2017 IIHF World Championship
Division III
Tournament details
Host country Bulgaria
Venue(s)1 (in 1 host city)
Dates10–16 April
Teams7
Tournament statistics
Games played15
Goals scored161 (10.73 per game)
Attendance4,800 (320 per game)
Scoring leader(s)Georgia (country) Artem Kozyulin (25 points)
WebsiteIIHF.com
← 2016
2018 →

The 2017 IIHF World Championship Division III was an international ice hockey tournament run by the International Ice Hockey Federation. It was contested in Sofia, Bulgaria from 10 to 16 April 2017.[1] Seven teams participated in the tournament, divided into two groups. Bosnia and Herzegovina was originally scheduled to participate, but withdrew before the tournament began; all their games were recorded as 5–0 forfeits for the opposing team.[2] Luxembourg won the tournament, defeating Bulgaria 10–4 in the final, and played in Division IIB in 2018.[3] Chinese Taipei debuted in Division III and, apart from defeating Bosnia and Herzegovina in a forfeit, recorded their first official win, beating the UAE 4–0 in the 5th place playoff.[4]

Venues

Division III
Sofia
Winter Sports Palace
Capacity: 4,600

The Bulgarian bid was the only contender for the 2017 IIHF World Championship Division III competition.[1] It will mark the first time that this competition has been held in Bulgaria. In September 2016 the format of the division was realigned into one tournament with two preliminary divisions.

Participants

Team Qualification
 Bulgaria Host, placed 6th in Division II B last year and were relegated.
 South Africa Placed 2nd in Division III last year.
 Luxembourg Placed 3rd in Division III last year.
 Bosnia and Herzegovina Placed 4th in Division III last year. (withdrew from tournament)
 Hong Kong Placed 5th in Division III last year.
 Georgia Placed 6th in Division III last year.
 United Arab Emirates Withdrew from tournament last year. Last played in 2015.
 Chinese Taipei First time participating in tournament.

Match officials

5 referees and 9 linesmen were selected for the tournament.[5]

Preliminary round

All times are local (UTC+3).

Group A

Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Bulgaria (H) 3 3 0 0 0 18 3 +15 9 Semifinals
2  Hong Kong 3 2 0 0 1 13 12 +1 6
3  Chinese Taipei 3 1 0 0 2 7 8 −1 3
4  Bosnia and Herzegovina[a] 3 0 0 0 3 0 15 −15 0 Withdrawn
Source: IIHF.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament.
(H) Host
Notes:
  1. ^ Bosnia withdrew before the tournament and all games were forfeited and counted as a 5–0 win for the opposing team.[2]
10 April 2017
20:00		Bulgaria 3–0
(0–0, 2–0, 1–0)		 Chinese TaipeiWinter Sports Palace, Sofia
Attendance: 950
Game reference
Dimitar DimitrovGoaliesLiao Yu-cheng
Huang Sheng-chun		Referee:
Slovenia Miha Bajt
Linesmen:
Turkey Ferhat Aygün
Poland Wiktor Zień
Dikov (Gatchev) – 21:511–0
M. Vasilev (Muhachev, Boyadjiev) (PP) – 38:552–0
Dikov (Iskrenov) – 54:423–0
28 minPenalties18 min
55Shots7
11 April 2017
20:00		Hong Kong 3–10
(2–4, 1–2, 0–4)		 BulgariaWinter Sports Palace, Sofia
Attendance: 800
Game reference
King Ho
Cheung Ching-ho		GoaliesDimitar DimitrovReferee:
South Korea Kim No-su
Linesmen:
Israel Gil Tichon
Poland Wiktor Zień
Au-yeung (Tang) – 02:011–0
Au-Yeung (Yeung) (PP) – 08:552–0
2–109:20 – Iskrenov (Dikov, V. Vasilev)
2–211:14 – M. Nikolov (Hodulov, Boyadjiev) (PP)
2–316:13 – Dilkov (V. Vasilev (PP)
2–419:08 – Iskrenov (Gatchev, Dikov)
Lau (Sham, Tai) – 26:393–4
3–536:05 – Muhachev (Yotov, M. Vasilev)
3–639:29 – Dilkov (Gatchev)
3–742:44 – Yotov (Dikov, M. Vasilev)
3–847:34 – Muhachev (Yotov, M. Vasilev)
3–953:28 – Iskrenov (Mladenov, Dikov)
3–1058:13 – Iskrenov (Dikov) (SH)
10 minPenalties18 min
13Shots84
13 April 2017
16:30		Chinese Taipei 2–5
(0–3, 1–1, 1–1)		 Hong KongWinter Sports Palace, Sofia
Attendance: 50
Game reference
Liao Yu-cheng
Huang Sheng-chun		GoaliesKing HoReferee:
Turkey Cemal Kaya
Linesmen:
Ukraine Illya Khokhlov
Belarus Aleh Kliashcheunikau
0–106:13 – Au-yeung (PP)
0–213:34 – Kan S. (Chau)
0–313:59 – Ngan (Chau)
Yang Hsiao-h. (Chang T., Wei Yu-k.) (PP) – 27:501–3
1–431:38 – Kan S. (Leung)
Lin (Pai, Tseng) – 45:032–4
2–558:54 – Chau (SH, ENG)
16 minPenalties12 min
31Shots23

