On January 15, the Belgian U20 selection will leave for Reykjavik for the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship U20 Division 2, Group B. After a few exhibition games against Sportoase Antwerp Phantoms (DIV1), Mechelen Golden Sharks (BeNeLeague) and Team Belgium U18, the team of Coaches Gil Paelinck and Sami Lipsonen seems ready.
“We had to be selective about the preparation,” says Gil Paelinck. “Free ice is scarce during the busy weekends of the league calendar, so we opted to play matches during training hours for clubs that were receptive to it. That went well. It's just a pity that we haven't really been able to train on power plays and penalty kills because that has proven to be important in the past. We are going to do that on the spot during the daily training, but the disadvantage is that this is open and exposed with your opponents in the stands to see on which plays you focus.”
The Belgians face-off in the Icelandic capital against China, Chinese Taipei (Taiwan), Mexico, Serbia and of course host country Iceland. “It is becoming a bit of a mystery when it comes to the opponents, especially against the Asian teams. We know almost nothing about China. And that's our first opponent. So that's kind of exciting. Taipei should certainly not be underestimated. The country has made a lot of progress in recent years. They are very fast skaters who can sometimes be surprising. Iceland is a team that is at our level, Mexico may be the weaker one in this group, but Serbia, on the other hand, is the strongest. Big, solid players that we had a hard time against in the past. Of course, we are going for gold, but at the same time we remain realistic,” says Paelinck. Sami Lipsonen agrees. “We are going for gold. We are ice hockey players, and we want to win after all. We leave on Sunday morning. We are excited."
Game Schedule of Team Belgium U20
16.01 – 16h30: BEL vs. CHN
17.01 – 20h00: BEL vs. ISL
18.01 – rest day
19.01 – BEL vs. MEX
20.01 – TPE vs. BEL
21.01 – rest day
22.01 – SRB vs. BEL