Hungary host the Division I Group A tournament, and hope to use the home ice advantage to get back to the top tournament. Meanwhile, Italy and Kazakhstan will try to redeem themselves after being relegated last year.
Note: Most information from the IIHF website.
World Ranking
16. Italy
17. Kazakhstan
19. Hungary
21. Great Britain
22. Japan
28. South Korea
Rosters
Great Britain
Goalies: Ben Bowns (Hull Stingrays), Stephen Murphy (Belfast Giants)
Defense: Luke Boothroyd (Manchester Phoenix), Steve Lee (Nottingham Panthers), Danny Meyers (Sheffield Steelers), David Phillips (Belfast Giants), Mark Richardson (Cardiff Devils), Mark Thomas (Sheffield Steelers), Jonathan Weaver (Nottingham Panthers)
Forwards: David Clarke (Nottingham Panthers), Benjamin Davies (Cardiff Devils), Robert Dowd (IF Troja-Ljungby), Robert Farmer (Braehead Clan), Phil Hill (Cardiff Devils), Robert Lachowicz (Nottingham Panthers), Matthew Myers (Nottingham Panthers), Aaron Nell (Swindon Wildcats), Greg Owen (Basingstoke Bison), Craig Peacock (Belfast Giants), Jonathan Phillips (Sheffield Steelers), Colin Shields (Belfast Giants), Ashley Tait (Sheffield Steelers)
Hungary
Goalies: Miklos Rajna (Sapa Fehervar), Levente Szuper (Vasas Budapest)
Defense: Balazs Goz (Miskolci JJSE), Andras Horvath (Sapa Fehervar), Tamas Pozsgai (Sapa Fehervar), Tamas Sille (Sapa Fehervar), Viktor Szelig (Briancon Diables Rouges), Bence Sziranyi (Miskolic JJSE), Viktor Tokaji (Sapa Fehevar)
Forwards: Istvan Bartalis (IF Troja Ljungby), Andras Benk (Sapa Fehervar), Janos Hari (MODO Ornskoldsvik), Csaba Kovacs (Sapa Fehervar), Balazs Ladanyi (HC Bolzano), Balint Magosi (Sapa Fehervar), Arpad Mihaly (Sapa Fehervar), Gergo Nagy (Miskolci JJSE), Krisztian Nagy (Miskolci JJSE), Ladislav Sikorcin (Sapa Fehervar), Istvan Sofron (Sapa Fehervar), Janos Vas (Dijon Ducs), Marton Vas (Sapa Fehervar)
Italy
Goalies: Andreas Bernard (Jukurit Mikkeli), Adam Dennis (HC Alleghe)
Defense: Andrea Ambrosi (HC Bolzano), Christian Borgatello (HC Bolzano), Alexander Egger (HC Bolzano), Armin Helfer (HC Val Pusteria), Armin Hofer (HC Val Pusteria), Trevor Johnson (HC Valpellice), Stefano Marchetti (HC Asiago), Daniel Sullivan (HC Asiago)
Forwards: Anton Bernard (HC Bolzano), David Borrelli (HC Asiago), Nathan Di Casmirro (HC Valpellice), Luca Felicetti (SG Cortina), Nicola Fontanive (HC Alleghe), Markus Gander (HC Bolzano), Pat Iannone (HC Val Pusteria), Marco Insam (HC Bolzano), Diego Kostner (HC Lugano), Vince Rocco (HC Alleghe), Giulio Scandella (IK Oskarshamn), Robert Sirianni (HC Valpellice)
Japan
Goalies: Yutaka Fukufuji (Nikko Ice Bucks), Michikazu Hata (Tohoku Free Blades)
Defense: Yosuke Haga (Oji Eagles), Ryo Hashimoto (Oji Eagles), Makoto Kawashima (Oji Eagles), Aaron Keller (Oji Eagles), Kazumasa Sasaki (Oji Eagles), Kotaro Yamada (Waseda University), Shinya Yanadori (Nippon Paper Cranes)