Group B

Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Luxembourg 3 3 0 0 0 26 5 +21 9 Semifinals
2  Georgia 3 2 0 0 1 29 11 +18 6
3  South Africa 3 1 0 0 2 14 9 +5 3
4  United Arab Emirates 3 0 0 0 3 0 44 −44 0
Source: IIHF.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament.
10 April 2017
13:00		Luxembourg 17–0
(4–0, 6–0, 7–0)		 United Arab EmiratesWinter Sports Palace, Sofia
Attendance: 50
Game reference
Philippe LepageGoaliesKhaled Al SuwaidiReferee:
Poland Michał Baca
Linesmen:
Belarus Aleh Kliashcheunikau
Austria Jakob Schauer
Welter (Wambach, K. Linster) – 01:151–0
Mosr (Houdremont) – 04:072–0
K. Linster (Welter, T. Beran) (SH) – 07:013–0
Eriksson (R. Beran) – 11:004–0
R. Beran (Eriksson, Cannon) – 20:245–0
Wambach (Mosr) – 21:036–0
Cannon (R. Beran) – 22:487–0
R. Beran (Cannon) – 32:568–0
Cannon (Houdremont, Mosr) – 33:279–0
Houdremont (K.Linster) – 37:3110–0
Cannon (R. Beran) – 40:1511–0
Welter (T. Beran) (SH) – 44:4112–0
Cannon (Eriksson, R. Beran) (PP) – 47:0813–0
Linster (Houdremont) (PP) – 50:0014–0
Cannon (Schons, Mossong) – 53:5515–0
Welter (R. Beran) – 54:0616–0
B. Linster (Mossong) – 59:2017–0
12 minPenalties12 min
52Shots8
10 April 2017
16:30		South Africa 5–6
(1–1, 1–2, 3–3)		 GeorgiaWinter Sports Palace, Sofia
Attendance: 100
Game reference
Charl PretoriusGoaliesAndrei IlienkoReferee:
Russia Ivan Fateev
Linesmen:
Italy Christian Cristeli
Israel Gil Tichon
0–104:12 – Dumbadze (Kozyulin)
Magmoed (Husselman) (PP) – 05:441–1
Valadas – 28:352–1
2–233:57 – Dumbadze (Filimonov, Shalunov)
2–336:06 – Shalunov (Kurbatov, Dumbadze) (PP)
2–442:50 – Kurbatov (Jeiranashvili)
2–547:43 – Filimonov (Kurbatov) (PP)
Samaai (Gonsalves) (PP) – 48:353–5
3–651:52 – Kurbatov (Dumbadze, Kozyulin) (PP)
Marais) – 52:094–6
Giot (Marais) – 55:085–6
46 minPenalties48 min
34Shots19
11 April 2017
13:00		Luxembourg 6–4
(1–1, 3–1, 2–2)		 GeorgiaWinter Sports Palace, Sofia
Attendance: 50
Game reference
Philippe LepageGoaliesAndrei IlienkoReferee:
Turkey Cemal Kaya
Linesmen:
Ukraine Illya Khohlov
Bulgaria Luchezar Stoyanov
Schons (Cannon, R. Beran) (PP) – 13:291–0
1–119:40 – Kozyulin (Kurbatov) (PP)
Eriksson (R. Beran, Cannon) – 20:312–1
R. Beran (Cannon) (PP) – 25:253–1
Cannon (R. Beran, Eriksson) – 36:394–1
4–237:35 – Shvetsov (PS)
4–342:07 – Shvetsov (Kozyulin)
Welter (R. Beran) (PP) – 57:105–3
5–458:13 – Filimonov (Kurbatov, Shvetsov) (EA)
Eriksson (ENG) – 59:096–4
22 minPenalties48 min
40Shots25
11 April 2017
16:30		United Arab Emirates 0–8
(0–1, 0–4, 0–3)		 South AfricaWinter Sports Palace, Sofia
Attendance: 50
Game reference
Ahmed Al-DhaheriGoaliesGary BockReferee:
Poland Michał Baca
Linesmen:
Turkey Ferhat Aygün
Germany Jonas Merten
0–104:05 – Botha (Bremner)
0–226:43 – Compton (Valadas)
0–332:48 – Van Doesburgh (Samaai, De Jager)
0–433:14 – Samaai (Birrell) (PP)
0–538:08 – Magmoed (Birell, Botha) (PP)
0–649:05 – De Jager (Edwards, Husselman)
0–754:29 – Van Doesburgh (Botha) (SH)
0–858:28 – Gonsalves (SH)
14 minPenalties30 min
12Shots33
13 April 2017
13:00		Georgia 19–0
(9–0, 2–0, 8–0)		 United Arab EmiratesWinter Sports Palace, Sofia
Attendance: 300
Game reference
Andrei IlienkoGoaliesKhaled Al-SuwaidiReferee:
Slovenia Miha Bajt
Linesmen:
Germany Jonas Merten
Austria Jakob Schauer
Shvetsov (Kozyulin, Dumbadze) (PP) – 04:131–0
Shvetsov (Filimonov) – 04:312–0
Shalunov (Oganeziani, Kurbatov) – 07:503–0
Oganeziani (Shvetsov) – 08:584–0
Kozyulin (Shvetsov, Filimonov) – 11:395–0
Filimonov (Shvetsov, Kurbatov) – 13:296–0
Kozyulin – 13:397–0
Kozyulin (Jeiranashvili) – 15:098–0
Shalunov (Kozyulin) – 18:259–0
Kurbatov (Shvetsov) (PP) – 20:3610–0
Dumbadze (Shalunov) – 37:5811–0
Kozyulin (Shalunov) (SH) – 49:0812–0
Dumbadze (Kurbatov, Kozyulin) – 49:3813–0
Kozyulin (Kurbatov, Dumbadze) – 51:2414–0
Kurbatov (Shvetsov) – 52:5715–0
Kozyulin (SH) – 54:5316–0
Kozyulin (Dumbadze) – 57:4017–0
Kozyulin (Filimonov) – 59:0718–0
Kurbatov (Dumbadze) – 59:4119–0
30 minPenalties10 min
63Shots14
13 April 2017
20:00		South Africa 1–3
(0–1, 0–0, 1–2)		 LuxembourgWinter Sports Palace, Sofia
Attendance: 250
Game reference
Charl PretoriusGoaliesGilles MangenReferee:
South Korea Kim No-su
Linesmen:
Italy Christian Cristeli
Bulgaria Luchezar Stoyanov
0–107:04 – Minden (Holtzem)
Valadas (Birrell) – 50:541–1
1–256:46 – R. Beran (Cannon, Eriksson)
1–359:11 – Houdremont (Holtzem) (ENG)
8 minPenalties18 min
36Shots14

