The Australian Under 20 IIHF Worlds team are set for another tilt at a gold medal in Serbia, beginning this weekend.
The team have spent the past few days in the middle of training camp at the Australian Institute of Sport European Training Centre in Varese, Italy prior to returning to the Piotr Ice Hall in Belgrade on Sunday.
Australia finished just out of the medals in 4
th place in 2024, with two wins from the five games played. Australia will play Israel, Spain, Iceland, Serbia and Belgium this year for a shot at promotion up to Division 2A.
Returning alongside Head Coach Dave Ruck, Assistant Coach and Sydney Ice Dogs' Head Coach Jason Kvisle said the team was going through intensive preparations at camp and are going into the tournament confident and looking to improve on last year’s effort.
“It’s been a good camp so far, and it’s been relatively injury free, the facilities here are fantastic. We haven’t had as many on-ice sessions as we would have liked but we’ve been doing a lot off of the ice as well,” Kvisle said.
The team have played a warm-up game against Swiss youth team GDT Bellinzona, going down 4-3 in a tight contest. The team have also been taking in some of the surrounds, with a visit to the home of Swiss hockey heavyweights HC Lugano during the team's down time one of the highlights.
Kvisle noted the additional challenges of the competition this year.
“We’re playing some teams in Division 2B that have professional players and play in professional leagues, so we need to ensure that we aren’t giving away the puck. We had 173 penalty minutes last year and that certainly can’t happen again.”
“There’s been a more common goal among the team this year compared to last – players are buying in. Last year our underperformance was more of a mentality and off-ice issue I think.”
In terms of the competition, Australia’s first match-up against Israel will be a litmus test for the remainder of the tournament.
“We expect they’ll give us a hard run and I expect them to have Mike Levin (Niagara Ice Dogs - OHL) playing. Every game is a must-win in this tournament. We won’t go into the game treating Israel lightly.”
“We’re going to focus on each game in 5-minute increments and take every shift at a time. We've got some bigger bodies this year to help us contend with some of the faster teams and to help us protect our house and box teams out in our own end."
The team boasts many AIHL rising stars, some of whom have uncertain playing futures this season due to the absence of the Sydney Bears and Sydney Ice Dogs. However, Kvisle explains the opportunity for the youth to compete at a higher level for limited spots on an AIHL team in 2025.
“From an AIHL perspective, we’ve got a team full of young kids on AIHL rosters. Lots of guys are unsure about their hockey future with no Sydney teams this year. The AIHL is definitely on these kids’ minds and it’s a chance for them to showcase their talents against guys from around the world, while competing for a spot on a team back home.”
The IIHF Under 20 Division 2B World Championships will be played in Belgrade, Serbia beginning Sunday 19
th January. All times below are listed in AEDT:
Australia vs Israel – Sunday 19
th January @ 2230hrs
Australia vs Spain – Monday 20
th January @ 2230hrs
Australia vs Iceland – Thursday 23rd January @ 0200hrs
Australia vs Serbia – Friday 24th January @ 0530hrs
Australia vs Belgium – Sunday 26
th January @ 0200hrs
Livestream links will be posted on AIHL social media channels once they become available.
The full tournament page can be found by
clicking here.
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