2009 IIHF U18 World Championship DIV. IIIA, 27.02-02.03 2009, Taipei

[Karsten]

2009 IIHF U18 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP DIV. IIIA
Taipei City (Taipei), 27 February - 5 March 2009

STANDINGS

			GP	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF:GA	P
1.		Taipei	0	0	0	0	0	0:0	0
2.		Australia	0	0	0	0	0	0:0	0
3.		Mongolia	0	0	0	0	0	0:0	0
4.		New Zealand	0	0	0	0	0	0:0	0
5.		South Africa	0	0	0	0	0	0:0	0

SCHEDULE

Venue: Taipei Annex Ice Rink

27.02.2009, 16:00, New Zealand - Australia
27.02.2009, 19:00, Taipei - Mongolia

28.02.2009, 16:00, Australia - South Africa
28.02.2009, 19:00, Taipei - New Zealand

02.03.2009, 16:00, Australia - Mongolia
02.03.2009, 19:00, New Zealand - South Africa

03.03.2009, 16:00, Mongolia - New Zealand
03.03.2009, 19:00, South Africa - Taipei

05.03.2009, 16:00, South Africa - Mongolia
05.03.2009, 19:00, Australia - Taipei

[Karsten]

GAME SUMMARIES

27.02.2009
New Zealand U18 - Australia U18 0-7 (0-3, 0-2, 0-2)
0-1 04:52 W Darge 1 (McFadden) PP1
0-2 06:50 B Cliff 1 (Wong, McFadden) PP1
0-3 10:10 S Best (McPhail, Wetini) PP1
0-4 20:24 W Darge 2 (Sewell)
0-5 30:57 Eric Sewell 1 (McKenzie)
0-6 42:59 R Outred 1 (Wetini)
0-7 55:00 B Cliff 2 (Darge, McGregor)
NZE 11x2, AUS 4x2 + 1x10 (Darge), SOG 17:77 (0:33, 8:22, 9:22), Att: 250
Goaltenders: Hopkinson - Smart
Best Player Awards: Hopkinson - Sewell

Taipei U18 - Mongolia U18 17-0 (5-0, 5-0, 7-0)
1-0 06:04 Kuo-Feng Juan 1 (Weng, Yang)
2-0 06:33 To Weng 1 (Juan)
3-0 09:20 Ching-Yang Yeh 1
4-0 15:44 Kuan-Yu Shih 1
5-0 19:32 To Weng 2 (Juan, Lu) PP2
6-0 26:44 To Weng 3 (Tseng)
7-0 29:11 Yu-Lun Liu 1 (Shih)
8-0 32:36 Yang 1
9-0 32:45 Shen 1
10-0 39:13 Kuo-Feng Juan 2 (Yang) PP1
11-0 41:01 Kuo Feng Juan 3
12-0 43:15 Jui-Tang Chen 1
13-0 44:21 Yen-Lin Shen 2
14-0 50:23 Yu-Tung Chao 1
15-0 54:35 Hao-Che Tseng 1 (Liao)
16-0 56:56 Wei-Chieh 1 (K. W Liao)
17-0 57:14 Wei-Chieh Liao 2 (Yang)
Taipei 4x2, Mongolia 7x2, SOG 75:4 (30:1, 15:1, 30:2), Att: 730
Goaltenders: YC Liao (30:21 Al) - Rentsen
Best players: Juan - Rentsen

[Riaan]

The South African U/18 Team is as follows:

Bernie Gouws [Captain] WP
Cyle Labuschagne [Assistant Captain] SG
Arne Cotze [Assistant Captain] NG
Aiden Thomson SG
Darren McFarlane SG
Russel van Hennigen SG
Warwick du Preez NG
Baden Best WP
Luke Carelse WP
Jarryd Goodwin WP
Jade Johnson WP
Brandon Kros-Kretzen WP
Cai Nebe WP
Uthman Samaai WP
Kyle Van Rooyen WP
Chad Williams WP
Ethan Samuels WP

Goalies:
Lloyd Schluter WP
Wesley Marnewick SG

The team manager is Elsabe Stockhoff and the coach is Ronnie Wood.

NG- Northern Gauteng
SG - Southern Gauteng
WP - Western Province

[Karsten]

Since the Chinese Taipei national championship (open division) finished in early December (with the Silver Monster once again winning the title, Krystof Kovago, the national coach, has prepared 25 players (18 players + 7 reserves) for the world championship. The official website of the Chinese Taipei federation reports that the practises have been very concentrated, and that they are now entering their final stages.

