# 2018 IIHF World Championship Division II

The 2018 IIHF World Championship Division II was an international ice hockey tournament run by the International Ice Hockey Federation. Group A was contested in Tilburg, Netherlands from 23 to 29 April 2018 and Group B in Granada, Spain from 14 to 20 April 2018.
The Netherlands were promoted to Division I B and Iceland was relegated to Group B. Spain claimed the top position in the Group B tournament and returned to Group A after one year, while Luxembourg took the reverse route after being relegated to Division III.

## Group A tournament
### Participants

| Team | Qualification |
| Netherlands | Host, placed 6th in Division I B last year and were relegated. |
| Australia | Placed 2nd in Division II A last year. |
| Serbia | Placed 3rd in Division II A last year. |
| Belgium | Placed 4th in Division II A last year. |
| Iceland | Placed 5th in Division II A last year. |
| China | 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 | Netherlands (H, P) | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 5 | +37 | 15 | Promoted to Division I B |
| 2 | Australia | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 14 | +5 | 11 | |
| 3 | Serbia | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 14 | +2 | 10 | |
| 4 | China | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 16 | −6 | 6 | |
| 5 | Belgium | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 28 | −17 | 3 | |
| 6 | Iceland (R) | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 28 | −21 | 0 | Relegation to Division II B |

### Results

All times are local (UTC+2).

### Awards and statistics
#### Awards

* Best players selected by the directorate:
** Best Goalkeeper: Anthony Kimlin
** Best Defenseman: Giovanni Vogelaar
** Best Forward: Ivy van den Heuvel
Source: IIHF.com

#### Scoring leaders

List shows the top skaters sorted by points, then goals.
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM | POS |
| Ivy van den Heuvel | 5 | 3 | 8 | 11 | +11 | 2 | F |
| Giovanni Vogelaar | 5 | 8 | 2 | 10 | +14 | 0 | D |
| Jordy van Oorschot | 5 | 3 | 7 | 10 | +6 | 2 | D |
| Mickey Bastings | 5 | 3 | 6 | 9 | +10 | 0 | F |
| Danny Stempher | 5 | 3 | 6 | 9 | +7 | 2 | F |
| Kevin Bruijsten | 5 | 3 | 5 | 8 | +7 | 2 | F |
| Raphael Joly | 5 | 3 | 5 | 8 | +11 | 2 | F |
| Matthew Armstrong | 5 | 2 | 6 | 8 | +3 | 6 | F |
| Reno de Hondt | 5 | 2 | 5 | 7 | +8 | 6 | F |
| Petar Novaković | 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

#### Leading goaltenders

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 |
| Ian Meierdres | 230:27 | 2 | 0.52 | 39 | 94.87 | 2 |
| Anthony Kimlin | 305:00 | 14 | 2.75 | 173 | 91.91 | 2 |
| Sun Zehao | 296:57 | 15 | 3.03 | 172 | 91.28 | 0 |
| Arsenije Ranković | 303:06 | 14 | 2.77 | 151 | 90.73 | 0 |
| Dennis Hedström | 275:56 | 19 | 4.13 | 201 | 90.55 | 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 |
| Spain | Host, placed 6th in Division II A last year and were relegated. |
| New Zealand | Placed 2nd in Division II B last year. |
| Israel | Placed 3rd in Division II B last year. |
| North Korea | Placed 4th in Division II B last year. |
| Mexico | Placed 5th in Division II B last year. |
| Luxembourg | 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 | Spain (H, P) | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 6 | +43 | 15 | Promoted to Division II A |
| 2 | New Zealand | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 33 | 14 | +19 | 12 | |
| 3 | Israel | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 24 | 14 | +10 | 9 | |
| 4 | North Korea | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 40 | −28 | 3 | |
| 5 | Mexico | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 30 | −21 | 3 | |
| 6 | Luxembourg (R) | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 29 | −23 | 3 | Relegation to Division III |
* 1 2 3 North Korea 3 Pts, +2 GD; Mexico 3 Pts, −1 GD, Luxembourg 3 Pts, −1 GD. Mexico 3–1 Luxembourg

### Results

All times are local (UTC+2).

### Awards and statistics
#### Awards

* Best players selected by the directorate:
** Best Goalkeeper: Ander Alcaine
** Best Defenseman: Stefan Helmersson
** Best Forward: Patricio Fuentes
Source: IIHF.com

#### Scoring leaders

List shows the top skaters sorted by points, then goals.
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM | POS |
| Oriol Boronat | 5 | 5 | 7 | 12 | +9 | 0 | F |
| Patricio Fuentes | 5 | 5 | 6 | 11 | +1 | 0 | F |
| Pablo Muñoz | 5 | 7 | 3 | 10 | +9 | 2 | F |
| Jordan Challis | 5 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 0 | 0 | F |
| Adrian Ubieto | 5 | 2 | 8 | 10 | +12 | 4 | D |
| Matthew Schneider | 5 | 4 | 5 | 9 | +5 | 4 | F |
| Alejandro Carbonell | 5 | 3 | 6 | 9 | +10 | 0 | F |
| Aleksandr Polozov | 5 | 3 | 6 | 9 | +4 | 0 | F |
| Daniel Mazour | 5 | 3 | 5 | 8 | +2 | 6 | F |
| Pablo Puyuelo | 5 | 2 | 6 | 8 | +8 | 4 | F |
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalties in minutes; POS = Position Source: IIHF.com

#### Leading goaltenders

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 |
| Nir Tichon | 187:02 | 9 | 2.89 | 110 | 91.82 | 0 |
| Daniel Lee | 199:36 | 10 | 3.01 | 105 | 90.48 | 0 |
| Ander Alcaine | 242:16 | 6 | 1.49 | 58 | 89.66 | 1 |
| Andrés de la Garma | 178:27 | 11 | 3.70 | 93 | 88.17 | 0 |
| Gilles Mangen | 179:50 | 16 | 5.34 | 134 | 88.06 | 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