Something on the lighter side to split up some fairly heavy topics.
In terms of viewership, ice hockey is the most popular team winter sport in the world, and overall ranks second amongst winter sports behind alpine skiing for viewership. In terms of participation it ranks second to curling amongst team sports and fourth behind alpine skiing, snowboarding, and curling, ranking lower because of how expensive it can be. But thanks to the efforts of the successor states of the "Historical Giants" - that is, New Polar Canada, the New United States, Dakota Republic, Nordland, Finland, Czechia, Slovakia, Russia, Uralica, and Siberia, who these days are collectively called "The Big Ten" - the game is growing, and the price of the game is dropping. In fact, the #1 sport-based export from four of those countries (Uralica, Russia, Finland, and Siberia) is hockey equipment, and only the New US has it ranked outside the top 10 in the sport-based export area. Here's how ice hockey equipment ranks for the other five:
New Polar Canada, #2 (behind jerseys)
Nordland, #2 (behind jerseys)
Czechia, #3 (behind jerseys and figure skates)
Slovakia, #3 (behind jerseys and gymnastics equipment)
Dakota, #5 (behind jerseys, skiing equipment, gridiron football equipment, and baseball equipment)
And as such, the boom in hockey equipment production thanks to cheaper materials for safe equipment (for which you can thank the Arctic Union nations) has many nations that were at one point too poor to afford equipment taking up the good ol' hockey game! Countries which at one point could only afford to be associate members of the IIHF are now full, and such newer full members will be highlighted in the upcoming list of members.
International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF)
The IIHF is responsible for maintaining both ice hockey and inline hockey (the official summer equivalent of ice hockey) worldwide. The post-Robertian IIHF does actually have some authority in North America, whereas the pre-Robertian IIHF had none, however, the North American league system still plays in a smaller rink than the rest of the world. Besides running the World Ice Hockey Championships and the Challenge Cups yearly, and organising the Winter Olympic ice hockey tournaments alongside the IOC, the IIHF also holds leagues and countries accountable through the IIHF Ethics Committee, and the World Hockey Appeals Committee is a step above the league level in terms of meting out punishment to players who have made dirty hits or done other things "bringing dishonour to the sport of hockey," plus it keeps referees, team owners, and other league staff accountable and has the authority to bring law enforcement into the picture if things get really sketchy. Furthermore, it now ranks the world's leagues by skill. The federational headquarters is in Zürich, Switzerland, but it also maintains a number of other offices:
- Hockey Hall of Fame (Toronto, Ontario, New Polar Canada)
- World Hockey Appeals Committee North American Office (Vancouver, British Columbia, New Polar Canada)
- World Hockey Appeals Committee North Asian Office (Omsk, Ural-Altai)
- World Hockey Appeals Committee South Asian Office (Singapore, Malay Federation)
- World Hockey Appeals Committee Eastern Europe Office (Bratislava, Slovakia)
To maintain one's IIHF membership one must play in regular tournaments (even if it's just men playing), whether they be the main World Championship ladder or in the Challenge Cup system. One cannot play in both in the same year if they are in Asia or the Americas, and full members cannot play in the Challenge Cups unless they are in Africa. Most IIHF members have both men's and women's hockey programs.
International Tournaments:
- World Ice Hockey Championship
- Challenge Cup of Asia (also open to applicants)
- Challenge Cup of The Americas (also open to applicants)
- Challenge Cup of Africa (also open to applicants and full members)
- Challenge Cup of Europe (also open to applicants)
Full members play in the IIHF World Ice Hockey Championships and have a national body dedicated to the sport (unlike pre-Robertian times it must be both). Associate members may have a national body but do not participate regularly in the Worlds system. Affiliate members (there presently are none) only participate in inline hockey. Applicants are... applicants. They are allowed to play Challenge Cups while the application is in progress.
Full members (championship proper teams in red, other new split-state (that is, split from an existing full member or a successor state of the same) full members in blue): Afrikaner Republic, Aragon, Australia, Austro-Bavaria, Baltica, Bashkorto-Tatarstan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Buryatia, Cascadia, Castille, Catalonia, Croatia, Czechia, Dagestan, Dakota, England, Euskadi, Finland, France, Francoist China, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Israel-Palestine, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kuwait, KwaZulu, Luxembourg, Mexico, Mongolia, Netherlands, New Confederacy, New Polar Canada, New United States, New Zealand, Ngunia, Nordland, Northern Ireland, Novgorod, Poland, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Serbia, Siberia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Transcaucasia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Ural-Altai, Uralica, Utah, Vojvodina, Wales, and Xhosa Republic.
