PowerPlay Magazine

This month we have a guest written article by Capsaicin.  Capsaicin is a regular contributor to the forums and he would is a nice addition to this month’s PP Magazine.

 

Season 22 U18 Top Division World Championships

 

The U18 United States National Hockey Team goes into its 5th consecutive season in the top division as the 4th ranked U18 national hockey team in the world.  The United States has made the playoffs in 3 out of the last 4 seasons.  Finland, Croatia, Russia and Slovakia have also made the playoffs 3 times out of the last 4 seasons.  No team has made the playoffs in all 4 of the last 4 seasons.  The United States had its best result in season 20 when it lost to eventual champion Portugal in the semifinals and finished in 4th place.

 

The United States will play Russia, Canada, and Latvia in group 4 of the preliminary round.  This is the 4th time that Russia has been in the same preliminary round group.  The United States is 2-1 against Russia in preliminary round games.  Russia beat the United States in the season 20 bronze medal match.  This is the 2nd time that Canada has been in the same preliminary round group.  Canada won a preliminary game against the United States in a shootout last season.  Russia, Canada, and the United States were all in the same group last season.  The United States has never played Latvia in the World Championships.  The last exhibition game between the two teams was in season 18 in 2014.

 

The top 3 teams from group 4 will play the top 3 teams from group 1.  Group 1 includes Poland, Sweden, Germany, and the Czech Republic, all very strong teams.  Preliminary round games between the teams that advance to the qualifying round from group 4 count towards the qualifying round standings.  The top 4 teams from the combined group advance to the playoffs.  It will be important for the United States to win as many games as possible early on due to the strength of group 1.

 

The United States has the strongest goaltending and shooting in group 4.  Overall, the teams in group 4 are close enough that anybody could win the group or end up in the relegation round.

 

 

Review of Season 21 U18 Top Division World Championships

 

In season 22, the United States U18 National Hockey Team opened with an upset 4-2 win over a strong Hungarian squad.  The U.S. followed up with a strong 5-1 win over Russia.  The United States then lost in a shootout to Canada, clinching 1st in group 1.

 

In the qualifying round, the United States won 4-3 against Portugal, the reigning champion and 4-1 against Poland.  The United States clinched the playoffs early and was able to play its backups against the Czech Republic to conserve energy.  The United States lost to Sweden 0-1 in the first round of the playoffs.

 

Hyrum Hammond of the Montana Miners, formerly from the Psychos, led the team in goals with 3.  Castaneda of the Boilermakers, Brennan of the Razorback Thugs, and Calvert of the Bombsville Atomics each had 4 assists.  Those 4 players and Val Taylor of the Momentum each had 5 points.  Castaneda and Brennan lead in scoring by defensemen.  Cosby had a strong tournament with 1.65 GAA, 93.79 SV%, 4 wins, 1 shootout loss, and a 0-1 loss against Sweden.

 

 

 

U18 United States National Hockey Team Lineup

 

*The player's team and league is in parentheses.  For players on foreign teams, the original team is included after the current team.

 

G1: Bradley Kearney (Bombsville Atomics - I.1)

G2: Matt Dowell (Momentum - II.2)

 

L1:

LW: Joca Burkhart (Bombsville Atomics - I.1)

C: Sylvester Dowd (GoldFish - I.1)

RW: Juan Vance (Spirit Crushers - I.1)

LD: Orville Ripper (Bulls4ever Club - II.2) - C

RD: Raymond Sharpe (Smart People - II.4)

 

L2:

LW: Calvin Chapman (Westchester Red Wings - I.1)

C: Andy Ledford (Salt Lake Karma Police - I.1)

RW: Dale Arnett (HC HAKALI - Finland III.1/Razorback Thugs - I.1) - A1

LD: Douglas Hawks (Momentum - II.2)

RD: Oscar Hopkins (Razorback Thugs - I.1)

 

L3:

LW: Arnold Darby (War Pigs - II.2)

C: Bryan Funk (HC Chita Vsetin - Czech Republic IV.58/Medvescak Zagreb - folded)

RW: Steven Phillips (Smart People - II.4)

LD: Jamie Richards (Detroit Red Wings - II.3)

RD: Tavis Christianson (Montana Miners - I.1)

 

L4:

LW: Darrin Mitchell (Ice Monkeys - Canada II.1/Razorback Thugs - I.1)

C: Chad Staples (Slatington Serpents - I.1)

RW: Marcus Echols (Bulls4ever Club - II.2)

LD: Denver Reynolds (HC Sisu - Finland II.4/Boilermakers - I.1)

RD: Darryl Draper (Momentum - II.2)

 

L5:

LW: Jared Starr (Momentum - II.2)

C: Byron Olivarez (HC Olimp - Russia II.2/Psychos - folded)

RW: Will Leclair (LVGHC - Hungary II.3/Razorback Thugs - I.1)

LD: Clark Colpean (Bouncing Pucks - I.1)

RD: Casey Nunez (Spirit Crushers - I.1)

G: Philip Dey (Bombsville Atomics)

 

 

Breakdown of the United States Roster

 

Generation of Talent

 

*37 players were pulled or drafted by I.1 teams.  13 players were pulled by teams no currently in I.l.

