Press releases

The hosts of the tournament got into the game early by scoring on their first man advantage. The passing from Alexander Lukashenko helped Pavel Belyi put his team on the scoreboard. Less than a minute later Belarus extended the lead 2:0. Christoph Ballmer pulled one back on the 5^th minute. Midway through the opening period Belarus had two more goals through the efforts of Oleg Shafarenko and Vyacheslav Lisichkin.

Belarus sent home two more within a span of 27 seconds 10 minutes after the first break. Eight minutes later Pavel Belyi, assisted by Andrei Astashevich and Alexander Lukashenko, scored his second of the night.

More goals were scored in the closing stanza. One of the leading forwards of the Belarus President Team Andrei Astashevich increased the advantage of the hosts to 8:2. The guests were able to bridge the gap on the scoreboard having netted three more to make it 5:8. But on 52^nd minutes Pavel Belyi played successfully on the crease and completed his own hat trick 9:5. Switzerland scored two times more but did not manage to make it even. The final score was 7:9.

Alexander Lukashenko made four assists. The head of state’s penalty shot attempt was denied by keeper Martin Christen.

Pavel Belyi (Belarus) and Christian Schuster (Switzerland) were named the best players of the game.

The first day of the 12th Christmas Amateur Ice Hockey Tournament for the Prize of the President of the Republic of Belarus also featured other matches. In Group A, Slovakia routed the U.A.E. 14:3. In Group B, the Swedes defeated the Russians 8:1, and Finland took a win over Germany 7:3.

Group A standings after the first round are as follows: Slovakia is first with 2 points (1 match), Belarus – 2 (1), Switzerland – 0 (1), the U.A.E. – 0 (1). Sweden and Finland top Group B standings with 2 points (1 match) each, Germany has 0 (1), Russia – 0 (1).

The schedule for other preliminary round matches:

5 January

Sweden v Finland 13.00 (small arena)

Switzerland v U.A.E. 14.00 (big arena)

Germany v Russia 17.00 (small arena)

Belarus v Slovakia 19.00 (big arena).

6 January

Germany v Sweden. 14.00 (small arena)

Slovakia v Switzerland. 14.00 (big arena)

Russia v Finland. 19.00 (small arena)

U.A.E. v Belarus. 19.00 (big arena).

On 7 January the two second-placed teams will play in the bronze-medal match (13.00). The first-placed teams will advance to the gold-medal game (19.00). Both matches will take place at Chizhovka Arena.

The team of the President of Belarus is the eight-time winner of the Christmas international tournament (2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014). Team Russia is a three-time champion (2007, 2011 and 2015). In the final match of the last tournament Russia beat Belarus 2:0. In the bronze-medal match Finland defeated Slovakia 8:6.

The organizers of the event are the Ministry of Sport and Tourism, the Belarusian Ice Hockey Federation (BIHF), the Minsk City Hall and the President's Sports Club.