Alex Trivellato and his teammates aim to boost their confidence against Great Britain. © Valentina Gallina, Vanna Antonello, HIHF

Italy eagerly anticipates the World Championships: "Always united on the ice"

The top-division Ice Hockey World Championship kicks off next week in Switzerland. Italy's national ice hockey team will play another test match against Great Britain in preparation – and aims to strengthen team spirit.

09 May 2026

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Italy and Great Britain have already faced each other twice during the World Cup preparations, with the Blue Team winning 6-4. This was followed by a 1:4 defeat.On Sunday, May 10th, and again two days later, two more test matches against the British will take place – this time in Varese. Playing on home soil, the Azzurri aim to boost their confidence once more before finally showcasing their best form at the World Championship in the top division between May 15th and 31st.

Alex Trivellato from St. Jakob/Leifers will of course also be there. The experienced defenseman is about to make his eleventh World Championship appearance and has experienced both highs and lows with the national team. Returning to the World Championship elite is something special for the 33-year-old, who plays for the Schwenninger Wild Wings in the German Ice Hockey League – and he knows what it takes to succeed in such tournaments.

Unity should become the strength of the Blue Team

This is something that can't be written on tactics boards or learned by studying videos. It's team spirit that makes a team believe in itself in critical moments and achieve incredible feats in seemingly difficult situations. "But you can't plan or artificially create things like that," Trivellato said in an interview with the Italian Ice Hockey Federation.

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Such cohesion is made possible "by a kind of brotherhood developing among the players," the South Tyrolean continued, recalling: "Six years ago we had a team that had been playing together for a long time and was ready to give everything for each other. Despite heavy defeats, we never fell apart."

Trivellato: "Always close to the ice"

Italy also displayed this quality at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, where, among other things, the narrow 2-3 defeat against a furiously playing Slovakia remains a memorable result. At the upcoming World Championship, the Blue Team aims to raise the bar even higher. "That's exactly what will be needed at the upcoming top-division World Championship: always going out on the ice as a unit, being ready to fight for your teammates, having complete faith in the team and the system," Trivellato emphasized to his teammates.

In Varese, Trivellato will use their match against Great Britain, also a newly promoted team in the top division, to prepare for the tournament and test their team spirit. The match starts at 4:30 pm on Sunday.