If you remember a time when Italy was a top-10 nation at the IIHF World Championship, you also remember when Pearl Jam and the Backstreet Boys were new bands. Italy peaked with a sixth-place finish on home ice in 1994 and last came 10th in 1998.
Last year, Italian fans were singing a happy song when their underdog team earned promotion back to the top division under new head coach Clayton Beddoes after a one-year hiatus. Yet since this nation has never finished higher than 12th since 2007, you have to question whether they’ll be partying to “Gloria” like St. Louis Blues fans or weeping to Albinoni’s Adagio in G Minor when this run in Slovakia ends.
Goal
Italy has the pleasure (or displeasure?) of facing last year’s finalists – Switzerland and two-time defending champion Sweden – in its first two games. Accordingly, the goalies will see a ton of rubber. There could be an interesting battle brewing for the starter’s job between two 28-year-olds.
Andreas Bernhard, a Finnish Liiga veteran who jumped to Adler Mannheim this season, should have the inside track as the most experienced IIHF-level netminder. However, Marco de Filippo Roia, who honed his skills with Brown University before becoming Cortina’s starter, posted a stellar 1.90 GAA and 92.4 save percentage in Division I Group A play last year. He got the call in the clinching 4-3 win over favored Slovenia, where both coaches pulled their goalies in the final minute in search of a critical point. That was the first Italian victory over the Slovenes in 27 years.
Defence
Even if you love the 1980’s, it may be a concern development-wise in 2019 when four of your defencemen were born in that decade.
Sean McMonagle, a 31-year-old product of Oakville, Ontario and Brown University, was the top point-getter among Italian D-men at last year’s Division I (1+2=3). He’s coming off a solid season with Norway’s Frisker AF (6+20=26 in 41 games). Veteran leader Armin Helfer (HC Pustertal), whose first elite Worlds was the 2000 tournament in St. Petersburg, is still expected to be a key contributor at age 37. Entering his second elite Worlds, Alex Trivellato (Krefeld Pinguine), 26, is a DEL veteran who works hard to keep the puck out of his net while taking very few penalties.
The effort will be there, but the quick legs and anticipation needed to keep up with the Russians, Czechs, and Swedes may not be.
Forward
The Italians scored six goals in seven games at each of their last three Worlds (2012, 2014, 2017). With this group of forwards, there is no compelling reason to believe that number will spike in Bratislava.
Ivan DeLuca (HC Bolzano), a 21-year-old left wing, hopes to build on his 2018 Division I campaign, where he led the team in scoring (1+5=6). At age 24, Giovanni Morini is coming off his best season for the Swiss NLA’s HC Lugano with 14 goals. At the other end of the spectrum is a late bloomer: naturalized Canadian forward Marco Rosa will make his Worlds debut at age 37 after playing the last two years with Asiago. Everyone will need to chip in for any hope of success.
Coaching
Head coach Clayton Beddoes has paid his dues to take on this assignment. The former NHLer, who played 60 games for the mid-1990’s Boston Bruins, spent 2015-16 and 2016-17 as an assistant coach with the Azzurri before taking the reins for last year’s march to promotion.
Beddoes, who now doubles as the coach of both the national team and HC Bolzano, has two capable assistants in ex-TPS Turku defenceman and coach Riku-Petteri Lehtonen and Robbie Tallas, a former teammate with Boston and the longtime goaltending coach of the Florida Panthers. The overall message here can be summed up: “Protect the house and pray for the best.”
Projected Results
This will be a struggle. No team among this year’s elite 16 has less chance of avoiding relegation except for Great Britain. The last two group games against Norway and Austria offer the best hope for Italy. When you’re 19th in the IIHF World Ranking, there truly are no easy games at the World Championship. For this group, “I stayed alive” would be a larger than life finish.