TheSpanish men's national ice hockey team(Spanish:Selección de hockey sobre hielo de España) is the national men'sice hockeyteam ofSpain.The team is administered by theSpanish Ice Sports Federation,itself a member of theInternational Ice Hockey Federation(IIHF). As of April 2020, the Spanish men's national program is 31st on the IIHF World Rankings and has 135 registered players. The men's national team currently competes at theIIHF World Championship Division II,Group A level.[2]
 | |
| Association | Federación Española de Deportes de Hielo |
|---|---|
| General manager | Maurizio Mansi |
| Head coach | Luciano Basile |
| Assistants | Miguel Baldris |
| Captain | Alejandro Carbonell |
| Most games | Salavador Balnola (88) |
| Top scorer | Iñaki Salegui (53) |
| Most points | Iñaki Salegui (88) |
| Team colors | |
| IIHF code | ESP |
| Ranking | |
| Current IIHF | 30 2 (27 May 2024)[1] |
| Highest IIHF | 29 (2011–12, 2014) |
| Lowest IIHF | 37 (2005–06) |
| First international | |
Spain 6–4 Belgium(Luchon,France; 21 December 1923) | |
| Biggest win | |
Spain 38–0 Turkey(Johannesburg,South Africa; 27 March 1992) | |
| Biggest defeat | |
Netherlands 19–0 Spain(Las Palmas,Spain; 13 March 1978) | |
| IIHF World Championships | |
| Appearances | 34 (first in1977) |
| Best result | 22nd (1977) |
| International record (W–L–T) | |
| 100–134–13 | |
History
editOn 10 March 1923,[2]Spain joined the IIHF after theSpanish Winter Sports Federationwas founded in the same year. After building an artificialrinkinMadrid,Spain,they entered their first international tournament in late 1923. Spain won their first international game againstBelgiumin the Challenge de Haute–Garonne tournament held inBagnères-de-Luchon,France.They lost their next game in the tournament toFrance.[3]
In 1924, Spain competed in theIce Hockey European Championshipsheld inMilan,Italy.During their first game againstSwitzerland,two of Spain's seven players were injured. Due to this, Switzerland agreed to play with only five players allowing the game to continue. Switzerland ended up winning 12–0. Spain was forced to forfeit their second game againstSwedendue to the injuries suffered by their players. Sweden had also agreed to play with five players.[3]
After the European Championships, Spain entered the Coupe de Davos inDavos,Switzerland.Days before the tournament, Spain had upset Switzerland 4–0. The tournament had 12 teams broken into four groups with Spain being placed in group two along with Switzerland andGermany.Spain lost to Switzerland, 6–0 and to Germany, 7–0. Spain also lost to Germany's second team, 2–0 but avoided being in last place by beatingItaly,4–0. On 1 January 1925, Spain played Germany's second team again, winning in double overtime 3–1. After beating Germany, Spain went on a Swiss tour winning three of the games they played. Spain played in the Challenge de Haute–Garonne for the second time in January 1925. During the tournament, they defeated Belgium's second team 4–1 and tied France 3–3.[3]
In 1926, Spain again competed in the European Championships held in Davos, Switzerland. In their first game against Belgium, Spain lost 5–0. They also lost their second game toCzechoslovakia(9–2). In the consolation pool, Spain tied Italy 2–2 and lost toPoland,4–1.[3]
Spain has competed in theIIHF World Championship Division IIsince it began in 2001. During the first year of the tournament in2001,Spain defeatedSouth Africa,Iceland,AustraliaandNew Zealand.However they lost toSouth Koreapreventing Spain from finishing in first.[4]In2002,Spain finished in third place in Group B after defeatingBulgaria,Iceland andLuxembourgand losing toYugoslaviaandLithuania.[5]During the2003version of the tournament, Spain defeated South Africa,Mexicoand Australia and lost to Yugoslavia and South Korea. Spain finished in third place in Group A.[6]Spain hosted the Division II tournament in2004and finished fourth place in Group A by defeatingIsraeland Luxembourg. Spain lost toChina,Croatiaand Australia.[7]2005was a down year for Spain as they finished in fifth place in Group B with only two points. Spain's only win came against Iceland while they lost toSerbia and Montenegro,Belgium, Israel andNorth Korea.[8]
In2006,they lost to Serbia and Montenegro,Romania men's national ice hockey teamand twice to Bulgaria while beating South Africa for their lone win. They finished in fifth place in Group A for the second straight year.[9]In2007they defeated Bulgaria,Turkeyand Serbia and lost to Belgium and Croatia. Unlike the prior two years Spain finished in third place with nine points.[10]In2008,Spain finished in third place by defeating Australia, Iceland and Mexico and lost to China and New Zealand.[11]Spain won three games and lost two in2009,their three wins came against Mexico, Bulgaria and South Africa while they lost to South Korea and Belgium. Spain finished in third place with nine points.[12]
