The U.S. Men’s National Bandy Team is set to compete in the “A” Pool at the 2012 Bandy World Championships from January 29 to February 5 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The U.S. kept their position in the “A” Pool by defeating Belarus 5-2 in the qualification match at the 2011 World Championships last February in Kazan, Russia.

This is the first time the Bandy World Championships will be held in Kazakhstan and this is the first U.S. Bandy team to ever play in Kazakhstan.  The team was set to go in February 1994 but one week before the trip, Russian Airline Aeroflot cancelled all domestic flights so the team stayed home.<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 9pt;">The Bandy rink is located in the mountains outside Almaty, Kazakhstan at 7,000 feet above sea level. This year The U.S. Team is hoping for milder weather than what they played in during last year’s World Championship in Kazan, Russia where the air temperature averaged minus-25 degrees Fahrenheit. The wind chill was minus-50 during the Belarus game and the games versus Sweden and Kazakhstan were both played in very heavy snow.

Led by Coaches Chris Halden and Mikael Sandberg, the U.S. Team began training several times per week in early spring of 2011 both on and off the ice. The consensus is that this is the most experienced and most skilled U.S. Team ever. The team goal is to be highly competitive in all games in the “A” pool with a victory over Norway as the main focus.