Greece men's national ice hockey team
| Shirt badge/Association crest | |||
| Association | Hellenic Ice Sports Federation | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Head coach | Igor Apostolidis | ||
| Assistants | Panagiotis Efkarpidis | ||
| Captain | Dimitrios Kalyvas | ||
| Most games | Orestis Tilios (30) | ||
| Top scorer | Dimitrios Kalyvas (26) | ||
| Most points | Dimitrios Kalyvas (49) | ||
| Team colors | |||
| IIHF code | GRE | ||
| |||
| Ranking | |||
| Current IIHF | 49  | ||
| Highest IIHF | 44 (first in 2011) | ||
| Lowest IIHF | 49 (first in 2015) | ||
| First international | |||
 Greece 15–3 Turkey  (Johannesburg, South Africa; March 21, 1992) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
Greece 13–0 Georgia  (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; October 15, 2012) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
 Israel 26–2 Greece (Cape Town, South Africa; April 15, 2011) | |||
| IIHF World Championships | |||
| Appearances | 7 (first in 1992) | ||
| Best result | 29th (1992) | ||
| International record (W–L–T) | |||
| 16–30–1 | |||
The Greek National Ice Hockey Team (Template:Lang-el) is the national ice hockey team of Greece, and as a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation competed in the third division of the Ice Hockey World Championships. Currently Greece is unable to compete in IIHF championships because they cannot fulfill the minimum standard of having one operational indoor rink.
History
Ice Hockey started in Greece in 1984 by players that returned to Greece from abroad. The first official Greek Championship was held in 1989 in the Peace and Friendship Stadium with five teams taking place. It was the first time hockey games were held in a normal size rink. In 1990 the first Junior National Team was formed and took part in the World Junior Championship Pool C, held in Yugoslavia. In 1991 the Junior National Team took part in the World Junior Championship, held in Italy. In 1992 the first ever Men's Greek National Team was formed and took place in the World Championships Pool C2 held in South Africa. With only two weeks of serious training abroad and the support of the Greeks of South Africa, the National Team finished ahead of three other new hockey nations, winning the Bronze medal, placing them 29th overall.
Despite the great achievement, the start of the decline of the sport came in 1993. Economic help was discontinued by the Greek Undersecretary of State for Sports and all expenses to keep ice hockey alive were passed over to the players. Practices stopped and many players quit.
Since May 2003 the last ice rink in Greece closed and the national team was left without an ice rink. In the next 4 years, players of the national team traveled at their own expense in the Czech Republic in order to train themselves. Unfortunately the IIHF determined in 2013 that the team will not be able to participate in World Championship programs until an Olympic sized ice rink is constructed in Greece.[1]
Ice hockey was slowly dying until Dimitris Kalyvas (currently the captain of Team Greece) tried to convince the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) that the National Team is still active and that development of the sport is continuing in Greece despite not having a rink. He later got the support of the Hellenic Ice Sports Federation. After many emails, the IIHF decided to send 2 delegates to Athens to investigate. After a review done by the IIHF in 2008, Greece retained its status within the IIHF, and took part in a qualification tournament against Armenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina in Sarajevo prior to the 2008 Division III championship in Luxembourg. They defeated both teams, beating Armenia 8 – 5 (although Armenia was forced to Forfeit each game 5 – 0), and Bosnia-Herzegovina 10 – 1. They took part in Division III from 2008 until 2013, highlighted by a second-place finish in their group (third overall) in 2010.
2013 World Championship Division III
| # | Player | Position | Shoots | Date of birth | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Pavlos Kasampoulis | F | L | Jul. 21, 1988 | Iptamenoi Pagodromoi Athinai |
| 3 | Polykarpos Amanatidis | F | L | Aug. 23, 1979 | Aris Thessaloniki |
| 6 | Georgios Kouleles | F | R | Oct. 2, 1983 | Iptamenoi Pagodromoi Athinai |
| 7 | Eleftherios Fournogerakis | F | R | Oct. 19, 1979 | Mad Cows Athens |
| 8 | Iason Pachos | F | R | Aug. 3, 1985 | Iptamenoi Pagodromoi Athinai |
| 10 | Alexandros Valsamas-Rallis | F | R | Oct. 1, 1984 | Iptamenoi Pagodromoi Athinai |
| 12 | Dimitrios Malamas | F | R | May 12, 1973 | Aris Thessaloniki |
| 13 | Ioannis Koufis | F | R | Jun. 28, 1965 | Iptamenoi Pagodromoi Athinai |
| 17 | Panagiotis Koulouris | LW | L | Sep. 2, 1983 | Aris Thessaloniki |
| 19 | Georgios Kalyvas | F | L | Dec. 6, 1978 | Iptamenoi Pagodromoi Athinai |
| 21 | Dimitrios Kalyvas | F | L | Dec. 11, 1973 | Iptamenoi Pagodromoi Athinai |
| 22 | Kyriakos Adamidis | F | L | Dec. 03, 1990 | PAOK Thessaloníki HC |
| # | Player | Position | Shoots | Date of birth | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Nikolaos Chatzigiannis | D | L | Jan. 30, 1978 | Aris Thessaloniki |
