World Championship 2022

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Per
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World Championship 2022

Post by Per »

So, puck drops on May 13th and the gold medal game is scheduled for May 29th.

Russia and Belarus have been kicked out of the tournament - due to being murderous bastards - and replaced with France and Austria, that have flags that are kind of similar to the flags of the countries they replace. At least if you go with the traditional Belarus flag rather than the one favoured by Lukashenka. And, well, I guess you have to tilt the Russian flag sideways and rearrange the colours. :|

But anyway, if Canada doesn't win its group this year, you'll be the laughing stock of the hockey community... all other "good teams" are in the other group. And yeah, I know, Germany and Switzerland are getting closer to the traditional powerhouses, but still.

Group A (Helsinki):
Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Slovakia, Denmark, Kazakhstan, Italy, France

If anyone but Canada finishes first, it's an upset. :lol:
Not that the Swiss and Germans won't try. But seriously. :roll:

Group B (Tampere):
Finland, United States, Czechia, Sweden, Latvia, Norway, Great Britain, Austria

I'd say any of the four first could win the group, depending on which players show up.

Rosters have not been announced yet, but from what I hear OEL will play for Sweden :thumbs: ... but Petey won't. :cry:
Last edited by Per on Fri May 06, 2022 7:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: World Championship 2022

Post by BladesofSteel »

I’d sure like to see Rathbone get an invite to the Worlds.

Any word why Petey is out?
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Re: World Championship 2022

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Sweden’s preliminary roster, that may still be adjusted if additional NHLers become available.

Linus Karlsson made the cut! :o

10 players from the SHL, 7 from the NHL, 4 from the KHL (most have quit their teams) and 3 from the Swiss league.

Goalies:
Oscar Dansk, Spartak Moskva
Magnus Hellberg, Detroit Red Wings
Marcus Högberg, Linköping

Defence:
Christian Folin, Frölunda
Adam Larsson, Seattle Kraken
Henrik Tömmernes, Geneve-Servette
Oliver Ekman Larsson, Vancouver Canucks
Rasmus Dahlin, Buffalo Sabres
Anton Lindholm, Dinamo Minsk
Erik Gustafsson, Chicago Blackhawks
Jonathan Pudas, Skellefteå

Forwards:
Linus Karlsson, Skellefteå
Max Friberg, Frölunda
Oskar Lang, Leksand
Elmer Söderblom, Frölunda
Anton Bengtsson, Rögle
Lucas Wallmark, CSKA Moskva
Joakim Nordström, CSKA Moskva
Carl Klingberg, Zug
Joel Kellman, Växjö
Nils Åman, Leksand
Emil Bemström, Columbus Blue Jackets
Rasmus Asplund, Buffalo Sabres
Mathias Bromé, Davos
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Re: World Championship 2022

Post by BladesofSteel »

Henrik Tömmernes, Geneve-Servette

Former Canuck pick?
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Re: World Championship 2022

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BladesofSteel wrote: Wed May 11, 2022 10:31 pm Henrik Tömmernes, Geneve-Servette

Former Canuck pick?
Yup. Not sure what happened there. Did he ever go to camp?
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Re: World Championship 2022

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So, Slovakia beats France, USA beats Latvia, Canada beats Germany and Finland beats Norway.

No surprises on day one.
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Re: World Championship 2022

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Sweden played a good game against the Czechs, that some experts hold as favourites in this tournament. Sweden took an early 4-1 lead and then cruised to a 5-3 win.

Important win in a group where there are four strong contenders (Sweden, Finland, Czechia, USA) and whoever finishes fourth most likely faces Canada in the quarter final.

No real upsets yet. I guess Germany beating Slovakia could be consdiered one, but nah. Germany has grown stronger over time and Slovakia is always hit and miss. They are not as strong a team as they were immediately after the split from the Czechs.

But Austria forced overtime in their game vs the USA and Britain did the same to Norway. Bit surprising, imho.
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Re: World Championship 2022

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Sweden beat Finland in the shootout to gain control of the group.

Captain OEL created the game tying goal by going deep on the attack, turning around and going back to the blue line, drawing three Finns over to his side, then a spinorama cross pass that created a ton of space and time for a shot and a tip in. Smart player.
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Re: World Championship 2022

Post by Strangelove »

Per wrote: Wed May 18, 2022 12:50 pm Sweden beat Finland in the shootout to gain control of the group.
Sweden was a big underdog in that one according to the bookies.

What the hell's going on over there?

I almost asked you yesterday if I should bet on Team Sweden with my funny money...