Associate members (candidates for full membership in green and demoted full members in orange; teams falling in both categories are in brown): Abkhazia, Alania, Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Babylon, Bharat, Brazil, Chile, Chukotka, Crimea, Egypt, Galicia, Gibraltar, Greece, Igbolandia, Inca Republic, Ireland, Jamaica, Jordan, Kashmir, Kyrgyzstan, Libnan, Maghreb Union, Malay Federation, Montenegro, Nepal, Nokhchynya, Oman, Panama, Persia, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Punjab, Qatar, Tajikistan, Tibet, Tyva, Uyghurstan, and Uzbekistan.
Affiliate members: none at present
Applicants: Bahrain, Bangladesh (affiliate), Botswana, Colombia, Costa Rica (affiliate), Cuba, East African Union, Hawaii, Kosovo, Lesotho, Namibia (affiliate), Polynesian Union, Trinidad and Tobago, and Vietnam.
By 2019 tournament level:
World Championship System (OOC: complete with more accurate renaming! )
Championship proper (Helsinki/Turku, Finland): Austro-Bavaria (promoted), Baltica, Czechia, Dakota, Finland, France (promoted), Germany, New Polar Canada (silver 2018), New United States, Nordland (bronze 2018), Russia, Siberia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, and Uralica (defending champs)
Division I (Krasnodar, Transcaucasia): Belarus (relegated), Hungary, Italy (relegated), Kazakhstan, Transcaucasia, and Ural-Altai (promoted)
Division II (Seoul/Incheon, Korea) : Bashkorto-Tatarstan, Cascadia, Japan (promoted), Korea, Novgorod (relegated), and Scotland
Division III (Coventry/Sheffield, England): Australia, Croatia, England (relegated), Netherlands, New Confederacy (promoted), and Romania
Division IV (Kiev/Dnipro, Ukraine): Catalonia, Francoist China (promoted), Northern Ireland, Poland (relegated), Serbia, and Ukraine
Division V (Reykjavik, Iceland): Aragon, Georgia, Iceland, Israel-Palestine (relegated), New Zealand, and Utah (promoted)
Division VI (Sofia/Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria): Bulgaria, Castille, Dagestan (relegated), Euskadi (promoted), Mexico, and Turkey
Division VII (Cardiff, Wales): Afrikaner Republic (relegated), Buryatia (promoted), Luxembourg, Ngunia, Turkmenistan, and Wales
Division VIII (Novi Sad, Vojvodina): Bosnia and Herzegovina, KwaZulu, Mongolia, Thailand (relegated), United Arab Emirates (promoted), and Vojvodina
Division IX (Taipei, Taiwan): Greece, Ireland, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Taiwan (relegated), and Xhosa Republic
Division X (new this season! Hosted in Algiers/Tunis, Maghreb Union): Abkhazia, Alania, Armenia, Maghreb Union, Malay Federation, and Portugal
Challenge Cups (all associates unless otherwise noted)
Asia (tournament proper - Surgut, Juganvar, and Yugrakar, Uralica): Azerbaijan, Bharat, Chukotka, Jordan, Libnan, Nepal, Oman, Persia, Qatar, Tajikistan, Uyghurstan, and Uzbekistan
Asia (Division I - Nizhnevartovsk, Uralica): Babylon, Bahrain (applicant), Hawaii (applicant), Kashmir, Polynesian Union (applicant), Punjab, Tibet, Tyva, Vietnam (applicant)
Americas (Dallas, Texas, New Confederacy): Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia (applicant), Cuba (applicant) Inca Republic, Jamaica, Panama, Puerto Rico, and Trinidad and Tobago (applicant)
Europe (Milan, Italy): Abkhazia, Alania, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Crimea, Galicia, Gibraltar, Greece, Ireland, Kosovo (applicants), Montenegro, Nokhchynya, and Portugal.
Africa (Cape Town, Afrikaner Republic): Afrikaner Republic (full), Botswana (applicant), East African Union (applicant), Egypt, Igbolandia, KwaZulu (full), Maghreb Union, Ngunia (full), and Xhosa Republic (full).
