Friday, January 06, 2006
Oh, those poor Armenians!
Last March, Hockey Rants brought you the sad tale of the Armenian Men's Hockey team as they were slaughtered during the 3rd division World Championships in Mexico.
Playing the likes of Ireland, Luxembourg, South Africa, and Mexico (talk about hockey powerhouses), Armenia managed to lose all 4 of their games by a combined score of 142-5!
Goaltender Arman Lalayan was in net for every single minute and finished with a 35.50GAA and a 54.92 Save Percentage. Backup Mher Hovhanisyan was probably quite happy to sit on the bench and not be embarrassed in front of the Mexican spectators.
How bad must these guys be if they were seriously outplayed by every other Division III country?
Is the future any brighter for Armenia?
Apparently not, as Japers Rink notes:
You can check out the carnage here. That was only Armenia's first game of the tournament. I wonder how many other records they can rack up.
Playing the likes of Ireland, Luxembourg, South Africa, and Mexico (talk about hockey powerhouses), Armenia managed to lose all 4 of their games by a combined score of 142-5!
Goaltender Arman Lalayan was in net for every single minute and finished with a 35.50GAA and a 54.92 Save Percentage. Backup Mher Hovhanisyan was probably quite happy to sit on the bench and not be embarrassed in front of the Mexican spectators.
How bad must these guys be if they were seriously outplayed by every other Division III country?
Is the future any brighter for Armenia?
Apparently not, as Japers Rink notes:
Finally, in a 2006 IIHF World U20 Championship Div III match Iceland defeated Armenia 50-0, thanks in part to a 20-goal third period, outshooting the Armenians 133-10. Harutyun Baluyan played the whole game in net for Armenia, making 83 saves (that's works out to a .624 save percentage). Iceland, which scored seven shorthanded goals, was led by Gauti Thormodsson (7G, 9A) and Emil Alengard (9G, 6A, 33 SOG, including 24 in the first period).
The goat of the game? Either Armenian forward Aram Simonyam (who finished the game a woeful -35) or Iceland's Kari Valsson, the only Icelandic skater to not register a point. Ouch.
You can check out the carnage here. That was only Armenia's first game of the tournament. I wonder how many other records they can rack up.
Comments:
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Reminds me of the '76 Olympics. The Poles lost to Red Army, errrr CCCP, 16-1. I remember the network showing a video montage of all 16 goals with some sort of Three Stooges music playing in the background. The Poles did win a game that year-1 to nil vs. Czechoslovakia after one of the Czech boys failed a drug test. Turns out he was really an East German woman.
# posted by 
: 11:25 am
: 11:25 am
Any truth to the rumour that the Blues will sign Baluyan to an NHL contract? That's the kind of goaltending we've come to expect.
# posted by : 1:09 pm
: 1:09 pm
Dear Jaspers
Easy there with that comment "Is the future any brighter for Armenia, Apparently not..." You get all political. Try to understand that Armenians just got out from a Massive Earthquake that Killed more than 40,000, then a war against Azerbaijan and their independence from The Soviet Union which massacred the country’s economy.
Everything is related to money. If Armenians had real sports comities or investors who would be truly dedicated & focused on their Athletes and ready to spend money in order to train them professionally then they might be able to win.
During Soviet Union, in the 60’ & 70’ to be more specific, Armenians were on fire. Olympic gold medals & soccer trophies were the results. Why? Well it’s quite understandable that CCCP invested their time, money & energy on their athletes to develop them and more importantly, to BELIEVE in them.
The future of Armenia is very bright my friend. It’s just funny to read stupid comments from stupid people who pretend having the knowledge to criticize & generalize their opinions.
Charles Williams Phillips
Los Angeles Times
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Easy there with that comment "Is the future any brighter for Armenia, Apparently not..." You get all political. Try to understand that Armenians just got out from a Massive Earthquake that Killed more than 40,000, then a war against Azerbaijan and their independence from The Soviet Union which massacred the country’s economy.
Everything is related to money. If Armenians had real sports comities or investors who would be truly dedicated & focused on their Athletes and ready to spend money in order to train them professionally then they might be able to win.
During Soviet Union, in the 60’ & 70’ to be more specific, Armenians were on fire. Olympic gold medals & soccer trophies were the results. Why? Well it’s quite understandable that CCCP invested their time, money & energy on their athletes to develop them and more importantly, to BELIEVE in them.
The future of Armenia is very bright my friend. It’s just funny to read stupid comments from stupid people who pretend having the knowledge to criticize & generalize their opinions.
Charles Williams Phillips
Los Angeles Times
# posted by : 5:16 pm
: 5:16 pm << Home