Chinese Taipei finished 2nd last year when the U18 entered the worlds for the first time, and the team must be considered one of the favorites to be promoted this year.

Since by Chinese language skills are zero, and I don't put much trust in google translations, I'm not going to list the roster. Sufficient to say that the majority of the players were born in 1991.

More on Chinese Taipei hockey here:

http://forums.internationalhockey.ne...ead.php?t=7845
http://forums.internationalhockey.ne...ead.php?t=7844

[nzice]

Photos of the NZ U18 Team in a practice game in Auckland Saturday
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nzihf/s...7614204304529/

[wulos]

The Australian squad is:-

Michael Smart – WA (G)
Chris Gleeson – NSW (G)
Austin McKenzie – VIC
Billy Cliff – NSW
Chris McPhail – ACT
Cory Vickers – VIC
Eric Sewell – QLD
Joel McFadden – NSW
Jordan Kyros – WA
Kyle Dolling – WA
Marcus Wong – VIC
Matt Wetini – NSW
Rhys Outred – NSW
Ryan McLeod – SA
Sam Austin – NSW
Seph Renner – NSW
Shannon McGregor – NSW
Steve Best – SA
Wehebe Darge – SA

Team Officials:-

Chef de Mission ~ Don Rurak – SA
Team Manager ~ Paul Johnston – ACT
Head Coach ~ Pier Martin – NSW
Assistant Coach ~ Steven Lindsay – NSW
Medical Officer ~ Cheryl Outred – NSW
Equipment Officer ~ Vince Outred - NSW

[Karsten]

wulos, thanks for posting the team photo.

Poll has been added. It closes in 3 days.

[Greg]

The SA team is a very young team with more than half the team under the age of 17. They have set themselves a target of 2 wins in this tournament as they build for the next 2 years.
The team has spent the last 3 months putting in long hours under the watchful eye of former Great Britain International Ronnie Wood and the current SA Senior Captain Andre Marais. The long flight and big change in time zones will be a disadvantage for the. They will relishing the opportunity of a mini Tri-Nations on ice, as SA, Aus and NZ are fierce rivals on the rogby field.

Photograph of the Cape Town based players leaving for Taipei is on http://www.wpicehockey.co.za/

[nzice]

[nzice]

[Graham]

Originally Posted by Greg

The team has spent the last 3 months putting in long hours under the watchful eye of former Great Britain International Ronnie Wood

I spoke with Ronnie in Luxembourg last year. You have a very good guy, there. I do wonder if British hockey would be in this mess if Sheffield had listened to him when he started the Steelers in the early-90s.

Although, I have to say that he has a South African accent, now. Unless he is "p*ssed off with the team" (his words) in which case the strong Scottish accent returns!

Graham.

[Karsten]

Australia beats New Zealand 7-0 in the opening game of the tournament. SOG: 77:17.

http://stats.iihf.com/Hydra/174/live/1944.html

[Greg]

After what he did with the SA senior side last year, I can't wait to see how this young side performs. There are a number of the younger players that he has had under his wing for 4 years now, and this is their first exposure to international opponents never mind, championship competition. It will be interesting to see how far he has brought.

Trust me the Scottish accent comes through frequently!!! It normally results in either a wide eyed, stunned silent bench or a p*ssed off player with a cracker up his behind. Ronnie remains controversial because I think he enjoys it, so it is quite entertaining watching him coach.

[Graham]

The hosts have beaten Mongolia 17-0. SOG were 75-4, with Mongolia managing at least 1 shot in each period. Goals are fairly well spread across the Chinese Taipei side.

http://stats.iihf.com/Hydra/174/IHM174902_74_3_0.pdf

Graham.

