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oknom · 09-17-2023, 09:31 PM

What an exciting time for the league! Congratulations to the Winnipeg Aurora and St Louis Scarecrows for bringing home championships this year. For everyone who wasn’t lucky enough to come away a winner, we now turn our eyes to . . . something! Are you a GM catching up on tasks after the SHL draft? Are you a new player, freshly baked and still warm from the portal, wondering where you’ll spend your junior years in the SMJHL? Maybe you are hitting the international ice in the IIHF? Today I want to have some fun looking at the World Junior Championship federations, bearing in mind I have no idea what I’m talking about. I’m also including each federation’s signature goal celebration / finisher. I’m not permitted to elaborate, as some taunts are too upsetting to even describe.

Rhine Germany

Most recent finish: 9th (eliminated in group stage)
Most recent medal: S68 Gold (as DACH?)
My player is blood oathed to Germany and therefore RHINE. I guess making him from Germany made the blood oath unnecessary, but whatever. This federation had a tough finish last time, not coming in last but not even getting a sniff of the medal rounds. Here’s to hoping this combined group competes harder in S72, and raises a stein in victory!
Signature Move: Schnitzel Slash

USA Usa

Most recent finish: 1st
Most recent medal: S71 Gold
Team USA is a current powerhouse in the WJC as evidenced by their recent gold. It’s got to be nice being able to skim off the best players who default to the USA as origin countries.
Signature Move: The Yankee Doodle Dandy

Canada Canada

Most recent finish: 4th
Most recent medal: S68 Bronze
Another wagon of a federation like the US, however I was surprised to not see a more recent medal. Canada is always a threatening team to come up against in any international competition, so I’m sure this is just a recent dry spell.
Signature Move: The Naughty Mountie

North America
Most recent finish: 8th (eliminated in group stage)
Most recent medal: None that I could find, correct me if Im wrong.
At the other end of the spectrum from Canada and the US, the NA federation gets their pick of the remaining young stars. Im sure this pool is not too shabby, but since the SHL doesn’t exactly reflect the real world distribution of players, its bound to be not as strong as it was in reality. I tried my best using the index to see if there was a medal in the federation’s history but didn’t see one. Maybe this is their year?
Signature Move: The OK Boomer

Sweden Sweden

Most recent finish: 5th
Most recent medal: S70 Silver
The Scandinavian teams are always top tier with USA and Canada in international competition, and Sweden has got to have one of the most consistently sexy jerseys. Sweden just missed the medal round last year. So they are looking for a key roster improvement, or praying to the sim gods for better bounces.
Signature Move: The Surströmming

Finland Finland

Most recent finish: 3rd
Most recent medal: S71 Bronze
Finland is a well represented federation in the WJC. The Finns beat up on Canada in the bronze game last year, but were put away easily by British Isles the round before to keep them out of the gold medal game. Still should be very much in contention in S72.
Signature Move: The Longer Drink

British Isles Ireland

Most recent finish: 2nd
Most recent medal: S71 Silver
The combined British Isles federations seem to be killing it in both WJC and IIHF lately. My guess is this team is playing for a medal once again. But let’s see those rosters!
Signature Move: The Craic Mental

UCORCAL Russia

Most recent finish: 6th
Most recent medal: S66 Silver
The first of three combined federations that got me interested in writing this article. Russia was noticeably missing from the index when I first poked around. This federation gets first pick from Russia, Latvia, and Czechia which is a great start. Similar to the NA team above, not sure how bad the translation of real world players to SHL WJC players is for these countries. Seems as though this federation could use a few star players to push them through to another medal.
Signature Move: The Dirty Dimitri

Ice
Most recent finish: 7th (eliminated in group stage)
Most recent medal: S70 Bronze
Sometimes the leftovers are even better the day after. This federation gets first crack at all players NOT initially selected by their designated federations. With all the other combined federations, this raises more questions than it answers for me when it comes to roster building. But think about how hungry and mad these players aught to be! It is hard not to always root for ICE.
Signature Move: The False Flag

World Japan

Most recent finish: 10th (eliminated in group stage)
Most recent medal: S69 Silver (nice)
The World federation gets to select players from Japan, a strong competitor in IIHF, and Norway, a traditionally strong hockey country. This is an interesting blend of nations, and would be wild to see them in action. Another combined federation where roster building must make things interesting on the federation head!
Signature Move: The Mr. Worldwide

Looking forward to experiencing my first international competition. Best of luck to all prospects, federations, and simmers! I hope there are no ejections for one of these depraved and disgusting acts listed above.

Word Count: 907

DigDoug11 · 09-17-2023, 09:35 PM

**_Blitz_** · 09-17-2023, 10:44 PM

09-17-2023, 09:31 PMoknom Wrote: Rhine
Most recent finish: 9th (eliminated in group stage)
Most recent medal: S68 Gold (as DACH?)

You're correct! Through S68, Team Rhine was Team DACH and represented Austria, Germany, and Switzerland (D - Deutsch, A - Austria, CH - Confoederatio Helvetica / Switzerland). The Austrian federation was kind of tainted by association with its long-time fed head. When the new manager came in, he moved the fed to France. The WJC team name changed to match.

Great write-up! Good luck in the tournament!

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