Knockout stage

Bracket

 
SemifinalsFinal
 
      
 
15 April
 
 
 Luxembourg8
 
16 April
 
 Hong Kong1
 
 Luxembourg10
 
15 April
 
 Bulgaria4
 
 Bulgaria9
 
 
 Georgia3
 
Third place
 
 
16 April
 
 
 Hong Kong3
 
 
 Georgia14
5th place bracket
 
5th–7th place semifinalsFifth place
 
      
 
 
 
 
16 April
 
 
 South Africa7
 
15 April
 
 Chinese Taipei3
 
 Chinese Taipei4
 
 
 United Arab Emirates0
 

5th–7th place semifinal

15 April 2017
13:00		Chinese Taipei 4–0
(3–0, 0–0, 1–0)		 United Arab EmiratesWinter Sports Palace, Sofia
Attendance: 50
Game reference
Liao Yu-chengGoaliesAhmed Al-DhaheriReferee:
Turkey Cemal Kaya
Linesmen:
Turkey Ferhat Aygün
Bulgaria Luchezar Stoyanov
Tseng (Tang Y., Chang Ha.) (PP) – 06:431–0
Lin (Shen, Tseng) (PP) – 10:252–0
Wei Yu-k. (Yang Hsiao-h.) – 12:323–0
Shen (Wei Yu-k.) – 46:174–0
14 minPenalties8 min
40Shots28

