Belarus men's national ice hockey team

The Belarusian men's national ice hockey team (Belarusian: Зборная Беларусі па хакеі з шайбай; Russian: Сборная Беларуси по хоккею с шайбой) is the national ice hockey team that represented Belarus. The team is controlled by the Belarusian Ice Hockey Association. Belarus was ranked 14th in the world by the IIHF as of the 2021 World Ranking.

Belarus

Nickname(s)	Bisons (Зубры / Zubry)
Association	Belarusian Ice Hockey Association
Head coach	Craig Woodcroft
Assistants	Dmitri Karpikov Mikhail Kravets Vladimir Vorobiev
Captain	Yegor Sharangovich
Most games	Oleg Romanov (193)
Top scorer	Oleg Antonenko (52)
Most points	Alexei Kalyuzhny (125)
Team colors
IIHF code	BLR
Ranking
Current IIHF	14 (28 May 2023)^[1]
Highest IIHF	8 (2009)
Lowest IIHF	15 (2014)
First international
Ukraine  4–1  Belarus (Minsk, Belarus; 7 November 1992)
Biggest win
Belarus  21–1  Lithuania (Riga, Latvia; 30 August 1996)
Biggest defeat
Finland  11–2  Belarus (Mikkeli, Finland; 7 April 1997) Canada  11–2  Belarus (Lloydminster, Canada; 19 March 1998) Canada  9–0  Belarus (Prague, Czech Republic; 14 May 2015)
IIHF World Championships
Appearances	27 (first in 1994)
Best result	6th (2006)
Olympics
Appearances	3 (first in 1998)
International record (W–L–T)
249–237–25

The team achieved their best result at the Winter Olympics in the quarter-finals of the 2002 Winter Olympics where they beat Sweden and ultimately finished fourth. At the 2005 and 2006 World Championships their coach was Glen Hanlon, who brought their best-ever result in the IIHF World Championship – 6th place in 2006. He was succeeded by Curt Fraser, who led the team in 2007 and 2008. Hanlon returned to coach the team for the 2009 World Championships in Switzerland.

Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the International Ice Hockey Federation banned all Belarusian national and club teams from its events indefinitely, and Hockey Canada banned Belarus's "participation in events held in Canada that do not fall under the IIHF’s jurisdiction."^[2][3][4] In April 2022, the Federation banned Belarus from participating in the 2023 IIHF World Championship.^[5] Despite the ban, the team participated in the 2023 Channel One Cup, alongside Russia and Kazakhstan.^[6]

Tournament record

 

Finland vs. Belarus at the 2002 Winter Olympics.

 

Belarusian players in 2017.

Olympic Games

Games	GP	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	Place
1920–1988	Part of the   Soviet Union
1992	Part of the   Unified Team (EUN)
1994	Did not enter
Nagano 1998	4	0	0	0	4	5	19	7th
Salt Lake City 2002	6	1	0	0	5	13	39	4th
2006	Did not qualify
Vancouver 2010	4	1	0	1	2	10	15	9th
2014–2022	Did not qualify
2026	Banned

World Championship

Year	Location	Result
1993	Minsk,   Belarus	Qualifying round for the Group C (3rd in Group 2)
1994	Poprad / Spišská Nová Ves,   Slovakia	22nd place (2nd in Group C1)
1995	Sofia,   Bulgaria	21st place (1st in Group C1, promoted)
1996	Eindhoven,   Netherlands	15th place (3rd in Group B)
1997	Katowice / Sosnowiec,   Poland	13th place (1st in Group B, promoted)
1998	Zürich / Basel,    Switzerland	8th place
1999	Oslo / Lillehammer / Hamar,   Norway	9th place
2000	Saint Petersburg,   Russia	9th place
2001	Cologne / Hanover / Nuremberg,   Germany	14th place (relegated)
2002	Eindhoven,   Netherlands	17th place (1st in D1A, promoted)
2003	Helsinki / Tampere / Turku,   Finland	14th place (relegated)
2004	Oslo,   Norway	18th place (1st in D1A, promoted)
2005	Innsbruck / Vienna,   Austria	10th place
2006	Riga,   Latvia	6th place
2007	Moscow / Mytishchi,   Russia	11th place
2008	Quebec City / Halifax,   Canada	9th place
2009	Bern / Kloten,    Switzerland	8th place
2010	Cologne / Mannheim / Gelsenkirchen,   Germany	10th place
2011	Bratislava / Košice,   Slovakia	14th place
2012	Helsinki / Stockholm,   Finland /   Sweden	14th place
2013	Stockholm / Helsinki,   Sweden /   Finland	14th place
2014	Minsk,   Belarus	7th place
2015	Prague / Ostrava,   Czech Republic	7th place
2016	Moscow / Saint Petersburg,   Russia	12th place
2017	Cologne / Paris,   Germany /   France	13th place
2018	Copenhagen / Herning,   Denmark	15th place (relegated)
2019	Nur-Sultan,   Kazakhstan	17th place (1st in D1A, promoted)
2020	Zürich / Lausanne,    Switzerland	Cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic^[7]
2021	Riga,   Latvia	15th place
2022	Helsinki / Tampere,   Finland	Expelled due IIHF ban on the pretext of enabling of Russia's invasion of Ukraine^[8]
2023	Tampere / Riga,   Finland /   Latvia	Expelled due IIHF ban on the pretext of enabling of Russia's invasion of Ukraine^[9]

