XVI Christmas Hockey Tournament starts in Minsk

3 января 2020
The Christmas Amateurs Ice Hockey Tournament for the prize of the President of Belarus started in Minsk two hours ago. The tournament will be held on 2 ice ranks of the Chizhovka Arena.

12 teams, which are divided into 4 groups, will compete for 5 days in 20 matches. 

The Ukrainian and Swiss teams of group C “Crusaders” were the first to compete in the 16th tournament. Ukraine won. The final score is 4-1.

Teams of the United Arab Emirates and China of group B are playing the 3rd period right now. The score is 14-3.    

Former Olympians, NHL players, winners of the world championships will perform at the XVI Christmas tournament. Traditionally strong are Russia, Finland and Germany. Group A is claimed to be the toughest. Belarus, the USA and the team of the International Hockey Federation got into it. 

The US team will take part for the first time in the tournament.

John Koufis, USA hockey team striker: "We know that the Golden Puck competition for children will be held in parallel with the tournament. And we will give a master class for these guys. There will also be a charity event called Christmas Tradition. New Year’s holidays and sports are great together."

The opening ceremony will take place at 17:30. Two matches are planned afterwards. Belarus will play against the team of the International Hockey Federation. The start is at 19:00. And Germany will compete with the Baltic national team at 19:30. Belarus 5. Internet will broadcast the matches live.