There was a time when the Ukrainian national team included several names that were well-known to international hockey fans. Ukraine even qualified for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City with Ruslan Fedotenko, Oleksiy Ponikarovsky, Serhiy Varlamov and Dmitri Khristich in the lineup. There aren’t many recognizable names today except behind the bench, where Khristich enters his second season as the national team’s head coach.
With Khristich behind the bench, there have been some encouraging signs for Ukrainian hockey. The team won the 2024 IIHF World Championship Division I Group B, advancing to Group A for the first time since 2017. The Ukrainians also won their third-round Olympic qualifying group in Poland, despite being ranked third of the four teams. They face stiff odds to qualify for the 2026 Winter Olympics, needing to beat France, Latvia and Slovenia, but this isn’t a team to shy away from challenges.
With all walks of Ukrainian life currently in chaos, a number of players have been forced to play abroad, which may benefit the national team by exposing those players to better training conditions and higher levels of competition. Of the 25 players on the roster, 10 play in Ukraine, four in Poland, three in Czechia, two in Slovakia, and one each in Finland, France, Italy, Austria, Hungary and the United States.
The lone NHL-drafted player is 21-year-old defenseman Artur Cholach of Vegas, who split last season between the OHL and USHL and is expected to play this season for the Henderson Silver Knights in the AHL. Also, 21-year-old forward Daniil Trakht plays for Lukko Rauma in the Finnish Liiga and 26-year-old defenseman Igor Merezkho plays for Plzeň in the Czech Extraliga.
Goaltenders: Bohdan Dyachenko, Oleg Petrov (both Sokil Kyiv, Ukraine), Eduard Zakharchenko (Storm, Ukraine).
Defensemen: Ihor Merezhko (Plzeň, Czech Republic), Yevhen Ratushny (Storm, Ukraine), Ivan Sisak (Dunaújvárosi Acélbikák, Hungary), Artur Cholach (Henderson Silver Knights, AHL), Pylyp Pangelov-Yuldashev (Podhale Nowy Targ, Poland), Artem Grebenyk (Ketterä, Finland), Vitaly Andreykiv (Zaglebie Sosnowiec, Poland), Volodymyr Volkov (Modre Kridla Slovan, Slovakia).
Forwards: Oleksandr Peresunko (Prešov, Slovakia), Daniil Trakht (Lukko, Finland), Andriy Deniskin (Podhale Nowy Targ, Poland), Vitaly Lyalka (Kremenchuk, Ukraine), Denys Borodai, Vadim Mazur, Viktor Zakharov, Volodymyr Cherdak, Roman Blahiy (all from Sokil Kyiv, Ukraine), Oleksiy Vorona (KH Torun, Poland), Stanislav Sadovikov (Berani Zlín, Czech Republic), Yevhen Fadeev (EC Bregenzerwald, Austria), Felix Morozov (Morzine-Avoriaz, France) Dmytro Nimenko (Aosta, Italy).
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