World Cup of Hockey: Group H: Slovenia & Finale

[Exceed_Idiot]

I really like this series so far. The only complaint I have is that there might be too many white home jerseys right now. 

[colinturner95]

4 minutes ago, Exceed_Idiot said:

I really like this series so far. The only complaint I have is that there might be too many white home jerseys right now. 

I mean this series is driven from a hockey standpoint, so while some teams are going to have a non-white home jersey, the majority of them will be white. 

 

Not saying that there won't be more non white home jerseys, but most of them will be

[colinturner95]

The conclusion to Group C is here:

 

 

A rather mundane ending to the group, but a return to having something on the sleeves for the Kazakhs. But overall, still very simple. Ornamental pattern on the sleeves and hem. Alternate gets a little more crazy with a bigger stripe and a secondary ornamental pattern as a repeated element, with the state emblem replacing the flag crest. 

 

Spoiler

 

C&C welcome on Kazakhstan and Group C! and since its the end of a group:

 

 

So far, the most evenly matched of the small sample size we've had. Also the first group where every team got a win. 

• Belgium entered the group as the odds on favorite to advance, and had a slight scare against Kazakhstan but scraped by with a 4-3 win. 
• Slovakia and Spain then turned in another drag out, knockdown game, this one being decided in OT and going to Slovakia. 
• Belgium and Spain both had a chance to take control of the group with a win in this game, and it was Spain, taking the win 1-0.
• With Belgium's loss, Slovakia and Kazakhstan both had an opportunity to claim either first or second in the group, but this one wouldn't be a defensive battle. Both teams scored and scored often, and it was Kazakhstan who kept pace the longest en route to a 6-4 win. 

At this point, every team had a win and a loss, Spain and Belgium both with an extra point by way of OT losses. Meaning the last two games would be very crucial. 

• Defense was the name of the game again for Belgium and Slovakia, with another drag out game being played 0-0 through regulation and OT and Belgium is able to add the extra point and the win and set themselves up to advance. 
• The sentence was already written and this game was the punctuation. Defense again came to play, as Kazakhstan weathered an early Spain goal, added two more and shut down the Spanish offense to add the decisive second win to their totals and join Belgium in the round of 16

Group D up next!

 

 

[colinturner95]

 

Getting close to the halfway point, as we introduce Group D. In the original draw of this group, before I had to go back and redo it all because I forgot to exclude Russia and Belarus, this group was known as the Zimmerman Group. How'd that happen? Well with Russia's inclusion in the rankings, the USA was 4th in the rankings, moving Germany down a draw group and resulting in USA being drawn first, Germany second and Mexico third. But then I learned about Russia and Belarus' exclusion from international play and had to adjust the whole thing and the Zimmerman group was short-lived. 

 

• Despite never having won a major international competition, you'd be hard pressed to find a team that's on a faster ascent than Germany. Coming off a silver at the 2018 Olympics, and again in the 2023 World Championships, and a group of young talent, the team is positioned well for the future. 
• There was a time in the not too distant past where Czechia dominated the international hockey scene. Now time has passed and they look to reclaim their spot at the top. 
• Mexico currently is the only Latin American country to have competed in a World Championship event at any level but the sport has been growing pretty consistently, and their women's team was even trying to qualify for the most recent Olympics. 
• Senegal currently has no established hockey team, or federation. Their football team has appeared in 3 World Cups and is one of a few African Nations who have made it to the Quarterfinals or better. 

And first up:

 

 

Germany has flirted with a gold jersey as the light color, but I think the white jerseys are more iconic, especially from the football side. Which is where the design of these is largely inspired. The 1990 white tops give rise to a chest stripe design, with some slight modifications to the black jersey. The alternate blends the shoulder stripe designs from the early 2000's with the tonal chest design from the 2014 World Cup uniforms.

 

Spoiler

 

C&C welcome!

