Alex Trivellato looks ahead to the upcoming tournament. © Valentina Gallina

Azzurri travel to Budapest “highly motivated”.

Italy's national ice hockey team is currently preparing in Bolzano for the upcoming Sárközy-Tamás tournament, which will take place in the Hungarian capital. Before the start towards Linz, where the Azzurri are making a stopover, Alex Trivellato answered questions.

07 November 2023

From: leo

The big highlight of the year for Italy's national team takes place from April 28th to May 4th. Then the IA Division World Championships are on the agenda in Bolzano. “Since I've been playing for the national team, I haven't played many tournaments at home. We are all highly motivated and want to achieve promotion in front of our fans. That would be a special thing,” says the Schwenninger Wild Wings defender, looking ahead.

Preparations for this will begin this week. Daniel Frank & Co. won the Sárközy-Tamás tournament last year, so they want to defend their title. “It's a nice tournament. After the disappointing end of last season, we have to get back on track. This tournament is the first step,” emphasizes Trivellato. Mike Keenan's team is working on new things in training. “Let’s see whether these bear fruit in Budapest.”

Lots of new faces

As with every training camp, the team first has to find itself, as many new players have been called up. “We have the opportunity to get to know each other better on the bus,” says Trivellato. In total the team consists of 27 players, including 8 Italos. As the ice sports association FISG announced on Tuesday, Luke Moncada, who was nominated to replace the injured Daniel Catenacci, will not make the trip to Hungary. Nonetheless, Keenan has decided not to draft any other players.

The convocations

Gate: Andreas Bernard (HC Pustertal), Marco De Filippo (Asiago), Damian Clara (Brynäs/Sweden)

Defense: Lorenzo Casetti, Randy Gazzola, Gregorio Gios (all Asiago), Peter Spornberger, Alex Trivellato (both Schwenningen/Germany), Cameron Ginnetti (Ritten), Daniel Glira (HC Pustertal), Enrico Miglioranzi (HC Bozen), Phil Pietroniro (Trencin/ Slovakia), Jason Seed (Cortina)

Attack: Pascal Brunner, Leonardo Felicetti, Daniel Frank, Luca Frigo (all HC Bozen), Ivan Deluca, Matthias Mantinger, Alex Petan (all HC Pustertal), Giordano Finoro, Michele Marchetti, Bryce Misley (all Asiago), Giovanni Morini, Marco Zanetti ( both Lugano/Switzerland), Anthony Salinitri (Graz/Austria), Marco Sanna (Cortina)

On call: Davide Fadani (Bellinzona/Switzerland), Daniel Gellon (Merano), Diego Glück (Gröden)

Coaching staff: Mike Keenan (head coach), Mike Pelino (assistant coach), Fabio Armani, Diego Scandella (assistant coach), David Jamieson (goalie coach)