Turkmenistan men's national ice hockey team
Association | National Center of Turkmenistan for Winter Sports |
---|---|
Head coach | Rustam Karimov[1] |
Home stadium | Winter Sports Complex Ashgabat |
Team colors | |
IIHF code | TKM |
First international | |
Turkmenistan 7 – 2 Minsk Team (Ashgabat, Turkmenistan; November, 2013) |
The Turkmenistan national ice hockey team is the national ice hockey team of Turkmenistan. The team is controlled by the National Center of Turkmenistan for Winter Sports, a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation.
History
The first national team formed in 2011 of four teams from Ashgabat - Oguzkhan, Alp Arslan, Shir and Burgut.
In 2013, the national team of Turkmenistan held its first international match against Minsk city, which was won by 7:2.[2][3]
Ice hockey in Turkmenistan
The sport is not so popular in Turkmenistan is ice hockey, until the President of Turkmenistan, Saparmurat Niyazov ordered the construction of an ice palace in the desert foothills of the Kopet Dag. In 2006, the company Bouygues has completed a construction of the first ice palace. In 2011, the country had opened the second ice palace worth €134.4 million. The total area of the new sports palace is 107,000 square meters in the center of the palace housed the ice arena measuring 60 by 30 meters. One of the biggest ice hockey arenas in the CIS.