And so it begins. The month of February 2012 sees us hit the half way point between the Vancouver 2010 Olympic games and the Sochi 2014 games, which is officially half-way through the international hockey cycle. It's a big year for the sport at the international level, as the IIHF officially gears up for the Sochi games. The IIHF Rankings compiled after the 2012 World Championships will determine which nations are automatically qualified for the games, with the top 9 men's nations qualifying along with the top 6 women's nations, with Russia counting as one of those teams in each group as the hosts.

The Olympic qualifiers are problematic for me. I like having a seperate batch of tournaments for them, but they greatly benefit European nations and really distort the World Rankings as a result. For years, South Korea had not bothered to send a team, and it is easy to see why: they are a nation that is realistically in the mid-to-high 20s in strength, and gaining, but sending a national team to a string of tournaments in Europe during one season is quite the expense for a group that realistically can't crack the top 12 even on a hot streak. As a result of not participating, their IIHF World Ranking has typically been in the low 30s. This isn't a big deal if you don't pay attention, but every once in a while a news story about a developing hockey nation comes about, and their IIHF Ranking is referred to, providing an inaccurate measure. For South Korea, that was the announcement that Pyeongchang would host the 2018 Winter Olympics. As a result, the Olympic federation will indeed be footing the enormous expense of sending their national teamsto Europe during 2012-13 for competitive purposes.

The second issue is that it's an open invite for all IIHF members. This is how Bulgaria sent a women's team to the 2010 qualification tournament despite having less than 30 registered players at the time. Bulgaria, you may recall, was famously beat 82-0 by Slovakia, who eventually qualified for the Games and finished 8th. This year, on the men's side, Mexico (36th in 2011 Championships), Israel (39th in 2011), and Bosnia and Herzegovina (has not played in Worlds since finishing 47th in 2008) are all in the tournament, having easier access (aside from Mexico) to the tournaments than Australia (29th), New Zealand (31st) and Iceland (33rd). Estonia (27th), has decided against participating as a longshot, and will stumble down the rankings considerably as a result. For a full list of the final placements for the 2011 World Championships, click here.

The third, and most important, is the timing of the tournaments.

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Earlier this week, it was confirmed that Pyeongchang, South Korea, will host the 2018 Winter Olympics.  It was a long time coming for the city and country, who had twice been a bridesmaid in the IOC's bidding process before an impressive first ballot victory this time around.

For South Korean ice hockey, the wait was probably a good thing.  The country is just starting to produce a relatively competitive hockey program, particularly on the men's side.  A lot of people are looking at their 31st place ranking and imagining the program as comparable to Mexico, Bulgaria, and Spain.  The IIHF World Ranking has its uses, but can be wildly inaccurate for countries that don't participate in low level Olympic qualification tournaments.  South Korea is the most prominent hockey nation that did not participate in 2010 Olympic qualification tournaments, while ambitious national organizations from Mexico and Turkey may have jumped the shark by competing above their weight class.  Turkey has been competing in the Division 3 World Championship tournament the past couple of years, while South Korea has hung around with the Division 1 crowd.

If the Olympics and all the qualfication tournaments are eliminated, South Korea is actually ranked 25th based on World Championship play (which at that level is best on best as NHL/AHLers are irrelevant), just 2 spots below regional rival Japan, a spot behind The Netherlands, and ahead of Lithuania and Estonia.  OK, so not exactly the kind of crowd that means they're ready to take on Canada and Sweden, but it gives you a better idea of their actual skill level.  Japan used to appear in the World Championships every year as a Far East qualifier, so fans are familiar with that country's modest skill level.  If the IIHF continued to do that, Japan would still likely be the annual representative, but South Korea would have closed the gap noticeably. 

Seven years won't get South Korea up to the level of the Czechs and Russians, or even the Swiss, but the level of Japan in 1998 or possibly even Italy in 2006.