Per wrote: Wed May 18, 2022 12:50 pm Captain OEL created the game tying goal by going deep on the attack, turning around and going back to the blue line, drawing three Finns over to his side, then a spinorama cross pass that created a ton of space and time for a shot and a tip in. Smart player.
Yup, a very smart player and he does it all! :thumbs:
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Re: World Championship 2022

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Strangelove wrote: Wed May 18, 2022 1:53 pm
Per wrote: Wed May 18, 2022 12:50 pm Sweden beat Finland in the shootout to gain control of the group.
Sweden was a big underdog in that one according to the bookies.

What the hell's going on over there?

I almost asked you yesterday if I should bet on Team Sweden with my funny money...
Big underdog? I don't know... Sweden vs Finland is always a toss-up, and looking at all time records we have them beat.
That being said, Finland were world champions in 2019 and runners up in 2021 (2020 was cancelled) and they are the ruling Olympic champs. In that same stretch Sweden has a quarter final elimination, a missed playoffs and a fourth place, so sure. The easy money was on the Finns.
That being said, we won the 2017 and 2018 world championships... We've just been through a rough patch these pandemic years.

As for what's going on...

We don't have a lot of impressive fire power up front. A lof of NHLers have turned this tournament down, but we have a pretty excellent blue line; Rasmus Dahlin, Adam Larsson, OEL, Erik Gustafsson... Also, the non-NHL d-men are not bad either.

Tömmernes played two seasons in Utica but never made it to the NHL. He then played two seasons in the SHL before heading to Switzerland, where he has spent five years playing for Genève-Servette. This season, as the team's captain, he had 58 points in 51 games. As a d-man... :o

Now, the Swiss league is not quite as good as the SHL, but it pays better, and you have to be really good to make the cut there as a foreign player, as they are only allowed four foreigners per team. This means they can't afford to sign a foreign player who does not deliver. Also, typically the Swiss teams match their foreign lines against eachother, which means the level of hockey improves when they take the ice.I think this is how Switzerland has managed to produce a number of NHL calibre goalies. Playing goal in Switzerland you face some world class players for roughly one third of the game, and then you have crap blue liners for the other two thirds... :roll:

Looking at Tömmernes stats, he averaged 0.38 ppg in the AHL, 0.43 in the SHL (albeit his early years drag his numbers down, his last year in the SHL he had 39 points in 49 games, which equals a 0.80 ppg clip) and now 0.82 in Switzerland. Playing for the national team he has 0.54 ppg. I think you can conclude he is an offensively skilled d-man.

Against Finland OEL and Gustafsson logged just over 24 minutes, Larsson and Dahlin just over 21, Tömmernas 16.49 and Anton Lindholm 15.36.

As for goaltending... We've started out with two borderline NHL goalies. Hogberg has played 42 games in the NHL but is now in the SHL. Hellberg, who tended goal against Finland, has played a total of only 5 NHL games, spread over 4 seasons, but is currently listed for Detroit, whom he joined after leaving the KHL because of the war. He has some pretty good KHL stats though, 81-64-10 with a 2.00 GAA and .927 in saves, and did well against Finland, saving all five penalties in the shootout.
Being interviewed after the win, captain OEL was asked "We saw you talking to Hellberg before the shootout, what were you saying to him?" to which OEL replied "Oh, I just told him that if he'd make sure to save all five shots we'd win." :lol: Apparently Hellberg took his advice to heart. :wink:
Anyway, now Ullmark, with 158 NHL games, 41 this season for the Bruins where he went 26-10-2, will join the team. :thumbs:

I think this could go either way. We have really good defence, but will we be able to score enough goals to win? Looking good so far though. We've beaten both the Czechs and the Finns. Will be playing the Yanks on Saturday. If we beat them as well we should win the group and get an easy quarter final.
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Re: World Championship 2022

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Strangelove wrote: Wed May 18, 2022 1:53 pm
Per wrote: Wed May 18, 2022 12:50 pm Captain OEL created the game tying goal by going deep on the attack, turning around and going back to the blue line, drawing three Finns over to his side, then a spinorama cross pass that created a ton of space and time for a shot and a tip in. Smart player.
Yup, a very smart player and he does it all! :thumbs:
And this type of goal is why second assists sometimes need to be credited.
This was really 100% OEL even though Gustafsson fired the shot that Joel Kellman deflected past the goalie.
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Re: World Championship 2022

Post by Strangelove »

All very interesting, thanks for your perspective Per!

And some people at this site want to trade OEL! :evil:
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Re: World Championship 2022

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I was all ready to tag this thread the "Per Idol".

Strangelove stole my thunder though.
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Re: World Championship 2022

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I'm a thunder-stealer from way back. :mex:
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Re: World Championship 2022

Post by donlever »

Strangelove wrote: Fri May 20, 2022 2:04 pm I'm a thunder-stealer from way back. :mex:
One does what one has to do.

Or so I'm told....
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