With the first sim completed today we saw every team play 3 games except Germany and Russia who both played 2. Let's take a look back at some of the action and then we will preview what's to come on the day 2 sim! (April 12th).
The tournament started off with Japan @ Latvia - This is Japan's first year in the big tournament and they have a young squad that has a lot of fans already.
Game 1 did not disappoint the crowd as Latvia won 7-5 win over the Japanese. Japan outshot Latvia 39-35. The first period started out with Parker Smeb of Japan scoring their teams first ever goal assisted by Martijn Westbroek and Airi Yamaguchi. Latvia stormed back to go up 7-3 and Japan scored two goals in the last 1:13 of the game to make it finish 7-5.
The next day I was looking forward to the European battle of the UK vs Ireland . These two always battle hard and I knew it would be a close game. The game was tied heading into the 3rd period and the UK were out-shooting Ireland 23-18. But the 4 time defending champion Irish put their foot on the gas in the 3rd period out shooting UK 13-7 and scoring twice to take the game 3-1.
Day 3 I highlighted the newly named Czechia squad facing off against Norway. Czechia had come in with 2 straight wins and won this game 3-1 in pretty convincing fashion. Not even stud Norwegian goalie Tommy Tuck was enough to hold off the 31 shots Czechia fired on him. Norway managed only 21 total with 11 through the first 2 periods. Special teams were the story as Czechia went 2 for 7 on the PP and Norway 0 for 2.
Finally on Day 4 saw a battle between Canada and Germany after Germany eliminated Canada last year. This game was amazing and really lived up to the hype. Canada won 4-3 in a shootout after outshooting the Germans 43-40. Germany showed some real strength coming back from a 3-0 Canada lead just 12 minutes into the game. But in the end veteran star Luke Atmey had the lone shootout goal and Canada took it.
Day 5 Highlighted Game: Russia vs Austria! Big game for these two as Russia is 1-1 and Austria 2-1. It should be a battle to the end for the 4 playoff spots in each group. This game will be a thriller.
Day 6 Highlighted Game: Czechia vs USA! The Americans are absolutely dominating so far and have won all 3 games in regulation scoring 18 goals and only 3 against total.
Day 7 Highlighted Game: Finland vs Latvia! Finland is 2-1 and being led by their star Challenge Cup winning defenseman Tatu Mäkelä. Latvia is always tough this should be great.
Day 8 Highlighted Game: Russia vs Sweden! Sweden hasn't won a game yet in 3 and really looks to make a statement tomorrow.
#1 All-Time SHL Goal & Point Scorer - First 2,000 TPE Player in SHL History - - First 400 Goal Scorer in SHL History - - Only 500 Goal Scorer in SHL History - - First GM to Win 5 & 6 Challenge Cups - Esa Anrikkanen Award - SMJHL ROY - Est. S34 Vidrik Onoprienko Award Winner - S45
04-12-2019, 02:50 PM(This post was last modified: 04-12-2019, 02:56 PM by Mack.)
Day 2 Recap and Look ahead to Day 3!
Day 2 is all wrapped up now and it was packed with great games ladies and gentlemen! Each team how now played between 5-6 games and we are almost halfway done the Round Robin that lasts 12 games. Both new teams Japan and Switzerland have yet to find their first win of the tournament. Japan has been close with 3 one goal losses including a 5-4 loss in today's sims to Finland. Today's in Sim World it was days 5-8.
I highlighted this match up yesterday as a big one as Russia was 1-1 so far while most teams played 3 games. I wanted to see how they would do against a tough Austria team. Austria really brought their A game and ended up winning this game in convincing fashion 8-3. Austrian 3rd line winger Shooter McGavin had a NATURAL HAT-TRICK in the 1st period after the game was already 1-1 to make it 4-1 Austria and send Russian goaltender Evgueni Marmeladov to the showers. Aleksi O'Koivu-Volkova came in and while they did hold the fort for the most of the 2nd period as Russia scored twice t o make it a 4-3 game again and the momentum had really swung in their favor. Austria got a second wind on a late PP goal in the 2nd period by Alex Light to make it 5-3. In the 3rd period Mike "The Augment" Izzy scored two goals in 1:54 and Austria went on to win 8-3.
