The Netherlands kept its cool during a scorching hot spring week in the Balkans to secure gold at the 2025 IIHF World Championship Division II Group A in Belgrade, Serbia
In the winner-takes-all clash with host Serbia for promotion, the Netherlands came out on top with a hard-fought 3-1 victory. A perfect record at the Pionir Ice Rink flies the Dutchmen straight back to Division I Group B in 2026.
"Our goal coming here was to go up and when we got our best team available the Netherlands belongs in Division I Group B," said the Netherlands head coach Doug Mason after collecting a maximum 15 points with a goal difference of 25-4.
"Tactically we are very solid in our zone, penalty killing has been good, we are attacking with speed all the time and going hard to the net," said Mason.
Such qualities were on display as the Netherlands battled the Serbs for top spot on Monday night. With both teams entering the contest with full points, Mason´s crew temporarily silenced a fervent home crowd with an early opener.
D'Artagnan Joly, one of four debutants on the Dutch roster, finished off a flying move just 2:40 into the contest.
The pair´s most recent meeting dates back to a Division I Group B clash in Tallinn just over two years ago. Serbia then rallied back to celebrate a 3-2 shootout win. With both teams aspiring a return to those heady heights, Serbia´s Mirko Djumic got the Belgrade crowd on their feet to tie the game at one at the mid-way mark of the first frame.
An evenly matched second frame finished goalless to become the only period of the tournament when the Dutch failed to score.
With the Serbs pressing hard to go in front in the third period, the Netherlands broke loose on a rush with Joly cooly converting his second of the evening.
With 39 seconds left of the third frame, Delaney Hessels hit the nail in the coffin with his 3-1 goal as Joly added his third point of the evening. At the other end, goaltender Cedrick Andree played at his first World Championship tournament for the Netherlands and stopped 31 shots versus the Serbs.
Andree, Hessels and Joly were among a dozen changes made to the Dutch roster compared to last year´s winless team in Division IB. Tilburg Trappers, the Dutch flagship team skating in Germany´s Oberliga exit at the semi-final stages in early April bolstered Mason´s roster ahead of their latest promotion push.
"When Tilburg started the play-offs I was out on the ice with 28 guys, then slowly started to cut them out. Not only were we able to bring in ten players from Tilburg, but also on top of that, we had them for two weeks. This is the best preparation we´ve had in around ten years," said Mason.
In Belgrade, the Netherlands got off to a flying start, limiting United Arab Emirates to just 13 shots in a 5-0 blanking on the opening day. In their next game, all goals in a 6-2 win versus Israel were potted by players not featuring on last year´s team. Mason´s crew then came from behind to beat Australia 5-1 with Guus van Nes scoring a hat-trick. In their penultimate game, netminder Martijn Oosterwijk got his only start in the tournament and stopped all 21 shots in a 6-0 win.
Selected as the tournament´s Top Forward, van Nes of the Netherlands led the tournament in scoring with 12 (7+5) points tied with teammate Joly (4+8). Another man in orange, Bjorn Borgman also stood out winning the Top Defender accolade.
Mason, who served as the head coach for the Dutch men's team in 17 World Championship tournaments, believes that better times are ahead.
"This group we have here is still pretty young, with the top players being between 23-28. They are going to carry us as we get the guys now aged between 16 to 18 involved in international hockey. I feel the hockey in the Netherlands is starting to come back a bit. We are attracting more fans, there are good games and our junior programs are improving. We still have a lot of work to do but we are slowly moving in the right direction," Mason said.
The Serbs finished with silver for the second consecutive year on home ice. 22-year-old netminder Akim Padalica played all the games for Serbia and was selected as the tournament´s Top Goalkeeper with a GAA of 1.00 and 95.73 save percentage, including two shutouts.
The United Arab Emirates was outshot 43-35 but steamed ahead to an 8-0 romp over Belgium to win back-to-back bronze in Belgrade. The Belgians made a spirited start skating at a higher level with two wins versus Israel and Australia. Three consecutive losses followed for the newcomers finishing in fourth.
In the battle to avoid relegation, Australia´s Kieren Webster netted a double and Aleksi Toivonen was in fine form between the pipes saving 35 shots in a nervy 4-3 win versus Israel to finish fifth. Israel steps down to skate in Division II Group B for the first time since 2019.
