IIHF Division II Hockey Championship, Day Four: Playoff Hockey!

Five quick notes from Day Four of the tournament.

1. Every time a team scores (and there have been a hell of a lot of goals in the past four days), the announcer plays canned applause, followed by that overused Gary Glitter abomination. I wish he’d stop. When the stands are empty (generally, the first two games of the day), it just reinforces how empty the arena is. When they’re full, you don’t need it.

Seriously. Canned applause invites unfavourable comparisons to Montreal Expos games at the cavernous and reliably deserted Big O before they mercifully moved the team out of town.

2. While it’s easy to make fun of soccer’s low-scoring, coma-inducing tendencies, in hockey, blowouts aren’t that exciting either. Counting today, of the tournament’s 12 games, only four have been competitive (with either team having a chance to win it going into the third), and one of those was eventually decided by a five-goal margin.

The result? In the absence of any serious tension or (to date) major upsets, my enjoyment of this tournament has come largely as a result of seeing good plays well executed.

3. I was reminded today by a fellow who works for the Mexican hockey team that for the Mexican players (and doubtless for the other teams as well), it’s an accomplishment just to be playing Division II hockey. In Canada, our world championship teams “suffer” from a lack of preparation because the players usually join the team once their NHL teams are out of the playoffs. In Mexico, not only did some of the players get to town only a week or so ago, but the best Mexican players are often unavailable because the team can’t afford to pay their regular teams (sometimes AHL franchises and the like) enough insurance money.

Remembering things like that, and the fact that these are players who aren’t playing 80-plus games a year at an elite level, makes every goal, good play and blocked shot that much more impressive.

4. I think I mentioned this before, but of the away teams, Australian and Spanish fans are the noisiest and most exuberant, and on a per-fan basis, nobody can touch the Aussies.

5. Probably the oddest thing about this tournament is that they don’t serve alcohol in the arena. That’s right: spectators willingly gather to watch a sporting event for its own merits, without the promise of booze. That’s more than can be said about baseball.

Day Four: Friday, April 16, 2010
Belgium 5, Bulgaria 4
Keep in mind that I’ve never seen any of these teams play before this week, but I can’t imagine that the Bulgarian team is very happy with their tournament: crushing Turkey only to be crushed in return by Australia and (unsurprisingly) Spain, and then losing a close game to Belgium. Despite its closeness, Bulgaria never held a lead, though they managed to tie it twice in the second (3-3 and then 4-4), before finally ceding the winning fifth goal in the third, as Belgium capitalized on a five-minute major with that period’s only goal.

As with the other games, Bulgaria has skill and discipline, though Belgium was the faster team. Bulgaria was also helped by some stellar goaltending, notably for a spell in the second period in which Belgium, up 4-3 attacked hard but to no avail. While this game lacked the speed and end-to-end action of the previous day’s Belgium-Spain game, it was nice to finally see a game in which the outcome was in doubt right to the end.

Australia 10, Turkey 1
Despite the lopsided score, this one seemed to have the potential to be much, much worse for Turkey. Australia, thankfully, refrained from completely humiliating Turkey: during a short-handed three-on-two in the second, for example, the Australian player elected to dump the puck into the corner rather than press the advantage. When you already know that you’re going to win, there’s no point in hammering home the point.

And since Turkey’s had such a rough tournament, kudos to their fans who cheered so enthusiastically when Turkey posted their one goal of the game. Very classy.

On an unrelated note, the announcer played Men At Work’s “Down Under” after several of Australia’s goals. Nice to see they’re having fun up in the booth.

Spain 4, Mexico 2
Oh, man. Given the two countries’ history, Spain versus Mexico was destined to be the tournament’s marquee game, and the two teams delivered a tense, exciting game, with a huge assist from the overcapacity crowd. As with Mexico’s first game, the stands were packed, and fans were lined up two deep behind the glass in the end zones. The cheering started in earnest eight minutes before the game itself began. The atmosphere was as electric as any NHL playoff game.

The festive mood carried over to the game itself, with the crowd cheering every hit in a physical game. And Mexico, somewhat to my surprise, gave them lots to cheer about. Where Belgium tried (and failed) to skate with the faster, skilled Spanish side, Mexico concentrated on playing smart, picking their chances and (in the first few minutes) icing the puck a lot. As their reward, where Belgium finally collapsed in the third, Mexico stayed with Spain to the bitter end.

Spain opened the scoring first, with a power-play goal in the first period on the second of consecutive Mexican penalties. By the midway point of the second, the tournament’s best team was up 2-0 over the home team.

Still, helped by good defencee and some fine goaltending (including stoning Spain on a breakaway in the third), Mexico never gave up, and were rewarded for their persistence with a power-play goal with 20 seconds to go in the second period to make the score 2-1. The crowd? Deafening.

And when they tied it in the third, they got even louder. Mexico actually had a chance to win this one, and in fact they had every opportunity. Not only did the teams spend a lot of time in the Spanish end of the rink, but Spain took several penalties, including a few five-on-threes and a five-minute major to end the game. Still, Mexico was unable to translate these advantages into goals.

For all their speed and skill, from my vantage point in the stands, it looked like the Mexican players could not complete a pass to save their lives. Instead, they’d opt for the wraparaound, or for the dramatic deke. When the forwards would pass to the defence, it would take the defenceman a second or two to set up for the shot, giving Spain precious time to move into position.

In the end, it took a perfect deflection in front of the Mexican net from a pass from the middle of the left circle to put Spain ahead for good, with just over eight-and-a-half minutes to go in the third. A short-handed empty-net goal finished it all.

Spain celebrated like they’d won the Stanley Cup. Mexico, looking dejected, but not that dejected, were saluted with verve by their fans, and with good reason. Against the best team in the tournament, and in a tournament in which tight games have been the exception, Mexico more than held their own. Their defence and goaltending were excellent, and while they need to work on their offence, they demonstrated both great individual talent and team potential. If, for countries in which hockey is more curiosity than religion, simply getting to the Division II level is an accomplishment, Mexico proved that they belong there, and have the potential to go even higher.

Final Thoughts
With Spain (4-0) having sewn up first place and a trip to Division I, and Turkey (0-4) heading to Division III, second through fifth are the only spots still up for grabs. In a fortuitous bit of scheduling, the final day’s games see Australia (3-1) and Belgium (3-1) fight it out for second, and Bulgaria (1-3) and Mexico (1-3) battle for fourth. These two games should be exciting; for the first time in the tournament, it’s not immediately clear who’s going to win. As for the other game, as I said the other day, it’s too bad that Turkey’s final game will be against Spain.