Forwards: Takuma Kawai (Tohoku Free Blades), Shuhel Kuji (Oji Eagles), Kohei Mitamura (Oji Eagles), Naoto Mizuuchi (Tohoku Free Blades), Yuto Osawa (Mora IK), Hiroshi Sato (Nippon Paper Cranes), Takahito Suzuki (Nikko Ice Bucks), Seiji Takahashi (Oji Eagles), Kenta Takagi (Nippon Paper Cranes), Go Tanaka (Tohoku Free Blades), Ryo Tanaka (Tohoku Free Blades), Hiroki Ueno (Nikko Ice Bucks), Takuro Yamashita (Tohoku Free Blades)
Kazakhstan
Goalies: Vitali Kolesnik (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl), Pavel Poluektov (Barys Astana)
Defense: Yevgeni Blokhin (Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk), Yevgeni Fadeyev (Barys Astana), Vladislav Kolesnikov (Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk), Andrei Korabeinikov (Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk), Vitali Novopashin (Barys Astana), Roman Savchenko (Barys Astana), Maxim Semyonov (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl), Alexei Troshinski (Barys Astana)
Forwards: Viktor Alexandrov (Barys Astana), Maxim Belyayev (Yugra Khanty-Mansisk), Vadim Krasnoslobodtsev (Barys Astana), Fyodor Polishuk (Barys Astana), Konstantin Pushkaryov (Barys Astana), Konstantin Romanov (Barys Astana), Konstantin Savenkov (Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk), Ilya Solarev (Barys Astana), Andrei Spiridonov (Barys Astana), Roman Starchenko (Barys Astana), Dmitri Upper (Barys Astana), Talgat Zhailauov (Barys Astana)
South Korea
Goalies: Hyunseung Eum (Anyang Halla), Sungje Park (Sangmu)
Defense: Donghwan Kim (Anyang Halla), Hyeok Kim (High1 Chuncheon), Wooyoung Kim (Anyang Halla), Yoonhwan Kim (Sangmu), Don Ku Lee (Anyang Halla), Seungyup Lee (Anyang Halla), Hyonho Oh (High1 Chuncheon), Kyungwon Yoon (Anyang Halla)
Forwards: Hyun Min Ahn (High1 Chuncheon), Min Ho Cho (Anyang Halla), Kisung Kim (Sangmu), Sang Wook Kim (Anyang Halla), Won Jung Kim (Sangmu), Tae An Kwon (High1 Chuncheon), Yongjun Lee (Sangmu), Woosang Park (Sangmu), Brock Radunske (Anyang Halla), Sanghoon Shin (Yonsei University), Sangwoo Sin (Anyang Halla), Jiman Yoon (Anyang Halla)
Schedule
April 14
Japan vs. Kazakhstan
South Korea vs. Italy
Great Britain vs. Hungary
April 15
Italy vs. Japan
Kazakhstan vs. Great Britain
Hungary vs. South Korea
April 17
South Korea vs. Japan
Italy vs. Great Britain
Kazakhstan vs. Hungary
April 19
Kazakhstan vs. South Korea
Japan vs. Great Britain
Hungary vs. Italy
April 20
Great Britain vs. South Korea
Italy vs. Kazakhstan
Hungary vs. Japan
Prediction
1 (Promoted) - Kazakhstan
2 (Promoted) - Hungary
3 - Italy
4 - Great Britain
5 - Japan
6 (Relegated) - South Korea
Kazakhstan looks too strong to stay down. I can see Hungary pull off an upset and boost themselves into a promotion spot, leaving Italy to stay down for another year. Great Britain looks a bit weaker than the team that went on their Olympic qualifying run, but I suspect they will be middle of the pack. Japan looks to good to end up in last place. South Korea will probably end up back in Group B after being recently promoted from there.
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