photo: © International Ice Hockey Federation / Lidija Lazic
A dominant Spain needed just four games to build up an unassailable lead and earn gold at the 2025 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship Division II Group B in Belgrade, Serbia.
The triumph in Pionir Ice Rink propels Spain straight back to compete at next year´s U20 Division II Group A.
"The strength of this team is their skating and hard work," said Ron Chyzowski, Spain´s recently appointed head coach. "I've been positively surprised by the level of the team. Spain doesn’t have a deep pool of players, but there´s a good base to compete with at the international level, including a group of them with a very high skill level."
The Spaniards opened their promotion campaign with a 2-0 shutout win against Iceland, andthen posted 4-2 and 2-0 victories against Australia and Belgium respectively. Spain sealed gold on day four, beating newly promoted Israel 7-3.
Against the Israelis, Spain stepped out to outshoot their opponents 22-8 in the first period and grabbed a 3-1 lead. With all three lines producing, Jorge Mazon and Eduardo Gonzalez tallied before a determined Carlos Vilar Cabello backhanded a morale-boosting shorthanded goal with eight seconds left in the opening stanza.
Relying heavily on its brilliant top troika, Israel narrowed the gap to 3-2 in the second period. On the power play, Mike Levin scored his second of the afternoon at 7:08, firing a wrister from the left faceoff circle. Jose Blanco, one of eight members of the current Spanish team that narrowly suffered relegation last year, restored a two-goal cushion by converting from a Dusan Cantabrana feed on a 5-on-4 advantage.
Nikita Zitserman´s 4-3 goal on the power play briefly restored Israeli hopes early in the final frame. But with Israel beginning to run out of steam, momentum swung in the favour of a well-balanced Spanish team.
At 50:17 Hector Acuna made it 5-3. Five minutes later, Gonzalez potted his second of the game and Spain´s sixth. With 48 seconds left, Hugo Perez tapped home a Bosco Collado drive to close out the scoring.
Spain finished the tournament with a point in a shootout loss versus Serbia. Spain´s Pablo Salvador was voted the top goalie with a 1.00 GAA, 94.12 save percentage and two shutouts. His teammate, Collado of FC Barcelona, won the accolade as top defender. Thirteen members of the roster will be eligible for next year´s U20 campaign.
"My experience working with the Spanish team has been great," said Chyzowski. "Everything is well-organized, the staff is very supportive and takes great care of the boys. The future looks very positive with everyone working hard to make it better and improve. There is definitely a good possibility that one or two of our guys could get an invite to the national camp, to try and make the men´s World Championship team."
On the final day, Israel´s Levin broke a 2-2 tie with his game-winning third-period strike in a feisty tie against Iceland. Newly promoted Israel won silver to celebrate their highest overall finish at this level.
Relishing skating for his country in Belgrade´s Pionir Ice Rink, Levin averaged a goal per game for Israel's men's team at this venue at the 2024 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division II Group A last spring.
Now in his final year playing for the U20s, the Tel Aviv-born forward returned to Serbia to finish as the tournament´s leading marksman with seven goals and 11 points in five games. His compatriot, 15-year-old prospect Samson Goldshtein enjoyed a fine debut at this level, notchign nine points to win the vote as the tournament´s top forward.
In 2024, only a shootout loss separated Serbia from winning gold on home ice. This year, their promotion campaign effectively derailed after two games. Following a disastrous start with a couple of straight losses, Serbia´s youngsters roared back to win bronze. In their closing game versus Spain, Andreja Popovic scored twice in regulation and then converted a penalty shot in a pulsating 4-3 shootout victory.
Australia headed into the final round of games at the bottom of the standings. Ivan Kuleshov netted a hat trick to emphatically beat Belgium 8-1 in a relegation decider as the Young Roos jumped up to fourth.
Strong in special play and highly efficient in capitalizing on their chances, Iceland finished fifth. With shots on goal severely favouring Serbia 55-13, Iceland´s Haukur Karvelsson grabbed a brace and Thorir Aspar turned away 53 shots in a memorable 3-2 victory for the Scandinavians versus the hosts on Day Two.
Returning to Belgrade´s Pionir Ice Rink for a third time in four seasons, Belgium finished fourth in 2022, followed by fifth place last season. Despite a memorable 4-2 comeback win against Serbia in their opener this year, Belgium lost their next four games and will now need to regroup in Division III for the first time since 2014.
