Belarus men's national junior ice hockey team


The Belarusian men's national under-20 ice hockey team is the national under-20 ice hockey team in Belarus. The team represents Belarus at the International Ice Hockey Federation's World Junior Hockey Championship. Prior to independence in 1991, Belarusian players played for the Soviet Union, which played in the World Juniors from its inception in 1974. Belarus has played in the top division eight times, first in 1999 and most recently in 2018, with their best finish being ninth overall in both 2001 and 2002. The most recent tournament, the 2019 tournament, had Belarus finished second in Division I, the second tier, and twelfth overall.

History

Belarus became an independent nation in 1991, and the team made their first appearance at the top level World Junior Hockey Championships in 1998, when Belarus won Pool B. The U20 team attracted some NHL scouts at the 1999 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Winnipeg, but the Belarusians never won a game and tied Kazakhstan in round-robin play. Belarus finished 10th and were relegated to Pool B for 2000, which was staged in Minsk, Belarus. The team easily returned to the top level by defeating Germany in the final. Belarus had little trouble adjusting to the 2001 World Junior Championships in Moscow, Russia, since players played all over Russia and former Soviet states like Latvia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine. Vitali Aristau, who was 15 years old at the 1999 tournament, was still not good enough to be the starting goaltender for the 2001 squad. The team had two more returnees from the 1999 squad – Konstantin Koltsov and Andrei Maroz. The Belarusians avoided relegation by winning and tying a game against the Kazakhs.
Belarus competed in the 2002 and 2003 World Junior Championships, until finally being relegated along with Germany under the new IIHF format. Belarus returned to the top division in 2005, where they upset the hosts USA 5–2 in round-robin play, but were relegated again with Germany. Belarus has mainly been in the second-tier Division I level since then, though have been promoted to the top division on occasion, most recently in 2018.

Roster

IIHF U20 World Championships roster

Roster for the 2018 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships:
Head coach: Yuri Faikov
No.Pos.NameHeightWeightBirthdateTeam
1GDmitri Rodik Belarus U20
3DAndrei Gostev Belarus U20
4DVladislav Sokolovsky Dinamo-Molodechno
5DDmitri Deryabin Dinamo Minsk
6DVladislav Martynyuk KRS Junior
7FViktor Bovbel Dinamo Minsk
8DVladislav Yeryomenko Calgary Hitmen
9FIlya Litvinov Yunost Minsk
10FVladislav Ryadchenko Belarus U20
11FAlexander Lukashevich Belarus U20
12FIgor Martynov Victoria Royals
13FArseni Astashevich Belarus U20
14FSergei Pischuk Belarus U20
16FDmitri Grinkevich Belarus U20
17FYegor Sharangovich Dinamo Minsk
18DDmitri Burovtsev Belarus U20
19FIvan Drozdov Yunost Minsk
20GAndrei Grischenko Belarus U20
21FVladislav Mikhalchuk Prince George Cougars
22DVladislav Gabrus Belarus U20
24FMaxim Sushko Owen Sound Attack
25GNikita Tolopilo Belarus U18
26FNazar Anisimov Belarus U20

Results