# 2015 IIHF World Championship Division I

The 2015 IIHF World Championship Division I was an international ice hockey tournament run by the International Ice Hockey Federation. Group A was contested in Kraków, Poland, after the original host, Donetsk, Ukraine, withdrew, from 19 to 25 April 2015 and Group B was held in Eindhoven, Netherlands, from 13 to 19 April 2015.
In Group A Kazakhstan finished first, winning their group in Division I for the fourth time in their last four appearances, thereby securing promotion to the 2016 World Championship. Hungary surprised and placed second, defeating host Poland in the final game to secure promotion; it was the first time Hungary earned promotion to the top division since 2009, and only the second time since 1939. Ukraine finished last in the group and was relegated to Group B for 2016.
Group B saw South Korea finish first and win promotion. Great Britain finished second, losing out on first and promotion with a loss to Lithuania in the final game of the tournament. Host Netherlands ended the tournament in last place and was relegated to Division II A for the next year.

## Venues

| Group A | Group B |
| Kraków | Eindhoven |
| Tauron Arena Kraków Capacity: 15,328 | IJssportcentrum Eindhoven Capacity: 1,700 |

## Division I A
### Participants

| Team | Qualification |
| Italy | Placed 15th in the Elite Division and were relegated in 2014. |
| Kazakhstan | Placed 16th in the Elite Division and were relegated in 2014. |
| Japan | Placed 3rd in Division I A last year. |
| Ukraine | Placed 4th in Division I A last year. |
| Hungary | Placed 5th in Division I A last year. |
| Poland | Host, placed 1st in Division I B last year and were promoted. |

### Match officials

7 referees and 7 linesmen were selected for the tournament.

### Standings

| Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| Kazakhstan | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 6 | +17 | 15 | Promoted to Top Division for 2016 |
| Hungary | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 11 | +3 | 12 | Promoted to Top Division for 2016 |
| Poland | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 6 | |
| Japan | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 16 | −6 | 6 | |
| Italy | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 12 | −5 | 5 | |
| Ukraine | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 17 | −9 | 1 | Relegated to Division I B for 2016 |

### Results

All times are local (UTC+2).

### Awards and statistics
#### Awards

* Best players selected by the directorate:
** Best Goalkeeper: Przemysław Odrobny
** Best Defenseman: Kevin Dallman
** Best Forward: Roman Starchenko
Source: IIHF.com
* Media All-Stars:
** MVP: Roman Starchenko
** Goalkeeper: Pavel Poluektov
** Defenceman: Kevin Dallman / Mateusz Rompkowski
** Forwards: Roman Starchenko / Andrew Sarauer / Marcin Kolusz
Source: IIHF.com

#### Scoring leaders

List shows the top skaters sorted by points, then goals.
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM | POS |
| Roman Starchenko | 5 | 4 | 2 | 6 | +8 | 6 | F |
| Kevin Dallman | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | +5 | 0 | D |
| Konstantin Rudenko | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | +6 | 2 | F |
| Evgeni Rymarev | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | +3 | 0 | F |
| Vadim Krasnoslobodtsev | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | +4 | 0 | F |
| Andrew Sarauer | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | +7 | 2 | F |
| Dániel Kóger | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | +4 | 2 | F |
| Marcin Kolusz | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | +2 | 0 | F |
| Mateusz Rompkowski | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | +2 | 4 | D |
| Frank Banham | 5 | 1 | 4 | 5 | +3 | 2 | F |
| Talgat Zhailauov | 5 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 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 |
| Przemysław Odrobny | 185:39 | 3 | 0.97 | 85 | 96.47 | 1 |
| Pavel Poluektov | 300:00 | 6 | 1.20 | 99 | 93.94 | 2 |
| Miklós Rajna | 240:00 | 6 | 1.50 | 79 | 92.41 | 0 |
| Yutaka Fukufuji | 257:30 | 11 | 2.56 | 111 | 90.09 | 0 |
| Andreas Bernard | 298:00 | 11 | 2.21 | 103 | 89.32 | 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

## Division I B
### Participants

| Team | Qualification |
| South Korea | Placed 6th in Division I A last year and were relegated. |
| Croatia | Placed 2nd in Division I B last year. |
| Lithuania | Placed 3rd in Division I B last year. |
| Great Britain | Placed 4th in Division I B last year. |
| Netherlands | Host, placed 5th in Division I B last year. |
| Estonia | Placed 1st in Division II A last year and were promoted. |

### Match officials

4 referees and 7 linesmen were selected for the tournament.

### Standings

| Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| South Korea | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 30 | 11 | +19 | 12 | Promoted to Division I A for 2016 |
| Great Britain | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 10 | +3 | 11 | |
| Lithuania | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 12 | −1 | 9 | |
| Croatia | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 20 | −4 | 7 | |
| Estonia | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 21 | −11 | 3 | |
| Netherlands | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 15 | −6 | 3 | Relegated to Division II A for 2016 |

### Results

All times are local (UTC+2).

### Awards and statistics
#### Awards

* Best players selected by the directorate:
** Best Goalkeeper: Mantas Armalis
** Best Defenseman: Ben O'Connor
** Best Forward: Lee Yong-jun
Source: IIHF.com

#### Scoring leaders

List shows the top skaters sorted by points, then goals.
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM | POS |
| Michael Swift | 5 | 5 | 4 | 9 | +8 | 14 | F |
| Andrei Makrov | 5 | 6 | 2 | 8 | −3 | 2 | F |
| Kim Ki-sung | 5 | 4 | 4 | 8 | +5 | 4 | F |
| Mike Testwuide | 5 | 4 | 4 | 8 | +9 | 0 | F |
| Kim Sang-wook | 5 | 3 | 5 | 8 | +4 | 6 | F |
| Andrew Murray | 5 | 3 | 5 | 8 | +1 | 4 | F |
| Brock Radunske | 5 | 0 | 7 | 7 | +4 | 0 | F |
| Ryan Kinasewich | 5 | 4 | 2 | 6 | −2 | 0 | F |
| Nathan Perkovich | 5 | 4 | 2 | 6 | +2 | 18 | F |
| Cho Min-ho | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | +2 | 2 | F |
| Ben O'Connor | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | +1 | 6 | 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 |
| Mantas Armalis | 298:59 | 11 | 2.21 | 178 | 93.82 | 1 |
| Ian Meierdres | 204:21 | 8 | 2.35 | 98 | 91.84 | 0 |
| Ben Bowns | 299:04 | 10 | 2.01 | 122 | 91.80 | 0 |
| Mark Dekanich | 259:51 | 11 | 2.54 | 128 | 91.41 | 0 |
| Park Sung-je | 238:51 | 8 | 2.01 | 83 | 90.36 | 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