The triumph in Pionir Ice Rink propels Spain straight back to compete at next year´s U20 Division II Group A.
"The strength of this team is their skating and hard work," said Ron Chyzowski, Spain´s recently appointed head coach. "I've been positively surprised by the level of the team. Spain doesn’t have a deep pool of players, but there´s a good base to compete with at the international level, including a group of them with a very high skill level."
The Spaniards opened their promotion campaign with a 2-0 shutout win against Iceland, andthen posted 4-2 and 2-0 victories against Australia and Belgium respectively. Spain sealed gold on day four, beating newly promoted Israel 7-3.
Against the Israelis, Spain stepped out to outshoot their opponents 22-8 in the first period and grabbed a 3-1 lead. With all three lines producing, Jorge Mazon and Eduardo Gonzalez tallied before a determined Carlos Vilar Cabello backhanded a morale-boosting shorthanded goal with eight seconds left in the opening stanza.
Relying heavily on its brilliant top troika, Israel narrowed the gap to 3-2 in the second period. On the power play, Mike Levin scored his second of the afternoon at 7:08, firing a wrister from the left faceoff circle. Jose Blanco, one of eight members of the current Spanish team that narrowly suffered relegation last year, restored a two-goal cushion by converting from a Dusan Cantabrana feed on a 5-on-4 advantage.
Nikita Zitserman´s 4-3 goal on the power play briefly restored Israeli hopes early in the final frame. But with Israel beginning to run out of steam, momentum swung in the favour of a well-balanced Spanish team.
At 50:17 Hector Acuna made it 5-3. Five minutes later, Gonzalez potted his second of the game and Spain´s sixth. With 48 seconds left, Hugo Perez tapped home a Bosco Collado drive to close out the scoring.
Spain finished the tournament with a point in a shootout loss versus Serbia. Spain´s Pablo Salvador was voted the top goalie with a 1.00 GAA, 94.12 save percentage and two shutouts. His teammate, Collado of FC Barcelona, won the accolade as top defender. Thirteen members of the roster will be eligible for next year´s U20 campaign.
"My experience working with the Spanish team has been great," said Chyzowski. "Everything is well-organized, the staff is very supportive and takes great care of the boys. The future looks very positive with everyone working hard to make it better and improve. There is definitely a good possibility that one or two of our guys could get an invite to the national camp, to try and make the men´s World Championship team."
On the final day, Israel´s Levin broke a 2-2 tie with his game-winning third-period strike in a feisty tie against Iceland. Newly promoted Israel won silver to celebrate their highest overall finish at this level.
Relishing skating for his country in Belgrade´s Pionir Ice Rink, Levin averaged a goal per game for Israel's men's team at this venue at the 2024 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division II Group A last spring.
Now in his final year playing for the U20s, the Tel Aviv-born forward returned to Serbia to finish as the tournament´s leading marksman with seven goals and 11 points in five games. His compatriot, 15-year-old prospect Samson Goldshtein enjoyed a fine debut at this level, notchign nine points to win the vote as the tournament´s top forward.
In 2024, only a shootout loss separated Serbia from winning gold on home ice. This year, their promotion campaign effectively derailed after two games. Following a disastrous start with a couple of straight losses, Serbia´s youngsters roared back to win bronze. In their closing game versus Spain, Andreja Popovic scored twice in regulation and then converted a penalty shot in a pulsating 4-3 shootout victory.
Australia headed into the final round of games at the bottom of the standings. Ivan Kuleshov netted a hat trick to emphatically beat Belgium 8-1 in a relegation decider as the Young Roos jumped up to fourth.
Strong in special play and highly efficient in capitalizing on their chances, Iceland finished fifth. With shots on goal severely favouring Serbia 55-13, Iceland´s Haukur Karvelsson grabbed a brace and Thorir Aspar turned away 53 shots in a memorable 3-2 victory for the Scandinavians versus the hosts on Day Two.
Returning to Belgrade´s Pionir Ice Rink for a third time in four seasons, Belgium finished fourth in 2022, followed by fifth place last season. Despite a memorable 4-2 comeback win against Serbia in their opener this year, Belgium lost their next four games and will now need to regroup in Division III for the first time since 2014.