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It's late April, so the hockey world is naturally intensifying its coverage on the sport's best.  The NHL playoffs' first round is coming to an end this week, and what was once a group of thirty teams will be brought down to an elite group of eight.  Every game is broadcast on cable and network television in North America, and will be from now through the awarding of a Stanley Cup Champion in early to mid-June.  For European audiences, and those in North America without a NHL team to support in the final few weeks of the season, the attention is on the IIHF World Championships which begin this Friday in Bratislava, Slovakia.  The rosters are starting to trickle in from around the world, and the initial analysis is that this is a much more talented group than was available for last year's year end party in Germany.  

However, on the complete other side of the international hockey world, are the IIHF's minnow nations, competing in the desert heat of Kuwait City.  Six nations have made the trek this time to the Challenge Cup of Asia, making it the biggest ice hockey tournament that Kuwait has ever hosted (they also hosted last year's four nation Gulf Cup).  In contrast to the heavy media coverage and easy access that the NHL playoffs and IIHF World Championship provides, all we get for coverage of this tournament is a simple webpage on the IIHF's website, giving the schedule and the score as well as a link to five of the team's rosters (no Thailand for some reason).  

The tournament is smaller this year than in past years, probably due to the fact that many of the nations also participated in the Asian Winter Games back in late January/early February in Kazakhstan.  Only three teams that participated in that tournament are also competing in this one, and two of those are Persian Gulf states (hosts Kuwait, as well as the United Arab Emirates).  Thailand is the lone completely dedicated nation so far, having competed in every CCoA to date as well as the AWG.  Last year's CCoA Champions, Taiwan, have decided to skip the competition this year.  

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There's a lot going on this Saturday, April 23 in IIHF action, so here's a quick rundown of it all.

IIHF World U18 Championships in Germany

The highlight of Saturday are the two semifinals in Crimmitschau, featuring the big four of international hockey squaring off against each other.  It is pretty much a carbon copy of the U20s from earlier this year as far as nations participating, with Sweden and USA finishing first in their groups while Russia and Canada won their quarterfinals to reach this moment.  The Sweden-Russia game has the early start, an afternoon game in Europe but an early morning game in North America.  Sweden is full marks for their spot in the semifinals so far, overcoming an early loss to the Czech Republic enough to make a late comeback against Canada to claim the spot.  Russia, meanwhile, has been relying on younger talent than Sweden, but the upside of these players are phenomenal, and we're just seeing them make their first impact at the international level now.  The game is followed by the USA-Canada semifinal, as the Americans, again the defending champions and pre-tournament favourites, are awaiting what has been a very top-heavy Canadian team.  While the Americans seem to get contributions throughout the lineup, Canada is dependent on a smaller core of players to shine than they are at the U20 level.

There are other games going on at the U18s as well:  the last games of the other six teams will determine official placement.  Here's the full schedule:

• Fifth Place Game:  Finland vs. Germany in Crimmitschau (10:30 AM local, 4:30 AM EST)
• First Semifinal:  Sweden vs. Russia in Crimmitschau (2:30 PM local, 8:30 AM EST)
• Relegation Round:  Slovakia vs. Norway in Dresden (3:30 PM local, 9:30 AM EST)
• Second Semifinal:  USA vs. Canada in Crimmitschau (6:30 PM local, 12:30 PM EST)
• Relegation Round:  Switzerland vs. Czech Republic in Dresden (7:30 PM local, 1:30 PM EST)

IIHF Women's World Championships in Switzerland

The action for today is completely in Zürich, as the semifinals take place.  Unlike the U18s, where the quarterfinal winners are playing after a full day's rest, the quarterfinalists here just played yesterday.  For Russia, who are making only their second ever appearance in a Women's Worlds semifinal, this will be especially a challenge as they played the later game yesterday, which went to overtime.  Russia defeated the hosts Switzerland 5-4 in the extra frame, and are now rewarded by playing four-time World Champion USA in the second semifinal.  In the first, we have a rematch of what ended up being a 'close in score only' group stage game between Canada and Finland.  Canada beat Finland 2-0, with an empty netter, but the shots were incredibly one sided and only Finnish goaltender Noora Raty kept Finland within reach.  It's a young Finnish team, while Canada doesn't feel the need to completely rebuild their national roster with eyes on the 2014 Olympics. 

While we should all expect a Canada-USA Final, it'd be nice if we saw some competitive play here.  But considering the USA beat Russia 13-1 in the group stage, I'm not too hopeful for much other than another big game from Raty for Finland. 