[Geoff Le Cren]

The games were very one sided as the scores show. The Australians were playing at a whole other level, it would be a major upset for them to not go all the way, although SA have yet to play the previous comments indicate there wont be much of a challenge from them for the title. As a kiwi it is pretty hard watching those Aussies dominate the two traditional World Powers in rugby! Though I should add that the best skater on the ice looked to be CHALLIS 22 out of Auckland, 6 MC DERMID also looked the goods but for the most part the rest of the NZ team had trouble skating with the Aussies and were weak on the puck, time and again they were chased down for a puck with a 1-2m head start, sometimes over only 5-6m, that skating seemed to also affect their timing on hits resulting in so many of their penalties. MVP for the NZ team went to the goalie HOPKINSON 20, he shut down probably 4-5 breakaways and I think 4 of the 7 goals were on power plays. I think MVP for the Australians was 19 AUSTIN.
Chinese Taipei looked pretty good in the first period with lots of team work, but that soon degenerated into individual end to end rushes, usually ending in a shot on the goalies chest. They'd have to be favoured to win tonights game against NZ if only due to their skating ability.
On last nights form they look to be the only team that can skate with the Australians but it remains to be seen whether the team can play a different game plan to what we saw last night, the Australians wouldn't have much trouble keeping them to the outside, for the most part they are bigger and look to be more practised in playing the body.

[oznthstar]

According to IIHF stats page, Australia defeated South Africa 16-1 tonight.
I think coaches Pier Martin and Steve Lindsay have done a good job of picking a champion team this year rather than a team of champions, which may have been somewhat true of last year's side.

Unfortunately for Linsday his beer league side lost their grand final tonight without him, going down 3-1 to the Blue Ice. Don't blame me Steve, my team narrowly avoided taking the spoon in a penalty shootout!

[nzice]

Here is link to my photo set for this tournament - not sure who has taken all of these - but gave the email address for my flickr account to the team - so photos appear in my Flickr queue for grouping into sets

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nzihf/c...7614285160572/

[Geoff Le Cren]

What a completely different side the kiwis were tonight, turns out the whole team can skate! (and for the most part stay out of the box). The coach was saying after the game that they simply "____ the bed last night" against the Aussies, they came out tonight and out played Chinese Taipei till early in the 3rd till it was 4-0. CT had their chances but made very little of it, usually shooting from way outside rather than make the pass or even hold the puck and step in for a closer shot, they certainly had more shots but created very few real scoring opportunities. They should feel disappointed with tonights result, they have what it takes to do much better but lacked creativity and were unable to change their game plan when what they were doing wasn't working. Credit to NZ who came out and executed!

[Zenda]

I see that the leading goal scorer for the tournament at the moment is Wehebe Darge from the Australia team. He is also currently at Harrington College in Canada, I believe. This place has helped develop a few young players who have gone on to play well in national teams, acorss the divisions.

[Geoff Le Cren]

There are some questions being asked about his eligility, can any one on here confirm the rules regarding foreign based players?

[nzice]

From http://www.iihf.com/de/home-of-hocke...igibility.html

IIHF Eligibility

To play in the IIHF World Championship, the Olympic ice hockey tournament and the qualifications to these competitions, players must fulfill the following qualification requirements:

* Each player must be under the jurisdiction of an IIHF member national association.
* Each player must be a citizen of the country he represents.


Acquiring a new national eligibility (The ‘two-year’ case)
When a player has changed his citizenship or has acquired another citizenship and wants to participate for the first time in an IIHF competition representing his new country he must:

* Prove that he has participated for at least two consecutive years in the national competitions of his new country during which period he has neither transferred to another country nor played ice hockey within any other country.
* Have an international transfer card (ITC) that shows the transfer to the national competition of his new country and which was approved and dated at least two years before the start of the IIHF competition in which he wishes to participate.


Change of national eligibility (The ‘four-year’ case)
A player, who has previously participated in IIHF competition, can switch national eligibility (but only once in a player's life) if:

* He is a citizen of the new country of his choice
* He has participated for at least four consecutive years in the national competitions of his new country, during which period he has neither transferred to another country nor played ice hockey within any other country and has not played for his previous country in an IIHF competition during this four year period.
* He has an international transfer card (ITC) that shows the transfer to the national competition of his new country and which was approved and dated at least four years before the start of the IIHF competition in which he wishes to participate.

[nzice]

However you also need to read the intl transfer details - as U18 players do not have to have an ITC - International Transfer Card - just a letter of approval - cant find the IIHF link but the link below works.

http://www.eiha.co.uk/IIHF_Internati..._July_2007.pdf

[nzice]

If I recall Israel had issues with the U18 age group when they iced 3 ineligible players back in 2003

Three Israeli players found ineligible at IIHF U18 Championship - IIHF
Two of Israel's games forfeited costing them promotion to Division II

Three players representing Israel at the 2003 IIHF World U18 Championship Division III Group B (in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, February 6-9) were found ineligible and two of Israel's games were forfeited.

