World Cup of Hockey XLI (41) Everything Thread

[New Waldensia]

FloorGang, capital city of United Hemand Insia
9:23pm local, evening before Matchday 10

Avalance team members were filing out of their conference room after an evening strategy session with the coaches. Tomorrow evening would be the deciding match on whether they would be advancing in the tournament. Excitement was in the air, with the team on the brink of unprecedented territory.

"Hey Sampson," said Blake Ketchum, jogging up to catch one of the more senior members of the team. "You wanna catch a drink before we turn in?"

At 34 years old, Bob Sampson was the third oldest member of the Avalanche who made the trip to the World Cup of Hockey. This was set to be his final season before retirement, and he was relishing the team's performance in light of that. "You know what, why not. I could go for a glass."

"I'm gonna grab Andersen, too. Heard there's a decent pub a couple minutes away. I've put in for a ride, should be here in a few."

"Sounds good. I'm gonna drop this bag off, meet you in the lobby?"

"Cool." Ketchum turned to catch his other prospect while Sampson caught the elevator to their floor. A few minutes later, he was back downstairs and walking into the lobby.

Ketchum, alternate captain Karl Andersen, and junior reserve Mikey Howarth were chatting as he walked up. Ketchum glanced at his phone. "Ride's here. Let's load!"

The group walked out the front of the hotel to a rideshare. "As leader of this expedition, I call shotgun!" said Ketchum. Sampson injected, "Shotgun pays, right?" to laughs from the others.

A light rain had started about ten minutes before their meeting ended, and the streets glistened in the lights as they drove to the pub. They passed by the ice arena on the way, still lit up with preparations for tomorrow night's game with the home team.

Shortly, they arrived at their destination, getting out and dashing to the covered entrance of the historic Bell's Grub & Pub as the rain started to pick up. Ketchum grabbed the door. "Cap'n first," he said as he waved Andersen in.

The hundred-twenty-year old tavern had a hearty atmosphere, with great wooden beams and hardwood floors, photos of famous patrons hanging on the wall, and a massive mahogany bar that spanned the length of one wall, with dozens of brews and ales on tap behind it. The place was evidently a local favorite, as the floor was full of people. The group worked their way up to the bar.

"Welcome to Bell's! What can I get for you gents?" asked the bartender.

"I'll take a pilsner," said Andersen, opting for something light. "Same," answered Sampson.

Ketchum looked them both up and down. "Well, I'm gonna get the full experience here. We're after the local taste. Whiskey neat, please, and how about a plate of sliders." Howarth got a local ale, and the four grabbed a spot at the bar.

The sports channels were doing a rundown of the Word Cup of Hockey, hitting some highlights from around the tournament. One of the scores from the last New Waldesian game was played, during which Ketchum missed his assignment. Some good-natured ribbing followed. Ketchum just grinned, and threw back his glass. A local musician took a bar stool in the corner and strummed out a tune. A regular, no doubt, as he soon had a crowd on his end of the pub, with some joining in on his songs.

The cuisine was flavorful, and the guys agreed that the sliders were top-notch, and worth another round. Andersen glanced at his watch. "We should probably call in a return ride, and Ketchum, that's probably enough whiskey, don't you think?"

Ketchum looked at his pint ruefully. "Yeah, I was about done anyway. Lemme see if that Yuber is around still." He fumbled around in his pocket for his smartphone, and pulled up his rideshare app. "Yeah, got'em. Four minutes out. Must live close or somethin'."

The four pushed back from the bar, and left their tips in the jar.

"I've gotta come back to this place," said Howarth. "Yeah, and when we don't have a game the next day so we can soak it up," added Ketchum.

Sampson chuckled. "I think you soaked up as much as you needed to, pal." He swung an arm around Ketchum's shoulder. "Don't worry, I won't tell coach this time."

As they exited Bell's, they found that the rain had picked up somewhat and was coming down pretty steadily. Their ride arrived, and they piled in. Sampson took the front seat, and the other three slid in the back.

As they passed the arena again, Ketchum started to make a comment about the hotel, when suddenly...


Ketchum's ears were ringing, and his head pounded. Confusion flooded his mind as he struggled to move. What... what is..." he thought. Sounds started fading back in, and he regained control of some of his senses. He heard groans, and sizzling of hot engine parts. They must have been involved in an accident.

A car in the other lane had hydroplaned in the rain and slammed into them head-on. The hood of their card was crumpled up like tin, and the motor had been shoved back toward the front of the cab.

Ketchum spat blood out of his mouth. Glass was everywhere.

"Is everybody okay?" the voice of Karl Andersen. "Bob, can you hear me?"

Mikey Howarth tried the door handle, but the door was crumpled and wouldn't budge. "I think I'm okay." Ketchum likewise responded as he fumbled with his seat belt.

Andersen felt a searing pain in his leg, but he ignored it as he reached forward to try and reach Bob Sampson in the passenger seat. Neither Sampson nor the driver were making noise.

Footsteps echoed as several people were running up to the scene of the accident. Somebody was on the phone, calling the emergency services. "We've got help coming! Is everybody okay?"

"I think we're okay in the back seat, but the door's jammed, and the guys in the front aren't responding," called out Andersen. Haworth had his seat belt off and was leaning into the front of the car. "Guys, I think they're hurt bad."

Sirens wailed in the distance, gradually getting louder. In a few minutes, a crowd of emergency workers were endeavoring to free the men from the damaged vehicle. Howarth was able to crawl out the window with assistance, and made a call to the coaching staff.



Within minutes, Ketchum was out and being checked over by medics, and Andersen was extracted with an apparent broken ankle. They were still working on Simpson and the driver, both of whom were conscious but in tremendous pain.

Coach Sexton and others from the team got on the scene, but were held back for the most part by police (with the exception of Sexton and the team's medical staff). Guys huddled in the rain, anxiously watching as firefighters used hydraulic rescue tools to pull Simpson and the two drivers from the vehicles.

By a little after 1am, Simpson and Andersen were transported for surgery at the city hospital. Howarth was largely uninjured, and Ketchum was treated on scene for a concussion and minor cuts.

5:22am

Head Coach Sector poured a cup of coffee. He texted one of their medical staff to check on Andersen and Sampson's status, and then sat down at the table. The other coaches started to trickle in.

"Gents, we've got some work to do. Just got word that Sampson is still in surgery. Banged up real bad, but they think he'll pull through. Andersen had his ankle operated on a few hours ago, but otherwise looks to be okay. Ketchum's got a concussion. We've got to shuffle guys around tonight."

Assistant Coach Barnard spoke up. "We're down three defensively, four really. Christie's got the flu or something. I've got Bolton and Bowler moving up but it leaves us thin."

"Not much more we can do under the circumstances," said Assistant Coach Wirth.

"Well, let's do what we can with what we've got," said Seaton. "We'll brief the team on Andersen and Sampson at 8, and then try to get their heads focused."

ROSTER
Goalies

Number	Name			Age		Info	
#6	Jarvis Dunlap		27		Starter/Alt Captain/2nd WCOH		
#22	Stephan Portillo	31		2nd WCOH
#14	Connagh Patrick		25		2nd WCOH

Defenders

Number	Name			Age		Info	
#36	Karl Andersen		28		Alt Captain/1st Line/2nd WCOH injured, out indefinitely
#10	Otto Benitez		29		1st Line/2nd WCOH		
#13	Blake Ketchum		26		2nd Line/1st WCOH injured, out 1 week
#74	Jesse Beltran		30		2nd Line/2nd WCOH injured, out 2 weeks
#85	Haakon Olsen		19		3rd1st Line/2nd WCOH/WJHC
#55	Billy Bull		33		3rd2nd Line/2nd WCOH
#58	Jeffrey Bolton		36		2nd Line/2nd WCOH promoted from reserves
#16	Audric Dunlap		24		4th 3rdLine/2nd WCOH
#35	Marlon Bowler		27		3rd Line/1st WCOH promoted from reserves
#69	Jarod Murray		25		4th Line/2nd WCOH

Forwards

Number	Name			Age		Info	
#60	Caspian Estes		26		Captain/1st Line/2nd WCOH
#8	Bob Sampson		34		1st Line/2nd WCOH injured, out indefinitely 
#44	Ioan Searle		30		1st Line/2nd WCOH
#12	Igor Duffy		32		2nd1st Line/2nd WCOH
#30	Piers Handley		28		2nd Line/2nd WCOH
#7	Bard Perot		20		2nd Line/1st WCOH/WJHC
#39	John-Paul Snider	29		3rd2nd Line/2nd WCOH
#81	Patrick Stokes		24		3rd Line/2nd WCOH injured, out 4 weeks
#96	Nikola Mackie		35		3rd Line/2nd WCOH
#19	Noel Coates		27		4th3rd Line/2nd WCOH
#3	Mikey Howarth		22		4th3rd Line/2nd WCOH
#38	Tye Gallagher		29		4th Line/2nd WCOH
#42	Dag Wilton		19		4th Line/1st WCOH/WJHC promoted from reserves

Reserves

Number	Name			Age		Info	
#13	Greyson Christie	23		Utility/2nd WCOH
#26	Herman Dunn		19		Goalie/1st WCOH/WJHC

[Ranoria]

Second Win of WCoH Run, and A New Head Coach of the Future,
Secured for Krauts

Good news! The Ranorian Krauts have managed to not only win a game, a once in a blue moon occurrence, but managed to lock in a promising head coach who, unlike Erich Trotter, will not be tied down by any responsibilities in the regular season. Alram Isenbrand has agreed in principle to a four year contract with a combined twelve million over that time frame. Isenbrand, in just three years as an assistant on the Cold Hill Huntsman, helped the head coach, who had won 51% of his games in the past nine years, to win 60% of his contests. Better yet, he was apparently aggressive in the drafting of a player in his second season, a player whom was looked at as a late-round draft pick, and managed to get the team to trade up to snag him early in the second round. That player, now 22 year old Frederick Vrabel, is a striker who's trending up and won an all star in both of his first seasons.

Under Isenbrand as the assistant coach, the Huntsmen performed much better than without him. That was aided by his decisions in personnel by convincing the team to draft a stud in in Frederick Vrabel (center)

With that in mind, the team will be looking to recruit better, younger players. While Richart Matthens and Augustin Khan are fine offensive pieces, but they are aging, and neither are as fast as they've been in the past. It's shown with the team's failure to consistently score, with just eleven goals to their name in nine games. Vrabel will certainly look to change that dynamic and add some speed, should Isenbrand manage to convince him to tag along, and that seems to be likely at the moment.

"I'll be taking a long, hard look at all of our personnel," Isenbrand said in a press conference, "This team should look a lot different next season, that I can tell you. Ranorian hockey is better than winning two or three games every season, and I should be able to make that apparent."

[Gyatso-kai]

An ASPN Production, Brought to you on ASPN.co.gki

Sundari, Gyatso-kai --- Aaron Yitsune

Ice Bisons Take Down The Calcuttas! Still Able To Win The Group!

With last night’s impressive 5-3 victory over The Calcuttas of Valanora, our distant neighbor in the Atlantia Oceania, the Ice Bisons are just one point out from tying the group stage, and two points from taking the top spot. Unfortunately, in order to knock Valanora off their well-deserved throne in Group F, the Ice Bisons would need a resounding win against last-place Silvedonia AND need Valanora to either draw by low goals or lose to fourth-place and single win Tikariot.

