Lots of unanswered questions: What's next for ice hockey Italy?

The sting still runs deep for Zisser. You notice that when you talk to the person in charge of the Blue Team about the B World Cup in Great Britain. “We have done a lot of analysis since then. Be it in terms of the players and the coaches. I don't want to leave myself out of this either. I've certainly done some things in the organization that I wouldn't do today. “It’s also important for me to act more strictly and with less compromise in the future,” summed up Zisser SportNews -Conversation.

The sports director has tried to build a good relationship with coach Mike Keenan in recent months. From his point of view, he succeeded. “Perhaps I was too good-natured in some decisions,” Zisser added. The 73-year-old is currently on the brink - despite a contract that runs until 2026. However, Zisser did not want to comment specifically: “He certainly made mistakes too. But there is no single person to blame. I had a lot of conversations with Mike after the World Cup. I do think he has seen some things and would be willing to change them.”

The national coach of Italy, Mike Keenan, is under pressure: promotion is mandatory at the World Cup in Bolzano. © Valentina Gallina

In principle, according to Zisser, there is no point in constantly changing coaches: “A club cannot be compared with a national team. We have had four coaches since 2018. That's just too much. In this position you need stability in the national team - also because you can't change as much in the short term as you can at a club." Zisser also admitted that it was a mistake to let 28 players fly to England and then four more to delete: “We wanted to be on the safe side. But that was just too much. Also for the self-confidence of some players who were at risk.”

Quo vadis, Blue Team? In addition, the cancellations of players like captain Daniel Frank and goalkeeper Andreas Bernard weren't exactly beneficial for the team. Zisser didn't want to criticize anyone on this point. Nevertheless, he also said: “The entire Italian ice hockey movement has to question itself. Are our leagues (also the ICE Hockey Leauge; Note d. Red. ) really that good? We simply can't play much better than at the last A World Cup in Finland (2022). Nevertheless, we ended up relegated. Some players even have to work part-time. In order to play for the national team, you often have to make sacrifices. But it should also be a great honor to be able to play for your country. We have a home Olympics coming up in 2026. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” “The whole Italian ice hockey movement has to question itself.” Italy's sports director Stefan Zisser Zisser is known as a great fighter. Giving up is not an option for him. Talents like Tommy Purdeller and Damian Clara give him hope for a better future. With regard to the upcoming B World Cup in Bolzano (April 28th to May 4th, 2024), he would like to bake smaller bread rolls. “Of course we would like to be promoted. But we will face good opponents in Slovenia or Hungary. Especially if they compete with the best possible cast. The Slovenians, for example, have DEL players who are also top performers at their clubs. But at home we obviously have to present ourselves better than we did recently in Nottingham. That has to be the goal.”

This summer's training camp in Canada had to be postponed for logistical reasons. “We had to push it back a year. We are currently looking for a hall in South Tyrol or Piedmont where we can hold a training camp on ice at the end of July. We are currently in discussions about this,” concluded Zisser.

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Lots of unanswered questions: What's next for ice hockey Italy?

Italy's national ice hockey team missed promotion to the top division at the World Cup in Division I Group A this year. After the disappointing tournament on the island, many unanswered questions have arisen about the Blue Team. We tried to clarify this with sports director Stefan Zisser.

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