-1 victory over the Calcuttas to draw level in points, although Valanora maintain the advantage in goal differential.

However, the Stars hardly cared.

"We just played one of our best matches of this World Cup qualifying campaign," said goalie Matt Peterson, who made 35 saves. "I defy anyone to dismiss us as a fluke now."

Some grumblings among Stars supporters and naysayers in Sarzonia hinted that the team's shock run through to the finals may have been a fluke with dramatic victories over Qazox, Dancougar and Septentrionia among the exhibits of evidence pointed to. However, a five-match final against Plutoni didn't do enough to dismiss talk of a flukish run in the minds of many.

The victory over Valanora, combined with consistency throughout the qualifying campaign may have been just what the doctor ordered.

Try as they might, the Calcuttas couldn't contain Sylvan Turcotte for 120 minutes. They may have kept him under wraps in the first meeting between the clubs, but he scored a short-handed goal in this second meeting and fed Cameron Granato on the power play to give the Stars a 2-0 lead in the second period.

Sarzonia (6-0-1, 12 points) continued to apply pressure in the Calcuttas end, firing a total of 41 shots on goal, but the real heroes of this match were Sarzonia's defencemen. They limited Valanora (6-0-1) to 36 shots, but the real story was the fact that many of them were easy stops for Peterson. Only a six-on-four goal with 28 seconds remaining and the Calcuttas goalie on the bench prevented a shutout.

Mark Browers will gladly take it.

"That score wasn't indicative of how well we played against them," he said. "We really played our best match of the tournament so far."

Sarzonia didn't clinch a spot in the knockout rounds, but that may be academic at this point. As for Browers, he denied reports that the Incorporated Hockey Federation have dropped their demand that he resign as head coach to assume the executive director position. However, a source close to the negotiations said they've done that.

"He's our man," the source said on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the talks. "If he wants to be the coach in addition to being the executive director, ultimately, we're not going to stand in his way."

[Dancougar]

Last time, on World Cup of Hockey Side Story!

Russ looked closer. Yes... out-or-order events didn't explain the errors in his match report, because some things had just been plain wrong. But here they were, right in front of him, on this piece of paper. The handwriting was different, too. "What's going on here... he must have used this instead of his own notes!" Russ exclaimed.

He headed for the stairs when something on the desk caught his eye. He looked back. Peter went past him and started up the stairs. Russ bent over to take a look. It was a little bottle of pills. Wait a minute, these are...

"So, they're anti-depressants, right?" Peter said. "Makes sense for her to have them. You can treat lots of things with those, you know."

"The prescription was for Leo, though," Russ replied. Peter was silent.

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.

"He already told you why I left him, didn't he?" Laura Zhitnik's apartment was pretty small and not suited for company, but between a desk chair and her bed, they all managed to find someplace to sit and chat. Laura was an average-looking girl, but her personality seemed to be a fiery one. She'd let them in after a few frustrating minutes at her door with badges in hand, and eventually they'd had to produce written orders to investigate Cashman's death to make her budge. "If that's the only way I'm involved, I don't see how this is going to help."

"I've gotten some interesting information from my investigation so far, and now I've got some ideas of what might have happened," Russ said. "And to help me narrow it down, I need to talk to everyone I can find with even minor involvement. You were in Newmanistan with a man who interacted directly with Leo Cashman. That makes you interesting, too."

"If you just wanted to talk, you could have just called," said Laura.

"I prefer to talk to people in person," Russ replied. "It's too easy for someone to lie if I can't see them."

Laura frowned and leaned back in the desk chair. "I don't like what you're insinuating," she spat.

"You don't have to." Russ remained cool and whipped out his notepad. Peter also had a notebook out, but the slight glow coming from it indicated that he was checking match results on his cell phone. Earlier he'd been bemoaning Dancougar's dropping into the third place match of the Di Bradini Cup, but now it was time to refocus on hockey. A win against Sibirsky would almost certainly put Dancougar on target to qualify. With the point totals looking the way they were, it was getting harder and harder for the teams behind to catch up.

"According to Mr. Shane, you had arranged to meet with him in the hotel restaurant on the night of Cashman's death, correct?" Russ asked.

"Yes," Laura replied, "we hadn't had much of a chance to do anything together since he was so busy with work the whole time we were there. I did lots of sightseeing on my own, but I wanted to spend at least one evening together."

"And you asked him to leave early if he could?" Russ continued.

"Didn't want to waste the evening," Laura shrugged. "Look, I don't see where this is going. It's pretty clear that you already know Todd and I were busy when that guy died. It's not possible that we're involved."

"So you were waiting for him in the restaurant when he arrived?" Russ asked.

"Why would I be?" Laura responded.

Something that sounded like an explosion escaped from Peter's mouth. "Ooooooh, fail," he said simply.

"What, we give up a goal?" Russ asked sarcastically.

"Huh? No, it's still two-zip, us," Peter replied. "I was talking about her answer. That conflicts with that Todd told me over the phone, remember?"

"Oh, so you were actually paying attention!" Russ said. "I'm impressed." He turned back to Laura. "It's as he says. According to Mr. Shane, you were actually late getting to dinner. I'm interested in what you were doing during that time."

Laura sat silent for a moment before waving her hand dismissively. "He said that? Honestly, that guy... he'll say anything to make me look like the bad guy," she sighed.

"I wonder about that," Russ replied. "If one of you is lying, the only way to know for sure would be to drag you both down to the district office for a real grilling."

"You seriously think I did it!" Laura said incredulously.

"I seriously think we're winning!" Peter interrupted. "Dude, three-nothing, it's over. Baillie just got number two."

"Cashman entered his hotel room twenty minutes after the time you arranged to meet," Russ said, ignoring him. "And based on what we were told by Mr. Shane, you were almost half an hour late." He cast an eye to her desk, where several pictures were arrayed. "You like rock climbing, huh?"

"S-so what if I do?" Laura asked.

"So it would have been trivial for you to maneuver across balconies..."

---

World Cup of Hockey 11 QUALIFIER
Dareb, Quintessence of Dust

DANCOUGAR  0  2  1  -  3
SIBIRSKY   0  0  1  -  1

2nd Period
   9:41 DAN: Baillie (A Brancanto, Foerster)
  16:22 DAN: Chudzinski (Andreasen, Golombek)
3rd Period
   5:16 DAN: Baillie PP (E Brancanto, A Brancanto)
  12:20 SIB: Henriksson (Jackson, Southerland)

W Sarmiento (6-1-0): 20 SV, 1 GA