Italy is testing in Sosnowiec, Poland. © Vanna Antonello

Three months before the Olympics: How far along is Italy?

Italy's national ice hockey team is about to compete in the European Cup of Nations in Poland. Here's an overview of the schedule.

05 November 2025

From: dl

Head coach Jukka Jalonen's goal is to give all 29 called-up players playing time in the three games. This is partly to test as many players as possible, and partly to avoid excessive strain. The tournament kicks off on Thursday against Poland. The Blue Team will then face Great Britain and Slovenia on three consecutive days.

The Azzurri's opponents are therefore two teams they already faced at the last World Championship: Poland and Great Britain – as well as Slovenia, which will again be Italy's opponent at the next Top Division World Championship in May in Switzerland.

It will happen in February.

The tournament in Sosnowiec is therefore a good test to assess the current state of the Blue Team – just over three months before the start of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan. Italy will play its opening match against Sweden there on February 11th.

“Poland is starting a new cycle with head coach Tirkkonen, Great Britain has replaced many players since the last World Championship, as has Slovenia. We are focusing exclusively on the Italian national team and what answers the players will give us – especially the new ones, to see how they adapt to the international level,” explained Giorgio De Bettin, one of Jalonen’s assistants.

European Cup of Nations: The program

Thursday: Italy – Poland (19.45 p.m.)
Friday: Italy – Great Britain (16 p.m.)
Saturday: Italy – Slovenia (16:XNUMX p.m.)

The nominated players

Gate: Damian Clara (Brynäs/SWE), Rudy Rigoni (Asiago), Gianluca Vallini (Bolzano)

Defense: Terrance Amorosa (Herning/DAN), Gregory Di Tomaso, Daniel Glira, Luca Zanatta (all Pustertal), Enrico Miglioranzi, Jason Seed (both Bolzano), Alex Trivellato, Thomas Larkin (both Schwenningen/GER), Phil Pietroniro (Kladno/CZE), Peter Spornberger (Ingolstadt/GER)

Attack: Matthew Bradley, Cristiano DiGiacinto, Luca Frigo, Dustin Gazley, Daniel Mantenuto, Bryce Misley (all Bolzano), Mats Frycklund, Matthias Mantinger, Tommy Purdeller, Nick Saracino (all Pustertal), Diego Kostner (Ambri Piotta/SUI), Marco Zanetti (Lugano/SUI), Alex Petan (Ljubljana/SLO), Julius Ramoser (Wolfsburg/GER), Alessandro Segafredo (Zurich/SUI), Daniel Tedesco (Bloomington/USA)