For ice hockey players and fans, it’s been tough without ice hockey in spring, a time when we usually crown a World Champion before heading into summer. 

In the IIHF’s digital world, we have been keeping ourselves busy with the vote-based Virtual World Championship and the IIHF Esports Fan Championship.

But in Antwerp, Belgium, 8-year-old Eppo Janssen had another idea that worked just perfectly for his age.

In Belgium outdoor sports are now allowed again as the lockdown restrictions are lifted, but for kids and adults in Belgium, practising and playing ice hockey remains impossible for the near future. The season is gone in most of Europe and the world, and everybody hopes to be back for the new season in autumn.

That’s still a far too long time to go for Eppo and his brother Miro, who play in the junior program of the Antwerp Phantoms. Yes, that’s the club we featured last month when we celebrated the 100-year anniversary of Olympic and World Championship ice hockey that started in 1920 in the city.

The lockdown triggered the creativity of Eppo, who’s on the under-10 team of the Phantoms, and he played his own game of ice hockey with Playmobil figures – including a rink, a ref, fans and a zamboni.

And to share his joy during the ice-less time with his friends and the world, they produced this stop-motion video. Another way to do #hockeyathome!