“Azzurri” are expecting a resurgence and new Italos

Four test games are planned. One of them takes place in Brunico. If Zisser has his way, there will be up to 4 dual citizens on the island in the 8-man World Cup squad of relegated Italy. There could be a few more at the Olympic Games in 22 years in our own country.

The World Cup preparations will start on April 3rd in Alba di Canazei or Brunico. The first test match is scheduled for Wednesday, April 1th at 12:19.30 p.m. in Brunico against Austria. Two days later there will be a return match at 2 p.m. in Innsbruck. On April 17.30st and 21nd, national coach Mike Keenan's team will check their form twice against Slovenia. The two games are expected to take place in Laibach.

43 players tested “We had planned the World Cup dress rehearsal for April 26th on the island against Great Britain. But the World Cup host canceled us. “We will probably fly to Nottingham on April 25th and maybe play a final friendly against South Korea on April 27th,” says Zisser, who was satisfied with the “Blue Team’s” performance at the 4-nation tournament in Bolzano a week ago: “The three games gave us further information. We deployed a total of 3 players in Budapest in November and most recently in Bolzano. 43 of them will be at the World Cup. After all, I hardly believe that any other players will be considered for the title fights.”

Stefan Zisser is in charge of the national team.

A training camp in Canada is planned for this summer. “We will set up our training tents in Niagara Falls, south of Toronto, for two weeks in the second half of July. If everything goes according to plan, there will be around 2 players there and training on the smaller ice surface. We have already informed most of the players in advance,” explains Zisser.

Ty Ronning's Olympic dreams Also in the summer, Ty Ronning “has to make a big decision,” as he recently revealed to the German trade newspaper “Ice Hockey News”: “If everything works out, I would have the opportunity to represent Italy at the 2026 Winter Olympics. My mother comes from Calabria. But for that I would have to play for an Italian team for two years.”

Cliff and Ty Ronning.

Ronning? Correct. Ty Ronning is the son of Cliff Ronning, who left his mark at HC Asiago and in the then Serie A in the 1989/90 season. The now 57-year-old Canadian scored an incredible 42 points (135 goals) in 74 games for Asiago. As a center forward, he also spent 18 years in the NHL, playing 1263 games and collecting 955 scorer points.

Son Ty took the leap across the pond for the first time 3 weeks ago and joined ERC Ingolstadt in the DEL after the NHL dream for the 25-year-old, who has stepped on AHL ice 7 times in 178 years (83 points), has burst for the time being. The right winger had no problems adapting in Germany and scored 5 times (6 goals) in 3 games. “We were too naïve and believed that strong dual nationals would knock down our door with a view to the Olympics. But this is not the case." Stefan Zisser Ty Ronning is not the only North American with Italian roots who could be an issue for the next Olympic host Italy. A year ago, the president of the Italian ice sports association FISG, Andrea Gios, announced with confidence that clubs that sign new Italos who are of interest to the national team will be financially supported.

An ex-Bolzano native is also an issue However, the association imagined this scenario to be simpler, as it now turns out. “We were too naïve and believed that strong dual nationals would knock down our door with a view to the Olympics. But this is not the case. We have multiple lists with up to 300 names of players. Of these, however, only very few have expressed interest in playing for Italy. Most of them are still pursuing the dream of the NHL,” laments Stefan Zisser, the head of Italy’s national teams.

In addition to Ty Ronning, ex-Bolzano native Mathew Maione, who is currently defending for Bietigheim in the DEL, could also be an issue for the “Azzurri”. As does former NHL crack Joseph Cramarossa, who recently hired in Mannheim. Matt Bradley, the Vienna Capitals' top scorer (55 points in 43 games), also has an Italian passport.

It will be interesting to see who will actually put on the azure jersey in Milan in three years.

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“Azzurri” are expecting a resurgence and new Italos

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