Slovenia go five for five: Ukraine relegated

Japan 1:2 Ukraine (Penalty Shots)
Ukraine, who had only a solitary point from their opening four names put an iron in the works following a huge win against Japan to leapfrog the British and take fifth place after the day's first game at the Arena Stozice. A sudden death shootout winner from Artem Bondaryev gave the Ukrainians their first win of the tournament, and gave them a hope of staying up.

It was a closely fought game between two quick and organised teams. Chances were few and far between, and the Ukrainians were buoyed by an early Yuri Navarenko goal, who hammered a rocket of a slapshot home in the ninth minute of the opening period. 

The Japanese were given a number of powerplay opportunities in the third period, but they did not really look like the same team that played so well against the Austrians. 47 minutes into the game they finally equalised though, as Ryo Tanaka found the net. Japan grew in stature as the third period went on, and if it was not for a string of saves by Igor Karpenko, they could have relegated the Ukrainians there and then. 

The game would go to overtime, where all defence seemed to go out of the window, as the teams went end to end, with the Ukrainians coming closest to scoring the golden goal. The game would eventually go to a shootout, and with the game on the line, Kostyantyn Kasyanchuk scored on the last shot in the third round to send the shootout to sudden death. Kasyanchuk scored again with the first shot in sudden death, but Shuhei Kuji answered to keep the Japanese in the game. However, Go Tanaka's final effort was saved by Karpenko after Bondaryev scored, giving the Ukrainians a priceless two points and heaping the pressure on the British.

Following the game, the Ukrainian federation announced that they would not be renewing the contract of coach Anatoli Khomenko.

Hungary 4:5 Great Britain
Following Ukraine's penalty shot victory against Japan, Great Britain needed just a point from their game with Hungary in the second of the day's matches. However, the British side went one better and defeated the Hungarians in regulation, whose tournament ended with a fizzle following three straight defeats. Britain came from behind three times in the game, and the tournament's leading scorer, Robert Dowd, scored the game winning penalty shot in the third period to save his team from being relegated.

Hungary had more than double the shots than the British in the first, but after a minute they were one behind, as captain Jonathan Phillips tipped the puck past Krisztian Budai in the Hungary net. However, the Hungarians battled back and a pair of goals in just over three minutes from Marton Vas and Csaba Kovacs gave the Magyars the lead. They failed to capitalise on a five minute powerplay though, after a horrible hit by Corey Neilson, who received 5+game for boarding. On a late powerplay in the first period, Robert Dowd managed to find the net, after coming from behind the net unchallenged, and the Belfast Giants forward found the net to send the two teams in level at 2:2.

There were another four goals in a back and forth second period. Hungary took the lead 100 seconds in, as Istvan Sofron scored on a lovely penalty shot. Britain outshot the Hungarians 11:5 in the period, but it took them until the 14th minute of the middle frame to find the net, as Owen Fussey scored his first goal of the tournament on the powerplay. However, the Hungarians rallied right back, as 80 seconds later as Arpad Mihaly beat Stephen Murphy. With 16 seconds left in the period, David Clarke found the net after a lovely piece of passing play to send the teams in level once again, this time with the score at 4:4.

The final period for both teams, as the British needed a point, whilst the Hungarians pride was smarting following two straight losses. In what was a relatively tight period compared to the first two, it was Britain who got the only goal of the period, as Robert Dowd scored a penalty shot in the ninth minute. The Hungarians pressed as the period went on, but a late penalty meant that the British would hold on and retain their position in Division 1A for another year.

Slovenia 3:2 Austria
Slovenia capped off a hugely successful week with victory over the Austrians in the battle of the two promoted sides. An Ales Kranjc powerplay goal in the second period was the game winner, as a spell of madness was the only bright spark in what was a generally dull game between two teams with just pride and ranking to play for.

The first period had little to offer in terms of entertainment, despite a large travelling Austrian contingent and a sell-out crowd once again. However, the scoring exploded in the third period, as the teams combined to score four goals in four minutes. Slovenia opened the scoring through Andrej Hebar in the fourth minute of the period, but his marker was quickly answered by Gerhard Unterluggauer, who scored another goal from the point, his third in two games. It only took 22 seconds for the Slovenians to re-take the lead though, as Marcel Rodman buried a rebound spilled by Mattias Weindhandl, playing his first game in the tournament. With 28 minutes gone the score was 2:2 though, as Thomas Raffl scored a powerplay goal to knot the game once again. 

The Slovenians pounced on a defensive blunder from the Austrians though, as with two minutes to go in the period, Ales Kranjc fired home on the powerplay to score the game winning goal, and seal a perfect tournament for the hosts, who despite challenges from Ukraine and Great Britain, appeared to be a class above the competition, and will head to Scandinavia in 2013 with a real chance to stay up, as their younger players really came to the party. The hosts really embraced the tournament, as the afternoon games were well attended, and almost every Slovenia game was a sell-out. The arena may not have been the best one to view hockey in, but it put on a great show.

Final ranking:
1. Slovenia, Games: 5, Points: 15
2. Austria, Games: 5, Points: 10
3. Hungary, Games: 5, Points: 6
4. Japan, Games: 5, Points: 6
5. Great Britain, Games: 5, Points: 5
6. Ukraine, Games: 5, Points: 3

Awards:
Best Netminder: Robert Kristan (SLO)
Best Defenceman: Matthias Trattnig (AUT)
Best Forward: Manuel Lattusa (AUT)
Most Valuable Player: Robert Kristan (SLO)

IIHF 1A All Stars:
Rok Ticar (SLO) - Shuhei Kuji (JAP) - Manuel Lattusa (AUT)
Olexander Pobyedonostsev (UKR) - Matthias Trattnig (AUT)
Robert Kristan (SLO)

Top scorers:
1. Robert Dowd (GBR) - 5+4
2. Manuel Lattusa (AUT) - 5+2
3. Colin Shields (GBR) - 3+4
4. Gregor Baumgartner (AUT) - 3+3
5. Rok Ticar (SLO) - 3+3

Top netminders:
1. Robert Kristan (SLO) - 4GP 93.20%
2. Masahito Haruna (JAP) - 3GP 91.57%
3. Yuta Narisawa (JAP) - 3GP 90.91%
4. Bence Balizs (HUN) - 4GP 90.71%
5. Mykhailo Balaban (UKR) 3GP 88.33%

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