ICE HOCKEY IN POST-DISPERSION WORLD
Part 1: The International Game
In terms of viewership, ice hockey is the most popular team winter sport in the world, and overall ranks second amongst winter sports behind alpine skiing for viewership. In terms of participation it ranks second to curling amongst team sports and fourth behind alpine skiing, snowboarding, and curling, ranking lower because of how expensive it can be. But thanks to the efforts of the successor states of the "Historical Giants" - that is, New Polar Canada, the New United States, Dakota Republic, Nordland, Finland, Czechia, Slovakia, Russia, Uralica, and Siberia, who these days are collectively called "The Big Ten" - the game is growing, and the price of the game is dropping. In fact, the #1 sport-based export from four of those countries (Uralica, Russia, Finland, and Siberia) is hockey equipment, and only the New US has it ranked outside the top 10 in the sport-based export area. Here's how ice hockey equipment ranks for the other five:
New Polar Canada, #2 (behind jerseys)
Nordland, #2 (behind jerseys)
Czechia, #3 (behind jerseys and figure skates)
Slovakia, #3 (behind jerseys and gymnastics equipment)
Dakota, #5 (behind jerseys, skiing equipment, gridiron football equipment, and baseball equipment)
And as such, the boom in hockey equipment production thanks to cheaper materials for safe equipment (for which you can thank the Arctic Union nations) has many nations that were at one point too poor to afford equipment taking up the good ol' hockey game! Countries which at one point could only afford to be associate members of the IIHF are now full, and such newer full members will be highlighted in the upcoming list of members.
International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF)
The IIHF is responsible for maintaining both ice hockey and inline hockey (the official summer equivalent of ice hockey) worldwide. The post-Robertian IIHF does actually have some authority in North America, whereas the pre-Robertian IIHF had none, however, the North American league system still plays in a smaller rink than the rest of the world. Besides running the World Ice Hockey Championships and the Challenge Cups yearly, and organising the Winter Olympic ice hockey tournaments alongside the IOC, the IIHF also holds leagues and countries accountable through the IIHF Ethics Committee, and the World Hockey Appeals Committee is a step above the league level in terms of meting out punishment to players who have made dirty hits or done other things "bringing dishonour to the sport of hockey," plus it keeps referees, team owners, and other league staff accountable and has the authority to bring law enforcement into the picture if things get really sketchy. Furthermore, it now ranks the world's leagues by skill. The federational headquarters is in Zürich, Switzerland, but it also maintains a number of other offices:
- Hockey Hall of Fame (Toronto, Ontario, New Polar Canada)
- World Hockey Appeals Committee North American Office (Vancouver, British Columbia, New Polar Canada)
- World Hockey Appeals Committee North Asian Office (Omsk, Ural-Altai)
- World Hockey Appeals Committee South Asian Office (Singapore, Malay Federation)
- World Hockey Appeals Committee Eastern Europe Office (Bratislava, Slovakia)
To maintain one's IIHF membership one must play in regular tournaments (even if it's just men playing), whether they be the main World Championship ladder or in the Challenge Cup system. One cannot play in both in the same year if they are in Asia or the Americas, and full members cannot play in the Challenge Cups unless they are in Africa. Most IIHF members have both men's and women's hockey programs.
International Tournaments:
- World Ice Hockey Championship
- Challenge Cup of Asia (also open to applicants)
- Challenge Cup of The Americas (also open to applicants)
- Challenge Cup of Africa (also open to applicants and full members)
- Challenge Cup of Europe (also open to applicants)
Full members play in the IIHF World Ice Hockey Championships and have a national body dedicated to the sport (unlike pre-Robertian times it must be both). Associate members may have a national body but do not participate regularly in the Worlds system. Affiliate members (there presently are none) only participate in inline hockey. Applicants are... applicants. They are allowed to play Challenge Cups while the application is in progress.
Full members (championship proper teams in red, other new split-state (that is, split from an existing full member or a successor state of the same) full members in blue): Afrikaner Republic, Aragon, Australia, Austro-Bavaria, Baltica, Bashkorto-Tatarstan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Buryatia, Cascadia, Castille, Catalonia, Croatia, Czechia, Dagestan, Dakota, England, Euskadi, Finland, France, Francoist China, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Israel-Palestine, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kuwait, KwaZulu, Luxembourg, Mexico, Mongolia, Netherlands, New Confederacy, New Polar Canada, New United States, New Zealand, Ngunia, Nordland, Northern Ireland, Novgorod, Poland, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Serbia, Siberia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Transcaucasia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Ural-Altai, Uralica, Utah, Vojvodina, Wales, and Xhosa Republic.