I was interested in how this Day 6 match up would go as both Czechia and USA entered the sims today undefeated at 3-0. Czechia came out and made a big statement winning this one 5-2. (note they also shutout the Americans in a back to back the next day 5-0). This game saw Czechia come out with an early goal from defenseman Tokek Takshak just 1:41 into the game. He went on to win first star on the night as he also scored the in the second period on the power play. That goal came just 37 seconds after David Kastrba made it 3-0 Czechia and now it was 4-0 and USA just had too big of a hill to climb. They did manage to make it 4-2 with goals from Garret and Dude but Czechia star DeMaricus Smyth sealed the deal late with a beauty to wrap it up 5-2. He leads the whole tournament with 12 points in 6 games including 6 goals.
Finland finished yesterdays sims 2-1 and I wanted to highlight them for the first time to see how they would do against an undefeated 3-0 Latvian team. Finland did end up losing this one 3-1 but they did out-shoot Latvia 36-27 as the road team. Finland ended the days sims 4-2 while Latvia is now at 4-1. Latvia had two first period goals as they came out very strong in the first out-shooting Finland 11-6. Loks and Maui both had their 2nd of the tournament. Young finish defender Poopity Scoop scored one in the 2nd to make it 2-1 but Blunt wrapped it all up for Latvia 6 minutes later making it 3-1 and that's how the game finished. Latvian goaltender Artom Zhumbayev balled out in the 3rd period as Finland went all out, out-shooting Latvia 18-5. Special teams note both teams went 0 for 3 on the PP.
Sweden entered today's sims 0-2-1 and I said they really needed to make a statement in today's sims. They won this thriller 7-6 and did win another game on the today's sims as well. This was just one of the best games I have witnessed so far. Sweden came out and went off for 5 goals on 9 shots in the first period and went up 5-1 at the end of the first. They had goals from Brokstad, Passamus, Skillstedt, Andrezjeck and Forsberg as it was a party on the bench and goals were had by all. It seemed like Russia was toast but they injected something into their veins in the intermission and came out looking like a different team in the 2nd. They scored just 45 seconds in by challenge cup game 7 first star Buffalo Stampede's Oliver König. He added another in the period and Russia scored 5 total to go up 6-5 and the Swedish bench was in shock. What just happened? The third period was really thrilling through the first 10 minutes it was still 6-5 Russia. Sweden's top line decided to take things into their hands as Forsberg tied it up 6-6 and Crossfit Jesus saved the day with the game winning goal with just 1:06 left in regulation.
Day 9 Highlighted Game: Norway vs USA ! These two teams ended today's sims just 2 points apart and in very tight race in Group B. USA had a tough day today losing both games so it will be interested to see how they rebound and Norway is currently sitting just outside making the medal round so they need some W's fast.
Day 10 Highlighted Game: Canada vs Ireland ! Canada has won all 5 games so far but they have been very challenged offensively only scoring 16 goals. Ireland is 3-1-1 including 3-0 as the home team which they will be for this game. We all know how dominant Ireland has been so this should be an absolute barn-burner!
Day 11 Highlighted Game: UK vs Finland ! UK is sitting right behind Finland in the standings right now as Finland holds down the last spot to advance in Group A. UK is coming off a win against Japan and needs to have a great day of sims to close the gap with Finland who have been solid at 4-2.
Day 12 Highlighted Game: Czechia vs Russia ! Czechia are having their way with most teams so far and are undefeated at 6-0. Russia on the other hand is 1 point back of the final spot in Group B. This game will be really important for Russia and it will be great to see how they show up.
Hot Players:
Hot Goalies:
Standings:
First SHL goal on first SHL shot in first SHL game.
Day 3 of sims is now finished! It was a brutal day for Team Canada who was 5-0 on the tournament and went 0-4 in today's sims to fall to 5-4. How fast things can change! In Group A the 4 playoff teams have stayed the same but have changed order with Latvia now in 1st followed by Ireland. In Group B we saw one change as Sweden fell out of the final playoff spot and Russia jumped up to snag it. Austria also leapfrogged Czechia for 1st place overall.
With these two teams entering the day only 2 points apart it was interesting to see how this game would go. USA really dominated Norway for 99% of the game. Norway came out and scored the first goal of the game from Eko van Otter in the 1st period. After that it was all USA as they saw 6 different goal scorers including: Garrett, Kurczewski, Jensen, Manius, Cuddles and Visser. Peter Larson entered the game at 7:43 of 3rd period as Tommy Tuck was chased after 5 goals. It is worth noting that these teams played a back to back and the following game Norway actually came out on top 3-1. That being said the 2 point gap is now 5 and USA has put some room between them and Norway.
