“Only first place was an option for us going into this tournament,” said Ukraine´s defenceman Mykola Kosarev. “Our U18 national team play in Division I Group A and so does our men´s national team. We wanted to step up to the same level.”
Ukraine´s trajectory is on the up again following twelve consecutive appearances at U20 Division IB level and recent heartbreaks from falling at the final hurdle for promotion in 2023 and 2024. A 17th overall finish in World Championship play marks the highest-placed finish for the Ukrainian U20 team since 2007. 15 members of the gold medal-winning roster will be eligible for play in next year´s Division IA.
In Tallinn´s Tondiraba Ice Arena, Ukraine got a comfortable start when outshining the Estonian hosts 8-1. A 3-0 blanking versus neighbours Poland followed before a tougher nut to crack came when Italy was edged 6-5. Five different scorers then tallied as Andri Sryubko´s coached team rolled on to a 5-2 victory versus newly promoted Korea on day four.
In the final game versus Japan, Ukraine needed one point to win gold. With Ukraine piling on the pressure, Olexi Yevtiekhov potted Ukraine´s opener midway through the first frame. With 16-6 in shots favouring the Ukrainians during the first period, imposing forechecking paid off as Marko Mironov doubled their lead at 12:49 scoring from a Nikita Kulikov feed.
“I feel we have a better skill level and are a more offensive team than the previous two years,” said Japan´s Kaito Okubo skating in his third World U20 Championship. “We know Ukraine is bigger and physical, but we are a faster team. We need to keep moving our feet, dump the puck deep, keep producing offensively while having a great defensive game,” said Okubo as Japan needed a regulation-time win to leapfrog Ukraine for the top spot.
In the early stages of the middle frame, Japan´s game plan briefly worked a treat as Ukraine hardly got a sniff of the puck. Then in a whim, Nippon fell apart in just 88 seconds. Mykhailo Haponenko, returning after serving a one-game suspension, stole the puck from Japan´s Sora Mori, raced clear on a breakaway and cooly dispatched Ukraine´s third past netminder…
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