Incredibly unlikely, however, not out of the realm of possibility…

Let’s talk about the big moment of the game last night, which was the return of Hiteki Kia to the starting lineup after missing most of the group stage due to a gruesome high ankle strain. He did not play much this game – only racking up 7:12 in Ice Time – however, he made up for that low time with a key assist on the go-ahead goal in the second period which broke the 2-all tie from the first period and gave the Ice Bisons their first lead of the night.

”Obviously, it was a huge pass; to intercept the puck from Nordström and bring it through their D-pair into the offensive zone. But you have to give it to Killer [Kil’or Alecyc] for being in the right place at the right time. I was just happy to be back on the ice. ”

Hitekia Kia, Defenceman, During the Second Intermission

With the return of Hiteki, many were concerned that Jaster Kal’oki – a young up-and-coming defenceman out of the University of Adirolf, who had yet to earn a cap on the National Team in his previous two trips – would be relegated back down to reserves after having filled in for the injured Hiteki and done such a fantastic job at that. Luckily for Kal’oki, the fears of his departure were unfounded when Head Coach Ishii Hakoda decided to drop the traditional 12 forwards used by the Ice Bisons and instead swapped out Wang Tortsi on the second line for Kal’oki. Changing out a forward for a defenceman put Kal’oki into a more-offensively geared playstyle which, considering he was able to put a puck into the net for out teams fourth goal as well as rack up a pair of assists, must be working out for the team.

”Going up against a team like Valanora, we wanted to put a bit more emphasis on keeping our game fluid. They are a strong team on the offence; I mean, they have scored 37 goals this tournament in just seven games. We wanted to be able to slow down their scoring chances with a stronger d-lineup, and also be able to keep our own scoring pressure up high. Putting Jas’oki in with a line he has already generated a good number of goals with… and adding Hite’s strong defensive presence in… it was a good experiment that saw strong results. If Hite can get more minutes in, maybe try and push him with Silvedonia, we can keep up this 9-D line and push deep into the playoffs. ”

Ishii Hakoda, Head Coach, During the Post-Game Interview on SUN Sports

With Valanora defeated, and Silvedonia on the horizon, one must wonder what does the future have in store for the Ice Bisons? If past tournaments are any indicator, we can be certain to see plenty of exciting matches with the Ice Bisons, facing off against several old foes and even some new faces in the hockey world; Neu Engollon, Savojarna, Cassadaigua, Sio&Teus, and our favorite rival Ko-oren have already secured advancement into the next round. With this tournament host favoring the double-elimination, even if the traditional loss to Ko-oren takes place, the Ice Bisons can still continue the fight.

Let’s hope we can break tradition this tournament…

---

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URL: http://www.aspn.com.gk/articles/ahl/25110020
© 2020 Avatarian Sports Programming Network

[TJUN-ia]

With only pride at play after a heartbreaking loss to Recuecn, TJUN-ia welcomed the sentient animals of Sylestone to New Washington for the final home game of the campaign.

It would be a wacky one indeed. The first period was all Julian Visipils, scoring 2 in quick succession to make it 12 so far this campaign. The second was all Springbok, who managed to get two of his own to tie the game up with one period to play. The 3rd was all TJUN-ia, however, with Viktor Orban, Vasil Cherysezsky and Teemu Pukaninen all getting on the scoresheet as the Ice Jags recorded a 5-2 win to end The Rink's hosting of WCoH41 action.

The final game will be in Savojarna. We got a point from the last time, but surely not on the road....or can we? GO JAGS!

---

SCHEDULE (Group C)
MD1: @Transvolcanic (UR) - VIC Hockey Arena, Volkansfort L 3-4 (T-4th)
MD2: vs Tjorl (UR) - The Rink in The Gardens, New Washington W 3-0 (4th)
MD3: @Recuecn (15) L 1-2 (4th)
MD4: @Sylestone (51) W 4-3 (4th)
MD5: vs Savojarna (6) - The Rink in The Gardens, New Washington D 3-3 (4th/5pts/2W-1D-2L/+2GD)
-----------------------OFF DAY-----------------------
MD6: vs Transvolcanic (UR) - The Rink in The Gardens, New Washington W 3-1 (3rd)
MD7: @Tjorl (UR) D 2-2 (3rd)
MD8: vs Recuecn (15) - The Rink in The Gardens, New Washington L 1-3 (3rd/ELIMINATED)
MD9: vs Sylestone (51) - The Rink in The Gardens, New Washington W 5-2 (3rd)
MD10: @Savojarna (6)

[Graintfjall]

To the tune of "Any Dream Will Do" from Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Hit by Felix, flew down the ice rink
“Charging!” the refs think, but the crowd cried “boo!"
Penalty box, in the corridor,
NPC West Florida, any win will do.

Torkildsson skates into some space
Screens the goal face, but the shot’s wide too
Auðunn chips in with a sharp wrist shot
His aim ain’t too hot, any win will do.

A wolfish cry, echoes tonight!
The waving flag, the blue-and-white!
Þórlaugur zooms, in from the right!
The puck goes to Jack who steers it in!
Just one more game…

And so we wait, for the final score
One game to live for, for the Ice Wolf Crew,
One goal is all, if we hold them to nought,
Which Tom really ought, any win will do.

A wolfish cry, echoes tonight!
The waving flag, the blue-and-white!
This fucking group, is oh-so-tight!
Qualifying is still in our hands!
Just one more game…

And now we have, just one more challenge
To do some damage, and slip past the HUEs
One goal is all, that we need to score
On that cold floor, any win will do!

[Banija]

A True Golden Generation- how this generation of Banijan athletes is reaching record heights in multiple sports at the same time


A Banijan basketball player after the IBC XXX Final, where Banija won their first ever IBC championship

AISSA, HANGAZA- We won't lie to you- it's a fun time to be a Banijan sports fan right now. As the national ice hockey team clinches second place in their World Cup of Hockey group, and prepare for Last 16 in Taeshan, it's time to go over this unprecedented among of recent Banijan sporting success.

This generation of athletes is certainly the greatest in Banijan history. You talk about a golden generation usually in the context of one sport. But you would want to talk about this specific generation in the context of multiple sports. In fact, in may be one of the greatest generations of sporting athletes of all-time, with the country producing elite teams in all sorts of sports, in different competitions. We're presently ranked in the top 10 in five separate sports- the World Bowl, World Cup of Hockey, the IBCs, the World Cup, and the World Baseball Classic. In the latter 3, we're ranked in the top 5.

But let's go further into this deep dive. How do we prove this? Let's take a look at how we've done in the most recently completed edition of each of these tournaments.

World Cup: World Cup 86 Qualifying- 18-0-0. World Cup 86- 5-2-0(W-D-L), champions.
World Bowl: World Bowl XL- 13-1, runner-ups. Only loss in the World Bowl Championship Game.
World Cup of Hockey: WCoH XL- Round of 16. Fell to Gyatso-Kai.
World Baseball Classic: WBC 49- group winners, fell in QFs to eventual champions Sherpaland. Winners of WBC 47, four straight QF appearances.
IBCs: IBC 30. 14-0, champions. Second straight appearance in championship game, first title. Also Silver medalists in Men's Basketball.

It is truly an insane run. We've been to the most recent finals of three major sporting tournaments, winning 2 of them. And this doesn't even include the NSCF, where we are presently in a down year, but where Loyola-Istria are still the reigning champions, having won NSCF XXI. It breeds excellence. It puts pressure on our national teams. We spoke to the national ice hockey coach, Martial Odongo, about how this effects his team.

"Well, it's great if you are a fan." He told reporters. "Lots of fun options to watch your team, you have the opportunity to watch your team compete as part of the best of the best. It doesn't effect us, on the ice. We remain a small ice hockey nation- we have our own documented challenges, and we can't spend too much time worrying about how we're doing on the hardwood or on the pitch or on the turf. We're putting all of our time and energy in overcoming our own challenges, and trying to claw past the big nations. The world's elite hockey nations- Valanora, as well as Siovanija & Teusland, are right in our subregion in the Glorious Southwest. We've gotta think about overcoming them before anything else."

He said, however, that success elsewhere might change the perception of his ice hockey team to those who are new to this sport. "That success elsewhere makes us look like a big sporting nation. And we pride ourselves in that. We expect and demand excellence from our athletes, and that is part of our success. We always demand the best, even when it looks impossible. When this program started, did anyone think we'd be anything more than a backwater? No. But we overcame our challenges. Our ambition drove us to look abroad for our players, where they were available. And because of those beauties of globalization, we are able to throw out a good, competitive team who is a tough out every single WCoH. We aren't elite- we haven't won yet at a level where we can give ourselves that term. But we are certainly good."

The national ice hockey team is in a good place. While Cassadaigua has already won their group, the national ice hockey team has clinched second place in the group, with their 1-0 win over Megistos. They will rest their goaltender for Matchday 10, as once again, Banijan hopes in the World Cup of Hockey rest on the shoulders of veteran goaltender Dewa Bangè. How far can he take them? We'll have to see. Hopefully, Singateh can play well in his lone game playing, getting the Banijans a win to set themselves up with seeding. The Round of 16 will be tough regardless- but avoiding Valanora, Siovanija & Teusland, and Mercedini in the first round is a priority for this squad.

[Kelssek]

Club exec speaks out as Coady ruled out with injury

The technical director of one of Kelssek’s top professional hockey clubs has become the latest to criticize Hockey Kelssek’s handling of the national team after Breton Emeralds centre Eamon Coady was ruled out from the rest of the tournament.

Although Kirsten Godley is responsible for hockey operations not at Coady’s team but at Faucons de Saint-Remy, her concerns with how players are managed by Hockey Kelssek while playing for the national team are shared by many club executives, she says.

Coady went public with his frustration at being asked to play with a thigh injury, saying that coach Peter Dalton told him to “just strap it up” and questioned his patriotism when he ruled himself out of the match against Ontorisa.

A member of the gold-medal winning team at the 10th Winter Olympics, Godley knows the pressures of balancing club and country. But she thinks one of the problems is there’s too much pressure on the players, and too little pressure on the management.

“The biggest example of is, look at the junior team. They went to the semi-finals of the World Championships without a lot of fanfare, under the radar, but playing good hockey and beating a lot of top-class teams. When it’s the same players going into the senior team, suddenly everything comes apart, that tells you something.”

But surely the bigger crowds and media spotlight is something that they’re still getting when they play in the KHL?

“That’s to my point really, it’s not just the bigger audience, the bigger attention, but the quality, not just the quantity. There’s a toxicity around the national team right now, maybe because people aren’t held back by club fandom from attacking players they think aren’t doing enough, or maybe even because Olympique Langlois fans will be harsher on CH Outineau players, which you see sometimes.”

Peter Dalton was initially seeing as having made a point by reinstating Riley Hesselboe as captain after a notorious falling-out with the coaching staff at World Cup of Hockey 39. While never openly confirmed, it’s widely reported that falsely reported Hesselboe as injured to justify dropping him from a knockout match, which Kelssek proceeded to lose. While it hasn’t quite gone that far, Godley says hockey fans need to demand more.