Two top teams coming into the day and the tournament. Canada ran into some penalty trouble here and took 6 minors and Ireland went 2/6 on the PP. Canada struggled on special teams going 0/4 on their own PP chances. Canada came out really strong in the first period out-shooting Ireland 15-9 but Ireland goalie Biscuit was remarkable. Eric Pelletier scored for Ireland to open the scoring in the 3rd period on the PP and Jack Tanner followed it up with another PP goal just 5 minutes later. Canada did score to make it 2-1 just 23 seconds later but couldn't tie it late and Ireland not only wins the game but passed Canada in the standings.
These two teams are battling it out right now for the last playoff spot in Group A. They finished today's sims just 2 points apart with Finland holding down the final spot right now. This 3-2 win for UK was huge in keeping pace with a great Finish squad. All the action took place in the first period as we saw 5 goals. TJ Bayley got us started just 18 seconds into the game. Finland answered with back to back power play markers from Dank Boija and Ensio Kalju. UK wasn't rolling over though and answered with two goals of their own from Bergen and then a PP goal from Vince Rieper with 8 seconds left in the 1st to put them up 3-2. That's how the game ended as both goalies played unreal all night as UK out-shot the Fins 42-36.
Russia entered the day just 1 point back of the final playoff spot in Group B and I wanted to see how strong they would come out today. Well they now sit in the final playoff spot up 2 points on 5th place Sweden! Czechia entered today undefeated so Russia winning 4-3 was huge for them. This was a great game for the Russian teams confidence and Czechia stormed out to a 2-0 lead just 6:39 into the 1st period. Luke Thomason had his 5th of the games while Alex Winters scored his 2nd. Russia answered back with Konstantin's 1st goal 25 seconds later to let Czechia know they weren't out of this game yet. Czechia made it 3-1 as Czerkawski scored later in the 1st and Russia went to the locker rooms down 3-1 after 20 and this could have been a long night. But the Russians have been know for coming out hard after intermission and they did it again here in the 2nd period. Two nice goals from Berezin and Denisovich and just like that we had a tie game 3-3. Russia out-shot Czechia 19-3 in the period and it was just an assault on goalie Chris Partridge. Russia superstar Oliver König won it all in period number 3 as he loves to do with a beautiful assist from Ti-Guy Emond.
Day 13 Highlighted Game: Switzerland vs Norway ! Switzerland remains the last team without a win so far. Japan managed to beat Canada (as did everyone else today) and I wonder if the Swiss squad has what it takes to beat Norway who sits right in front of them in the standings.
Day 14 Highlighted Game: Czechia vs Austria ! Battle of the best! These two teams are top of the tournament at 20 points each and play in back to back games tomorrow. This will really be interesting to see which team has the bigger guns and comes out on top.
Day 15 Highlighted Game: Germany vs UK ! Both these teams are currently just sitting outside of the playoffs in Group A. Tomorrow is not the final day of sims but it's the 2nd last day and they need to make some moves fast and get on a W streak if they want to make it to the medal round.
Day 16 Highlighted Game: Ireland vs Latvia ! Two top teams in Group A as Latvia has been amazing so far at 7-1. Ireland had a big day today and at 5-1-1 they look as good as ever. Which team will finish on top in Group A? Who has what it takes to win tomorrow?
Hot Players:
Hot Goalies:
Standings:
First SHL goal on first SHL shot in first SHL game.
Day 3 of sims is now finished! It was a brutal day for Team Canada who was 5-0 on the tournament and went 0-4 in today's sims to fall to 5-4. How fast things can change! In Group A the 4 playoff teams have stayed the same but have changed order with Latvia now in 1st followed by Ireland. In Group B we saw one change as Sweden fell out of the final playoff spot and Russia jumped up to snag it. Austria also leapfrogged Czechia for 1st place overall.
