MINSK, 1 April (BelTA) – The Belarusian ice hockey national team starts preparations for the 2021 IIHF World Championship. Head coach Mikhail Zakharov's plans include six away friendlies, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Ice Hockey Federation.
Belarus is set to play two matches with representatives of Division IA and four more with elite teams. On 16-17 April Belarus will face Austria and Hungary in Budapest. Then, Mikhail Zakahrov's men will take on Russia in Moscow (23-24 April). The program of friendlies will wrap up with a match against Germany in Nuremberg on 7-8 May.
As for the roster, only 15 players have made the lineup so far:
Goalies: Aleksei Kolosov (HC Dinamo Minsk, KHL), Ivan Kulbakov (HC Sochi, KHL), Konstantin Shostak (HC Severstal, KHL).
Defensemen: Oleg Yevenko (HC Traktor, KHL), Vladislav Yeremenko, Dmitry Znakharenko, Ilya Solovyev, Stepan Falkovsky, Ilya Shinkevich (all – HC Dinamo Minsk, KHL).
Forwards: Andrei Belevich (HC Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod, KHL), Artem Demkov, Francis Pare, Ilya Usov (all – HC Dinamo Minsk), Andrei Kostitsyn (no club), Sergei Kostitsyn (HC Bratislava Capitals, Slovakia, ICEHL).
Coaching staff: Mikhail Zakharov, Dmitry Karpikov (HC Yunost), Mikhail Kravets, Aleksei Seliverstov, Oleg Novitsky (all – HC Vityaz, KHL).
The squad will expand closer to the start of the tournament in Riga.
At the 2021 IIHF World Championship in Riga Belarus will play in Preliminary Group A, with matches due to take place in the Olympic Sport Center. Belarus will face Slovakia (21 May), Sweden (23 May), the Czech Republic (24 May), the UK (26 May), Denmark (28 May), Switzerland (30 May), and Russia (1 June). Four best teams of the group will advance to the quarterfinal.
Group B will comprise Canada, Finland, the USA, Germany, Latvia, Norway, Italy, and Kazakhstan. Matches will be played at Arena Riga.