 

 

[colinturner95]

 

I wasn't crazy about the Czech's rebrand from a couple years back, but the more l looked at it, I realized it was better than I had given it credit. The uniforms, I'm a little less high on. The jagged edge striping looks more American collegiate than international level to me. For me, the way back was the 2017 uniforms, with a more traditional stripes that were based on shoulder striping (which themselves take inspiration from Czechoslovakia's early uniforms). The biggest differences is that there are now stripes on the sleeves and hem, something Nike seems to be deathly allergic to. The alternate is a further trip down memory lane, with collar stripes and a triple stripes, the Coat of Arms returns to the chest and the split hem color comes from the 98 Olympic uniforms. 

 

Spoiler

 

C&C welcome!

[colinturner95]

 

 

The sport isn't the most popular in Mexico but is growing at a great pace, so much so that the women's team is setting their goals to make it to the Olympics as the first Latin American team to do so. As for the uniforms, there's plenty of football influence, but a good amount from hockey as well. The bold stripe on the hem come from the 2018 white World Cup tops and the Aztec pattern on the sleeves from the 1998 uniforms. Hockey lends the shoulder stripes in a way from white jerseys worn around 2018. The alternate takes the current white jerseys and flips them black, with the asymmetric stripes, wordmark added above the golden eagle. 

 

Spoiler

 

C&C welcome!

[colinturner95]

 

So in the original drafts of the groups, Mexico and Senegal weren't in the same group and so having similar colored digs wasn't a huge deal. But after having to shuffle teams around, they ended up in the same group so I tried my best to keep them as separate and distinct as possible. Unlike Morocco, Senegal has no hockey presence. So their new sports' identity comes almost entirely from football, specifically 2020 and 2022. The home & away gets the trim from the 2022 uniforms as the main stripes. The alternate goes for a black out, with the angular stripe from the 2022 uniforms becoming the feature stripe. All three uniforms also feature the tonal pattern from the 2020 uniforms, home and away on the shoulders and alternate on the body. 

 

Spoiler

 

And since it's the end of the group: 

 

 

(scores correspond left to right) 

 

Game 1 - Germany vs Senegal - 5-4 OT - rising hockey power vs nonexistent hockey team. But it was Senegal who carried the lead until the last minute of regulation, when Germany tied the game and then with another late goal, stole the second point and the win. 

 

Game 2 - Czechia vs Mexico - 9-1 - Good things come in three's. For the Czech's that was the case, as they routed Mexico with 3 goals in each period. 

 

Game 3 - Mexico (0-1-0) vs Germany (1-0-0) - 3-6 - Mexico saw their chances to advance go from slim to non, as Germany was able to double them up on the scoreboard and secure their second win and put themselves in good position to move on. 

 

Game 4 - Senegal (0-0-1) vs Czechia (1-0-0) - 2-3 - Czechia raced out to a 3-1 lead after the first, and followed it up with a sloppy second period, marred with multiple ejections and penalties. Unfortunately for Senegal, they were unable to capitalize fully, falling 3-2 and watched their slim chances to advance fade away. 

 

Game 5 - Germany (2-0-0) vs Czechia (2-0-0) - 1-4 - In the game that would decide top place in the group, Czechia came out swinging, netting 3 in the first period and "upsetting" the pre-tournament group favorite to lock down the top seed in the group. 

 

Game 6 - Mexico (0-2-0) vs Senegal (0-1-1) - 4-2 - In a game with far less implications, except for pride, Mexico doubles up Senegal and heads home with a solid win on the books. 

 

C&C welcome as always! 

 

 

 

[colinturner95]

Little time off never killed anyone. 

 

 

We're on the downhill side of the groups, with Group E being next up.  A good amount of hockey history to be found here, with an appearance from a football fan favorite team. 