With these two teams entering the day only 2 points apart it was interesting to see how this game would go. USA really dominated Norway for 99% of the game. Norway came out and scored the first goal of the game from Eko van Otter in the 1st period. After that it was all USA as they saw 6 different goal scorers including: Garrett, Kurczewski, Jensen, Manius, Cuddles and Visser. Peter Larson entered the game at 7:43 of 3rd period as Tommy Tuck was chased after 5 goals. It is worth noting that these teams played a back to back and the following game Norway actually came out on top 3-1. That being said the 2 point gap is now 5 and USA has put some room between them and Norway.
Two top teams coming into the day and the tournament. Canada ran into some penalty trouble here and took 6 minors and Ireland went 2/6 on the PP. Canada struggled on special teams going 0/4 on their own PP chances. Canada came out really strong in the first period out-shooting Ireland 15-9 but Ireland goalie Biscuit was remarkable. Eric Pelletier scored for Ireland to open the scoring in the 3rd period on the PP and Jack Tanner followed it up with another PP goal just 5 minutes later. Canada did score to make it 2-1 just 23 seconds later but couldn't tie it late and Ireland not only wins the game but passed Canada in the standings.
These two teams are battling it out right now for the last playoff spot in Group A. They finished today's sims just 2 points apart with Finland holding down the final spot right now. This 3-2 win for UK was huge in keeping pace with a great Finish squad. All the action took place in the first period as we saw 5 goals. TJ Bayley got us started just 18 seconds into the game. Finland answered with back to back power play markers from Dank Boija and Ensio Kalju. UK wasn't rolling over though and answered with two goals of their own from Bergen and then a PP goal from Vince Rieper with 8 seconds left in the 1st to put them up 3-2. That's how the game ended as both goalies played unreal all night as UK out-shot the Fins 42-36.
Russia entered the day just 1 point back of the final playoff spot in Group B and I wanted to see how strong they would come out today. Well they now sit in the final playoff spot up 2 points on 5th place Sweden! Czechia entered today undefeated so Russia winning 4-3 was huge for them. This was a great game for the Russian teams confidence and Czechia stormed out to a 2-0 lead just 6:39 into the 1st period. Luke Thomason had his 5th of the games while Alex Winters scored his 2nd. Russia answered back with Konstantin's 1st goal 25 seconds later to let Czechia know they weren't out of this game yet. Czechia made it 3-1 as Czerkawski scored later in the 1st and Russia went to the locker rooms down 3-1 after 20 and this could have been a long night. But the Russians have been know for coming out hard after intermission and they did it again here in the 2nd period. Two nice goals from Berezin and Denisovich and just like that we had a tie game 3-3. Russia out-shot Czechia 19-3 in the period and it was just an assault on goalie Chris Partridge. Russia superstar Oliver König won it all in period number 3 as he loves to do with a beautiful assist from Ti-Guy Emond.
Day 13 Highlighted Game: Switzerland vs Norway ! Switzerland remains the last team without a win so far. Japan managed to beat Canada (as did everyone else today) and I wonder if the Swiss squad has what it takes to beat Norway who sits right in front of them in the standings.
Day 14 Highlighted Game: Czechia vs Austria ! Battle of the best! These two teams are top of the tournament at 20 points each and play in back to back games tomorrow. This will really be interesting to see which team has the bigger guns and comes out on top.
Day 15 Highlighted Game: Germany vs UK ! Both these teams are currently just sitting outside of the playoffs in Group A. Tomorrow is not the final day of sims but it's the 2nd last day and they need to make some moves fast and get on a W streak if they want to make it to the medal round.
Day 16 Highlighted Game: Ireland vs Latvia ! Two top teams in Group A as Latvia has been amazing so far at 7-1. Ireland had a big day today and at 5-1-1 they look as good as ever. Which team will finish on top in Group A? Who has what it takes to win tomorrow?
39alaska39
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Norway vs USA 
Canada vs Ireland 
! Canada has won all 5 games so far but they have been very challenged offensively only scoring 16 goals. Ireland is 3-1-1 including 3-0 as the home team which they will be for this game. We all know how dominant Ireland has been so this should be an absolute barn-burner! 
UK vs Finland ![[Image: bT6plUf.png]](https://i.imgur.com/bT6plUf.png)
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Switzerland vs Norway 
Germany vs UK ![[Image: gpK8Irf.png]](https://i.imgur.com/gpK8Irf.png)
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Japan @ Latvia ![[Image: QDBSeID.png]](https://i.imgur.com/QDBSeID.png)
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