Kazakhstan men ' s national junior ice hockey team The Kazakh men ' s national under 20 ice hockey team is the national under - 20 ice hockey team in Kazakhstan . The team represents Kazakhstan at the International Ice Hockey Federation ' s World Junior Hockey Championship Division I . They have played in the championship level 6 times ( 1998 , 1999 , 2000 , 2001 , 2008 and 2009 ) Kazakhstan was promoted out of Pool B into Pool A for 1998 . In Helsinki , Finland , the Kazakhs defeated Slovakia 5 – 2 to earn a spot in the quarter - finals . However , a devastating 14 – 1 loss to eventual gold - medalists Finland sent Kazakhstan to the placement games , where they defeated Canada 6 – 3 to finish 7th . It still stands as Kazakhstan ' s biggest win at the U20 level . Nikolai Antropov became the 7th Kazakh player drafted into the National Hockey League when selected in the first round by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1998 . Antropov would captain the Kazakhstan team at the 1999 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Winnipeg , Canada . Kazakhstan tied Belarus 2 – 2 and defeated Switzerland 3 – 0 to finish third place in Group B and went on to play Canada in the quarter - finals . Canada won 12 – 2 . Nikolai Zarzhitskiy scored both Kazakhstan goals and got player - of - the - game award . Kazakhstan finished 8th and avoided relegation . Kazakhstan was without Antropov when he decided to stay with the Maple Leafs for the 1999 – 2000 NHL season . Kazakhstan was demolished 14 – 1 by Russia on 25 December 1999 . Kazakhstan ' s only win was a 5 – 2 win over Ukraine to qualify for the quarter - finals . Kazakhstan lost to the Czech Republic 6 – 3 . Kazakhstan ' s four - year stay at the World Junior Hockey Championships ended in 2001 when the Kazakhs went winless and lost their fight to avoid relegation to Belarus . Kazakhstan spent six years in Division I and nearly came close to being promoted back to the top level . In 2007 , Kazakhstan was finally promoted by edging Norway 3 – 2 in an IIHF U20 Division I tournament in Torre Pellice , Italy . Kazakhstan played in the 2008 World Junior Hockey Championships in Liberec , Czech Republic . The Kazakhs wore only their white nike swift jerseys during the tournament because blue jerseys were not available . Kazakhstan was up 2 – 0 against Russia , but lost 5 – 4 . They also lost to the United States by a score of 4 – 2 . Kazakhstan went on to defeat Switzerland 3 – 1 and defeated Denmark 6 – 3 to finish 8th . Yakov Vorobyov became only the third Kazakh player to play in the Canadian Hockey League . Vorobyov played for the Ottawa 67 ' s , but was released shortly after . Vadim Sozinov played for the Ottawa 67 ' s in 2000 – 01 and Konstantin Pushkaryov played for the Calgary Hitmen in 2004 – 05 . Kazakhstan boosted plenty of returning players from 2008 upon coming to Ottawa , Canada , to compete in the 2009 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships . Kazakhstan scored only 4 goals during the entire tournament and was relegated back to Division I after a 7 – 1 loss to Latvia . Oleg Bolyakin will remain as head coach for Kazakhstan as the Kazakhs will play in the 2010 World Junior Championships , Division 1 , held in Gdańsk , Poland , from 14 – 20 December 2009 . Kazakhstan will compete against Belarus , Italy , Norway , Croatia and Poland .