• "Do you believe in Miracles?" The United States, while having stumbled a little bit in recent international competition, remain one of the best teams in the world and will look to keep that status in place. 
• Their football team takes all the glory, but Italy has been an a mainstay in international hockey and looks to make a splash come 2026 when they host the Winter Olympics. 
• They spent half a century outside the top flight of international hockey, but since making it back Denmark is ready to make some waves and turn some heads. 
• They don't have a hockey team at the moment, but Nigeria's football team burst onto the scene with some of the best uniforms of the 2018 World Cup and now they look to grow as a (albeit conceptual) hockey team against some of the best teams in the world. 

[colinturner95]

 

I've done more than a couple USA hockey concepts on here and every time I always default to something 1960 or 1980 related. Yeah, I'm sick of that. These are definitely not your father's or grandfather's hockey jerseys. I'm avenging the 2018 men's soccer team's dismal finish and getting their uniforms into a World Cup (sort of). The design is very much inspired by those uniforms with 3 stripes on the sleeves fading from navy to red and back. The alternate is a bit more traditional and goes back in time a little bit, inspired by the 1960's uniforms, but brings in the sash design from 2010 and the Olympic shield from the early 1900s. 

 

Spoiler

 

C&C welcome!

[colinturner95]

 

Where Italy's football team tends to dismiss red and green and focus a lot on the blues, I wanted to get a little bit of everything on the uniforms.

• The home and away designs come from recent IIHF uniforms, taking the flag out of the chest stripe, but keeping the wordmark on the chest.  Also, Italy's sports teams feel befitting of a vintage style and so the font from the 1970 World Cup team returns as the number font on the uniforms. 
• The alternate is a return of the 2008 throwbacks, this time on a darker blue and with a couple new touches, notably the flag color trim on the bottom of the jersey. 

Spoiler

 

Comments/concerns/questions appreciated!

[colinturner95]

 

Bit of a later post than I'm used to, but nevertheless. Denmark's latest uniform set largely inspired these uniforms, and that's mostly all due to the use of a northwestern stripe. And against my normal feelings, I didn't like the chest stripe look for the Danes so it went back to being a fairly straightforward and classic style hockey set. The alternate is a carryover from my 2022 Olympics series, where the stripes run down the shoulder. The logo is a tweaked version of the home and away look, just set in an interrupted circle. 

 

Spoiler

 

Nothing earth-shattering but I'm down to hear what you guys think!

[colinturner95]

 

Finally got the conclusion to Group E ready. It came as a bit of a surprise to me that Nigeria, despite having the largest population in Africa, has little to no hockey. I get that it's not a popular sport in Africa, but still just a little shocking. Anyways, all the inspiration comes from their football team, which lends their 2018 feather pattern to the sleeves of all 3 jerseys, the home and away taking on a pretty traditional look. the alternate uses the 2021 jersey pattern as a subtle look on the body, both front and back and goes "stealth-ish", using the darkest green and touches of the lighter green. 

 

Spoiler

 

That concludes the teams. How'd they fare against each other? 

 

Pundit's Predictions: It's the USA's group to lose, with more talent than any other team in the group with them. Italy and Denmark should have a solid battle for the 2 spot and Nigeria is going to get a fast introduction to international hockey, but don't be surprised if they can sneak a win in somewhere. 

 

Game 1: USA vs Nigeria >>> A closer game than most would have expected, USA only leading 3-2 entering the 3rd period, but the experience showed up by way of a 4 goal period to cruise to a late victory. 

Final: 7-2 USA

 

Game 2: Italy vs Denmark >>> Back to back games with someone scoring 7 goals, but this one was never close. Italy came out swinging and never let Denmark into this one. 

Final: 7-0 Italy

 

Game 3: Denmark vs USA >>> Another slow start for the Americans, but Denmark was unable to capture any momentum and the United States was able to skate around the Danes and all but lock up a knockout round spot. 

Final: 4-1 USA

 

Game 4: Nigeria vs Italy >>> Nigeria showed they could at least hang with the United States before it got away from them and they did that and more with the Italians. Italy led most of the game but lost composure in the 3rd, surrendered a tying goal and just tried to hang on in overtime, and Nigeria took advantage and stunned the group with a huge OT win. 

