The dream of staying in the league: Italy starts the World Cup

The Blue Team, peppered with young players, wants to make the impossible possible in the Lanxess Arena, i.e. to prove themselves as blatant outsiders in Group A and secure their stay in the World Group. “Of course we lack routine, but I am proud to be the coach of such a young team. The boys are in the middle of their development. We have been preparing for this tournament for weeks,” explains coach Stefan Mair, who knows his team’s strengths well: “We only have a chance if we remember our tactical discipline. We have built a solid defense around goalie Andreas Bernard that can withstand the strongest teams. Moving forward, we can only try our luck with concentrated, quick counter-attacks.”

This should also be the recipe for success in the opening match against Slovakia. The Eastern Europeans, who are competing without Marian Hossa, Marian Gaborik and the other NHL stars, are among the teams against whom the Azzurri think they have a minimal chance. However, anything other than a defeat at the start of the tournament would be a big surprise.

The Italians' main focus is on the games against Latvia, Germany and Denmark in which they want to collect the necessary points to stay in the league. Nevertheless, it is important to send the first signals to the competition against Slovakia, and less than 24 hours later against Russia.

Italy's World Cup squad: goalkeeper : Andreas Bernard (Assat Pori), Gianluca Vallini (HC Gherdeina), Frederic Cloutier (Asiago Hockey) Verteidiger : Thomas Larkin (Adler Mannheim), Luca Zanatta (Red Ice Martigny), Armin Helfer (HC Pustertal), Daniel Glira (HC Bozen), Ruben Rampazzo (Hockey Thurgau), Armin Hofer (HC Pustertal), Stefano Marchetti (Asiago Hockey) , Enrico Miglioranzi (Asiago Hockey), Alexander Egger (HC Bozen), Alex Trivellato (Schwenninger Wild Wings) striker : Anton Bernard (HC Bozen), Marco Insam (HC Bozen), Luca Frigo (HC Bozen), Giovanni Morini (HC Lugano), Markus Gander (HC Bozen), Raphael Andergassen (HC Pustertal), Daniel Frank (HC Bozen), Alex Lambacher (EC Kassel Huskies), Michele Marchetti (HC Bozen), Diego Kostner (HC Ambrì Piotta), Simon Kostner (Rittner Buam), Tommaso Traversa (Rittner Buam), Tommaso Goi (HC Biasca Ticino Rockets), Giulio Scandella (Asiago Hockey) Coach : Stefan Mair

Slovakia's World Cup squad: goalkeeper : Julius Hudacek (Orebro), Jan Laco (Chomutov) Verteidiger : Michal Cajkovsky (Yekaterinburg), Peter Ceresnak (Plzen), Martin Gernat (Sparta Prague), Adam Janosik (Liberec), Lukas Kozak (Martin), Juraj Mikus (Sparta Prague), Eduard Sedivy (Kosice), Michal Sersen (Bystrica) , Peter Trska (Brno) striker : Martin Bakos (Kunlun), Mario Bliznak (Liberec), Lukas Cingel (Sparta Prague), Vladimir Dravecky (Trinec), Marcel Hascak (Brno), Tomas Hrnka (Plzen), Andrej Kudrna (Sparta Prague), Patrik Lusnak (Zvolen) , Tomas Matousek (Bystrica), David Skokan (Chomutov), Andrej Stastny (Trencin), Jakub Suja (Kosice), Michel Miklik (Jyvaskyla), Pavol Skalicky (Bystrica), Tomas Zigo (Bystrica) Coach : Zdeno Ciger

Italy's World Cup program: Saturday, May 6th (16.15:XNUMX p.m.): Italy - Slovakia Sunday, May 7th (12.15:XNUMX p.m.): Italy - Russia Tuesday, May 9th (16.15:XNUMX p.m.): Italy - Latvia Wednesday, May 10th (16.15:XNUMX p.m.): Italy - USA Friday, May 12th (16.15:XNUMX p.m.): Italy - Sweden Saturday, May 13th (20.15:XNUMX p.m.): Italy - Germany Monday, May 15th (16.15:XNUMX p.m.): Italy - Denmark

The preparation results: Italy - Austria 0:2 Austria - Italy 6:5 aet Italy - Kazakhstan 1:3 Italy - Slovenia 1:4 Italy - USA 2:5

SN/Alexander Foppa

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The dream of staying in the league: Italy starts the World Cup

The World Cup adventure begins for the Italian national ice hockey team on Saturday afternoon. In Cologne, the Blue Team will face Slovakia at the start.

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