Spain was ranked 34th in theIIHF World Rankingsin 2009. In 2010, Spain rose in the rankings to 30th and competed in Division II of the2010 IIHF World Championship.They finished first in their group at the tournament and hence got promoted to Division I for the first time in their history.[2]
Honours
editWorld Championship record
edit| Year | Division | Position | GP | W | D | L | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tier | Div. | Ov | Div. | |||||
| 1977 | 3 | Pool C | 22nd | 5th | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 1978 | 3 | Pool C | 23rd | 7th | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| 1979 | 3 | Group C | 24th | 6th | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
| 1981 | did not participate | |||||||
| 1982 | 3 | Group C | 23rd | 7th | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| 1983 | 3 | Group C | 23rd | 7th | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 1985 | 3 | Group C | 24th | 8th | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 1986 | 3 | Group C | 24th | 8th | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 1987 | did not participate | |||||||
| 1989 | 4 | Group D | 28th | 4th | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 1990 | 4 | Group D | 28th | 4th | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 1991 | did not participate | |||||||
| 1992 | 4 | Group C2 | 27th | 1st | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 1993 | 3 | Group C | 29th | 5th | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 1994 | 4 | Group C2 | 29th | 2nd | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| 1995 | 4 | Group C2 | 32nd | 3rd | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| 1996 | 4 | Group D | 31st | 3rd | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| 1997 | 4 | Group D | 31st | 3rd | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 1998 | 3 | Group C | 32nd | 8th | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 1999 | 4 | Group D | 33rd | 1st | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 2000 | 3 | Group C | 31st | 7th | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2001 | 3 | Div II | 31st | 2nd | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 2002 | 3 | Div II | 33rd | 3rd | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| 2003 | 3 | Div II | 33rd | 3rd | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| 2004 | 3 | Div II | 35th | 4th | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| 2005 | 3 | Div II | 37th | 5th | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 2006 | 3 | Div II | 37th | 5th | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 2007 | 3 | Div II | 34th | 3rd | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| 2008 | 3 | Div II | 34th | 3rd | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| 2009 | 3 | Div II | 33rd | 3rd | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| 2010 | 3 | Div II | 30th | 1st | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 2011 | 2 | Div I | 26th | 5th | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 2012 | 4 | Div II A | 30th | 2nd | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| 2013 | 4 | Div II A | 34th | 6th | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 2014 | 5 | Div II B | 35th | 1st | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 2015 | 4 | Div II A | 32nd | 4th | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 2016 | 4 | Div II A | 30th | 2nd | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 2017 | 4 | Div II A | 34th | 6th | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 2018 | 5 | Div II B | 35th | 1st | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | 4 | Div II A | 32nd | 4th | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 2020 | 4 | Div II A | Cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic[13] | |||||
| 2021 | 4 | Div II A | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic[14] | |||||
| 2022 | 4 | Div II A | 30th | 4th | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 2023 | 4 | Div II A | 29th | 1st | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 3 | Div I B | 27th | 5th | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 2025 | 3 | Div I B | ||||||
All-time record
editCorrect as of 10 February 2024.[15]Overtime and game winning shot victories and losses are counted towards wins and losses. Teams initalicsare defunct.
