Belarus named preliminary roster for Olympic qualification

25 Aug 2012 | Davide Tuniz

Goalie Andrei Mezin is back after the controversial abandon during the World Championship

Head coach of Belarus, Finnish Kari Heikkila, announces the expanded roster to prepare the qualification to the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi. Belarus will play in Group F in Vojens or Aalborg, Denmark from 07 to 10 February 2013 against Denmark, Slovenia and a Qualifier from November's Olympic Pre-Qualification. Players can receive a bonus of 500,000 euros if national team will earn a spot for Sochi.
Along with the list, Federation also announces the return of Vladimir Safonov as general manager of the national team. "That it is the wish of head coach Kari Heikkila" said the note. Safonov was dismissed last May by the Executive Committee after the poor performance of the national team at the World Championship

Here the list:

Goalkeepers:
Vitali Koval (Torpedo N.N., KHL )
Andrei Mezin (without a club)
Dmitry Milchakov (Metallurg Zhlobin)
Jan Shelepnev (Dinamo Minsk)

Defenders: Andrei Antonov (Neman)
Oleg Goroshko (Dinamo Minsk)
Vladimir Denisov (Dinamo Minsk)
Evgeny Nogachev (Dinamo Minsk)
Pavel Chernook (Dinamo Minsk)
Kirill Gotovets (Cornell University, NCAA)
Roman Graborenko (Drummondville, QMJHL)
Ilya Kaznadey (Metallurg Zhlobin)
Dmitry Korobov (Tampa Bay Lightining, NHL)
Oleg Misyul (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl KHL)
Nikolai Stasenko (Severstal Cherepovets, CHL).

Forwards:
Mikhail Grabovsky (Toronto Maple Leafs, NHL)
Sergei Demagin (Ugra Khanty M., KHL)
Artem Demkov (Elmira Jackals, ECHL)
Sergei Drozd (Dinamo Minsk)
Sergei Dudko (Dinamo Minsk)
Aleksandr Kitarov (Dinamo Minsk)
Andrei Kolosov (Dinamo Minsk)
Aleksandr Kulakov (Dinamo Minsk)
Dmitri Meleshko (Dinamo Minsk)
Andrei Mikhalev (Dinamo Minsk)
Aleksandr Pavlovich (Dinamo Minsk)
Anatoly Protasenya (Dinamo Minsk)
Andrei Stas (Dinamo Minsk)
Alexei Kalyuzhny (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, KHL)
Evgeny Kovyrshin (Severstal Cherepovets, KHL)
Konstantin Koltsov (Atlant, KHL)
Andrei Kostitsyn (without a club)
Sergei Kostitsyn (Nashville Predators, NHL)
Pavel Razvadovsky (Yunost Minsk)
Sergei Yanovsky (Yunost Minsk)
Andrei Stepanov (Siber Novosibirsk, KHL)
Mikhail Stefanovich (Gomel)
Alexei Ugarov (Torpedo N. N., KHL).