The 2024 IIHF Men’s World Championship program is in full swing these days and that includes Division I-B which starts today in Vilnius, Lithuania. One team is delighted to be here (Spain), one team not so much (Lithuania), and four teams are trying to improve over last year within the division (China, Estonia, Netherlands, Ukraine).
Lithuania isn’t so happy because they played in I-A last year. But after losing all five games they were demoted for 2024, and it is, of course, their ambition to move up again for 2025. And what better way to do it than before an adoring home crowd at Twinsbet Arena?
The last time they were in I-B was 2018, so they have to be the favourites this year. They scored only seven goals in the five games in 2024, three coming off the stick off 31-year-old Aivaras Bendzius. He’ll be playing in Vilnius and will be counted on to score even more at this lower level. Mantas Armalis was excellent in goal last year and he, too, is back. He plays with Leksands in the Swedish league and had a 3.29 GAA in I-A in 2023 despite an 0-3 record. The youngest player in the tournament is 17-year-old Simonas Valivonis, who plays with Liepaja, but it’s unclear how much ice time coach Ron Pasco will give him.
At the other end of the spectrum, Spain earned promotion to I-B by virtue of a 1st-place finish in II-A last year, a finish keyed by a 2-0 victory over Georgia in the battle for top spot. Goalie Raul Barbo earned the shutout and had a perfect 5-0 record, and the 20-year-old is back again this year at a more difficult level. The last time Spain played so high was back in 2011. Dorian Donath scored five goals last year, including the game winner against the Georgians, and he’ll be a key part of the team this year as well. He and captain Alejandro Carbonnell tied for the team lead in scoring with eight points, but it will be a very tough fight, indeed, if the Spanish want to remain in I-B a year longer.
What can you say about Ukraine? Their resilience just to participate in the IIHF program while war rages at home is unimaginable, yet there they were, finishing second last year to Japan and narrowly missing promotion. They played in the top Men’s World Championship pool for eight years, 1999-2007, and since then have been up and down between I-A and I-B, so this might be their year if they can find a way to beat Lithuania.
They had 35 goals in five games last year, and six players had at least ten points, notably captain Igor…
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