The Israel Ice Hockey Federation ( he, ההתאחדות הישראלית להוקי קרח, ar, الاتحاد الاسرائيلي لهوكي الجليد, russian: Израильская федерация хоккея с шайбой) is recognized as the

governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ...

for

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, self-taught, user-generated, DIY, and hobbyist. History ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and is a member of the

International Ice Hockey Federation The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; french: Fédération internationale de hockey sur glace; german: Internationale Eishockey-Föderation) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 83 ...

(IIHF). It is often called the Ice Hockey Federation of Israel in order to differentiate it from the IIHF.

History

Ice hockey began in

when the first ice rink opened in Qiryat Motzkin in 1986. The Israel Ice Hockey and Figure Skating Association was formed in 1988 and was admitted to the International Ice Hockey Federation in 1991. Israel first competed in the IIHF Pool C world championships in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

in 1992, finishing 5th out of the six participating teams (South Africa,

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

and Israel). The hockey and figure skating associations split when the sports became large enough to be independent, and the hockey association was renamed to the Ice Hockey Federation of Israel. Ice hockey in Israel began to grow when several

Russian Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...

émigré An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social self-exile. The word is the past participle of the French ''émigrer'', "to emigrate". French Huguenots Many French Huguenots fled France followin ...

s, who had played professionally in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

, began coaching in Metula, the site of Israel's first and currently only full-size rink. Most notable among these

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

n coaches was Boris Mindel, a former defenseman on the Red Army Team, who established a junior program at the Canada Centre rink in Metula. Ice hockey in Israel received an additional boost of momentum when

Roger Neilson Roger Paul Neilson, (June 16, 1934 – June 21, 2003) was a Canadian professional ice hockey coach, most notably in the NHL, where he served with eight teams in a checkered career. Known as Captain Video because of his technological contributi ...

, coach of several

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

(NHL) teams including the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its ho ...

and the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

, opened a branch of his summer ice hockey camp in Metula and attracted young

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

n players to train and compete with young Israelis interested in the sport. As of 2005, there are three ice skating rinks in Israel. An Olympic facility and smaller practice rink at the Canada Centre in Metula, and a small rink in the northern town of Ma'alot.

International competition

In the summer of 1997, the Maccabiah Games included ice hockey for the first time and attracted Jewish teams from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

, and

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

to compete along with the Israel National Team. The U.S. and Canadian team was composed of mostly

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

players and several who had played in the NHL, including U.S. player coach

Mike Hartman Michael Jay Hartman (born February 7, 1967) is an American former professional ice hockey player who played in 397 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 13 seasons the Buffalo Sabres, Winnipeg Jets, Tampa Bay Lightning, and New York R ...

of the New York Rangers. At the same time, a team of Jewish teenagers from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

traveled to Israel to face Boris Mindel's Metula team, and later invited the Israeli juniors to tour the Northeastern United States and Canada with them, giving the Israeli juniors their first exposure to North American competition. The New Yorkers, including many of the same players who had visited in 1997, visited again in 2004 to skate against the Israelis in a spirited series for the "Maccabi Cup". In 2005, Israel, with the benefit of a number of players who were Israeli-Canadian dual citizens, won the gold medal at the IIHF Division II Group B

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

and were promoted to Division I for the 2006 IIHF World Championships. In 2006, after being outscored 47–3 in the

IIHF World Championship Division I The IIHF World Championship Division I is an annual sports event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation. The divisional championship is played in two groups. History From 2001 until 2011 the two national teams that lost the relegati ...

, Israel was relegated to the 2007

IIHF World Championship Division II The IIHF World Championship Division II are an annual sports event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation. The division championships are played in two groups, part of the Ice Hockey World Championships From 2001 until 2011, the tw ...

. In the summer of 2007, with outside temperatures reaching ninety degrees Fahrenheit, the first World Jewish Ice Hockey Tournament was held in Metula, with competing teams from Israel, Canada,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, and the winner, the United States."Ice in the Desert", ''Dateline World Jewry'',

World Jewish Congress The World Jewish Congress (WJC) was founded in Geneva, Switzerland in August 1936 as an international federation of Jewish communities and organizations. According to its mission statement, the World Jewish Congress' main purpose is to act as ...

, September, 2007

References

External links

Official website
* Meltzer, Bil

Retrieved 28 July 2006. * Meltzer, Bil
"Israel Hosts First World Jewish Hockey Tournament" at NHL.com
Retrieved 19 July 2007. {{Sports governing bodies in Israel

Ice hockey in Israel International Ice Hockey Federation members

Ice Hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

Sports organizations established in 1988

History

International competition

See also

References

External links