Ice hockey: Hay breaks the ice at world champs

Ice hockey - just a bunch of toothless Canadians hitting each other with sticks, remarked one wry US comedian. Not the case if you happened to be at the World Championship in Auckland this week as the city plays host to the Division 2, Group B matches.

You won't find any Canadians, not officially anyway, but the Australians are rumoured to have a few ringers in their ranks. The Chinese are proving favourites alongside the Australians and the Koreans.

But it's a player from New Zealand who is making headlines.

Josh Hay is showing talent beyond his years. At just 17 he has stepped up from the under-20s to represent his country at the highest level. He is literally half the age of New Zealand's most senior player. A freckle-faced teen with a beaming smile, he was understandably stoked at his selection.

"I'm really excited. I played at the world champs in Romania for the under-20s but this is the biggest tournament I have taken part in so far. It's awesome."

Hay plays left-wing for the Ice Blacks, the nickname of the New Zealand ice hockey team - thankfully they didn't take a leaf from the Kiwi badminton team and call themselves the Black Pucks. At 74kg and standing just 5ft 9in, the young Aucklander has had to develop the necessary skills with his blades to get him out of any trouble.

He's the first to admit it he's not a scrapper, preferring speed of foot to speed of fist should things turn nasty.

Ice hockey would appear to be one of the few sports where fist fights are integral to the game. Anyone who bore witness to the Ice Blacks' bruising encounter with Australia can testify to that.

The tournament is brought to a close today with perhaps its most interesting match-ups.

Australia's game against China is set to be the decider for the eventual winner. There are also political connotations to consider with North Korea to face rival South Korea.

And for those who took amusement from a Jamaican bobsled team, how about a Mexican team.

The Ice Blacks are confident of victory today, despite the Mexicans banning the haka.