The Israel national ice hockey team ( he, נבחרת ישראל בהוקי קרח) is the national men's

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 h ...

team of

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 ...

. Since 2015, the team's Captain has been Eliezer Sherbatov. Israel was ranked 35th as of May 2017 by 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 ...

. In 2019, the team won the gold medal in the 2019 IIHF World Championship Division II Group B tournament in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

. Its greatest achievement in its history was winning its division II group in 2005 and being promoted to division I for the first, and thus far only, time. Israel was relegated back to division II a year later.

Ranking

World Championships record

Eliezer Sherbatov drew international attention when he first played in the

2005 IIHF World U18 Championship Division III The 2005 IIHF World U18 Championship Division III was an international under-18 ice hockey tournament run by the International Ice Hockey Federation. The Division III tournament made up the fourth level of competition at the 2005 IIHF World U18 Ch ...

, in

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

, at the age of 13, becoming the youngest player to step on the ice in an under-18 ice hockey world championship. He scored 9 points (4 goals + 5 assists) in 5 games, as the team won a bronze medal, Israel's first in hockey in a championship tournament. The team was promoted to 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 ...

2005 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships The 2005 Men's Ice Hockey Championships were held March 7 – May 15, 2005, in 7 cities in 6 countries: Vienna and Innsbruck, Austria (Championship); Debrecen, Hungary (Division I - Group A); Eindhoven, the Netherlands (Division I - Group B); Zagr ...

. The following year the team was relegated again to Division II. In 2010, Israel was relegated to Division III. However, in 2011 the team finished first in Division III Group B, earning a promotion back to Division II. Israel won all five of its games by a combined score of 57–9, and was promoted to the IIHF Division II WHC to be played in 2012. Sherbatov led the tournament in points, goals, assists, and +/-, earning 26 points (14 goals + 12 assists) in just four games. He was named the best forward of the tournament. At the 2012 IIHF World Championship Division II tournament in

, the Israeli team was able to stay in the second division. Beginning in 2015 and still as of 2020, Sherbatov was captain of the national team. In 2019, the team won the gold medal in the 2019 IIHF World Championship Division II Group B tournament in

, Israel's first gold medal in hockey. With the win, the team qualified for the World Championships Division 2A. Sherbatov was named Best Forward, and had the best +/- rating, was the top goal scorer, and was the top scorer with 15 points (7 goals + 8 assists) in 5 games.

Olympics

Israel has tried to qualify for the Olympics three times. In 1996 they advanced past Greece, and were eliminated by Yugoslavia before the main qualification rounds, in trying to advance to the 1998 Olympics. For the 2014 Winter Olympics, Israel attempted to qualify, going 0–3 in the pre-qualifier. For the

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics ( ko, 2018년 동계 올림픽, Icheon sip-pal nyeon Donggye Ollimpik), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (french: Les XXIIIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver; ko, 제23회 동계 올림픽, Jeisipsamhoe Donggye Ollimpi ...

, Israel again attempted to qualify. However, they were unable to, going 1–2 in the pre-qualifier.

Team

Notable players

Oren Eizenman Oren Eizenman (born March 27, 1985) is an Israeli-Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He last played for the Nippon Paper Cranes in the Asia League Ice Hockey (ALIH). Biography Eizenman was born in Toronto, Canada, to Ronit and Moshe ...

* Eliezer Sherbatov

Coaches

All-time record against other nations

''As of 30 April 2022''

References

External links

IIHF profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Israel National Ice Hockey Team Ice hockey teams in Israel National ice hockey teams in Asia