Europe WJC Round Robin Recap

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It was a roller coaster for Team Europe during the round robin games in this years WJC tournament. Europe started off hot going 4-1 in the first 5 games.

GM Greg decided to go with the following lines for the first 3 games
 

Line 1: Nyman - Kidd - Hooper

Line 2: Ohradka - Stava - Steve

Line 3: Tallinder - Lahtinen - Lesieur

Line 4: Nyman - Stava - Lesieur
 

D1: Summers - Petrovic

D2: Jokinen - Lagesson

D3: Summers - Jokinen

D4: Petrovic - Lagesson
 

G1: Boris Boris

G2: Isak Sjostrom (Starting vs Asia)

The first game saw Europe beat Team USA 3-2 in a thrilling game that went into overtime. Mac Hooper ended up potting the winner and Guy Lesieur led the team with 2 points. It was the first game for these players playing together, so it will take time for them to gel and fire on all cylinders

In the second game Europe played USA once again but this time came out on top 4-2 in a much more dominating performance. Boris Boris played exceptionally well stopping 41 of 43 shots. Guy Lesiuer led the team with 2 goals and Fernando Jokinen helped with 3 assists. This was a much better performance from Team Europe and leaders were starting to form.

 

In the third game it was a disappointing loss to Asia as Europe lost its first game 4-3. Asia, unknown during this game, went on to have a miracle round robin going undefeated. Europe played well but they were just not up to par defensively. Isak Sjostrom received his first start and played exceptionally well for his WJC debut.

For the next 3 games, GM Greg decided to mix up the lines as some players were performing very well and deserved more ice time like Stava and Lesieur while others were not playing up to their potential like Belantine Kidd. GM Greg announced the new lines to the team.

 

Line 1: Nyman - Stava - Lesieur  

Line 2: Tallinder - Kidd - Steve

Line 3: Ohradka - Lahtinen – Hooper

Line 4: Tallinder - Kidd - Lesieur
 

D1: Summers – Petrovic

D2: Jokinen - Lagesson

D3: Summers – Jokinen

D4: Petrovic - Lagesson
 

G1: Boris Boris

G2: Isak Sjostrom

The first 2 games with the line changes went very well as Europe beat Team World 4-3 and 2-0 in back to back games. Lesieur shined on the first line and put up 3 points and Roadkill Steve also shined with his new linemates putting up 2 points over the stretch. Boris Boris was playing lights out and earned his first shutout of the season.

In the 3^rd game with the updated lines Europe hit a snag and lost 3-2 to Canada in a very lacklustre performance. Europe was expecting to win this game and GM Greg was unhappy with the way his team played.

He once again decided to change up the lines but this would lead to more disappointment in the next 2 games.

Line 1: Ohradka - Stava – Lesieur

Line 2: Nyman - Lahtinen - Steve

Line 3: Tallinder - Kidd - Hooper

Line 4: Nyman - Kidd - Steve
 

D1: Summers - Jokinen

D2: Petrovic - Lagesson

D3: Summers - Petrovic

D4: Jokinen – Lagesson
 

 G1: Boris Boris

G2: Isak Sjostrom
 

GM Greg decided to give some extra ice time to those players that were performing well and less ice time for his more skilled players that were not performing well.

This may have been a mistake as Europe for the first time in the tournament were blown out 5-2 by Asia and followed by a 5-3 loss to Canada. After these games GM Greg held an emergency team meeting to figure out what was going on.

The GM and players all discussed the issues and a new line up will be rolled out for the first elimination game. Greg is keeping the lineup a secret but rumour is it will be a mix of the 1^st lineup and the 2^nd lineup that was rolled out.

 

At the end of the Round Robin here is how the team scoring ended

Fernando Jokinen and Guy Lesieur both led the team with 11 points.

Jokinen was the teams star playmaker ending the round robin with 11 assists while Lesieur was an all around dominant player ending with 6 goals and 5 assists. If Europe wants to advance past Canada in the elimination round these 2 players will need to keep on producing at a hot pace. Players like Kidd, Lagesson and Tallinder will need to play better and offer more secondary support if Europe is to advance.

The full team scoring is below:

 

Player	Goals	Assists	Points
Jokinen	0	11	11
Lesieur	6	5	11
Steve	3	3	6
Summers	1	5	6
Nyman	2	3	5
Hooper	4	1	5
Ohradka	2	3	5
Stava	1	3	4
Lahtinen	2	2	4
Petrovic	0	2	2
Kidd	1	1	2
Lagesson	1	1	2
Tallinder	0	1	1

 

Player	Save %	GAA
Boris	0.908	2.84
Sjostrom	0.895	4.07

 

Europe was expected to finish 1^st or 2^nd out of the round robin but with the losses of the last 2 games they found themselves in 3^rd place with only 10 points. Their final record was 4-4. Europe will face Canada in the first elimination game, a team they have not yet beaten in this tournament.

 

“ It will be a tough elimination game for sure, Canada is a great team and they have had our number all throughout the round robin” GM Greg said “ but I believe with the new lines we will be rolling out that we can overcome them. Sometimes it takes a couple games to figure out what lines work and who clicks with who. All I can say is expect a better showing from our players”

 

It will be interesting to see what Greg has done and if anything will kick-start some of the European stars who have been invisible during this tournament. It will also be disappointing for the defending WJC champs to get eliminated in the first round of the elimination stage.

Stayed tuned to the WJC to see how well Europe does.

 

 

1033 words, claiming Dec 9-15 and Dec 16-22

 

Edited December 13, 2019 by Greg_Di

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claiming Dec 16-22