| Opponent | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Australia |
18 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 78 | 51 | +27 |
 Austria |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 14 | –14 |
| Belgium |
18 | 7 | 0 | 11 | 75 | 67 | +8 |
 Bulgaria |
15 | 6 | 1 | 8 | 63 | 74 | –11 |
 China |
11 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 36 | 55 | –19 |
 Chinese Taipei |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | +11 |
 Croatia |
13 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 36 | 51 | –15 |
 Czechoslovakia |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 9 | –7 |
 Denmark |
6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 42 | –34 |
 England |
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 10 | +4 |
 Estonia |
4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 26 | –17 |
 France |
8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 15 | 70 | –55 |
 Georgia |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | +6 |
 Great Britain |
5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 17 | 46 | –29 |
 Greece |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 2 | +35 |
 Hungary |
9 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 22 | 82 | –60 |
 Iceland |
11 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 64 | 27 | +37 |
 Italy |
4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 26 | –23 |
 Israel |
9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 76 | 17 | +59 |
 Japan |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 17 | –12 |
 Kazakhstan |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 31 | –31 |
 Lithuania |
4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 28 | –22 |
 Luxembourg |
4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 67 | 1 | +66 |
 Mexico |
8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 62 | 17 | +45 |
| Netherlands |
8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 17 | 63 | –46 |
 North Korea |
5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 32 | 20 | +12 |
 Norway |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 18 | –15 |
 New Zealand |
7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 89 | 12 | +77 |
 Poland |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 9 | –8 |
 Romania |
10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 12 | 86 | –74 |
 Scotland |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 9 | –2 |
 Serbia |
9 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 37 | 33 | +4 |
 Serbia and Montenegro |
8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 15 | 37 | –22 |
 Slovenia |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12 | –12 |
 South Africa |
7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 67 | 10 | +57 |
 South Korea |
14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 52 | 54 | –2 |
 Sweden |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | –5 |
 Switzerland |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12 | –12 |
 Thailand |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 2 | +13 |
| Turkey |
5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 79 | 4 | +75 |
 Ukraine |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | –7 |
 Yugoslavia |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 29 | –27 |
| Total | 247 | 100 | 13 | 134 | 1 145 | 1 186 | –41 |
References
edit- ^"IIHF Men's World Ranking".IIHF. 27 May 2024.Retrieved27 May2024.
- ^abc"Spain".International Ice Hockey Federation.Retrieved19 February2010.
- ^abcd"History of Ice Hockey in Spain"(PDF).Spanish Ice Sports Federation.Retrieved19 February2010.
- ^"2001 IIHF World".IIHF.Retrieved20 February2010.
- ^"2002 IIHF World Championship Div II, Group B".IIHF.Retrieved20 February2010.
- ^"2003 IIHF World Championship Div II,Group A".IIHF.Retrieved20 February2010.
- ^"2004 IIHF World Championship Div II Group A".IIHF.Retrieved20 February2010.
- ^"2005 IIHF World Championship Div II Group B".IIHF.Retrieved20 February2010.
- ^"2006 IIHF World Championship Div II Group A".IIHF.Retrieved20 February2010.
- ^"2007 IIHF World Championships Group A".IIHF.Retrieved20 February2010.
- ^"2008 IIHF World Championship Div. II Group B".IIHF.Retrieved20 February2010.
- ^"2009 IIHF World Championship Div. II Group B".IIHF.Retrieved20 February2010.
- ^"Men's Division II, III cancelled".IIHF.Retrieved13 March2020.
- ^"IIHF – IIHF Council announces more cancellations".International Ice Hockey Federation.Retrieved18 November2020.
- ^"Spain - National Teams of Ice Hockey".nationalteamsoficehockey.7 August 2016.Retrieved24 May2023.