“Hockey Kelssek is really complacent about the national senior team and lets the old boys club have it their way. This is the root of the problem. They care very much about putting a team out there, but they know they’ll have the audience no matter what, and there’s no urgency to address what’s going on and why there’s no signs of progress year on year.”

[Ko-oren]

Introducing... the twelve teams of the North Coast Ice Hockey League - Ko-oren's one and only professional ice hockey league!

First of all, the format of the league stays largely the same. Twelve teams in one big group, all playing each other equally often. However, the number of rounds goes from 44 to (that's four games against each opponent: two home, two away) to 66 in the first season, easing the teams into higher operations costs as the seasons go on. Should profits be high enough to warrant even more games, the organisation might squeeze in 77 rounds. At that point, the league will have to wonder if it's viable to put the twelve teams into two separate groups of six, geographically, and let them play conference games as much as possible to keep travel costs down.

Further raising the costs to keep a team is the added travel time: it's impossible to maintain all six Aevannan teams, and several have been moved. As it turns out, several managers and owners held secret talks months, if not years in advance, for just this scenario. The historic names have been preserved as to hopefully reignite the rivalries even if the teams involved don't play in the same stadium anymore.

As promised, the following teams continue on as normal:

West Coast Blizzards are in there as always, as one of the most widespread fanbases out there. All the way from southwestern Eaglebury to most of Intermare, the Blizzards are never short on support - except for at home games, because they play in a fairly small town.

Launott Polar Bears are back as well as the marquee team of the north coast. They try to be the voice of the mainland, but have been overshadowed by the Blizzards, Ice, and Bi-State since. Despite this, they have a strong, silent fanbase.

Straudum Ice are the new big-money team on the mainland. They were a fringe team for a long time, until they capitalised on their sizable population, building a solid team with homegrown players and big Aerellen names alike.

Noordrug Bi-State were on the list to get cut. This team relies heavily on their nostalgia factor, as the first mainland team included in the competition, based in a handful of small towns in the far northeast. They were eventually saved by a group of local investors, as well as some help from Straudum and Lamau-Dartha who both have a worthy rival in Noordrug.

Egevea Islanders is the biggest team from Aerellen's second city, and as such were allowed to stay. Their cross-town rivalry with the Northerners is unfortunately over, which might either decrease the hype for this team, or draw more fans of what was previously the Egevea Northerners.

South Aevanna Storm are the first of three Aevannan teams that were allowed to stay. The Storm have invested in their suburban fanbase heavily, and hope to take over what's left of the Mariners fanbase as well. They have the most sound finances and front office, but the product on the ice is not fantastic just yet.

Aevanna Scouts are the biggest team in the league and were propped up no matter what. Their rivalry with the Explorers was allowed to stay with the Explorers merging. The Scouts have the largest budget, most fans, and should continue to dominate the competition.

Aevanna Plains Wanderers are the strangest team in the league. The product of several smaller suburban merges, the Wanderers have played throughout many towns outside Aevanna (hence the nickname). They play some of their games in the open, which is the biggest source of animosity towards this team. Despite operating from Aevanna in name, they haven't developed a rivalry with any other team in the city. Which makes sense, they're only Aevannan in name.

The following team has merged:

Aevanna Explorers have merged with the Aevanna Bay Mariners, continuing under the Explorers name. It was a tough decision, but the Mariners have eventually given up their name in favour of the famous Explorers-Scouts rivalry. The combined team should become the second-largest in the league behind the Scouts, pending further development of the mainland teams (the Blizzards, Ice, and Hunters specifically).

The following team has moved:

Serevne Northerners, formerly the Egevea Northerners, have moved further north, finally making their nickname come true. Serevne is already home to several lower league teams in gridiron and soccer, and has a proud sporting history. The towns on the northeasternmost island band together to make the Northerners a success.

Lamau-Dartha Hunters are a new team, filling the void between the Ice and the Bi-State. Operating on Lamau's IT and service sector money and Dartha's population, they are an immediate rival to Straudum Ice and have the largest operational budget.

Arboren Vortex are located on the southernmost island of Aerellen, which somehow didn't have a team yet. If this is a success, and another team has trouble maintaining a presence, we might see another team relocate to this island. The Vortex will play in a market that has been starved of ice hockey - maybe too much, and the sport will have to conquer the market all over again.

And that means that the following team has folded:

Southwest Aevanna Rangers were too proud to join in with the Mariners-Explorers merger, and didn't want to merge with the young organisations of the Storm or the Wanderers, and they surely didn't want to aid the Scouts. They eventually opted to leave the league, play on their own in a future semi-pro or amateur league. Their players will be signed by the teams that will make the jump into the pro game.

[Mercedini]

#21 MERCEDINI
Evangeline Venrahma - "The Places We Missed"
Tune: Becky Hill, WEISS - "I Could Get Used To This"
Music: M. Nebzi • Lyrics: E. Venrahma

After multiple edtions of absence from the WorldVision stage, Mercedini will finally grace the stage once again for the 86th edition in Oreo City, Antahbrantahstan. It has been fourteen edition since Ylinqar's triumph in Lipa, Besen, and for a nation with such pedigree in these international competitions, they have been seldom seen since then (apart from one further appearance which placed outside of the Top 10). It is hoped Dini can pick up where they left off on the international stage with a good performance here. Artists come and go on the Mercedinian scene, and there was plenty of speculation as to who would represent Mercedini for their return to where it all began. Former Junior World Hit Festival participants Whiskers and IO were expected to feature in the hopeful line-up, but it was ultimately the surprise choice of Evangeline Venrahma who will fly the Dinian flag in Antahbrantahstan.

A former backing singer for previous participants, Venrahma will now take centre stage for the first time with her song, "The Places We Missed". Marketed as a Coronavirus anthem domestically, Mercedini has overcome the limitations that the recent virus has put on the nation and its people. and becoming one of the first nations in the multiverse to detect it's presence and curb social contact as a result. While some nations may still be effected by it's reach, the song's premise is based around coming together to overcome the global situation and reach out to those businesses and institutions which have suffered greatly under current restrictions. Results are very likely to become secondary to the occasion of Mercedini returning, ENM will pull out all of the stops to provide a show to Venrahma's song, it will be the litmus test to any future songs that the blue and black nation sends to future contests.

The song begins with the opening piano chords ringing around the arena in Oreo City, with the camera floating high in the centre of the arena making a slow moving sweep forward to approach the stage. A setting of an empty road in the daytime fills the back portion of the stage with a black figure in the centre of the stage not yet lit by the stage lights. Two backing singers are located to the right hand side of the stage, the crowd cheers as the contest welcomes Mercedini back into the fray. The stage lights slowly brighten Evangeline on stage, who is wearing a flowing baby blue dress with the lower sections flowing thanks to a faint breeze blowing across the stage floors.

Eva stands as the solitary figure on stage as she holds her chest steady for the first verse, she looks down and at an angle away from the central camera as it films her for the viewers at home. A wry smile appears on her face as the Mercedinian members of the crowd cheer and clap along to the faint beat of the song. At the end of the first verse, she offers her hand to the audience at home as it focuses out to a blur before cutting to another angle for the first pre-chorus of the song.

Do you remember when the world was not suffering?
When we could thrive as one
All the challenges we meet are faltering
Stay true so we can be as one

A camera just off centre pans inward towards the singer as she looks to face it, before the angle flips to the same position on the other side of the arena, with the same panning motion for each half of the first line of the connector. She walks backward following that as the central camera zooms in as wall for the second line, Eva has her hand out to the camera, as if to stop it's eternal advancement towards the performer. A camera above the stage dives down and rotates before dropping level with Eva as she kneels down onto the stage floor which is showing a projection of grey tarmac to match the screen at the back of the stage, still showing the empty daytime street.

Tears have been cried, but we’ve learned to grow
But some in the end will have to let go
We create all these moments; how can they exist?
I hope we’ll get back there…

Still kneeling, she looks down and raises her fist in the air as she belts out the final line before the drop. Following that, she quickly jumps up and looks around the stage; left, right and behind her briefly interacting with the changing screens around her. Those changes come in the shape of faint ghostly figures of people walking along the sheets behind and around her. They can be seen behind her and walking in front of her, thanks to some graphics put onto the camera feed itself. Brief shots of the backing singers are seen as well when it is there turn to sing (in brackets and italicised).

Back to the places we missed
The lonely roads, the empty streets
All the places we missed
(All the places we missed)
The open doors, we reminisced
All the places we missed
(All the places we missed)

Lights around the stage pulse in waves as the instrumental part of the chorus belts out around the arena, the piano chords and the drum beats are matched by the lights as flags begin to wave from the audience beneath. Several sweeping shots across the arena later and the stage has reset itself for the second verse of the song. The apparitions of people have faded out, as the light begins to fade on the street behind Eva for the second verse to begin.

Fairly lights which line the numerous buildings behind her are turned on, creating a road of magic and light which trails back as far as the eye can see. Eva stands in front of all that and has her back to the audience as she stares at the screen behind her, looking at the scene which slowly fades away. The lights which line the way fade out to leave a dark and desolate road with no vehicles or people to be seen. She quickly turns to face the front camera with concern on her face, her messy hair put back into place by a single comb of her hand.

I don’t know if we can all get through this
We need more than just trust
Yeah, we must grow so we all overcome the risks
Be true between our love

Eva walks forward towards the centre of the stage, with the camera at the bottom of the stage slowly sweeping across the edge of the stage to track the Mercedinian as she moves forward. The backing singers are more pronounced for the second pre-chorus with one adding emphasis to Eva's words, while the other is adding emphasis to the melody of the song. Cafe tables and signs begin to create themselves from the dust which flies up from the road, adding new life to a once empty street of closed down shops. A young man in a light navy suit (matching the colour of Eva's dress) walks on behind her and the two look into each other's eyes before the second chorus begins.

Tears have been cried, but we’ve learned to grow
But some in the end will have to let go
We create all these moments, how can they exist?
I wish to get back there…

Eva belts out the title line of the song and the two performers dance together in a type of quick ballroom (sorry I don't watch Strictly) to the beat of the song. Plenty of flags are flying high by now, including those from Novapax nations. A high angled shot takes in the entire arena with some fans bouncing in the standing areas, with those in the stands clapping along and waving their flags, The choreography is delicately balanced to allow Eva to sing without impediment and without incorporating the arm and hand which holds the microphone. As the second instrumental approaches, Eva hands the microphone over to her dance partner as the dance break comes back in.

Back to the places we missed
The lonely roads, the empty streets
All the places we missed
(All the places we missed)
The open doors, we reminisced
All the places we missed
(All the places we missed)

Lights around the stage pulse in waves as the second instrumental part of the chorus belts out around the arena, the piano chords and the drum beats are matched by the lights as flags begin to wave from the audience beneath. It's more of the same graphics with more people flooding the streets behind the pair as they dance more freely since Eva doesn't have the pressure to sing. A camera enters the stage floor and circles the pair as they hold each other dance together around the stage with the crowd watching on in the background.

Eva grabs the microphone just in time for the words to come back into the play for the end of the dance break, as Eva sings to the central camera in the arena. The man stands of to the side but isn't captured by the camera, the wind is blowing towards Eva which ripples her dress elegantly. The light's subside for the final chorus as she steadies herself to belt out the note of the song, and possible the night.