Associate members (candidates for full membership in green and demoted full members in orange; teams falling in both categories are in brown): Abkhazia, Alania, Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Babylon, Bharat, Brazil, Chile, Chukotka, Crimea, Egypt, Galicia, Gibraltar, Greece, Igbolandia, Inca Republic, Ireland, Jamaica, Jordan, Kashmir, Kyrgyzstan, Libnan, Maghreb Union, Malay Federation, Montenegro, Nepal, Nokhchynya, Oman, Panama, Persia, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Punjab, Qatar, Tajikistan, Tibet, Tyva, Uyghurstan, and Uzbekistan.
Affiliate members: none at present
Applicants: Bahrain, Bangladesh (affiliate), Botswana, Colombia, Costa Rica (affiliate), Cuba, East African Union, Hawaii, Kosovo, Lesotho, Namibia (affiliate), Polynesian Union, Trinidad and Tobago, and Vietnam.
By 2019 tournament level:
World Championship System (OOC: complete with more accurate renaming! )
Championship proper (Helsinki/Turku, Finland): Austro-Bavaria (promoted), Baltica, Czechia, Dakota, Finland, France (promoted), Germany, New Polar Canada (silver 2018), New United States, Nordland (bronze 2018), Russia, Siberia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, and Uralica (defending champs)
Division I (Krasnodar, Transcaucasia): Belarus (relegated), Hungary, Italy (relegated), Kazakhstan, Transcaucasia, and Ural-Altai (promoted)
Division II (Seoul/Incheon, Korea) : Bashkorto-Tatarstan, Cascadia, Japan (promoted), Korea, Novgorod (relegated), and Scotland
Division III (Coventry/Sheffield, England): Australia, Croatia, England (relegated), Netherlands, New Confederacy (promoted), and Romania
Division IV (Kiev/Dnipro, Ukraine): Catalonia, Francoist China (promoted), Northern Ireland, Poland (relegated), Serbia, and Ukraine
Division V (Reykjavik, Iceland): Aragon, Georgia, Iceland, Israel-Palestine (relegated), New Zealand, and Utah (promoted)
Division VI (Sofia/Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria): Bulgaria, Castille, Dagestan (relegated), Euskadi (promoted), Mexico, and Turkey
Division VII (Cardiff, Wales): Afrikaner Republic (relegated), Buryatia (promoted), Luxembourg, Ngunia, Turkmenistan, and Wales
Division VIII (Novi Sad, Vojvodina): Bosnia and Herzegovina, KwaZulu, Mongolia, Thailand (relegated), United Arab Emirates (promoted), and Vojvodina
Division IX (Taipei, Taiwan): Greece, Ireland, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Taiwan (relegated), and Xhosa Republic
Division X (new this season! Hosted in Algiers/Tunis, Maghreb Union): Abkhazia, Alania, Armenia, Maghreb Union, Malay Federation, and Portugal
Challenge Cups (all associates unless otherwise noted)
Asia (tournament proper - Surgut, Juganvar, and Yugrakar, Uralica): Azerbaijan, Bharat, Chukotka, Jordan, Libnan, Nepal, Oman, Persia, Qatar, Tajikistan, Uyghurstan, and Uzbekistan
Asia (Division I - Nizhnevartovsk, Uralica): Babylon, Bahrain (applicant), Hawaii (applicant), Kashmir, Polynesian Union (applicant), Punjab, Tibet, Tyva, Vietnam (applicant)
Americas (Dallas, Texas, New Confederacy): Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia (applicant), Cuba (applicant) Inca Republic, Jamaica, Panama, Puerto Rico, and Trinidad and Tobago (applicant)
Europe (Milan, Italy): Abkhazia, Alania, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Crimea, Galicia, Gibraltar, Greece, Ireland, Kosovo (applicants), Montenegro, Nokhchynya, and Portugal.
Africa (Cape Town, Afrikaner Republic): Afrikaner Republic (full), Botswana (applicant), East African Union (applicant), Egypt, Igbolandia, KwaZulu (full), Maghreb Union, Ngunia (full), and Xhosa Republic (full).
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(06-11-2022, 10:13 PM)Kyng Wrote: I love how [Abacab] has a track with a section named "Lurker", when the album title itself looks like Lurker's attempt to spell "Abacus" or something .
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