Oleg Shafarenko on Ukrainian National Hockey Team’s Division 1A Roster
Oleg Shafarenko, assistant coach of the Ukrainian national hockey team, shared his thoughts on the Division 1A roster, where the team will compete next year.
Recently, it was announced that Poland and Great Britain were relegated from the elite division to the second division. «It was expected, we were anticipating these opponents [Poland and Great Britain]. We were 95% sure of it,» Shafarenko said.
He also mentioned the opponents the team wanted to avoid at the 2025 World Championship. «Kazakhstan is at the same level as Poland and Great Britain. However, we did not want to play against Norway and Denmark, as these teams are currently better prepared than us.»
«It would have been very difficult for us to compete with the Scandinavian countries,» Shafarenko added.
In Division 1A, Ukraine will face Great Britain, Poland, Japan, Romania, and Italy.