Yeah, all the places we missed.
And I know it will be hard to persist
And I know that they’re the ones with the burden
But they’re gonna be the places we miss
Yeah we miss, we miss (Ooooooooohhh)

Blinding light fills the stage as the note resonates into the final chorus of the song, when that subsides, the street which was empty for most of the song is filled with bustling people, the shops have many people leaving and entering and the cafe seats are full with families and couples. Night has fallen in the setting of the street, but it is still illuminated by the crescent moon and the warm glow of the streetlights up above. Eva continues to sing to the audience in the arena, with a slight strain on her face as she adds further intensity to the end of the song. With her final line, she turns to the young man who is walking back towards her. She drops the mic to the stage floor and let's the backing singers finish the song with their final line.

The lonely roads, the empty streets
All the places we missed
(All the places we missed)
The open doors, we reminisced
All the places we missed
(Ooh-oh oo-woah-ah, All the places we missed)

One final explosion of light and colour as the song concludes with one final dance break, as the two main performers lock arms once again and waltz around the stage. Fireworks of many colours fly high behind the street, bathing the street and stage in colour as it cuts through the night sky. The people which were in the shops and cafe are now crowding round, almost as if to watch the two Mercedinians dance their dance for their nation tonight. Flags are waving as the stage lights illuminate the rest of the arena, some in the stands are now on their feet clapping along. To finish the performance, Eva stands in front of the young man and the two smile and look into the central camera as it zooms in to fit the screen.

The crowd cheer following an accomplished performance from the Mercedinian, she blows a kiss to the crowd as she walks forward with her hand on her heart. "Grazije, Thank You Antah!! It's good to be back!" she thanks the crowd in Mercedinian and English as flags from a multitude of nations fly high in the crowd. A quick cut to a group of Mercedinains chanting Eva's name are shown on screen, dressed in blue and black, before a transition is made to the next participating nation, live from Oreo City in Antahbrantahstan.

[HUElavia]

Late Victory keeps HUElavian Dreams Alive!

HUElavia 5-4 Poafmersia
(OfficeMart Center, Curumba)

HUElavia entered Matchday 9 needing a victory in order to stay alive in World Cup of Hockey 41 after experiencing two shocking defeats to Poafmersia and Graintfjall, each by the scoreline of 4-1. The team was playing their Final home game at the OfficeMart Center (18,500), in front of a very rabid, yet passionate HUElavian crowd. This time against Poafmersia, in what is a historic match for the National Hockey Team. Los Amarillos/Os Amarelos came in desperate, where anything less than a victory would spell an early elimination for the team. Vasilevskiy was once again entrusted to be in front of the goal, while the main line was in play. The puck dropped and the match was underway in what was a do-or-die moment.

The 1st Period saw 3 goals getting scored in good angles. The opening goal was in the 4th minute, as Companioni got the puck and gave a fake shot, only to pass it to Roux who gave a strong shot to slip it past REDACTED and into the goal to make it 1-0. Eventually, half way in the period, REDACTED took a violent shot that was blocked by Vasilevskiy, only for REDACTED to appear in the rebound to put it in the goal, making it 1-1. Late in the period, a counter attack came, where Garcon-Chevalier passed to Ovetchkin, who wrapped around the net, passing it to Dominguez-Garcia, where he took a shot that left REDACTED scrambling as it went into the goal, making it 2-1. The 2nd Period saw an early goal, as a powerplay was called, and REDACTED took a shot from distance, only to go past Ilchenko and Companioni as Vasilevskiy couldn't reach in time, going into the goal to make it 2-2. HUElavia responded, and 50 seconds later, as Bourgeois slid past REDACTED to go one-on-one with REDACTED, giving a chip over the Poafmersian goalie to put the puck into the goal to make it 3-2. Despite this, the lead was not safe, as late in the period, REDACTED got the puck and gave a strong shot that had Vasilevskiy scrambling and REDACTED tipped the puck into the goal to make it 3-3. In the 3rd Period, another counter attack was Carvalho skated past REDACTED and REDACTED to try to tip the puck in, only to be blocked, but Kariya got on the rebound and blasted it into the goal to make it 4-3. Poafmersia would respond minutes later as they pushed forward, looking to get into the goal, where REDACTED passed to REDACTED, who went around the goal and passed it to REDACTED, who sent a one-timer into the goal, making it 4-4. Time ticked away, the crowd getting more and more silent as it looked like a draw was going to be final result. The final minute of play came in, with HUElavia attacking hard, and Vasilevskiy was pulled for Carmo to get on the ice. The team sent shots in and in, keeping the attack going, when Carmo gave a shot which had the teams fighting for it in front of net, only for Giroux to get the puck and blast it past REDACTED into the goal to make it 5-4 with 3.2 seconds left. The crowd erputed and jumped with passion, while Giroux was mobbed by his teammates, with Kernkraft 400 blasting in the arena. Shortly after, the match ended 5-4, with the crowd celebrating the team staying alive in the tournament.

With the victory, HUElavia reclaim 2nd Place with 12 Points and a record of 6-0-3. Neu Engolion won Group B after obliterating Bleronia with the score of 0-6, winning it with 16 Points (7-2-0). Poafmersia drop to 3rd Place with 10 Points (4-2-3) while Graintfjall has options in 4th Place with 10 Points (4-2-3) after defeating NPC West Florida 1-0. Thus, HUElavia travels to Neu Engolion, where a single point will clinch their place to the Round-of-16, or a victory will also be more than enough. Graintfjall and Poafmersia will also play against each other, with that game ending in a draw would be enough for HUElavia to advance, regardless of how their game against Neu Engolion ends. The team is training hard to play well, while the fans hope and pray for a miracle to advance to the Knockouts. Here's to finishing strong and advancing to the Round-of-16 and keeping our dreams alive.

FORCA HUELAVIA! VAMOS HUELAVIA! GO HUELAVIA!

[Graintfjall]

Two things are reaching their exciting conclusions in Græntfjall. The World Cup of Hockey qualification period, and the election.

Taking advantage of this confluence, some of the bigger parties have purchased air time for Party Political Broadcasts to air during World Cup broadcasts. The first two are set to air during, respectively, the first and second intermissions of the Poafmersia game.

---

Dark forbidding music plays. Open on a sea shore. The waters are calm and lap gently at a rocky promontory, atop which a lighthouse, with a prominent Blue-and-White flag fluttering lightly in the breeze, casts its steady beam. The light falls upon a boat, illuminating a landing craft crowded with huddled masses. They are recognizably ‘not ethnically or culturally Græntfjaller’, straight out of ‘brown people central casting’. The boat comes in to shore and hauls up. The ramp falls down and the people swarm out onto the beach.

Sinister voice-over: “Our borders are overrun.”

Cut to a crowded doctor’s reception. A photogenic young blonde woman (who looks tired but in a way where she’s still a solid 7/10) is cradling a gently crying young blonde child. She looks up hopefully when a nurse steps out, but the nurse ignores her. Instead, a large family, who are very much not blonde, begin trooping past her to see the doctor. Dispirited, the young woman slouches down, as her child cries louder.

“Our public services are overrun.”

Cut to a blonde family, mom-dad-two-kids, stand amid in a dirty street piled with rubbish. Hooded youths in bulky jackets are tussling in the foreground, wrestling one another to the ground, throwing trash around. One swigs from a bottle, another is yanking on the arm of a scared looking girl.

“Our neighorhoods are overrun.”

Cut to a line of people (all most definitely ethnically Græntfjaller) in a long queue. They look miserable, cowering as though queueing for a soup kitchen. A burqa-clad woman with a triple stroller and three squalling babies inside passes them from one direction, a hooded youth appears from the other direction and shouts abuse at a frail old woman who flinches back.

“But there’s one place they can’t overrun.”

Suddenly the picture brightens into full, blaring color. The music switches to upbeat light classical. The ‘other’ figures scamper away as the line of proud Græntfjallers stand a little straighter, with new smiles and bearing. They step forward as the camera pans to reveal a ‘Voting Station’ sign above the door. At the door, a photogenic young teller with a royal blue rosette smiles and welcomes the old woman from before through the door.

“A vote to protect our borders.”

Quick cut to another landing craft approaching the shore, only for a military vessel to skim in, guns bristling.

“A vote to restore our public services.”

Quick cut to the young woman, smiling as the nurse bends to take the child from her. The waiting room is suddenly much cleaner, brighter, and conspicuously empty.

“A vote to retake our neighborhoods.”

Quick cut to the roving band of youths being shepherded into a police van with varying degrees of brutality applied. The street is suddenly clean and brightly lit, and the blonde family smiling, the children at last able to kick a soccerball back and forth in the street. Cut back to the line of voters progressing with increasing speed into the voting booth.

“A vote for the National Democratic Front.”

As the line of voters progresses, the last voter in line steps out of line and approaches the camera. He comes into focus as Sigjón Þjóðbjörnsson, leader of the National Democratic Front, dressed in a smart-but-cheap suit with a prominent royal blue rosette.

“This summer, we’ll be the ones who overrun the ballot box,” he says. His husband appears from behind him, embraces him (in pretty chaste fashion, it must be said) and together they smile for the camera.

---

An upbeat G-pop song plays, the lyrics indistinct. The screen is brightly lit: it’s a warm sunny day [the advert was actually filmed overseas in a country that has a better relationship with the concept of ‘summer’]. A group of photogenic young people – perfectly gender-balanced, ethnically diverse, one of them in a wheelchair, two of them obviously a same-sex couple are sitting on a verdant field [seriously, this was filmed, like, on the complete other side of the world] laughing and joking. From off camera, a bright pink frisbee flies into view and lands among them. Two of them, one man and one woman (though both are white) reach for the frisbee at the same time, clasping it from either side. The man wears muted blues, the woman a bright red top. He is on the right, she on the left.

Warm, optimistic voice-over: “We know what it’s like to feel the push and pull from both sides!”

The young man and woman lightly tug-o-war over the frisbee, though with playful grins. The woman wins the ‘fight’ and clasps the pink frisbee to her chest. The camera zooms in until pink fills the screen.

Dissolve to scenes illustrating the following voice-over: happy patients speaking with caring doctors in brightly lit, unrealistically spacious ward rooms; a teacher leading an enthusiastic class, all raising their hands eager to answer; a young man who seems alarmingly happy about having no legs being wheeled out of hospital by an equally inexplicably cheery young woman; Kaija Michaelsdóttir in a hard-hat talking to a forewoman as behind her workers install solar panels.

“We worked with the Left to deliver 10,000 new doctors. To give our hard working teachers the pay increase they deserve. To pass the biggest ever veterans’ care build for our brave heroes returning from defending our great country. To invest in the green energy sources that will power our children’s dreams.”

We snap back and somehow the man has won the frisbee back. The atmosphere is still playful as he grasps it to his own chest. Again we zoom in to a pink dissolve.

More illustrative scenes play out. A family in a pristine kitchen gather around as father opens an envelope with evident delight, showing the paper to his beaming family; a young woman in a business seat rises to shake the hand of two men in suits across the table in an office, the words ‘Business Plan’ on a whiteboard behind her; a gleaming new high-speed train whistles past an excited class of young children who jump up and down waving at it; Kaija Michaelsdóttir, in combat fatigues, is talking with some soldiers who are demonstrating some form of air defense weapon to her.