Semifinals

15 April 2017
16:30		Luxembourg 8–1
(3–0, 2–1, 3–0)		 Hong KongWinter Sports Palace, Sofia
Attendance: 250
Game reference
Philippe LepageGoaliesKing Ho
Cheung Ching-ho		Referee:
Russia Ivan Fateyev
Linesmen:
Ukraine Illya Khokhlov
Israel Gil Tichon
K. Linster (R. Beran) – 02:501–0
Cannon (R. Beran) – 17:412–0
Cannon (B. Linster) – 19:593–0
3–120:11 – Au-yeung (Tang, Wong)
Minden (T. Beran, Welter) – 28:194–1
Cannon – 29:345–1
R. Beran – 48:516–1
Wambach – 57:207–1
Mosr (Houdremont, Thill) – 58:078–1
2 minPenalties2 min
52Shots13
15 April 2017
20:00		Bulgaria 9–3
(4–0, 2–1, 3–2)		 GeorgiaWinter Sports Palace, Sofia
Attendance: 750
Game reference
Dimitar DimitrovGoaliesAndrei IlienkoReferee:
Poland Michał Baca
Linesmen:
Germany Jonas Merten
Poland Wiktor Zień
Iskrenov (Hodulov) – 07:591–0
M. Vasilev (Yotov) (PP2) – 11:232–0
Nikolov (Hodulov) – 15:193–0
Cvetanov (M. Vasilev, Yotov) – 17:294–0
4–124:10 – Kozyulin (Shvetsov) (PP2)
Muhachev (Dikov, Boyadjiev) (SH) – 26:385–1
T. Georgiev (Muhachev, Yotov) – 37:156–1
6–242:32 – Shvetsov (Kurbatov, Kozyulin)
Cvetanov (Yotov, Hodulov) – 44:127–2
Iskrenov (Hodulov, Boyadjiev) – 50:168–2
Cvetanov (Gyurov, Yotov) (PP2) – 52:369–2
9–355:30 – Shvetsov (Kurbatov)
12 minPenalties40 min
64Shots37

Fifth place game

16 April 2017
12:30		South Africa 7–3
(3–2, 3–0, 1–1)		 Chinese TaipeiWinter Sports Palace, Sofia
Attendance: 150
Game reference
Gary Bock
Charl Pretorius		GoaliesLiao Yu-cheng
Huang Sheng-chun		Referee:
South Korea Kim No-su
Linesmen:
Austria Jakob Schauer
Bulgaria Luchezar Stoyanov
Willemstijn (Van Doesburgh) – 01:051–0
Husselman (Birrell, Gordon) – 05:532–0
2–106:54 – Wei Yu-c.
Giot (Edwards) (PP) – 18:113–1
3–219:56 – Shen (Yang Hsiao-h., Wei Yu-k.)
Husselman (Giot) – 25:564–2
Edwards (Gordon, Husselman) – 31:565–2
Botha (Van Doesburgh) – 39:566–2
6–343:29 – Tang Y. (Pai) (PP)
Samaai (Edwards, Gordon) – 48:227–3
18 minPenalties8 min
42Shots15

Third place game

16 April 2017
16:00		Hong Kong 3–14
(1–6, 1–3, 1–5)		 GeorgiaWinter Sports Palace, Sofia
Attendance: 50
Game reference
King Ho
Cheung Ching-ho		GoaliesAndrei Ilienko
Kakha Ambrolava		Referee:
Slovenia Miha Bajt
Linesmen:
Italy Christian Cristeli
Poland Wiktor Zień
0–106:13 – Dumbadze (Kozyulin)
0–207:51 – Kozyulin (Dumbadze, Geperidze)
Sham (Tang, Au-yeung) – 08:111–2
1–310:26 – Kurbatov (Dumbadze, Filimonov) (PP)
1–415:12 – Shvetsov (Filimonov, Kozyulin) (PP)
1–518:45 – Kozyulin
1–619:40 – Shvetsov (Oganeziani, Filimonov)
Tang (Au-yeung, Sham) (PP) – 25:562–6
2–728:28 – Shvetsov (Kurbatov, Filimonov)
2–831:08 – Dumbadze (Kozyulin)
2–932:09 – Oganeziani (Kurbatov, Shvetsov)
2–1042:09 – Shvetsov (Filimonov)
2–1145:44 – Shvetsov (Kozyulin, Kurbatov) (PP)
2–1248:45 – Kozyulin (Kurbatov, Dumbadze)
2–1350:47 – Jeiranashvili (Shalunov)
Tang – 53:383–13
3–1456:41 – Oganeziani (Kozyulin, Shvetsov) (PP)
10 minPenalties6 min
24Shots43

