Australia wins silver at 2017 men's world champs
Ice Hockey Australia, 10 April 2017


Australia have claimed the silver medal from their 2017 World Championships campaign in Galati, Romania. Finishing the Division 2 Group A World Championships with a 3-0 win over Belgium, it was a nervous wait for Australia, who needed Spain, who had only recorded one win in the tournament, to beat the home side Romania.

But the relegated Spain couldn’t turn in a stunning upset and were defeated 6-0 to send Romania into Division 1 Group B for 2018. The Mighty Roos were clinical against Belgium with a goal in each period to secure the win. Cameron Todd scored his first two goals of the tournament while Chris Wong opened his World Championships goal scoring account. But the big story was Anthony Kimlin, turning away 30 shots to record a shutout and finish Australia’s tournament in style.

The Mighty Roos had a tremendous tournament with four wins and a loss after winning promotion from Division 2 Group B last season. Starting with a 4-3 overtime win over Serbia, Australia edged Iceland 3-2 and Spain 5-3 before falling to a 5-1 loss to Romania.

Romania, who had lost 2-0 against Iceland earlier in the tournament, left the door open for Australia and required a win of any kind in their final match to secure.


For Australia, Anthony Kimlin was key with four man of the match performances throughout the tournament as he finished with a 0.919% save percentage with 2.59 goal against average. He also registered the competition’s second shutout and faced the most shots in the tournament (160 shots with 147 saves). He claimed the award for Australia’s player of the tournament and was named the best goalkeeper of the tournament, the third time he has won the award since 2013.

Josef Rezek (5 goals, 1 assist) led the way with goals, while Lliam Webster (7 assists) topped the point scoring for Australia.

The result sees Australia remain in Division 2 Group A where they will renew pleasantries with Belgium, Iceland and Serbia, as well as the winner of the Division 2 Group B tournament, which looks like it will be the undefeated China after their match against Mexico later today, and the lowest ranked team in the Division 1 Group B tournament held between April 23-29. The location of the next event will be named later this year.