2018 IIHF World U18 Div.IA Championship - Riga, Latvia

[Marras]

Denmark
Germany
Kazakhstan
Latvia (Relagated from Top Division)
Norway
Slovenia (Promoted from Div.IB)

Tournament schedule:
http://www.iihf.com/competition/650/schedule/

Tournament Scores & Stats:
http://www.iihf.com/competition/650/statistics/

[Marras]

•http://ishockey.dk/u18-landsholdstru...g-klar-til-vm/
•http://www.deb-online.de/event/2018-...i-in-lettland/
•http://stats.iihf.com/Hydra/650/IHM6...33_2_0_KAZ.pdf
•https://lhf.lv/lv/article/5771/nosau...mpionatam-riga
•https://www.hockey.no/nyheter/aktuel...8.-april-2018/
•http://stats.iihf.com/Hydra/650/IHM6...33_1_0_SLO.pdf

[Marras]

Goaltenders:
Christian Elmose – Hvidovre (DEN-2)*
Frederik Søgaard – Herning (DEN-2)*
Mads Søgaard - Austin Bruins (NAHL)

Defencemen:
Jonas Brøndberg- Växjö Jrs. (SWE)*
Magnus Koch – Rødovre (DEN-2)
Marco Petersen – SønderjyskE
Oscar Schultze – Gentofte
Christoffer Frænell - Rødovre (DEN-2)
Lasse Mortensen – Rødovre (DEN-2)
Max Vilstrup - Herlev

Forwards:
Maxim Popovic – Herlev*
William Nistrup – Rungsted
Frederik Kaels – Rødovre (DEN-2)
Victor Cubars – Hvidovre
Oliver True - Ottawa 67ers (OHL)
Jonathan Brinkman – Aalborg (DEN-2)*
Philip Schultz – Rødovre
Gustav Green – Rungsted
Rasmus Simonsen – Hvidovre
Oliver Kjær – Esbjerg (DEN-2)
Lukas Bach Nielsen – Zug Jrs. (SUI)
Malte Bønløkke – Hvidovre (DEN-2)
Kristian Berlin - Rødovre (DEN-2)

*2001-class

Compared to the 2017 Div.IA Championship it’s a fairly new Danish team with only 4 returnees (Søgaard in net, defenceman Max Olesen and forwards Gustav Green & Philip Schultz as the team a year ago was centered around the 1999-class).

After three straight promotions (2011, 2013 & 2015) last year’s third-place finish was a bit of a setback for the Danish U18 program.

While results against other traditional DIV.IA countries this season have been rather reasonable (two wins against Norway, wins against Latvia, Belarus and a 3-2 loss to Germany), there are also several question marks (e.g. losses to Austria and France(3x)) so Denmark will probably have to settle with a familiar result this year as the roster both lacks players that can make a real difference at this level and also some of the depth previous Danish U18 teams have had, but nevertheless it will still be interesting to see how this group will perform.

Expectations aside, the opening game against Germany will be an important one as a point or more could keep Denmark in the race for promotion while a loss would make finishing first rather unrealistic.

[Marras]

According to hockey.no

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrl...AaFpVvf80H__Q/ &

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtR...OxP79zWb5fulA/

[Marras]

Germany – Denmark 7-2
Norway – Kazakhstan 2-5
Slovenia –Latvia 1-2

Kazakhstan – Germany 0-1
Denmark – Slovenia 2-3
Latvia – Norway 3-0

		GP	W	L	OTW	OTL	P
1.	Germany	2	2	0	0	0	6
2.	Latvia	2	2	0	2	0	6
3.	Kazakhstan	2	1	1	0	0	3
4.	Slovenia	2	1	1	0	0	3
5.	Denmark	2	0	2	0	0	0
6.	Norway	2	0	2	0	0	0

[RexKramer]

Interesting, DK and NOR without a point after two games... Guess that hasn't happened in the U18s (esp for Denmark) in a long time. Weaker class than usual this year?

[Marras]

Interesting, DK and NOR without a point after two games... Guess that hasn't happened in the U18s (esp for Denmark) in a long time. Weaker class than usual this year?

At this level (Div. IA and the “old” Division 1) it’s the worst start for a Danish U18 team in 10 if not 15 years.

Getting promotion was at best a long shot, still wasn’t expecting this to be a tournament where getting relegated could be a scenario for Denmark. Today’s win against Kazakhstan obviously helps a lot in that regard, but more points could be needed in order to stay clear of last place.

And yes the short and simple answer is a weaker class than what usually has been the case, at least in recent years and with perhaps also less “help” from the following class (2001) to give the team some more depth.

But looking at recent U-16 results for Denmark there seems to have been a shift, so guess this year might simply be an early indication of what to expect in the near future.

[Bennison]

Four teams at three points mid-way... It will be interesting to see how it continues.

[Marras]

Slovenia – Norway 0-5
Kazakhstan – Denmark 2-4
Latvia –Germany 3-1

Kazakhstan – Slovenia 7-1
Norway - Germany 4-5
Denmark - Latvia 1-4

		GP	W	L	OTW	OTL	P
1.	Latvia	4	4	0	0	0	12
2.	Germany	4	3	1	0	0	9
3.	Kazakhstan	4	2	2	0	0	6
4.	Norway	4	1	3	0	0	3
5.	Denmark	4	1	3	0	0	3
6.	Slovenia	4	1	3	0	0	3

[Marras]

Latvia clinches promotion with today's win over Denmark, while the race to avoid relegation will be decided Sunday.

Not too optimistic regarding the odds of Denmark being one of the teams staying up.

[Marras]

Denmark – Norway 5-3
Germany – Slovenia 8-2
Latvia –Kazakhstan 2-1

		GP	W	L	OTW	OTL	P
1.	Latvia (P)	5	5	0	0	0	15
2.	Germany	5	4	1	0	0	12
3.	Denmark	5	2	3	0	0	6
4.	Kazakhstan	5	2	3	0	0	6
5.	Norway	5	1	4	0	0	3
6.	Slovenia (R)	5	1	4	0	0	3

[Bennison]

I feel bad for Slovenia, they managed a surprise win against Denmark, but that didn't keep them from relegating.