Belgian U18 Team during the playing of the National Anthem after their overtime win against Australia.
The picture has been posted on picasa.
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Arno and his traveling companion aka photographer and blogger are back home in Atlanta after a long, very long trip from Kiev.
We flew back with the team from Kiev to Schiphol where we said goodbye to our Belgian team travellers who continued by coach back to Belgium. After a night in an airport hotel we returned to the airport early in the morning to get our bags checked in again. All went well, no extra costs were incurred after transferring some very smelly hockey player stuff to carry-on. It was amazing to see how little interest the sniffer dogs had for our luggage.
With a delayed – by an hour and a half – flight we arrived back in Atlanta and home by 6:00pm local time.
Thanks to all who made this trip a wonderful experience – with a very specific thank you to Danny (Head Coach), Philippe (Assistant Coach), Frank (Materials Manager), Dieter (Trainer) and Johan (Team manager).
See y’all next year.
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seven seconds
With seven seconds to spare in overtime Belgium scored the winning goal, how far can you push the suspense?
Mission accomplished: Belgium will play in Division II next year. It was a great team effort to fight back from 3-0 down half way through the second period. Belgium equalized in the third with 6 minutes to go whilst killing multiple penalties and went on to win with seven seconds to spare in overtime.
Well played boys!
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my favorite
Ukraine will play Slovenia for the gold and a promotion to the next level. It should be a great game of hockey, neither team has lost a match. Slovenia is my favorite.
Netherlands will play Spain for the bronze medal, again both teams posted similar scorelines in their round robin matches. Playing with better systems Netherlands is my favorite.
Belgium will play Australia for survival in the Division II. The winner stays, the loser drops to Division III. Again both teams have similar scorelines throughout the Round Robin, neither have won a game. GF/GA for Australia 33-4 and Belgium 38-3. Both have struggled offensively, with low shots on goal. But the big difference is the penalty minutes: Australia 32 minutes and Belgium 108. But, overall netminding has been stronger for the Belgians and they have the better hockey players.
So, it is very simple: stay out of the box, win the face-offs and shoot on goal. Belgium is my favorite.
I really want to hear the Belgian National Anthem!
Go Belgium!
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Up or under…
Well, I give it to you guys – you know how to build up suspense…
It is now down to you or the ‘boys from down under’ and we have to thank the very smart person who had the foresight to pitch Belgium versus Australia on the last day of the tournament. So, your destiny is in your own gloved stick holding hands…
It is no longer about who should’a, would’a or could’a… it is about what you as an individual player are going to do! You have two days to pull it together and show up on the ice as a true fighting unit, a real team. This is about staying in the Division.
You combine way enough hockey skill and savvy to make it happen, as Nike says: Just do it.
Click here for pics of the last game - there are just a few… I had my eyes closed the rest of the time…
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Spain and pain…
But for whom…?
Again this is shaping up to be a tough game and in the end it might all come down to the encounter on Sunday against the ‘boys from down under’.
Winning today would give the Belgian Team a big boost for the final game but what are the ‘keys to the game’? The Spanish have scored more efficiently, against Ukraine 1 out of 12, against Slovenia 2 out of 14 – so they know how to score in tough games. Key #1 play tough close defense.
#21 has scored 3 out his 5 goals unassisted – Key #2 do not let these guys take a run at goal! In the list of top 15 most penalized players, 6 are Spanish – Key #3 stay out of the box and keep them in there.
My last key to the game is offense, shoot at goal and good things will happen. Key #4 shoot fast, shoot often
Have a great game and give Spain the Pain!
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scoreline does not tell the story
I will say it again: the 6-2 scoreline does not tell the story - the game was hard fought and the Belgian Team played their hearts out.
The Belgian Team even opened the score but the Netherlands came back and took the lead, but an equalizing goal ended the period with a 2-2 on the scoreboard. During the second period the Netherlands charged ahead and with very solid goal tending they never gave up the lead.
With the fighting spirit they showed tonight, the two remaining games should deliver the result the boys deserve!
For more pictures please click on the link below.
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the difference between 7 and 8…
In my opinion there is none…
Belgium lost the opening game against Ukraine with a mere one goal against more than the Dutch Team. That is insignificant.
This my message to Ryan, Maxime, Gilles, Jean, Charlie, Davy, Saege, Maxim, Yente, Jordan, Arno, Lorenzo, Max, Niels, Quentin, Dimitri, Amine, Joeri, Maxime, and Pieter-Jan.
It is all between the ears now, do you really want to win that game or not? Tomorrow’s encounter will not be decided by the referees or the linesmen, nor the coaches, the condition of the ice or the bounce of the puck. The team that wants it the most will win.
Hustle, support, push harder, get there first , make it happen! Make yourselves proud.
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More Pics…
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Birth of a Team
For the Belgian Team the tournament starts now…
With clearly the two toughest games behind them, they need to regroup, refocus and re-energize… Let’s be honest neither the game against the Ukraine nor the game against Slovenia had points to provide to the Belgians. Yes – the team skated with more heart against the Ukraine, but the Slovenians were even faster, bigger and better playmakers. A very tall order…
It is all in front of them… the next three games are the real ones.
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