The Ice Hockey Federation of Israel had registered and played ineligible players, contravening IIHF Bylaws.

After recording wins against Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iceland with the participation of ineligible players, the games were judged as forfeited by the championship directorate and the scores were recorded as 5-0 in favour of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iceland, respectively.

The tournament directorate judged the participation of multiple citizens Ziv Zukiar, Aaron Zimner and Michael Lubinsky (dual Israeli and Canadian citizens) as breach of bylaw 204 of the IIHF Statues and Bylaws. The bylaw states that players with multiple citizenships must prove that they have participated for at least two consecutive years in the national competitions of the country that they wish to represent.

Also according to bylaw 204, the member national association for which the players wish to play must submit an application to the IIHF with all relating evidence at the latest four weeks before the competition in the players wish to play.

The case of ineligibility will be investigated by the IIHF Disciplinary Committee for possible further action against the member national association.

The four-team championship was won by Iceland, followed by Turkey, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Israel. Iceland was promoted to the 2004 IIHF World U18 Championship Division II.

I think the following are the current U18 guidelines - from here again


4.7 Player Eligibility Application Assistance:
Player eligibility requests by national associations for players who have moved
from one country into their country under the age of 18 years and who cannot
be tracked through the International Transfer System may apply for eligibility to
the IIHF with original documents, translated into English where necessary, and
including original signatures, dates and stamps.
The player would need to have participated for a minimum of two years within
the new national association without having played in any other country during
this time period.
The following documents must be submitted with the application:
• An affidavit from both parents declaring residency for the period in
question
• Signature and stamp on a affidavit from the new national association
confirming participation by this player and specifying the exact dates
• Stamped and signed residency papers from the municipality for the
period in question
• School records for the period in question
• Approved game sheets for the period in question
Plus two of the following three items must be submitted with the application:
• School principal signature on original school letterhead confirming
attendance in their school for the period in question
• Family Doctor’s signature on original medical office letterhead confirming
residency for the period in question
• Lawyer signature on original lawyer office letterhead confirming
residency for the period in question
Application must be made to the IIHF General Secretary at least four weeks
before the competition. At the same time, a copy of the player eligibility
application must also be sent by the new member national association to the
former member national association.

[Zenda]

I wouldn't think there would be a question over his eligibility. I've only ever known of him as a player from Australia. Because the seasons are entirely opposite in the northern and southern hemispheres, a player can go to school in North America and still return to the Antipodes to play in the relevant season back home. My own son has done it for a few years.

[Geoff Le Cren]

Thanks for the info, but most of it relates to players representing a new country. At what point does an overseas based player cease to be eligible for their country of origin? The issue was raised last year in Mexico with a Chinese Taipei player based in Canada, the coach pulled him after the first game for fear of it coming back on him later.

Mongolia just came by the shop, managed to get rid of a lot of old gear (personally I am pretty pleased to know my old inline gear will see a few more years on the outdoor rinks of Mongolia)!! and some free new stuff! We scored 2 of their very cool velvet hats!!!

[Bennison]

Originally Posted by Geoff Le Cren

Thanks for the info, but most of it relates to players representing a new country. At what point does an overseas based player cease to be eligible for their country of origin?

Unless they acquire a second nationality, they don't.

[Steigs]

Geoff: if the player in question applies for, and gets, a second nationality (i.e. your Canadian-based player becomes a Canadian citizen), then the player must:
1. Still be a citizen of their country of origin
2. have either:
- played for their country of origin's national team before getting their second citizenship OR
- have documented proof that they've played at least 2 years in their county of origin before moving to their new country

Some nations will not allow dual-citizenship, so as soon as you acquire a new one, you lose your first one. I'm not sure if this is the case with Chinese Taipei. That's the idea of point 1.

Hope that helps

[Calvin Hobbes]

Originally Posted by Steigs

2. have either:
- played for their country of origin's national team before getting their second citizenship OR
- have documented proof that they've played at least 2 years in their county of origin before moving to their new country

Are you sure about this? The IIHF eligibility rules only mention the 2-year rule in case a player acquires a second nationality and wants to represent the new country.

I cannot remember seeing anything in the rules about losing the right to represent the old country without proof of playing there or without having played in the national team.

I would interpret the eligibility rules I'm reading in IIHF's site in this case, that a Taiwanese national who later acquires, for instance a Canadian citizenship, can represent Taiwan (the old country) without any further proof of having played in Taiwan for two years (or even without ever having played there) - assuming of course that 1. applies (he still has a Taiwanese nationality). However, if the player wants to represent Canada (the new country) the player would have to show proof of having played two consecutive years in Canadian hockey system before being eligible to play in Canadian national team.