In the winner-takes-all clash with host Serbia for promotion, the Netherlands came out on top with a hard-fought 3-1 victory. A perfect record at the Pionir Ice Rink flies the Dutchmen straight back to Division I Group B in 2026.
"Our goal coming here was to go up and when we got our best team available the Netherlands belongs in Division I Group B," said the Netherlands head coach Doug Mason after collecting a maximum 15 points with a goal difference of 25-4.
"Tactically we are very solid in our zone, penalty killing has been good, we are attacking with speed all the time and going hard to the net," said Mason.
Such qualities were on display as the Netherlands battled the Serbs for top spot on Monday night. With both teams entering the contest with full points, Mason´s crew temporarily silenced a fervent home crowd with an early opener.
D'Artagnan Joly, one of four debutants on the Dutch roster, finished off a flying move just 2:40 into the contest.
The pair´s most recent meeting dates back to a Division I Group B clash in Tallinn just over two years ago. Serbia then rallied back to celebrate a 3-2 shootout win. With both teams aspiring a return to those heady heights, Serbia´s Mirko Djumic got the Belgrade crowd on their feet to tie the game at one at the mid-way mark of the first frame.
An evenly matched second frame finished goalless to become the only period of the tournament when the Dutch failed to score.
With the Serbs pressing hard to go in front in the third period, the Netherlands broke loose on a rush with Joly cooly converting his second of the evening.
With 39 seconds left of the third frame, Delaney Hessels hit the nail in the coffin with his 3-1 goal as Joly added his third point of the evening. At the other end, goaltender Cedrick Andree played at his first World Championship tournament for the Netherlands and stopped 31 shots versus the Serbs.
Andree, Hessels and Joly were among a dozen changes made to the Dutch roster compared to last year´s winless team in Division IB. Tilburg Trappers, the Dutch flagship team skating in Germany´s Oberliga exit at the semi-final stages in early April bolstered Mason´s roster ahead of their latest promotion push.
"When Tilburg started the play-offs I was out on the ice with 28 guys, then slowly started to cut them out. Not only were we able to bring in ten players from Tilburg, but also on top of that, we had them for two weeks. This is the best preparation we´ve had in around ten years," said Mason.
In Belgrade, the Netherlands got off to a flying start, limiting United Arab Emirates to just 13 shots in a 5-0 blanking on the opening day. In their next game, all goals in a 6-2 win versus Israel were potted by players not featuring on last year´s team. Mason´s crew then came from behind to beat Australia 5-1 with Guus van Nes scoring a hat-trick. In their penultimate game, netminder Martijn Oosterwijk got his only start in the tournament and stopped all 21 shots in a 6-0 win.
Selected as the tournament´s Top Forward, van Nes of the Netherlands led the tournament in scoring with 12 (7+5) points tied with teammate Joly (4+8). Another man in orange, Bjorn Borgman also stood out winning the Top Defender accolade.
Mason, who served as the head coach for the Dutch men's team in 17 World Championship tournaments, believes that better times are ahead.
"This group we have here is still pretty young, with the top players being between 23-28. They are going to carry us as we get the guys now aged between 16 to 18 involved in international hockey. I feel the hockey in the Netherlands is starting to come back a bit. We are attracting more fans, there are good games and our junior programs are improving. We still have a lot of work to do but we are slowly moving in the right direction," Mason said.
The Serbs finished with silver for the second consecutive year on home ice. 22-year-old netminder Akim Padalica played all the games for Serbia and was selected as the tournament´s Top Goalkeeper with a GAA of 1.00 and 95.73 save percentage, including two shutouts.
The United Arab Emirates was outshot 43-35 but steamed ahead to an 8-0 romp over Belgium to win back-to-back bronze in Belgrade. The Belgians made a spirited start skating at a higher level with two wins versus Israel and Australia. Three consecutive losses followed for the newcomers finishing in fourth.
In the battle to avoid relegation, Australia´s Kieren Webster netted a double and Aleksi Toivonen was in fine form between the pipes saving 35 shots in a nervy 4-3 win versus Israel to finish fifth. Israel steps down to skate in Division II Group B for the first time since 2019.