| 9 | Ioannis Ziakas | D | L | Jul. 31, 1972 | PAOK Thessaloníki HC |
| 11 | Orestis Tilios | D | L | Nov. 7, 1974 | Iptamenoi Pagodromoi Athinai |
| 14 | Diogenis Souras | D | R | Sep. 8, 1986 | Iptamenoi Pagodromoi Athinai |
| 15 | Antonis Kanellis | D | L | May 29, 1991 | Warriors Athens |
| 24 | Nikolaos Papadopoulos | D | R | Dec. 22, 1987 | PAOK Thessaloníki HC |
| 16 | Marios Libertos | D | R | Jun. 14, 1970 | Iptamenoi Pagodromoi Athinai |
| # | Player | Position | Catches | Date of birth | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgios Fiotakis | G | L | Jan. 25, 1971 | Albatros Athens |
| 25 | Dalibor Ploutsis | G | L | Nov. 15, 1976 | Iptamenoi Pagodromoi Athinai |
| Title | Staff Member |
|---|---|
| Head Coach | Igor Apostolidis |
| Assistant Coach | Panagiotis Efkarpidis |
| Team Leader | Nikos Bliagos |
| Staff | Georgia Proimou |
World Championship record
| Year | Location | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Johannesburg, South Africa | Bronze in Pool C2 (29th) |
| 1993 | Ankara, Turkey | 2nd in Pool C qualifying Group 4 (NR) |
| 1995 | Johannesburg, South Africa | 9th place in Pool C2 (38th) |
| 1996 | Metulla, Israel | 3rd in Pool D qualifying Group 2 (NR) |
| 1998 | Krugersdorp / Pretoria, South Africa | 8th place in Pool D (40th) |
| 1999 | Krugersdorp, South Africa | 8th place in Pool D (39th) |
| 2008 | Luxembourg, Luxembourg | 5th place in Div III (45th) |
| 2009 | Dunedin, New Zealand | 4th place in Div III (44th) |
| 2010 | Kockelscheuer, Luxembourg | Silver in Group B of Division III (43rd) |
| 2011 | Cape Town, South Africa | 5th place in Division III (45th) |
| 2012 | Erzurum, Turkey | 5th place in Division III (45th) |
| 2013 | Cape Town, South Africa | 5th place in Division III (45th) |
All-time Record against other nations
As of May 25, 2009
| Team | GP | W | T | L | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turkey |
6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 35 | 28 |
 Bosnia and Herzegovina |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 |
| Georgia |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
 Mongolia |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 4 |
 Ireland |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 6 |
 Iceland |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 6 |
 Luxembourg |
4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 16 |
| Israel |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 28 |
 New Zealand |
4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 22 |
 Belgium |
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 19 |
 North Korea |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
 Australia |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
 Lithuania |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 20 |
 South Africa |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 20 |
 Spain |
4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 42 |
 United Arab Emirates |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
2010 World Championship
The Greece national ice hockey team competed in the 2010 IIHF World Championship Division III which was held in Luxembourg, from April 14- April 17. The Team was successful in winning the Silver Medal, Gold went to Ireland and the host country Luxembourg won Bronze
| April 14 16:30 | Greece | 7–1 (2–1, 1–0, 4–0) | United Arab Emirates | Patinoire de Kockelscheuer Attendance: 131 |
| Game reference | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ntalimpor Ploutsis | Goalies | Khaled Al Suwaidi Ahmed Al Dhaheri | Referee: Benny Haxelmans | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 20 min | Penalties | 20 min | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 32 | Shots | 35 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| April 15 16:30 | Greece | 1–3 (1–0, 0–3, 0–0) | Ireland | Patinoire de Kockelscheuer Attendance: 102 |
| Game reference | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ntalimpor Ploutsis | Goalies | Kevin Kelly | Referee: Wilhelm Schimm | |||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| 37 min | Penalties | 30 min | ||||||||||||
| 15 | Shots | 38 | ||||||||||||
| April 17 20:00 | Luxembourg | 1–2 (0–0, 0–1, 1–1) | Greece | Patinoire de Kockelscheuer Attendance: 1,150 |
| Game reference | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philippe Lepage | Goalies | Ntalimpor Ploutsis | Referee: Wilhelm Schimm | ||||||||
| |||||||||||
| 60 min | Penalties | 18 min | |||||||||
| 27 | Shots | 21 | |||||||||
1992 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships Group C2
Here are the Results of Team Greece's first medal winning championship in 1992.
| March 21, 1992 | Turkey | 3:15 | Greece | Johannesburg, South Africa |
| March 23, 1992 | Luxembourg | 5:9 | Greece | Johannesburg, South Africa |
| March 24, 1992 | Greece | 1:10 | Spain | Johannesburg, South Africa |
| March 26, 1992 | South Africa | 9:4 | Greece | Johannesburg, South Africa |
| March 27, 1992 | Greece | 7:4 | Israel | Johannesburg, South Africa |
Qualification-
| December 6, 1992 | Greece | 10:2 | Turkey | Turkey |
| December 7, 1992 | Israel | 8:1 | Greece | Turkey |
References
External links
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