First round, September 24-26, 2010:

Group A, host TBD: Energija Elektrenai (LTU), Ankara University SK (TUR), CH Jaca (ESP), Bat Yam HC (ISR). 

IIHF.com 

CARDIFF, Great Britain – Max Birbraer turns 30 in December, but the Cardiff Devils winger has already experienced more than most hockey players do in a lifetime.

He hasn't won an Olympic gold medal, Stanley Cup, or World Championship, but he’s criss-crossed the globe in search of sporting success, both professionally and with the Israeli national team.

Born and raised in Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan, with ethnic Jewish parents, Birbraer moved to Israel with his family at age 15. At that point, he'd already been playing hockey since age six, alongside some future big names like Kazakh national team star and current Atlanta Thrashers scoring leader Nikolai Antropov.

“Nik was a teammate of mine since I was little,” Birbraer tells IIHF.com. “He was my captain. I know him really well. We played together for around 10 years, coming out of junior hockey in our town. [San Jose Sharks and Team Russia starting goalie] Evgeni Nabokov is also from the same town.”

...China's not a powerhouse. Our skeleton roster led China 2-1 halfway throught that game.....but playing with only three lines, as Israel always seems to do at the men's IIHF events, is a recipe for disaster. Even inferior teams can beat you when they have four lines and you only have three. Playing teams of roughly equal ability with only three lines? Hockey is way too tiring a game to only run three lines against teams that run four.

For a start, 5 of our 15 skaters were U-18 players. They were completely outclassed by teams such as Estonia & Romania, and it showed on the scoreboard. However, Kai Malachi on defense was a bright spot - he was only around a -6 or -7 for the whole tournament, and he's a U-18 player.