Final

16 April 2017
19:30		Luxembourg 10–4
(3–3, 4–1, 3–0)		 BulgariaWinter Sports Palace, Sofia
Attendance: 950
Game reference
Philippe LepageGoaliesDimitar Dimitrov
Nikola Nikolov		Referee:
Russia Ivan Fateyev
Linesmen:
Belarus Aleh Kliashcheunikau
Germany Jonas Merten
0–102:15 – M. Vasilev (Muhachev, Yotov)
T. Beran (Welter) – 04:361–1
1–209:17 –Yotov (Gyurov, Muhachev) (PP)
1–315:15 – Iskrenov (Hodulov)
Welter (Mosr) – 15:472–3
Schons (Scheier, R. Beran) – 18:493–3
K. Linster (Eriksson) (PP) – 22:484–3
4–429:39 – Yotov (Muhachev) (SH)
Welter (T. Beran) – 31:345–4
Mosr – 37:566–4
Cannon (R. Beran) (PP2) – 39:537–4
Mosr (Schons) (PP2) – 51:068–4
T. Beran (Holtzem) – 52:509–4
R. Beran (ENG) – 56:3410–4
12 minPenalties34 min
31Shots61

Final ranking

Promoted to 2018 IIHF Division II B
Relegation to 2018 IIHF Division III Qualification
Rank Team
1  Luxembourg (P)
2  Bulgaria (H)
3  Georgia
4  Hong Kong
5  South Africa
6  Chinese Taipei
7  United Arab Emirates (R)

(H) Host; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated.
Source: IIHF.com

Awards and statistics

Awards

Source: IIHF.com

Scoring leaders

Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM POS
Georgia (country) Artem Kozyulin 5 13 12 25 +13 6 F
Georgia (country) Ivan Shvetsov 5 11 9 20 +9 2 F
Georgia (country) Artem Kurbatov 5 6 14 20 +16 8 D
Luxembourg Robert Beran 5 6 13 19 +14 8 F
Luxembourg Colm Cannon 5 11 6 17 +14 6 F
Georgia (country) Vitali Dumbadze 5 6 9 15 +13 26 F
Georgia (country) Grigory Filimonov 5 3 9 12 +6 8 F
Bulgaria Alexei Yotov 4 3 8 11 +5 0 F
Luxembourg Benny Welter 5 6 3 9 +15 0 F
Bulgaria Stanislav Muhachev 4 3 6 9 +4 2 F

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalties in minutes; POS = Position
Source: IIHF.com

Goaltending leaders

Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage, who have played at least 40% of their team's minutes, are included in this list.

Player TOI GA GAA SA Sv% SO
Luxembourg Philippe Lepage 240:00 9 2.25 107 91.59 1
Chinese Taipei Liao Yu-cheng 169:59 9 3.18 103 91.26 1
Georgia (country) Andrei Ilienko 287:28 21 4.38 169 87.57 1
Hong Kong King Ho 168:16 23 8.20 150 84.67 0
United Arab Emirates Ahmed Al-Dhaheri 120:00 12 6.00 73 83.56 0

TOI = Time on ice (minutes:seconds); SA = Shots against; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; Sv% = Save percentage; SO = Shutouts
Source: IIHF.com

References

  1. ^ a b "2017 Events". IIHF.com. 23 May 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-06-05. Retrieved 2016-05-24.
  2. ^ a b "Bosnia withdraws". IIHF.com. 7 April 2017. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  3. ^ Tchechankov, Ivan (2017-04-17). "First gold for Luxembourg". IIHF.com. Retrieved 2017-05-07.
  4. ^ 2017 IIHF ICE HOCKEY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Division III
  5. ^ IIHF (2017). "Competition Officials" (PDF). IIHF.com. Retrieved 2017-04-16.
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