• First Semifinal:  Canada vs. Finland (4:00 PM local, 10:00 AM EST)
• Second Semifinal:  USA vs. Russia (8:00 PM local, 2:00 PM EST)

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I haven't given a lot of talk on this site to the Olympics yet, as I launched it just eleven months ago and the next Olympics are still 34 months away.  However, with the Olympics being the focal point of modern international hockey, I figure the actions of the finalists for the 2018 Winter Olympics are a worthy story for this site.

While the hockey world still needs confirmation about NHL player participation for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi (Russia), likely to be part of next year's CBA negotiation, the International Olympic Committee is getting ready to decide who will be the hosts of the Games after that.  On July 6, the announcement of the winning bid will be made from Durban, South Africa, and the three finalists are all currently courting IOC voting members as part of the final stage of the campaign.  The three finalists are as follows (click the links for their Google Maps location):

• Annecy, France
• Munich, Germany
• Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea

So how would hockey be affected?  It's no secret that the NHL feels the exposure of the Olympics, when the Games are held outside of North America, is a little lacking.  South Korea is in the same time zone as Nagano, Japan (GMT +9), so you if you recall at what hour the hockey games were broadcast back in 1998, you might be doing the same thing on the 20th anniversary of the first Olympics to allow NHL players.  Not only that, but South Korea would be the lowest ranked hockey nation to host the event, and would be allowed to have their national men's and women's teams compete in the twelve team tournament (if current format holds).  It will be interesting to see how the IIHF and IOC would incorporate the South Korean team, who are improving as a hockey nation (finished 25th last year at the World Championships) but are still quite a ways behind the Olympic level.  

From a hockey standpoint, there would be little issue with either France or Germany winning the bid.  France competes in the World Championships every year, and while getting a bump to the top 12 is a bit of a boost, the difference between France and Norway isn't terribly great.  Germany has qualified for every Olympics since NHL players were allowed, so there again would be little issue with their automatic inclusion.

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On Monday, January 31, Kyrgyz players defeated Mongolian team with the score 13:3. The first two periods went with notable advantages of Kyrgyzstan team and ended with the total score 11:1. The score of the third twenty-minute was 2:2. For the most part it happened due to the decision of Kyrgyzstan coach to replace the goalkeeper with the sixth skater, which was a good opportunity for Altanbayan Altamklumaga to deliver a puck into the opponent’s gate.

- taken from Astana/Almaty 2011 Website

The brief article from the main website makes it sound worse than it was, as according to the game sheet, Kyrgyzstan only pulled their goalie with 25 seconds left to play, and the article even credited the wrong Mongolian player with the goal (which occured just seven seconds later).  In a throwaway situation, the Kyrgyz coach decided to pull his goalie to see how his players would play with six skaters, even though the score was already 13-2 at the time.  

Still, it's not something you see everyday.  It's hard to know what to make of this Kyrgyzstan team, who had never played in international competition before and are now blitzing the competition in the Premier Division of the 2011 Asian Winter Games.  Their scorelines have been incredibly impressive, defeating the United Arab Emirates 14-0.  The Emirati may not seem to exude hockey greatness, but at this level, they actually are the team to beat.  So when the team puts up a result like that, I guess the coach decides to work in some practice scenarios in game situations to try and find ways to improve his team.

It's not unfathomable that Kyrgyz players have existed with a decent level of talent, being that the country shares a border with a strong hockey nation in Kazakhstan, and was part of the USSR.  It is also known there was hockey played in Kyrgyzstan during some of the USSR days, although not a lot remains on the historical record.  

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Figured I'd throw a shoutout to an event I honestly don't know a heck of a lot about, the 2011 Winter Universiade Games in Erzurum, Turkey.  The idea behind the competition is to put the best student athletes in the world against each other, and hockey is a key part of the games.  You'd think an event like this would be better known on this side of the pond, but both the Canadian and American teams don't send their best teams, so that could explain it.  Canada leaves their team to be selected by a single conference within the CIS, while the NCAA does not participate at all. 

