Kazakhstan's ice hockey team faced criticism after their defeat against Germany.

The Kazakhstan youth national team (players under 20 years old) failed to maintain its position in the elite of the World Championship due to a lack of on-ice discipline. This opinion was expressed by Oleg Bolyakin, who led the national team at the Channel One Cup, as reported by TASS.

The Kazakhstan team was relegated from the top division after losing to Germany with a score of 3:4, despite having a two-goal lead at one point. Three out of four goals scored by the Germans came during power plays.

“The players probably didn’t fully embrace the idea; it’s unacceptable for them to behave that way on the ice. They constantly engage in unnecessary physical confrontations, wasting their emotions. Leading 3:1, they should have played calmly and focused on their hockey. And what’s with these unjustified penalties—pushes in the back, trips? The violation of game discipline led to this fatal defeat,” Bolyakin stated.

According to the agency's source, the team's leaders did not come through in crucial moments.

“They were counting on goaltender Vladimir Nikitin, who didn’t appear very convincing. When a goalie keeps the team in the game, the team feels that support from him. Not all goals are unpreventable; the goalie could have played more reliably. Beibarys Orazov also struggled with his role as a leader. At ‘Barys,’ he has completely different responsibilities and doesn't spend as much time on the ice. There, he plays six to eight minutes, not participating in power plays or penalty kills, but here he had twice as much ice time, and he lacked the practice and adaptation for it. After 12 minutes, he may look convincing, but then he starts making mistakes,” the coach noted.

Both the Kazakhstan and Germany teams lost all four matches in their groups during the preliminary round, earning just one point each. A year from now, the Danish national team, which won the second strongest league, will compete in the top division of the tournament. The event will take place from late December 2025 to early January 2026 in St. Paul and Minneapolis, USA.