Torino 2013: Italy preview

The team just missed out on a chance to directly qualify for Sochi 2014 when they finished in sixth place at the 2013 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships A-Pool in Goyang, South Korea.

The top three finishers from the IPC Ice Sledge Hockey Qualification Tournament will qualify for the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games.

Here's a brief overview of Italy's ice sledge hockey team as they head to Torino, where they will challenge South Korea, Sweden, Germany, Japan and Great Britain for one of the Paralympic spots.

Outlook

Heading into the event, Italy are the No. 1 seed, the host nation and the reigning European champions.

It’s their tournament to lose.

But if they play all their cards right, they have the potential to win all five of their matchups in Torino and qualify for a third consecutive Paralympics.

And they can do it in Torino – a home city where they made their ice sledge hockey Paralympic debut back at the 2006 Games.

Veteran scorers Florian Planker, Andrea Chiarotti and Greg Leperdi have years of experience and hundreds of victories between them, and up-and-coming defenceman Gianluigi Rosa could be one of the team’s next big stars.

The team just missed out on a chance to directly qualify for Sochi 2014 when they finished in sixth place at the 2013 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships A-Pool in Goyang, South Korea.

It came down to a penalty shoot-out against Norway in the fifth-place game, during which Italy could not find the net even once.

However, on their home ice in Torino – a place they are much more comfortable playing – expect them to find the net early and often

Key players

Florian Planker (forward); Andrea Chiarotti (forward); Gianluigi Rosa (defenceman)

Head coach

Massimo Da Rin De Lorenzo

Last Paralympic appearance

Vancouver 2010 – seventh place