Ireland has now gone 0 for 2 in the 2011 IIHF World U18 Championship Division III Group B in Mexico City, Mexico. A 13 – 1 loss at the hands of South Africa on Sunday was followed by a 12 – 0 defeat to host nation Mexico on Monday evening.
Following a rest day on Tuesday, the team now play favourites Iceland on Wednesday evening. The game faces of at 4:00 pm local time which is 10:00 pm Irish time. This will most certainly be Ireland’s toughest game of the tournament so far as Iceland easily disposed of Israel by twelve goals on Monday evening.
Iceland played in Division II Group A last year where they held their own in most games but were unable to avoid relegation back to Division III. They are another team that Ireland has met regularly at the senior level; however, we’ve only ever suffered defeat to Iceland and we’ve never enjoyed a victory over them. Ireland will meet Iceland again at the senior level next month in Croatia and this will be the second time that Ireland plays Iceland in the U18 category. The first time was in Erzurum, Turkey back in 2009 when Iceland romped to a 19 – 0 victory and ran out overall winners of the group.
Head Coach, Kenneth Redmond, was there in 2009 as Assistant Coach so he will know what to expect from the favourites to win the group. One of the positives to take from the game against Mexico is how much more organised Ireland looked in the defensive zone when they didn’t have the puck. The penalty kill was also looking strong as players held their positions and sacrificed their bodies to block shots. More of the same will be needed as well as another big performance from Christopher (James) Devine in net.
Iceland v Ireland can be watched live tonight on Terra TV as can all games of the 2011 IIHF World U18 Championship Division III Group B.
A live stream is being provided on http://www.terra.mx/mundialdehockey. Coverage will start shortly after 10:00 pm Irish time on Wednesday night. The video works best in Internet Explorer and it may take a few minutes after the faceoff to get the feed working.