# 2017 IIHF World Championship Division II

The 2017 IIHF World Championship Division II was an international ice hockey tournament run by the Zurich, Switzerland-based International Ice Hockey Federation. Group A was contested in Galati, Romania from 3 to 9 April 2017 and Group B in Auckland, New Zealand from 4 to 10 April 2017.

## Bids

There were three official bids to host Group A Championships.
* Iceland
** Reykjavík
       Iceland had previously hosted these championships in 2015, in Reykjavík.
* Romania
** Galați
       Romania had previously hosted these championships twice, the 2001 edition in Bucharest, and again in 2008, in Miercurea Ciuc. The proposed arena was the Galați Skating Rink.
* Serbia
** Belgrade or Novi Sad
       Serbia has hosted the championships a number of times. Belgrade hosted twice, in 2005 and 2014, whilst Novi Sad hosted in 2009. In addition, Novi Sad also played host to the competition in 2002 whilst known as Serbia and Montenegro.
The decision on hosts was made on May 21, 2016. The bid from Romania gained a majority vote and as a result Galati will host the competition.
There were also two official bids to host Group B Championships.
* New Zealand
** Auckland
       New Zealand had previously hosted these championships in 2006. The proposed arena was Paradice Botany Downs.
* Turkey
** Ankara
       Turkey had previously hosted these championships in 2013, in İzmit.
The decision on hosts was made on May 21, 2016. The bid from New Zealand received the majority of the votes, and as a result Auckland will host the competition.

## Venues

| Group A | Group B |
| Galați | Auckland |
| Galați Skating Rink Capacity: 5,000 | Paradice Botany Downs Capacity: 400 |

## Group A tournament
### Participants

| Team | Qualification |
| Romania | Host, placed 6th in Division I B last year and were relegated. |
| Spain | Placed 2nd in Division II A last year. |
| Belgium | Placed 3rd in Division II A last year. |
| Serbia | Placed 4th in Division II A last year. |
| Iceland | Placed 5th in Division II A last year. |
| Australia | Placed 1st in Division II B last year and were promoted. |

### Match officials

4 referees and 7 linesmen were selected for the tournament.

### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Romania (H, P) | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 24 | 5 | +19 | 12 | Promoted to Division I B |
| 2 | Australia | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 13 | +3 | 11 | |
| 3 | Serbia | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 23 | 15 | +8 | 8 | |
| 4 | Belgium | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 17 | 27 | −10 | 6 | |
| 5 | Iceland | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 20 | −10 | 6 | |
| 6 | Spain (R) | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 23 | −10 | 2 | Relegation to Division II B |
* 1 2 Iceland 3–9 Belgium

### Results

All times are local (UTC+3).

### Awards and statistics
#### Awards

* Best players selected by the directorate:
** Best Goalkeeper: Anthony Kimlin
** Best Defenseman: Dominik Crnogorac
** Best Forward: Csanád Fodor
Source: IIHF.com

#### Scoring leaders

List shows the top skaters sorted by points, then goals.
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM | POS |
| Ede Mihály | 5 | 8 | 1 | 9 | +6 | 4 | F |
| Marko Sretović | 5 | 3 | 6 | 9 | +9 | 0 | F |
| Mitch Morgan | 5 | 2 | 7 | 9 | −2 | 2 | F |
| Nemanja Vučurević | 5 | 5 | 3 | 8 | +5 | 12 | F |
| Mátyás Bíró | 5 | 2 | 6 | 8 | +5 | 0 | F |
| Roberto Gliga | 5 | 0 | 8 | 8 | +5 | 0 | F |
| Vincent Morgan | 5 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −2 | 4 | F |
| Mihail Georgescu | 5 | 2 | 5 | 7 | +5 | 4 | F |
| Dominik Crnogorac | 5 | 0 | 7 | 7 | +3 | 2 | D |
| Lliam Webster | 5 | 0 | 7 | 7 | +2 | 14 | D |
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 |
| Zoltán Tőke | 288:21 | 5 | 1.04 | 90 | 94.44 | 1 |
| Anthony Kimlin | 301:17 | 13 | 2.59 | 160 | 91.88 | 1 |
| Arsenije Ranković | 304:21 | 15 | 2.96 | 156 | 90.38 | 1 |
| Dennis Hedström | 274:38 | 17 | 3.71 | 158 | 89.24 | 1 |
| Ignacio García | 286:00 | 21 | 4.41 | 138 | 84.78 | 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

## Group B tournament
### Participants

| Team | Qualification |
| China | Placed 6th in Division II A last year and were relegated. |
| Mexico | Placed 2nd in Division II B last year. |
| Israel | Placed 3rd in Division II B last year. |
| New Zealand | Host, placed 4th in Division II B last year. |
| North Korea | Placed 5th in Division II B last year. |
| Turkey | Placed 1st in Division III last year and were promoted. |

### Match officials

4 referees and 7 linesmen were selected for the tournament.

### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | China (P) | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 12 | +17 | 15 | Promoted to Division II A |
| 2 | New Zealand (H) | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 23 | 11 | +12 | 12 | |
| 3 | Israel | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 24 | 14 | +10 | 9 | |
| 4 | North Korea | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 18 | 33 | −15 | 3 | |
| 5 | Mexico | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 16 | −4 | 3 | |
| 6 | Turkey (R) | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 27 | −20 | 3 | Relegation to Division III |
* 1 2 3 North Korea 3 Pts, +4 GD; Mexico 3 Pts, +3 GD, Turkey 3 Pts, −7 GD

### Results

All times are local (UTC+12).

### Awards and statistics
#### Awards

* Best players selected by the directorate:
** Best Goalkeeper: Rick Parry
** Best Defenseman: Michael Kozevnikov
** Best Forward: Zhang Hao
Source: IIHF.com

#### Scoring leaders

List shows the top skaters sorted by points, then goals.
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM | POS |
| Elie Klein | 5 | 4 | 7 | 11 | +3 | 4 | F |
| Jacob Ratcliffe | 5 | 6 | 4 | 10 | +4 | 4 | F |
| Ilya Spektor | 5 | 6 | 3 | 9 | +2 | 4 | F |
| Daniel Mazour | 5 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 6 | F |
| Zhang Cheng | 5 | 4 | 3 | 7 | +3 | 12 | F |
| Ri Chol-min | 5 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −4 | 2 | F |
| Carlos Gómez | 5 | 2 | 5 | 7 | +3 | 4 | F |
| Evgeni Kozhevnikov | 5 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 6 | F |
| Jordan Challis | 5 | 4 | 2 | 6 | +3 | 0 | F |
| Ryan Ruddle | 5 | 4 | 2 | 6 | +1 | 4 | F |
| Xia Tianxiang | 5 | 4 | 2 | 6 | +7 | 6 | F |
| Zhang Hao | 5 | 4 | 2 | 6 | +1 | 4 | 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 |
| Rick Parry | 239:45 | 9 | 2.25 | 134 | 93.28 | 0 |
| Sun Zehao | 300:00 | 12 | 2.40 | 148 | 91.89 | 0 |
| Maxim Gokhberg | 289:28 | 12 | 2.49 | 142 | 91.55 | 1 |
| Alfonso de Alba | 218:39 | 13 | 3.57 | 133 | 90.23 | 0 |
| Tolga Bozacı | 190:30 | 13 | 4.09 | 115 | 88.70 | 1 |
TOI = Time on ice (minutes:seconds); SA = Shots against; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; Sv% = Save percentage; SO = Shutouts Source: IIHF.com