“We worked with the Right to cut income taxes for every family. To triple the regional development fund for start-up businesses. To complete the Trans-Græntfjall SuperExpress Route on time and under budget. To invest in truly modern technology fit for our brave men and women who risk their lives to defend us.”

Snap back to the frisbee. Once more both of their hands are on it. After a little more light tugging, suddenly Kaija Michaelsdóttir, in the flesh, steps into view. She gently takes the frisbee from them, and they step back.

“But now, we’d really like to plot our own course. The Progressive Liberals have worked with Left and Right. This time, give us your vote, and we’ll fly on our own.”

She whips the frisbee off into the air and after a quick, slightly janky, CGI transition, we follow along a frisbee eye’s view looking down over the park as we see figures from before, the soldier in the wheelchair sharing a beer with some of the other soldiers, children from the class playing soccerball with the children from the train. The frisbee soars off into the distance.

Voice-over: “It’s time for the Progressive Liberals to take the lead.”

[Taeshan]

And then there was a Group Stage final cutoff.

Group A
The Frozen Forrest 0–3 Lorenthia
Mercedini 6–6 Ranoria
Elejamie 0–2 Taeshan

Group A                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Mercedini                     10    7   3   0    34   20  +14    17
2 Taeshan                       10    6   1   3    17   13   +4    13
3 Lorenthia                     10    3   3   4    17   17    0     9
4 Ranoria                       10    2   4   4    17   20   −3     8
5 The Frozen Forrest            10    3   1   6    10   20  −10     7
6 Elejamie                      10    2   2   6     9   14   −5     6

Group B
NPC West Florida 2–2 Bleronia
Neu Engollon 0–1 HUElavia
Poafmersia 1–0 Graintfjall

Group B                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Neu Engollon                  10    7   2   1    29   12  +17    16
2 HUElavia                      10    7   0   3    23   20   +3    14
3 Poafmersia                    10    5   2   3    24   21   +3    12
4 Graintfjall                   10    4   2   4     8    6   +2    10
5 NPC West Florida              10    0   5   5    12   23  −11     5
6 Bleronia                      10    0   3   7    14   28  −14     3

Group C
Sylestone 4–1 Tjorl
Transvolcanic 0–1 Reçueçn
Savojarna 2–1 TJUN-ia

Group C                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Reçueçn                       10    8   2   0    24    8  +16    18
2 Savojarna                     10    7   3   0    34   19  +15    17
3 TJUN-ia                       10    4   2   4    26   22   +4    10
4 Transvolcanic                 10    3   1   6    20   29   −9     7
5 Sylestone                     10    3   0   7    25   30   −5     6
6 Tjorl                         10    0   2   8    14   35  −21     2

Group D
Siovanija and Teusland 4–3 Austrakia
Terre Septentrionale 1–1 Royal Kingdom of Quebec
United Hemand Insia 1–3 New Waldensia

Group D                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Siovanija and Teusland        10    8   2   0    41   16  +25    18
2 New Waldensia                 10    6   1   3    22   21   +1    13
3 Royal Kingdom of Quebec       10    3   4   3    22   20   +2    10
4 Terre Septentrionale          10    3   2   5    19   21   −2     8
5 Austrakia                     10    2   2   6    13   25  −12     6
6 United Hemand Insia           10    1   3   6    11   25  −14     5

Group E
Cassadaigua 7–3 Megistos
Banija 0–0 Rwekazaland
Fluvannia 2–1 Northwest Kalactin

Group E                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Cassadaigua                   10    9   1   0    52   18  +34    19
2 Banija                        10    6   2   2    16    8   +8    14
3 Fluvannia                     10    4   4   2    22   20   +2    12
4 Megistos                      10    2   3   5    19   31  −12     7
5 Rwekazaland                   10    1   3   6    18   32  −14     5
6 Northwest Kalactin            10    1   1   8     9   27  −18     3

Group F
Silvedonia 1–6 Gyatso-Kai
Valanora 4–2 Tikariot
Kohnhead 2–3 -Anthor-

Group F                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Valanora                      10    8   1   1    38   17  +21    17
2 Gyatso-Kai                    10    7   2   1    39   16  +23    16
3 -Anthor-                      10    4   2   4    19   27   −8    10
4 Tikariot                      10    1   5   4    21   31  −10     7
5 Kohnhead                      10    2   3   5    21   29   −8     7
6 Silvedonia                    10    0   3   7    11   29  −18     3

Group G
The Fortem 4–5 Abanhfleft
Equestria 1–0 Ontorisa
Kelssek 0–1 Flekkefjord

Group G                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Abanhfleft                    10    6   2   2    34   22  +12    14
2 Equestria                     10    6   1   3    25   15  +10    13
3 Kelssek                       10    5   1   4    20   21   −1    11
4 The Fortem                    10    3   2   5    21   25   −4     8
5 Flekkefjord                   10    2   3   5    19   26   −7     7
6 Ontorisa                      10    3   1   6    20   30  −10     7

Group Winner Standings

Group H
Chromatika 1–0 United States of Devonta
Ko-oren 2–0 Gergary
Nova Anglicana 3–5 Vilita and Turori

Group H                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Ko-oren                       10    7   2   1     8    1   +7    16
2 Vilita and Turori             10    6   1   3    19   12   +7    13
3 Nova Anglicana                10    4   1   5    17   19   −2     9
4 United States of Devonta      10    3   2   5    12   15   −3     8
5 Chromatika                    10    4   0   6     6   10   −4     8
6 Gergary                       10    3   0   7     6   11   −5     6

Top Seed Standings
1 Cassadaigua 19 Points
2 Siovanija and Teusland 18 Points (+25)
3 Reçueçn 18 Points (+16)
4 Valanora 17 Points (+21)
5 Mercedini 17 Points (+14)
6 Neu Engollon 16 Points (+17)
7 Ko-oren 16 Points (+7)
8 Abanhfleft 14 Points

Second Place Standings
9 Savojarna 17 Points
10 Gyatso-Kai 16 Points
11 Banija 14 Points (+8)
12 HUElavia 14 Points (+3)
13 Equestria 13 Points (+10)
14 Vilita and Turori 13 Points (+7)
15 Taeshan 13 Points (+4)
16 New Waldensia (+1)

So your first round Playoff Matchups

1 Cassadaigua vs New Waldensia 16
8 Abanhfleft vs Savojarna 9
Winners Advance to Winners Quarterfinal 1, Losers to Losers Quarterfinal 1
Both games played at Ice Palace (Greenville, Atlantea Island home of the Atlantea-Greenville IceWolves)

4 Valanora vs Equestria 13
5 Mercedini vs HUElavia 12
Winners Advance to Winners Quarterfinal 2, Losers to Losers Quarterfinal 2
Both games played at X Island Metro Arena (X Island, X Island, home of the X Island Avalanche)

3 Reçueçn vs Vilita and Turori 14
6 Neu Engollon vs Banija 11
Winners Advance to Winners Quarterfinal 3, Losers to Losers Quarterfinal 3
Both games played at New Capetown Center for Excellence (New Capetown, Cape Island, home of the New Capetown Red Wings)

2 Siovanija and Teusland vs Taeshan 15
7 Ko-oren vs Gyatso-Kai
Winners Advance to Winners Quarterfinal 4, Losers to Losers Quarterfinal 4
Both games played at Waterworks Arena (Laketown, Lake Island, home of Laketown Deep)

Reminder tomorrow is an off day, and there will be offdays between the rest of the scorinations.

[Gyatso-kai]

An ASPN Production, Brought to you on ASPN.co.gki

Sundari, Gyatso-kai --- Aaron Yitsune

Ice Bisons Take Second! ADVANCE ON TO THE PLAYOFFS!

In a show of force worthy of a push to the end, the Ice Bisons took on Silvedonia, allowing a goal early in the first period, and then firing back with six straight unanswered goals to take the game 6-1 and solidifying the teams place at second in Group F. Unfortunately, the Calcuttas of Valanora were not put off from their defeat the matchday prior enough to lose control against Tikariot; the Vanorians squeaked out a 4-2 victory in their final matchday of the Group stage against a team that they handily defeated 4-1 in the first half of the stage. Some were surprised to see the Calcuttas not silence the Owls, and to only win a game by a pair calls into question what will happen in the next round…

Speaking of the next round, why don’t we take a look at the matchup awaiting the Ice Bisons.

Looks like we are repeating tradition.

That’s right. The Ice Bisons are facing off against the Dragonflies of Ko-oren.

It’s almost as if the gods want to spite us.

In their respective group stages, the Ice Bisons and the Dragonflies both wrangled 16 points; the Ice Bisons placing second and the Dragonflies securing first. Of course, the Dragonflies were in Group H, which was comprised of the following teams:

• Nova Anglicana_UR
• United States of Devonta₂₁
• Gergary ₃₇
• Vilita and Turori₁₁
• Chromatika₆₀

Group H is certainly a far cry more challenging than our own group. With two of the multi-verse’s strongest sports regions comprising the majority of the group, Ko-oren also only faced one unranked opponent. The rest of the group was top line; Devonta and Gergary are Top 40 teams, and Vilita & Turori is a Top 15 team that certainly has the championship pedigree to be a consistent and constant threat for any team that faces them.

In Group F, there were two unranked teams – Tikariot and Silvedonia – battling it out with -Anthor- and Kohnhead, who are both Top 50, but only separated by ten places. Valanora and Gyatso-kai are both Top 10 teams, with Valanora carrying the weight of six World Cups with them. Gyatso-kai, with one lone victory in World Cup XXIII, certainly doesn’t have the storied history of their group rival, however, that meant little in terms of how the team played.

So… looking to the next match…

To say we haven’t been in this situation before would be laughable.

• World Cup XXI Group 2, Matchday 01 – WIN 3-2
• World Cup XXI Group 2, Matchday 05 – WIN 2-1
• World Cup XXIV Round of 24, Game 1 – LOSS 2-3
• World Cup XXIV Round of 24, Game 2 – WIN 2-0
• World Cup XXIV Round of 24, Game 3 – LOSS 0-0 (2-0 SO) ELIMINATED
• World Cup XXV Round of 16. Game 1 – WIN 1-0
• World Cup XXV Round of 16, Game 2 – LOSS 0-1
• World Cup XXV Round of 26, Game 3 – LOSS 0-2 ELIMINATED
• World Cup XXXIX Group G – LOSS 0-1

Despite our fanbases’ love of nations such as Quebec, Cotdelapoms, Neu Engollon, and Havl, we have played against no team as much as we have our far-off and distant neighbor of Ko-oren. In fact, there is already plans in the works to host a live watch party at the Sundari Times Forum, and you can be sure that the Ko-oren flag shall be flown from the rafters and the audience will stand for the national anthem. Sure, during the game there will be calls for bloodshed, for murder, for beatings the likes of which most moral men shall never experience, but before the first puck drops and after the final horn sounds for the game, Avatarian fans hold nothing but love and respect for their Ko-orenite rivals.

---

Copyright 2020.3 Avatarian Sports Programming Network. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
URL: http://www.aspn.com.gk/articles/ahl/26210131
© 2020 Avatarian Sports Programming Network

[Ko-oren]

Mum! It's doing it again!