Final: 2-1 OT Nigeria

 

Game 5: USA vs Italy >>> After losing to Nigeria, Italy needed a regulation win to keep their hopes of advancing alive. Standing in their way was team USA, who clinched the group with any win. Italy did what they needed to do ... for the first two and a half periods. They couldn't hold onto a one goal lead forever and fell apart late. 

Final: 3-1 USA - USA clinches 1st place in group

 

Game 6: Denmark vs Nigeria >>> In what turned out to be a much more important game than many might have guessed and with Italy's loss to team USA, Nigeria now had a chance to further shock the world and advance to the knockout round. A Denmark win would get Italy back in position to advance. This one went back and forth all game, with multiple lead changes but ultimately needed overtime to conclude. And in dramatic fashion, Nigeria shocks the world again by winning in OT and joining the US in the knock out round.

Final: 6-5 Nigeria - Nigeria clinches 2nd place in group 

 

Spoiler

 

C&C welcome!

[colinturner95]

Happy Holidays to all, and almost New Year!

 

 

Group F is the first of just two groups to feature FIFA teams as the top two teams but hockey history isn't too far behind. 

• Argentina has an interesting dilemma when it comes to hockey: their primary governing body covers both inline and ice hockey, but a secondary agency organizes youth hockey and a Argentinian league and those players can't participate in national team events. Its very confusing. The long and the short of it is, Argentina is more known for their inline program but has a ice team that has competed against other Latin American countries. 
• The Netherlands have been playing internationally since the mid 30's and have made it to the Olympics once but have spent most of their time bouncing between some of the lower divisions since then, and have come much closer to winning the FIFA World Cup than getting back to the top flight in the IIHF. 
• The oft forgotten member of the Scandinavian trio of hockey countries, Norway looks to do more than just hangout in the top division and make their mark, like their region-mates have done. 
• While Poland hasn't been to the Olympics since 1992 and has been down in the lower divisions since the turn of the century but are close to making it back to the top division. 

And first up, FIFA's defending champions: 

 

 

Like Brazil, I managed to pick Argentinian soccer legends that all wore 10 at their international zenith so I had to get creative with youth and club numbers. As for the design itself, its a blend of the traditional stripes, this time subtle on the chest, and the 1998 GK stripes, which work out well as a traditional hockey stripe, which replaces the vertical stripes on the alternate and becomes chest stripes. 

 

Spoiler

 

C&C always welcome!

[colinturner95]

 

The Skating Dutchmen pretty much keep things very simple. The home and away jerseys exemplify the ideas of Total Hockey, with a double stripe headlining everything. The alternate evokes a sense of national pride, using the flag colors and a sash design reminiscent of the 2006 Euro designs. 

 

Spoiler

 

C&C welcome!

Edited January 6 by colinturner95
fixed the stray Canada image in the details spoiler

[VampyrRabbit]

1 hour ago, colinturner95 said:

 

The Skating Dutchmen pretty much keep things very simple. The home and away jerseys exemplify the ideas of Total Hockey, with a double stripe headlining everything. The alternate evokes a sense of national pride, using the flag colors and a sash design reminiscent of the 2006 Euro designs. 

 

  Hide contents

 

C&C welcome!

The home uniform detail shows a picture of the Canada logo.

I agree that the split numbers that the National Football team used are just the best.

[colinturner95]

7 hours ago, VampyrRabbit said:

The home uniform detail shows a picture of the Canada logo.

I agree that the split numbers that the National Football team used are just the best.

Thought I fixed that, but it was the wrong one I was thinking about. should be fixed now

[colinturner95]

 

Very similarly to Sweden, I think Norway has found a look they can settle into and stick with for the rest of time. To that end the only real changes were in the fonts on the home and away fonts, as well as a new alternate, based on the 60's era red jerseys. 

 

Spoiler

 

Comments welcome!

 

[chcarlson23]

Jeg liker disse norsk genser! Det er flott, bra jobba! 
 