The tournament lends itself to some different winners, due to the nature of the importance placed on hockey at universities in each country.  Russia and Canada still win more often than the other countries, but in the 1990s both Kazakhstan and Ukraine came out on top, so it's not simply restricted to the top countries.  In 2009, they added a women's competition for the first time as well.  There are twelve participating nations in the men's competition, and six in the women's. 

I don't have a lot to say about the teams involved.  You can see the USA's here, which is made up exclusively of players in the American Collegiate Hockey Association's Division 1.  Canada's men's team is made up exclusively from the Ontario University Athletics conference, and you can see the entire list of Canadian athletes here.  You'll notice that the women's team is made up of players from throughout the CIS, not just a regional group. 

Former Anaheim Ducks second round pick Jordan Smith (OK, technically a Mighty Ducks of Anaheim pick from 2004) is captaining the men's team, and carrying the flag for Canada.  He had his professional career derailed in his first season in the American Hockey League back in 2005-06 due to an eye injury, and decided to go the CIS route and become a student athlete studying Political Science at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. 

The Games start today, the 27th, and run until the gold medal games for women on February 5th, and for men on the 6th.  The twelve men's teams are divided into three groups, while the women partake in a complete round robin of the six teams.  Here are the groups:

Men

Group A:  Russia , Japan , Czech Republic , Turkey

Group B:  Canada , South Korea , Belarus , Slovenia

Group C:  Slovakia , Kazakhstan , United States of America , Spain

Women

Canada , Finland , United States of America , Slovakia , Great Britain , Turkey

Here's a link to the main website, and the Wikipedia page which has the schedule.

Martin Merk of IIHF.com provided an update on the Asian Winter Games recently, confirming some of the rumours surrounding some of the teams.  India won't be sending a team, which was actually known, as their federation was disappointed in the whole South Asian Winter Games experience and seemed willing to only fund winter athletes that could medal at the games.  Medalling seems to be an important issue, as the IIHF piece stated:

The probably biggest motivation to perform well was given to the Malaysian team, in a letter from the country’s highest sports authority.

"Bring back a medal and we will build an Olympic-sized ice hockey arena," Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, the Youth and Sports Minister of the country, issued in a statement published by state-run agency Bernama. "We are ready to help the sport and the ministry will do its part to help promote and develop the sport. It is not impossible to see the sport become a favourite among Malaysians one day."

Malaysian hockey is pretty limited currently, with only a couple of rinks in shopping malls to play in, so this would be a huge accomplishment if the government follows through on this interesting bit of motivation.  India recently opened their first full sized rink, and there is some suggestion they will be looking to host the IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia soon.  They are awarding medals for teams in the lower "Premier Division", so 3rd out of 7 teams will get it done, and Malaysia placed 4th at last year's CCOA (which Chinese Taipei won, and they're in the Top Division), so it's within reach.

India's pull-out from the AWG was followed by Qatar, who were going to make their international debut at the tournament after holding their first ever national championship.  I don't know if that event didn't meet the standard they expected, or if it was a funding issue, but the tiny Persian Gulf nation will have to wait for their first tournament.  That could come this June, if the Gulf Ice Hockey Championships occur again.  

There have been some rumours that the Asian Winter Games will mean there will be no Challenge Cup of Asia this year, and the fact that a host has yet to be named for that event lends credence to that theory.  However, the event is still listed as "TBA" on the IIHF website, so we'll have to see.  As you can tell, these national associations don't have a heck of a lot of resources available for funding, so it's definitely possible this event will be all there is for them.  

Puck drops on the 28th with Thailand taking on Kyrgyzstan in Kyrgyzstan's first ever international game.  That's a 1:30 local time start, which is 12:30 AM EST (11 hours difference) for North Americans (Astana is six hours ahead of GMT).  I doubt you'll find any TV coverage of the Premier or Women's Competitions, but who knows.  The other two Premier games that day are Malaysia vs. Bahrain (5:00 PM local) and Mongolia vs. Kuwait (8:30 PM local).  The women's competition also kicks off in Almaty (same time zone as Astana), with South Korea taking on Japan at 2:30 PM local, and North Korea taking on the host Kazakhs at 7:00 PM local.

The schedule can be found here.  And here's the IIHF's Asia Championships page.