[Steigs]

Originally Posted by Calvin Hobbes

Are you sure about this? The IIHF eligibility rules only mention the 2-year rule in case a player acquires a second nationality and wants to represent the new country.

I cannot remember seeing anything in the rules about losing the right to represent the old country without proof of playing there or without having played in the national team.

The 2-year rule is in place if a player has 2 nationalities and has never represented EITEHR country in the past. Example is the one Croatian lad (name escapes me) who has dual Swiss/Croatian citizenship and was not allowed to represent Croatia because there was no hard evidence that he had played there as a youngster.
Other examples might include a couple of the players from the Armenian squads who were deemed ineligible (apparently some WERE born in Armenia, but never played there)
This is how I've been given to understand the rule, as per my conversations with IIHF representative Murray Costello in 2007.

If a player has represented one country and looks to represent a different one, that's where the 4-year rule comes into play.

Originally Posted by Calvin Hobbes

I would interpret the eligibility rules I'm reading in IIHF's site in this case, that a Taiwanese national who later acquires, for instance a Canadian citizenship, can represent Taiwan (the old country) without any further proof of having played in Taiwan for two years (or even without ever having played there) - assuming of course that 1. applies (he still has a Taiwanese nationality). However, if the player wants to represent Canada (the new country) the player would have to show proof of having played two consecutive years in Canadian hockey system before being eligible to play in Canadian national team.

[Calvin Hobbes]

Originally Posted by Steigs

Geoff: if the player in question applies for, and gets, a second nationality (i.e. your Canadian-based player becomes a Canadian citizen), then the player must:
1. Still be a citizen of their country of origin
2. have either:
- played for their country of origin's national team before getting their second citizenship OR
- have documented proof that they've played at least 2 years in their county of origin before moving to their new country

Answering my own post... Had to do some digging, but Steigs is correct. At least according to IIHF Bylaws 2003-08 section 204 (g) assuming those are still in effect and I don't see any reason why they wouldn't be. The eligibility rules easily available in IIHF's site seem to be somewhat abbreviated...

[Steigs]

Originally Posted by Calvin Hobbes

Answering my own post... Had to do some digging, but Steigs is correct. At least according to IIHF Bylaws 2003-08 section 204 (g) assuming those are still in effect and I don't see any reason why they wouldn't be. The eligibility rules easily available in IIHF's site seem to be somewhat abbreviated...

yeah, it seems they just put them there for people to have a general idea of what the rules are, and if you need to know the full details, that's why theres the 200-page rulebook... Which I've actually read the whole way through. (I was extremely bored one saturday)

[Geoff Le Cren]

Thanks guys, I appreciate all of the comments and clarification. Unfortunately I suspect the real issue lies with the Associations lack of English ability, particularly with the "legal prose" that they use in such documents as these, just a shame they never asked for clarification.

[nzice]

yikes 13-0 to aust vs mongolia still in 1st period :-(

[Graham]

Originally Posted by Calvin Hobbes

Answering my own post... Had to do some digging, but Steigs is correct. At least according to IIHF Bylaws 2003-08 section 204 (g) assuming those are still in effect and I don't see any reason why they wouldn't be. The eligibility rules easily available in IIHF's site seem to be somewhat abbreviated...

The latest bylaws are at http://www.iihf.com/fileadmin/user_u...and_Bylaws.pdf. These cover 2008 to 2012.

The key bylaw is now numbered 205 and has grown significantly over the previous version.

There are some key aspects in there for this disucssion:

1.4 A player who has represented a country in any IIHF championship, Olympic competition or in the qualifications to these competitions and has later acquired another citizenship shall still be eligible to represent his old country provided he is still a citizen of that country.

So, if you add other citizenships after representing a country but want to continue representing the same country, then you need only continue to hold a passport for that country.

However, as Steigs states, certain countries don't allow multiple citizenships and so this may not be an option for all players. Since section 1.1 states that "each player must be under the jurisdiction of a member national ice hockey association of the IIHF and be a citizen of the country he represents," a player in that situation would have to comply with the 4-year rule in section 1.3 to play for his new country. He would have no other options outside of not taking the new citizenship and staying with his old country.