I do love the return to the classic Norsk look! The polar bear alternate also looks great! 
 

I’m not sure how I feel about the double outlined numbers. I feel like just a single outline would be good. Also I believe that Zuccarello has two C’s

[colinturner95]

18 hours ago, chcarlson23 said:

Jeg liker disse norsk genser! Det er flott, bra jobba! 
 

I do love the return to the classic Norsk look! The polar bear alternate also looks great! 
 

I’m not sure how I feel about the double outlined numbers. I feel like just a single outline would be good. Also I believe that Zuccarello has two C’s

 

I guess Group F stands for the group of -ups. Fixed Zucc's nameplate and went to single layer outlines on the numbers. I left the NORGE script double outlined. I didn't like the single outline on those. 

 

 

[colinturner95]

I guess there's no time like the present to wrap up Group F:

 

 

Poland doesn't normally strike you as a traditional hockey nation, but they used to be a regular visitor to the Olympics before 1992 and were a competitor at the World Championships. And when it came down to it, they scratched a non-traditional itch I was feeling and I wanted to get a new face out there. to that end, Poland wound up with a very traditional look, which improves upon their current look by fixing the stripes into something much more traditional. (Also I know Wojtek Wolski competed for Canada & is technically not eligible to represent Poland internationally, he had one of the best NHL/overall careers from a Poland born hockey player). To the alternate, which originally started out as a straight throwback, with the two sets of stripes which came from their 1928 Olympic uniforms which I then paired with a vertical stripe and soccer-style crest placement, which came from both the 2019 centenary soccer uniforms and a 2014 kit. 

 

Spoiler

 

Well that wraps the teams which means ...

 

Pundit's Predictions: Group F is headlined by two non-traditional hockey countries, but either Argentina or Netherlands could come out on top of this group. Norway and Poland are betting longshots for taking the top spot, but we've already seen weird things happen and so let's see how this group shook out: 

 

Game 1: Argentina vs Poland >>> A less than exciting return to the top flight for Poland as they are unable to keep it close after a 2-1 first period deficit got very far away from them as Argentina is able to cruise to an easy opening victory. 

Final: 9-1 Argentina

 

Game 2: Netherlands vs Norway >>> A much more exciting game than the first one. Norway and Netherlands squared off like two heavyweights, throwing haymakers left and right, ending regulation with a 2-2 tie. More back and forth in the OT period, ending with Norway putting a rebound home to steal a point from the Netherlands. 

Final: 3-2 OT Norway

 

Game 3: Norway vs Argentina >>> Norway might have used too much of their magic to take down the Netherlands, because their game against Argentina was undisciplined, leading to another cruising victory for Argentina who now has largely locked up the group's top spot.

Final: 3-0 Argentina

 

Game 4: Poland vs Netherlands >>> With Argentina all but locking a spot up in the knockout, the Netherlands could really improve their position to advance with them. Unfortunately, they faced a Poland squad eager to prove they're better than an 8 goal shellacking. The Dutch skaters were unable to completely solve the Polish neutral zone trap and saw their chances to advance fall to near zero. 

Final 3-2 Poland

 

Game 5: Argentina vs Netherlands >>> The matchup of the pre-tournament favorites definitely lost a bit of its luster, with Netherlands needing more help than they could get to get the second spot, but they skated hard and played like the experts thought they could, knocking off Argentina in OT but it was too little, too late as a Norway or Poland victory worked against the Netherlands. 

Final 3-2 OT Netherlands. Argentina clinches 1st place in group. 

 

Game 6: Norway vs Poland >>> Suddenly this game has a lot more at stake. The winner advances. Pretty simple stakes. In a game both teams needed to win, neither team wanted to lose. Extra time was needed in a high scoring affair, but it was Norway who recaptured some luck and magic to get the winning goal in OT, eliminating Poland and clinching second in the group. 

Final 5-4 OT Norway

 

Spoiler

 

8 more teams left! hopefully without the dumb mistakes on my end!