Like a broken record, every World Cup of Hockey skips to a single fixture at some point. The Ice Bisons versus the Dragonflies. It doesn't help that Gyatso-Kai's and Ko-oren's results mirror each other so much that inevitably the two run into one another. One won its group by scoring eight goals across ten games, conceding just one in the process - surely one of the more confusing goal stats in the WCOH's history - while the other cruised easily to second place but was just short of beating Valanora for first. The Avatarians scored 39 goals in their 10 games, and equalled Ko-oren's production over the first nine in round 10 (1-6 win over Silvedonia).

Meanwhile, the Dragonflies beat their record for largest win margin with a 2-0 victory over Gergary. Goals from Ailinia (his first of the tournament) and Eriren (his third) secured an easy victory, very different from the cheek-clenching action of the first nine rounds. Somehow, by showing the absolute least possible effort, the team rolls 'comfortably' into first place in the group and now deservedly see one of the better Pot 2 teams. We'll always say that Gyatso-Kai is our rival and must be beaten, but at the same time, the Avatarians are always welcome on the Dragonfly Archipelago to watch this game with us.

As the home team, we'll suit up in green, the Ice Bisons will appear in their white jerseys ("basically camo" as it has been described by several Ko-orenite defencemen).

During the last World Cup, the meeting between the two never came. Ko-oren lost in the quarterfinals to Savojarna while Gyatso-Kai would eventually end up in the semifinals, seizing bronze and with that eclipsing anything Ko-oren has ever done at this event. In the World Cup before that, the Ice Bisons dropped out in the group stage, but we were in Group G together (1-0 win). The attention in that 39th World Cup was directed at Banija who would eliminate us in the knockouts. In the 38th, Ko-oren's run in the knockouts went through Savojarna and ended with Neu Engollon. The Ice Bisons' run up the rankings was swift and powerful, much like their team, who didn't participate in the 37th. To see the two teams this close together (and them likely overtaking us in the rankings if we don't get to the semis...) is the dream of those ice hockey nostalgians: Gyatso-Kai, after all, had already won a WCOH earlier on. At that time, Ko-oren was the team on the rise, quickly moving into the top 20, and later, top 10. The fun also comes from the numerous run-ins in other sports: mere days ago, the football Dragonflies won the Round of 24 matchup in the AOCAF.

The push for the Dragonflies to finally win some metal is getting stronger. We've seen this team get to the quarterfinals time and time again, only to lose it every single time. The same few teams seem to end our run, too. Let's hope that we can play spoiler to a rival again and then face... Taeshan or Siovanija and Teusland. Hmm, not a great prospect.

[TJUN-ia]

With nothing to play for, the Jags looked to at least take something from Savojarna but that wasn't happening, wasn't it.

Eythor Malinsson got the first goal in the first. The second saw Julian Visipils get his 13th and final goal of the campaign, a record many in the future will struggle to even match. The game was won by the hosts in the 3rd, by team captain and defenceman Erik Kristiansen.

We finished 3rd overall with 4 wins, 2 draws and 4 loses. 10 points are alright, but its 7 points behind the top 2 in the group. Ølson Rasmussen tried but he failed and the IHT has issued a warning: if you don't make the playoffs in your third attempt, you may be gone by WCoH43. It will be interesting to see how a coach performs when he knows he could be on the chopping block 2 years down the line. GO JAGS!

---

SCHEDULE (Group C)
MD1: @Transvolcanic (UR) - VIC Hockey Arena, Volkansfort L 3-4 (T-4th)
MD2: vs Tjorl (UR) - The Rink in The Gardens, New Washington W 3-0 (4th)
MD3: @Recuecn (15) L 1-2 (4th)
MD4: @Sylestone (51) W 4-3 (4th)
MD5: vs Savojarna (6) - The Rink in The Gardens, New Washington D 3-3 (4th/5pts/2W-1D-2L/+2GD)
-----------------------OFF DAY-----------------------
MD6: vs Transvolcanic (UR) - The Rink in The Gardens, New Washington W 3-1 (3rd)
MD7: @Tjorl (UR) D 2-2 (3rd)
MD8: vs Recuecn (15) - The Rink in The Gardens, New Washington L 1-3 (3rd/ELIMINATED)
MD9: vs Sylestone (51) - The Rink in The Gardens, New Washington W 5-2 (3rd)
MD10: @Savojarna (6)L 1-2 (3rd/10ts/4W-2D-4L/+4GD)

[Mercedini]

World Cup of Hockey Knockout Rounds
Upper Bracket First Round: Mercedini vs. HUElavia
@ X Island Metro Arena - X Island, Taeshan

All eyes turn to rinks around Taeshan with the commencement of the knockout rounds,

World Cup of Hockey: Gotta Stay High All The Time

---

Good Evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome back to another hockey special of Mercedini Sports Daily, tonight reporting from the beautiful X Island in Taeshan. Following two draws in their final two games of the group stage. Mercedini experienced a dip in form and a drop in momentum as they cruised to a Group A win, as the Kingfishers recorded seven wins and three draws. Their first place finish in the group mean they went into the Upper Bracket First Round draw as a seeded team, and were guaranteed to face a team who could only come up second best over their ten games. In the end, it was a familiar face for their opening match of the knockouts, with HUElavia hoping to transfer their feats on the football pitch over to the hockey rink. Remember, Mercedini obviously want to win to have a run in the upper bracket, but a loss will not be the end of the world, it will just mean they drop to the lower bracket at this very early stage. Ultimately though, two losses for any team will mean the end of the road for the 41st edition.

The draw for the first knockout round of proceeding was one filled with many of the usual suspects of the hockey playing world, with the initial lack of surprises following through to the end of the group stage. Indeed, the only team outside of the top two pots is New Waldensia, who qualified from Pot 4 at the expense of Quebec, and who will go into proceedings as the natural's favourite. Any big scalp taken by the 'The Avalanche' means a life taken from one of our rivals, and could make the path for the Kingfishers a lot easier (provided they don't lose themselves). However, most Mercedinian eyes will be fixated on Bloc 2, which has the aforementioned Mercedini vs. HUElavia tie, but also Valanora vs. Equestria, where Dini will face the corresponding nation who matches their result (i.e. winner vs winner, loser vs loser).

Upper Bracket First Round Matches:

Cassadaigua vs New Waldensia
Abanhfleft vs Savojarna
Ice Palace - Greenville, Atlantea Island

Valanora vs Equestria
Mercedini vs HUElavia
X Island Metro Arena - X Island, X Island

Reçueçn vs Vilita and Turori
Neu Engollon vs Banija
New Capetown Center For Excellence - New Capetown, Cape Island

Siovanija and Teusland vs Taeshan
Ko-oren vs Gyatso-Kai
Waterworks Arena - Laketown, Lake Island

Our bloc features four nations who are more than capable of putting together a run at this tournament, however the clear favourite out of the four would be Valanora. The Calcuttas came into the tournament ranked at the 3rd best team in the multiverse, with all other teams emanating from Pot 2 (in or around the Top 10). Furthermore, they have the edge both on paper and in terms of momentum, with Valanora advancing from their group early on before being involved a solid scrap with fellow qualifier Gyatso-Kai, a single point separating the two qualifiers from Group H.

With the lack of surprise qualifiers from the group stage, it means that most of the blocs are stacked with talent and promise, and sadly, some of that talent will be going home very early on. Audible gasps could be heard in the hall where the draw was conducted, with tournament hosts Taeshan drawn to face defending champions and likely favourite to win Siovanija and Teusland. While Former champions Neu Engollon will have to face off against Banija first, before playing either Vilita and Turori or Rucuecn in their second match.

While Mercedini avoid their more recent adversaries in Neu Engollon and Ko-oren. The path to a potential final is by no means easy, with an early trip to the lower bracket looking inevitable at this point. There is no way to predict how these matches will go with nearly all teams involved holding some sort of pedigree in tournaments like these. I believe we will begin to see the brackets taking shape within a couple of days as we get rid of some of the driftwood. All that being said, it's gearing up to be a tight and intense World Cup of Hockey with everything at stake for those teams involved. Good night from X Island and we will see you tomorrow!

[HUElavia]

Historic Upset Sends HUElavia to the Knockouts!

Neu Engolion 0-1 HUElavia

Entering the Final Matchday of the Group Stage, HUElavia was in control of their destiny for the World Cup of Hockey. A single point would guarantee the team's 3rd consecutive appearance for the Knockouts in their 4th overall participation in the competition. The only team in front of them from achieving this goal was Neu Engolion, the #2 team of the Multiverse. With a difficult road game, Los Amarillos/Os Amarelos fielded their best players on the rink, along with Vasilevskiy in goal. Neu Engolion also fielded their best players as both looked to achieve a good record in the competition. The puck dropped and the match was under way!

HUElavia looked to go for the kill from the very beginning, while Neu Engolion wanted to keep their undefeated record intact. Waves of attacks came from both sides, but shots went out wide, while Bassati and Vasilevskiy did great saves to prevent the pucks from going in. Despite this, the defenses were struggling to keep up with each other's attacks and it seemed that it was 50/50 as to which one would concede first. This would finally come during the 2nd period, as a powerplay was won when Kemmelz did a high stick towards Dominguez-Garcia, giving Los Amarillos/Os Amarelos a strong powerplay to take advantage. The team began to press hard towards the goal, and in the run up play, Garcon-Chevalier passed it to Giroux, who went around the net to pass it to a wide open Ovetchkin, giving a one-timer to blast it past Bassati into the goal, making it 0-1. Ovetchkin was hugged and cheered by his teammates while the small HUElavian crowd cheered while the Neu Engolion crowd was silent in shock from the play. After that, both teams had a change of heart with the match. Neu Engolion already won the group while HUElavia was guaranteed to advance to the Round-of-16. The lines would change and the players would take aimless shots, but at that point, the players just tried to do trick shots and skates in order to kill the time. Ultimately, the match ended 0-1, and HUElavia punched their ticket to the Round-of-16.

With the victory, this is the first time that HUElavia defeat a Top 5 team of the Multiverse in Ice Hockey, a historic result for HUElavian Hockey. In the other games for Group B, Poafmersia defeated Graintfjall 1-0, and NPC West Florida and Bleronia ended in a 2-2 Draw. Thus, Neu Engolion won Group B with 16 Points (7-2-1), while HUElavia advance as Runners-Up with 14 Points (7-0-3). Poafmersia is eliminated in 3rd Place with 12 Points (5-2-3), Graintfjall in 4th Place with 10 Points (4-2-4), NPC West Florida in 5th Place with 5 Points (0-5-5), and Bleronia in 6th Place with 3 Points (0-3-7). HUElavia now travels to Taeshan, the host nation of the Final Competition, as they travel to X Island, to play at X Island Metro Arena in the Round-of-16. Their opponents are a familiar one: Mercedini. They're current #10 in the Multiverse Rankings of Ice Hockey, but these two nations have a history against each other. They've met in the Football world, playing against each other in the Qualifiers for World Cup 83 and 84. In those 4 matches played, HUElavia has earned 3 victories, while Mercedini has had 1 victory, with a notable sweep by the Football Team in the WC 84 Qualifiers. This is the first time since those qualifiers that these two meet in an official competition of any sport. While the bookies favor Mercedini, HUElavia seeks to play well in order to make a historic upset once again, especially where their points differences aren't far apart. On top of that, the winner advances to the Quarter-Finals in the Championship Bracket, while the loser advances to the Quarter-Finals of the Loser's Bracket. The important thing here is to not lose two consecutive matches. Here's to hoping for a spectacular match in Taeshan between two old foes.

