Belarus men's national ice hockey team

Belarus
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)Bisons (Зубры / Zubry)
AssociationBelarusian Ice Hockey Association
Head coachCraig Woodcroft
AssistantsDmitri Karpikov
Mikhail Kravets
Vladimir Vorobiev
CaptainYegor Sharangovich
Most gamesOleg Romanov (193)
Top scorerOleg Antonenko (52)
Most pointsAlexei Kalyuzhny (125)
Team colors   
IIHF codeBLR
Ranking
Current IIHF16 Decrease 2 (27 May 2024)[1]
Highest IIHF8 (2009)
Lowest IIHF16 (2024)
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
Appearances27 (first in 1994)
Best result6th (2006)
Olympics
Appearances3 (first in 1998)
International record (W–L–T)
249–237–25

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.

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]

  1. ^ "IIHF Men's World Ranking". IIHF. 27 May 2024. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  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. ^ "Официальный сайт Кубка Первого канала по хоккею 2022" (in Russian). Archived from the original on 11 December 2022.