Multiple citizenships for players who have yet to represent a country are dealt with in sections 1.6 (changing/acquiring/surrendering) and 1.7 (had from birth). They both have the same subsection:

He must prove that he has participated for at least two consecutive years in the
national competitions of and resident in his new country during which period he has
neither transferred to another country nor played ice hockey within any other country.

So, Zenda's example is not true for a player with multiple citizenships. It is not possible for a southern hemisphere player with multiple citizenships to transfer to a northern hemisphere team. A player could only play both hemispheres in the same year if he either has 1 citizenship or has multiple citizenships but has already represented his country.

I also have to say that I don't think the language in the rules are poor. I think they are very clear. All I think that has happened is that the 2004-2008 rule was the first draft and there were scenarios that the rules board didn't fully foresee. This second draft aims to clarify some of the grey areas that those scenarios exposed, and I think that that is a failry standard law definition process.

Graham.

[Cornholio]

Hallo people, thx for your comments and reports from the tournaments
I see your discussion about rules and I think the rules are writen clear.
Goef Le Cren wrote: There are some questions being asked about his eligility (Wehebe Darge), can any one on here confirm the rules regarding foreign based players?
Because of what he is questioned? Because he plays at canadian college and represents Aussie? According to the rules theres no problem with that I think. Or does he breaks any of these two rules?
* Each player must be under the jurisdiction of an IIHF member national association.
* Each player must be a citizen of the country he represents.

I took today australia to win 19 goals and more difference - nice work - 33-0 - skating and other differences must be HUGE. I think NZL willwin today with more than 7.5 goal difference but I dont bet it much - aussies wwas the MAIN bet for today.

[Cornholio]

Hallo people, thx for your comments and reports from the tournaments
I see your discussion about rules and I think the rules are writen clear.
Goef Le Cren wrote: There are some questions being asked about his eligility (Wehebe Darge), can any one on here confirm the rules regarding foreign based players?
Because of what he is questioned? Because he plays at canadian college and represents Aussie? According to the rules theres no problem with that I think. Or does he breaks any of these two rules?
* Each player must be under the jurisdiction of an IIHF member national association.
* Each player must be a citizen of the country he represents.

I took today australia to win 19 goals and more difference - nice work - 33-0 - skating and other differences must be HUGE. I think NZL willwin today with more than 7.5 goal difference but I dont bet it much - aussies wwas the MAIN bet for today.

[nzice]

i see the penalty count is low, the lowest in fact i have ever seen 1 x 2min pen .....

[EVH]

I wonder how bad it would have gone if Mongolia had taken more penalties than one 2 minute penalty. If their skills are that low I think I'll get myself Mongolian citizenship and become a star in their national team

[Greg]

I see NZ beat SA 5-3. Still a very good showing by SA. Well done to NZ.

[Cornholio]

Originally Posted by Greg

I see NZ beat SA 5-3. Still a very good showing by SA. Well done to NZ.

I agree, Im quite surprised 77-26 on shots hmm, great performance by RSA goalie - im looking forward for the report from the match by Geoff :pisk :)

I see tomorrow taipei against RSA - odds 1.50 seems really valueable for me on taipei - it looks they should win if I see number of shots in the matches RSA vs. NZL and taipei vs. NZL - but score says anything else - we will see tomorrow gogo taipei

[Steigs]

Originally Posted by Graham

So, Zenda's example is not true for a player with multiple citizenships. It is not possible for a southern hemisphere player with multiple citizenships to transfer to a northern hemisphere team. A player could only play both hemispheres in the same year if he either has 1 citizenship or has multiple citizenships but has already represented his country.

I agree with your assessment, with one small exception:
Even if the player has not represented his country yet (for example, a 14-year-old Aussie moving to Canada and getting Canadian citizenship, but still wanting to represent Australia), he can still represent his old country with dual citizenship. The assumption I'm making is that the young man has played more than 2 consecutive years of hockey in Australia before moving (from a Learn To Play program maybe as early as 5 years old, but you'd assume he'd have been playing from at least 10 y/o), and that those years would be well-documented in either the club where he played, or with documents kept by the family. That would, according to the bylaws, fulfill the requirement.