**The first number is the training facility level, and the second number is the sports academy level.

***Teams are grouped according to how many of the 50 players from the current U18 team they produced for this season.

****Additional players from the Boilermakers were added to the team before the Boilermakers folded.

 

10:

Boilermakers (15,15)

6:

Bombsville Atomics (15,15)

5:

Momentum (15,15)

Razorback Thugs (15,15)

4:

Westchester Red Wings (15,15)

Montana Miners (15,15)

2:

Spirit Crushers (15,14)

Bulls4ever Club (14,14)

Bouncing Pucks (15,15)

1:

War Pigs (13,12)

Smuggling Grapes (15,15)

Smart People (15,15)

Detroit Slackers (14,13)

Slatington Serpents (15,14.5)

Salt Lake Karma Police (15,13)

Psychos (15,15)

Medvescak Zagreb (~13,~13)

Goldfish (15,14)

Detroit Red Wings (15,15)

 

Development of Talent

 

*22 players are currently players for teams from I.1, 20 players are player for other U.S. teams, and 8 players are playing for foreign teams.

**The number is the training facility level.

***Teams are grouped according to how many of the 50 players from the current U18 team play for them.

****Additional players from the Boilermakers were added to the team before the Boilermakers folded.

 

6:

Smart People (15)

Bombsville Atomics (15)

5:

Momentum (15)

4:

Westchester Red Wings (15)

Kentucky ManBearPigs 2 (12.5)

2:

Montana Miners (15)

Razorback Thugs (15)

Spirit Crushers (15)

Bulls4ever Club (14)

Bouncing Pucks (15)

1:

War Pigs (13)

Smuggling Grapes (15)

Slatington Serpents (15)

Salt Lake Karma Police (15)

Goldfish (15)

Detroit Red Wings (15)

Bohemians (15)

 

 

Top Division U18 National Hockey Team Rankings

 

Rank	Country	Points	Playoff Appearances in the Last Four Seasons	Number of Seasons in the Top Division	Medals in the Last Four Seasons
1	Czech Republic	2810	2	12	Gold, Silver
2	Finland	2785	3	11	Silver
3	Croatia	2720	3	10	Gold, Bronze
4	United States	2690	3	5
5	Russia	2690	3	12	Bronze
6	Portugal	2685	2	3	Gold, Bronze
7	Slovakia	2685	3	12	Gold, Bronze
8	Sweden	2645	2	5	Silver
9	Poland	2630	2	11
10	Serbia	2610	2	12
11	Slovenia	2490	0	6
12	Latvia	2435	1	12
13	Canada	2390	1	4
14	Spain	2330	0	9
15	France	2195	1	9
16	Germany	2100	0	8

 

 

 

Top 10 Players:

1) Krzysztof Bartysiak - Poland (http://hockey.powerplaymanager.com/en/player.html?data=19782224-krzysztof-bartysiak)

2) Dalimil Rumpik - Czech Republic

(http://hockey.powerplaymanager.com/en/player.html?data=19878820-dalimil-rumpik)

3) Konstantin Hajek - Slovakia

(http://hockey.powerplaymanager.com/en/player.html?data=19752894-konstantin-hajek)

4) Karol Gadus - Slovakia

(http://hockey.powerplaymanager.com/en/player.html?data=19757446-karol-gadus)

5) Carlo Potts - Canada

(http://hockey.powerplaymanager.com/en/player.html?data=19785864-carlo-potts)

6) Oscar Sotuela - Spain

(http://hockey.powerplaymanager.com/en/player.html?data=19752624-oscar-sotuela)

7) Steve Hapke - Germany

(http://hockey.powerplaymanager.com/en/player.html?data=19855726-steve-hapke)

8) David Grasic - Slovenia

(http://hockey.powerplaymanager.com/en/player.html?data=19859329-david-grasic)

9) Augustin Matal - Slovakia

(http://hockey.powerplaymanager.com/en/player.html?data=19771284-augustin-matal)

10) Konstantin Tishkov - Russia

(http://hockey.powerplaymanager.com/en/player.html?data=19815033-konstantin-tishkov)

 

Depth Comparison:

*The first number indicates the number of players with 1300+ OR

**The second number indicates the number of players with 1200 OR - 1299 OR

***The third number indicates the number of players with 1100 OR - 1199 OR

****Keep in mind that these numbers do not take into account factors such as chemistry, experience, energy, or quality of training ratios.

*****For the purpose of these numbers, a 1200 OR players is consider equivalent to a 1299 OR players, so a larger number does not necessarily indicate that a team is substantially stronger.

 

Poland: 1-9-19

Sweden: 0-2-13

Germany: 1-6-17

Czech Republic: 1-15-18

 

Finland: 0-6-20

Portugal: 0-0-5

Serbia: 0-2-19

France: 0-7-22

 

Spain: 1-4-10

Croatia: 0-4-11

Slovakia: 2-16-15

Slovenia: 1-5-14

 

Latvia: 0-5-18

Canada: 1-2-13

Russia: 0-3-24

United States: 0-3-10

 

Thank You to the Following Manager for Helping with Scout over the Last Season:

Ziggy00

Draco26

mmesner9

zomg

Tyler Henson

PuckNut27

Headhog

Smithe26

Tujague

BradGilbert

Cory Martin

MaxOo

 

I'm sorry if I missed anyone.

 

Hopefully the U18 United States National Hockey Team will surpass its 4th place finish from season 20 and retain its current international ranking!  The first game against Canada is this Saturday.

Article Written by Capsaicin.