Team

Current roster

Roster for the 2021 IIHF World Championship.^[10]

Head coach: Mikhail Zakharov^[11]

No.	Pos.	Name	Height	Weight	Birthdate	Team
2	D	Ilya Solovyov	1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)	90 kg (200 lb)	(2000-07-20) 20 July 2000 (age 23)	Dinamo Minsk
7	D	Stepan Falkovsky	2.05 m (6 ft 9 in)	112 kg (247 lb)	(1996-12-18) 18 December 1996 (age 27)	Dinamo Minsk
8	D	Ilya Shinkevich	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	85 kg (187 lb)	(1989-09-01) 1 September 1989 (age 34)	Dinamo Minsk
9	F	Stanislav Lopachuk	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)	78 kg (172 lb)	(1992-02-16) 16 February 1992 (age 32)	Yunost Minsk
10	D	Nick Bailen	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)	81 kg (179 lb)	(1989-12-12) 12 December 1989 (age 34)	Traktor Chelyabinsk
12	F	Aliaksei Protas	1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)	97 kg (214 lb)	(2001-01-06) 6 January 2001 (age 23)	Hershey Bears
13	F	Mikhail Stefanovich	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)	95 kg (209 lb)	(1989-11-27) 27 November 1989 (age 34)	Donbass Donetsk
14	D	Yevgeni Lisovets	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)	86 kg (190 lb)	(1994-11-12) 12 November 1994 (age 29)	Salavat Yulaev Ufa
15	F	Artem Demkov	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)	80 kg (180 lb)	(1989-09-26) 26 September 1989 (age 34)	Dinamo Minsk
16	F	Geoff Platt – A	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)	80 kg (180 lb)	(1985-07-10) 10 July 1985 (age 38)	Salavat Yulaev Ufa
17	F	Yegor Sharangovich – C	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)	92 kg (203 lb)	(1998-06-06) 6 June 1998 (age 25)	Calgary Flames
18	D	Kristian Khenkel – A	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)	88 kg (194 lb)	(1995-11-07) 7 November 1995 (age 28)	Ak Bars Kazan
19	F	Nikita Komarov	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	92 kg (203 lb)	(1988-06-28) 28 June 1988 (age 35)	Avangard Omsk
21	F	Vladislav Kodola	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)	80 kg (180 lb)	(1996-10-30) 30 October 1996 (age 27)	Severstal Cherepovets
22	F	Francis Paré	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)	86 kg (190 lb)	(1987-06-30) 30 June 1987 (age 36)	Dinamo Minsk
30	G	Konstantin Shostak	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)	81 kg (179 lb)	(2000-03-28) 28 March 2000 (age 24)	Severstal Cherepovets
31	G	Danny Taylor	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)	85 kg (187 lb)	(1986-04-28) 28 April 1986 (age 37)	Dinamo Minsk
40	G	Alexei Kolosov	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)	85 kg (187 lb)	(2002-01-04) 4 January 2002 (age 22)	Dinamo Minsk
73	D	Dmitri Znakharenko	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)	91 kg (201 lb)	(1993-08-04) 4 August 1993 (age 30)	Dinamo Minsk
74	F	Sergei Kostitsyn	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)	88 kg (194 lb)	(1987-03-20) 20 March 1987 (age 37)	Bratislava Capitals
81	F	Sergei Drozd	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)	79 kg (174 lb)	(1990-04-14) 14 April 1990 (age 33)	Yunost Minsk
85	D	Andrei Antonov	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)	85 kg (187 lb)	(1985-04-27) 27 April 1985 (age 38)	Yunost Minsk
88	F	German Nesterov	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)	95 kg (209 lb)	(1991-08-31) 31 August 1991 (age 32)	HK Gomel
89	D	Dmitry Korobov	1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)	108 kg (238 lb)	(1989-03-12) 12 March 1989 (age 35)	Salavat Yulaev Ufa
90	F	Danila Klimovich	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)	85 kg (187 lb)	(2003-01-09) 9 January 2003 (age 21)	Minskie Zubry
92	F	Shane Prince	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)	85 kg (187 lb)	(1992-11-16) 16 November 1992 (age 31)	Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg
93	F	Andrei Belevich	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)	95 kg (209 lb)	(1997-08-27) 27 August 1997 (age 26)	Dinamo Minsk
94	D	Vladislav Yeryomenko	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)	90 kg (200 lb)	(1999-04-23) 23 April 1999 (age 24)	Dinamo Minsk