The reason I bring that up as an example is that there is one player, I believe, playing in the OPJHL currently who might potentially fall under that interpretation (that is, assuming he's looking for citizenship eventually)

[Graham]

Originally Posted by Steigs

I agree with your assessment, with one small exception:
Even if the player has not represented his country yet (for example, a 14-year-old Aussie moving to Canada and getting Canadian citizenship, but still wanting to represent Australia), he can still represent his old country with dual citizenship. The assumption I'm making is that the young man has played more than 2 consecutive years of hockey in Australia before moving (from a Learn To Play program maybe as early as 5 years old, but you'd assume he'd have been playing from at least 10 y/o), and that those years would be well-documented in either the club where he played, or with documents kept by the family. That would, according to the bylaws, fulfill the requirement.

Agreed.

Graham.

[Zenda]

Originally Posted by Graham

Agreed.

Graham.

I don't know this player apart from knowing that he attends a north American school. The reason for that would no doubt be the hockey exposure. I'm sure his past playing experience would be accessible and that he is an Australian citizen or has satisfied the 4 year rule, or else Australia would not have included him.
I'm not sure any change in citizenship is up for question here, but it is these same discussions that led to my own son being listed as NZ registered only for the majority of his international tournaments, despite being overseas on many occasions. It's a lot easier to avoid the controversy.
I'd have thought the alternative is harder, and that's getting into overseas teams, where a player is considered as an import player. Playing for your country is one thing, but trying to access a good overseas league without it taking the entire playing season to do so and affording the costs, is another.

[nzice]

Here is a link to a Video of the opening of the NZ Vs Taiwan game - a small clip of the game and MVP awards - what an atmosphere - great crowd - well done Taiwan.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nzihf/3...7614647036649/

[Geoff Le Cren]

New Zealand will count themselves as lucky to win this one. Going in heavily favoured to win the first period was very even with limited scoring opportunities for both sides. The Saffas showed they could skate with them and their D were able to keep them on the outside for the most part. Of course the pressure was building on NZ (I sat beside the NZ supporters who were pretty tense and expectant to say the least). Soon into the 2nd SAAMI broke in for a beautiful top shelfer, then repeated a few minutes later. The NZ supporters for the most part looked stunned, as they had so few scoring opportunities and it was now well into the 2nd period. At this point the NZ coach, somewhat surprisingly pulled his goalie and from this point NZ brought more intensity and urgency to their game and it paid off just before the period ended 1-2 SA. NZ came out fired up and kept adding to their tally, SA came back with a single point but NZ kept scoring, posting 4.
SA really impressed, they earned some respect if not the W and will have shown Taipei that they will have to play differently to what they did on Saturday night.

[xunearthhxcx]

Originally Posted by nzice

Here is a link to a Video of the opening of the NZ Vs Taiwan game - a small clip of the game and MVP awards - what an atmosphere - great crowd - well done Taiwan.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nzihf/3...7614647036649/

cool clip. id love to see more of the game action

[nielf]

thanks for updates Geoff is much appreciated

[nzice]

Ok -
one more here with some game action
http://www.flickr.com/photos/toadh42/3317059345/

And others here of the rink and opening ceremony
http://www.flickr.com/photos/toadh42/3317821391/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/toadh42/3318020620/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/toadh42/3317044501/

[nzice]

Another couple of video clips - not sure who from -

NZ #21 Gareth Lloyd Goal in game vs RSA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJBTVOyVta8

2009 IIHF World U18 - NZ #24 Mitchell Frear
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EQC29DJ6Xg

2009 IIHF World U18 - NZ #10 James Carr
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DjpRtLhqNM

2009 IIHF World U18 - NZ #2 Dane Dunlop
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UZrpSXSfWU

and NZ Vs AUS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOiDiZAZbbM

[Graham]

The Ice Blacks have beaten Mongolia 19-1 and Taipei have beaten South Africa 8-3 courtesy of a devstating 2nd period where they outshot the Springboks 25-9 and a 5-1 scoreline.

It means that all 3 medals are now guaranteed to be spread around Oz, NZ and the hosts. All permutations except 1 has the final standing as:

Gold - Australia
Silver - New Zealand
Bronze - Taipei

However, if Taipei get a regulation time victory over Oz on Thursday, all 3 teams will end up on 9 points. However, I believe that Taipei would need to beat Australia by 10 goals to get gold, so it would seem that Oz are fairly comfortable gold medallists. However, Taipei are currently on -3 as opposed to the Kiwi's -4 in games involving the 3 teams. Therefore, Taipei are in striking distance of a silver medal.

The winner of Thursday's game between South Africa and Mongolia will finish 4th and the loser 5th.

Graham.