FORCA HUELAVIA! VAMOS HUELAVIA! GO HUELAVIA!

[Taeshan]

So your Playoffs begin today. Where is Doc Emeric when you need him?

Cassadaigua 7–1 New Waldensia
Abanhfleft 0–2 Savojarna
Ice Palace (Greenville, Atlantea Island home of the Atlantea-Greenville IceWolves)


Valanora 2–3 Equestria
Mercedini 4–1 HUElavia
X Island Metro Arena (X Island, X Island, home of the X Island Avalanche)

Reçueçn 2–4 Vilita and Turori
Neu Engollon 1–5 Banija
New Capetown Center for Excellence (New Capetown, Cape Island, home of the New Capetown Red Wings)

Siovanija & Teusland 4–3 Taeshan*
Ko-oren 3–4 Gyatso-Kai
(Laketown, Lake Island, home of Laketown Deep)


Which means

1 Cassadaigua vs Savojarna 9
7 Ko-oren vs Taeshan 15
Winner of Game 1 will advance to winner's bracket Semi 1, Loser will advance to play winner of Game 2. Loser of Game 2 is sadly...be me.
Machrobat Ice Arena (Machrobat, China Island home of Machrobat Ice Kings)

5 Mercedini vs Equestria 13
3 Reçueçn vs Neu Engollon 6
Winner of Game 3 will advance to winner's bracket Semi 1, Loser will advance to play winner of game 4. Loser of Game 4 is sadly, just not cut out for the hawkey.
The Log Cabin (Taeshan City, Taeshan Island home of Taeshan City Loggers)

11 Banija vs Vilita and Turori 14
4 Valanora vs HUElavia 12
Winner of Game 5 will advance to winner's bracket Semi 2, loser will advance to play winner of game 6. Loser of Game 6 is sadly going to be asking "What if god was one of us"?
The Shelter (Bayern, Algaer Island home of Bayern Bombers)

2 Siovanija and Teusland vs Gyatso-Kai 10
8 Abanhfleft vs New Waldenesia 16
Winner of Game 7 will advance to winner's bracket Semi 2, loser will advance to play winner of game 8. Loser of Game 8 will sadly be one of the 4 weakest links.
Fadron Pizza Ice @ Magickarpa Arena (Wiechester, Wolf Island home of the Wiechester Wanderers)



*Scorinated by Banija

[Recuecn]

[OOC: Apologies for how ridiculously late this is!]

Reçueçn's World Cup of Hockey Team

Reçueçn has always been a hockey-loving nation; its snowy mountains and frozen alpine lakes provide the perfect breeding ground for the sport's lovers and players. Yet until semi-recently, no team from the allied states ever tested its mettle against anyone from outside the country. It was only at the XIVth Winter Olympics that Reçueçn finally sent representatives to find out where it ranked against the other nations of the multiverse, and was pleasantly surprised; a quarterfinal finish for the men's team was fairly decent, but the women won gold. Inspired by this success, Reçueçn has elected to simply send that same women's team to the WCoH. However, facing the stiffer competition of the world cup, Reçueçn was only mediocre and finished second-to-last in its group, beating only Taeshan. Since then (as evidenced in WCoH XL) the team has been slowly improving. What awaits them this time?

Style mod: +2.333
#1 | First Goalie | Elea Lörtscher [Captain]
#2 | Reserve Goalie | Émilie Fresnel
#3 | Reserve Goalie | Dietlind Frank

First Line
#4 | Center | Berthe Arceneaux [Alternate Captain]
#5 | Left Wing | Marleen Heilbronn
#6 | Right Wing | Caroline Pernet
#7 | Defense | Audrey Lecerfe
#8 | Defense | Lynn Kern

Second Line
#9 | Center | Seraina Bichsel
#10 | Left Wing | Sarah Essig
#11 | Right Wing | Marilen Rieder [Alternate Captain]
#12 | Defense | Inja Kammacher
#13 | Defense | Liv Jucker

Third Line
#14 | Center | Marei Zurflüh
#15 | Left Wing | Sylviane Mignard
#16 | Right Wing | Bella Gehrig
#17 | Defense | Abby Beaudouin
#18 | Defense | Ramona Grasshoff [Alternate Captain]

Reserves
#19 | Center | Sandrine De Villiers
#20 | Center | Amandine Bombelles
#21 | Left Wing | Alessia Schwarz
#22 | Right Wing | Eugénie Dubuisson
#23 | Defense | Eva Herig
#24 | Defense | Nicola Fürstenberg
#25 | Defense | Maeva Pasteur

Starting Line-Up:
#1 | First Goalie | Elea Lörtscher
#4 | Center | Berthe Arceneaux
#5 | Left Wing | Marleen Heilbronn
#6 | Right Wing | Caroline Pernet
#7 | Defense | Audrey Lecerfe
#8 | Defense | Lynn Kern

Special Teams:
Game Winning Shot/Penalty Takers: (in order)
#4 | Center | Berthe Arceneaux
#6 | Right Wing | Caroline Pernet
#5 | Left Wing | Marleen Heilbronn
[#9 | Center | Seraina Bichsel]
[#10 | Left Wing | Sarah Essig]

Power Play:
#14 | Center | Marei Zurflüh
#15 | Left Wing | Sylviane Mignard
#16 | Right Wing | Bella Gehrig
#17 | Defense | Abby Beaudouin
#18 | Defense | Ramona Grasshoff

Penalty Kill:
#7 | Defense | Audrey Lecerfe
#8 | Defense | Lynn Kern
#4 | Center | Berthe Arceneaux
[#6 | Right Wing | Caroline Pernet]
[#5 | Left Wing | Marleen Heilbronn]

Three-Skater Overtime Lines
OT First Line:
#7 | Audrey Lecerfe
#8 | Lynn Kern
#4 | Berthe Arceneaux

OT Second Line:
#6  | Caroline Pernet
#15 | Sylviane Mignard
#17 | Abby Beaudouin

OT Third Line:
#16 | Bella Gehrig
#18 | Ramona Grasshoff
#5  | Marleen Heilbronn

OT Fourth Line:
#14 | Marei Zurflüh
#11 | Marilen Rieder
#12 | Inja Kammacher

RP permissions: knock yourself out.

[Gyatso-kai]

An ASPN Production, Brought to you on ASPN.co.gki

Laketown, Lake Island, TAESHAN --- Aaron Yitsune

Dragonflies Downed by ONE! Ice Bisons ADVANCE!

For the first time since World Cup XXV, the Ice Bisons managed to defeat their historic rivals Ko-oren in an exciting and heart-pounding game, finishing with a 4-3 victory and advancing onto the next round of playoffs.

For the winners of the match, the Winner’s Bracket awaits their arrival, and for the Ice Bisons, that means a faceoff with Siovanija and Teusland. This is not a team we are unfamiliar with; the Goldhorns are a highly capable team that won the multiverse’s highest trophy last edition. World Cup of Hockey XL represented a crowning moment for the United Republics, taking down Valanora in a rousing 3-2 Game Two in front of a sold-out crowd deep in the heart of the Royal Kingdom of Quebec. Of course, this was the same Valanora side who sent us home in a 1-nil overtime heartbreaking game. The Ice Bisons were a tough team that tournament – having taken down teams the likes of Banija, Neu Engollon both in the group stage and in the Quarterfinals, and even historic Kelssek – and managed to have seven games where the Avatarian side managed to score five goals or more. After disappointing performances since The Silence, with three tournaments of failing to qualify and only one advance into the playoffs. Two World Cups with a 3-8 record, an Atlantian Oceania tournament which saw the Ice Bisons make their way to the playoffs for the first time since World Cup XVI, and a vastly disappointing invitiational in the Coupe Jacques IX which saw the Ice Bisons outscored 9-22.

At least Omashu managed to redeem us…

Now, we take a rest day before going up against Siovanija & Teusland – a team we have faced only twice before. Our first meeting came in the Eighth AOHC, in which we edged them out by a goal to advance to our first playoffs since The Silence. Of course, the next time we saw the Goldhorns, they took our team to the edge of defeat, but we ended up drawing the match 2-all after a 1-7 beating by the Ibex iin the Coupe Jacques IX Invitational.

We only have to hope that we can edge out a victory against such a strong team, eager to defend their crown. We just have to send them to the lower bracket and march onwards to our own crown.

---

Copyright 2020.3 Avatarian Sports Programming Network. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
URL: http://www.aspn.com.gk/articles/ahl/26213134
© 2020 Avatarian Sports Programming Network

[Siovanija and Teusland]

Hockey Night in Siovanija & Teusland

Pre-Game Show

With Oskar Kirsche and Ronald Mensing

“Good evening Siovanija-”

“Hold on now, wait just a minute there, I just want to say that what a performance from Edwin Ranger last night! Has he stepped up in this tournament or what! 2 goals, including the game winner - that’s the kind of heart that I’ve been wanting to see from this team!”

“Ronald Mensing here, he’s Oskar Kirsche. That’s the kind of heart we’ve been getting from this team, Oskar - the Goldhorns performed well all through the group stage, winning their last 7 games in a row to advance as the winners in a wild Group D, which saw some crazy results below the team. And Oskar, that set them up for a match in the Round of 16 with the host country, Taeshan. Tell us a bit about why that was a match you were worried about, Oskar.”

“You never want to play a host country. Even if they aren’t ranked that high, you can’t underestimate the advantage that having home ice brings. Guys just play harder when they know the home crowd has their backs, and they want to fight harder to defend their own ice. It’s never fun for the visitors.”

“And Taeshan really came out to fight, especially in that first period, right Oskar?”

“Yep - they wanted to get themselves into the game early, get things going - and they did with that big hit on Heider early. You could tell that the Goldhorns weren’t expecting that - and that’s when guys need to step up, and realize it’s going to be a tight game.”

“It was a battle in that first period, Oskar - hits flying across the ice.”

“Yep, exactly the way I love the game to be played! I loved how Kuhn was getting that third line involved, Hasselberger, boy I tell ya, he is something else! Every year it’s the same story, he’s a key player for this team, and yet some of you in the media - you know who you are - you want him gone, come on! Look at that hit on, uh, Lafinasevsky-”
“Lafayette, Oskar, that’s Fordham Lafayette.”

“Sure. Anyways, Hasselberger crushes him, and that’s how you get the energy up! That’s exactly what we needed in that first period, because Taeshan, boy, they really took the game to the Goldhorns there.”

“They really did, Oskar - and Robert Schock had to be superhuman at times in the first period.”

“Now here’s a guy - Schock - no one thought he could become the starter, no one thought that he’d overtake Wagner. But every time he went in, he was lights out I tell ya! And so when Kuhn announced he was going in, you knew he was going to give you a great performance. That save he made on, uh, I think it was Gagnay-”

“Gagne, Taeshan’s captain”

“Gagnier, anyways, what a save on the breakaway to keep it at 0-0 right before the end of the period! You don’t see saves like that everyday, he just shut it down completely!”

“The Goldhorns roared out to a 4-1 lead in the second period, Oskar, thanks to goals from the aforementioned Ranger, Tsvetanov and Knejz. What was so good about the Goldhorns’ game in that period?”