Retired numbers

• 24 – Ruslan Salei

All-time record

As of 7 May 2023.^[12]

Opponent	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	GF	GA	GD
Austria	22	16	1	5	83	49	+34
Belgium	1	1	0	0	10	0	+10
Bulgaria	1	1	0	0	13	1	+12
Canada	19	1	1	17	27	111	-84
Croatia	3	3	0	0	20	3	+17
Czech Republic	17	1	0	16	21	72	−51
Denmark	29	14	2	13	90	72	+18
Estonia	3	3	0	0	31	4	+27
Finland	18	2	0	16	25	71	−46
France	32	22	1	9	101	59	+42
Germany	29	16	2	11	80	73	+7
Great Britain	6	4	0	2	32	17	+15
Hungary	15	13	1	1	75	27	+48
Italy	6	5	0	1	22	10	+12
Japan	7	5	1	1	27	14	+13
Kazakhstan	20	15	1	4	72	41	+31
Latvia	40	18	3	19	99	106	-7
Lithuania	4	4	0	0	35	7	+28
Netherlands	4	4	0	0	35	10	+25
Norway	39	23	4	12	114	91	+23
Poland	17	13	0	4	77	38	+39
Romania	1	1	0	0	5	3	+2
Russia	23	3	1	19	42	90	−48
Slovakia	37	12	1	24	72	107	-35
Slovenia	24	17	0	7	83	60	+23
South Korea	3	2	0	1	19	10	+9
Sweden	17	2	0	15	28	63	−35
Switzerland	40	13	1	26	77	119	-42
Ukraine	25	14	5	6	90	49	+41
United States	9	1	0	8	18	42	−24
Total	511	249	25	237	1 524	1 422	+102

Uniform evolution

• National team jerseys
•  
  From 1993 to 1995, the Reebok-made jersey featured the Pahonia coat of arms^[13]
•  
  IIHF jerseys 1998–2000
•  
  former IIHF jerseys
•  
  2014–2017 IIHF jerseys
•  
  2017–2021 IIHF jerseys
•  
  2021– IIHF jerseys

References

1. "IIHF Men's World Ranking". IIHF. 28 May 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
2. "IIHF suspends Russia and Belarus from international play amid Ukraine invasion - Sportsnet.ca". sportsnet.ca.
3. "Ice Hockey Federation bans Russia and Belarus from all competition, strips Russia of 2023 World Juniors". infobae.
4. "Russia, Belarus Suspended From International Soccer, Hockey Over Ukraine Attacks". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty.
5. "Russia and Belarus barred from 2023 IIHF World Championship". insidethegames.biz. 28 May 2022.
6. (in Russian). Archived from the original on 11 December 2022.
7. Steiss, Adam. "2020 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship cancelled". IIHF. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
8. "IIHF Council takes definitive action over Russia, Belarus". IIHF. 1 March 2022. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
9. "IIHF Council takes definitive action over Russia, Belarus". IIHF. 1 March 2022. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
10. "Хоккеисты сборной Беларуси определились с игровыми номерами" (in Russian). hockey.by. 18 May 2021.
11. "Team Roster Belarus" (PDF). IIHF. 21 May 2021.
12. "Ice Hockey in Belarus". National Teams of Ice Hockey. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
13. Масловский, Андрей (13 February 2020). "У сборной Беларуси по хоккею была шикарная форма с «Погоней»: дизайн придумал Бережков, благодаря Захарову есть фото (его сразу послали Лукашенко)" [The Belarus hockey team had a stylish jersey with the Pahonia: Berezhkou created the design and there's a picture thanks to Zakharau]. by.tribuna.com (in Russian). Retrieved 2 July 2023.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Belarus men's national ice hockey team.

• Official website  
• IIHF profile