“Well, they just made it so hard for Taeshan to compete - that second period, that’s what we’re all about. That’s the hockey we try to play every single game. Hard on pucks, fighting for everything, and not giving any space!”

“That goal by Aleksej Knejz - he really showed why some think he’s going to be the heir to Tsvetanov’s throne as the goal-scoring king of the Ehrenliga, didn’t he?”

“Oh, I mean - you talk about using your frame to make a big play, and bearing down on the net - and that shot, too, I mean, what a play! He’s really become a star in this tournament, you know, and the Goldhorns are gonna need to rely on him a lot the rest of the way.”

“The third period, though - might be one of the weaker periods the Goldhorns have played in a while. Taeshan scored twice in the final 10 minutes, and were really threatening Schock’s net at the end. Was something just off, or was it maybe signs of a tired team - something like an international version of the Strauss Cup hangover, you know?”

“Oh, don’t give me - they’ve played, this was their 11th game of the tournament. You’re going to tell me they’re too tired? What’s next, ‘oh, the Ehrenliga season should only be 60 games’. When I played the game, we started in August and ended in July. No offseason! Third period was a team who thought they’d won the game and stopped putting in the effort it takes to win games at this level. Credit to Taeshan, they saw that, recognized it, and fought hard to get back into the game. The Goldhorns won’t make that mistake again.”

“11 games in this tournament, Oskar, but 15 last year - and when you add that a lot of these players went deep in the Strauss Cup playoffs, too, some of these guys haven’t had a break in two years-”

“Come on! Ok, you go tell Edwin Ranger - because he’s played more games than anyone - that he’s too tired, that he has to go home. These are hockey players, they finish their shift if they break their arm! Too tired! These guys are warriors.”

“Well, I guess we’ll find out. Tonight’s game, the one we’re here waiting for - the Goldhorns will take on Gyatso-kai. The Ice Bisons were arguably the team to watch coming out of World Cup of Hockey 40, after an excellent campaign that saw them reach the Semifinals - you yourself, Oskar, said that they were the only team you didn’t want the Goldhorns to face. Is that still true a year later?”

“At the time, I was worried the Goldhorns would underestimate them. Now, though - everyone knows that Gyatso-kai are one of the best teams in the world, and they are on their way up. They’re going to be eager to get a defining win for themselves, while we’ll be eager to get a defining win of our own and advance in the tournament. It’s a statement game for both teams, and that’s something special.”

“Is it a bit lower stakes than it may have been if they’d met last time - neither team will be eliminated after this game, and theoretically, they could meet again later in the tournament.”

“I don’t think so, no. There’s a ton of good teams in both brackets - the loser’s bracket has Valanora and Neu Engollon, those are teams I don’t think I want to play in a do-or-die game if I’m the Goldhorns. And then if you win, of course you’re going to have an incredible challenge in either Banija or Vilita & Turori. So I think both teams will be, rightly, looking at it as a must-win game, and that should just make things more special.”

“One thing about this Gyatso-kai team is how strong they are offensively - they had the third most goals in the tournament in the group stage, behind only Cassadaigua and the Goldhorns. How do you look to shut them down if you’re the Goldhorns?”

“That fourth unit, the Lasker group, they’re going to see a lot of the ice, especially up against that top line with Kobushi Kaede. Remember how he lit up Marlesee? I think there’s going to be a lot of film viewing on him. And defensively, the message doesn’t change - clog up the neutral zone, don’t give them space. If you have the puck on your stick, make the most of it. And in net, Schock is going to have to be even better tonight than he was last time.”

“Any predictions for tonight, Oskar?”

“I don’t like to predict things, we’ve got two great hockey teams here, let’s just enjoy the game!”

World Cup of Hockey 41 Playoffs First Round
Siovanija & Teusland vs Taeshan
@ Laketown, Taeshan

Scoring Summary

First Period

No scoring

Second Period

6:22: Goldhorns goal scored by Edwin Ranger, assisted by Tomic, Glaskov (1-0)
10:04: Goldhorns goal scored by Razvigor Tsvetanov (PP), assisted by Tomic (2-0)
13:45: Goldhorns goal scored by Edwin Ranger (2), assisted by Knejz (3-0)
15:07: Taeshan goal scored by Jackson Gagne, assisted by LaRue, Pierre (3-1)
19:20: Goldhorns goal scored by Aleksej Knejz, assisted by Ranger, Mihelic (4-1)

Third Period

13:12: Taeshan goal scored by Emmit LaRue, assisted by Gagne, Kordell (4-2)
17:54: Taeshan goal scored by Olivier Morton, assisted by Gagne, Drew (4-3)

End of Game: Siovanija & Teusland 4-3 Taeshan

Three Stars

***Aleksej Knejz (1G, 1A)
** Jackson Gagne (1G, 2A)
* Edwin Ranger (2G, 1A)

Next Game: Siovanija & Teusland vs Gyatso-kai, @ Magickarpa Arena, Taeshan

[Ko-oren]

The Greenblues lost versus Gyatso-Kai, and the format of the tournament comes to the rescue! The national teamers will stay in Taeshan for a little longer, and will be removed from their club teams for a few days extra at the least to face the hosts themselves.

The game versus Gyatso-Kai was definitely hyped up by the AOCAF meeting a few weeks earlier. The Ice Bisons set up a huge lead by the end of the first period that the Greenblues only barely managed to break down. Before it was all equal at 3-3 again, the Avatarians scored a final goal to end our hopes for the time being. Hosaka scored first, almost from the first face-off, to get the score to 1-0 in the first minute. Their lead was doubled after three minutes, with Song deflecting the puck behind Alacia. The difference was three by the end of the first period, with Nacer getting a slap shot behind Alacia as well. For the first time in the tournament, the Greenblues pulled their goalie, with Aoporin making his national team debut. He had a much better time between the sticks, allowing a single goal in the third period by Kobushi in powerplay.

Meanwhile, the Ice Bisons had allowed Ko-oren to get some retribution. Aiamalod and Autibel switched wings a few times, passing the puck between them to pull the defence out of position, and for Haarstad to punch in the goal in the end. Going into the final period at a 3-1 deficit, it looked all over, but Enibel scored only his first goal of the tournament in powerplay to make it 3-2. The game ended with Kil'or scoring a shorthanded goal, to make it 4-3 and really hammer home the idea that we have ourselves to blame for this loss. Allowing the 3-0 deficit, fighting back, and then still going down at the death is just evidence of this team being good for the middle 50 minutes of the game - and that's just not enough at this stage.

We wish the Ice Bisons a lot of luck for their tasks ahead, and it's the losers' bracket for us, where we first have to overcome home advantage. In the meantime, the players will be looking towards the situation at home, their contract status, and whether their club will still be playing in the same place. For the pulled goalie, that won't be the case, and he'll be looking for a new place to live when he's back in the country. Surely that's not a great situation to be in in order to perform in your final chance in Taeshan.

[Cassadaigua]

No looking past New Waldensia,
By Chelsea Dufresne, Concord Heights Times

Not a lot of people gave New Waldensia a lot of respect at the beginning of the World Cup of Hockey. In a group that featured the likes of Royal Kingdom of Quebec, Siovanija and Teusland, and Terre Septentrionale, how could New Waldensia ever finish in the top two of the group and make it to the playoffs? Well, hockey can be a funny game sometimes. All sports can be like that really, but there is something about hockey that just makes it seem susceptible to the surprise team a little more than others. Enter the Avalanche of New Waldensia, playing in their second World Cup of Hockey after a dreadful 1-1-8 performance their first time. How in the world could these guys do anything now? Well, they did, again and again, and a 3-2 win over Terre Septentrionale exclaimed, “Puck you!” to their group rivals and to any of their critics. Eventually, they would make it to the playoffs.

When they were drawn against the Fillies in the first round, you would have been very disappointed if you were looking for comments that might suggest that the team felt they had a favorable matchup. “It will be tough, they have played great and have earned everything that they have got so far,” Abby Dayton said. Cliche quotes followed, but it was pretty obvious that the Fillies were not about to look past their opponent. On game day, the only avalanche to be found were the amount of goals ending up behind Jarvis Dunlap, with the odd choice of 6 for a goalie number.

Three in the first:
Abby Dayton (Samantha Dryden, Jennifer Everson) 3:22
Mikayla Conrad (Jacob Thomas) 7:03
Abby Dayton (Cassidy Conti, Katie Quigley (pp) 14:53

Two in the second:
Katie Quigley (Cassidy Conti, Abby Dayton) 1:14
Meghann Carmello (Lauren Potvin, Danielle Turnbull) 15:25

Two more in the third:
Samantha Dryden (Cassidy Conti, Jennifer Everson) (pp) 6:19
Lauren Potvin (Meghann Carmello, Alyssa Peterson) 12:20

All in all, a strong game for the top line, but the secondary scoring continues to be there for this team, as the second line adds two, and the checking line pots one. The Fillies outshot New Waldensia 39-20 for the game, and were 2-for-3 on the power play while the Avalanche was 0-for-2. In the World Cup of Hockey, you don’t get as many power play opportunities as you might on your club side, so the efficiency of the special teams is a big reason why the pink and black were the highest scoring team in the group stage, and have begun to be that way in the playoffs as well. Savojarna will be next.

[Vilita and Turori]

Ice Cats Take Down Reçueçn, advance in Winners Bracket

New Capetown Center for Excellence, New Capetown, Cape Island :: The Vilita & Turori Ice Cat Things survived a difficult battle in Group H to narrowly advance to the Playoffs thanks to a final matchday 5-3 victory over Nova Anglicana that could have seen the Ice Cat Things crash out at the Group Stage if the result were reversed. Instead, with the victory, Vilita & Turori moved on to a first round matchup against the third seed Reçueçn who stunned Savojarna to finish atop Group C. The Ice Cat Things flew into the home arena of the New Capetown Red Wings as the underdogs but escaped on the upper hand with a 4-2 victory that would set up for an intriguing Quarter Final fixture on Algaer Island between the Ice Cat Things and the Banijan's who were also surprising winners in the first playoff round after defeating Neu Engollon.

The Banijan's were on fire with Five Goals against Neu Engollon while Vilita and Turori had a tough fight against Reçueçn until scoring a late empty net goal to seal off the match and secure a 4-2 victory in a match that was much closer than the scoreline would have suggested. While defeat against would not be a tournament eliminator for the Ice Cat Things, it is a gold opportunity to position themselves for a surprise run at a second World Cup of Hockey title.

[Banija]

@BanijanHockeyFederation And that's 5 for our boys in green! What a win- one of our biggest in history. An all-AO battle next with Vilita & Turori. Can we triumph? #BNJvNEU

@DewaBangè Hell of a win for our boys today. Always feels good to skate wearing these colors. Onwards and upwards to our next challenge- Vilita & Turori!

@NewIstriaEagles Holy schmooly! Did we just put up FIVE on Neu Engollon? The world better watch out- we've arrived on this stage! V&T got next. #GoBanijaGo

@AllBanijaSportsMagazine Banija's 5 goals today against Neu Engollon is tied for the most they have ever scored in a single game of the knockout stages of the WCoH. #BeatV&T

@GitongaKahara Soccer may be my sport, but this ice hockey team is fun as hell to watch. Let's make a deep run here in Taeshan! #WCoHXLI