Nickname(s) Portugal Captain Kevin Hortinha Appearances 0 | Head coach Jim Aldred Current IIHF N/A Location Portugal | |
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Association Federação Portuguesa de Desportos no Gelo | ||
The Portugal national ice hockey team is the national men's ice hockey team of Portugal. The team is controlled by the Federation of Portuguese Ice Sports, a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) since May 13, 1999. Portugal is currently not ranked in the IIHF World Ranking and is not actively competing in any IIHF World Championship events.
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2000
Ice hockey was played in Portugal from 1996 until 2006 in the Palácio do Gelo shopping center, in Viseu. The ice rink has since closed down. Since 2010, ice hockey practices and friendly games have been played at Elvas, Portugal.
In 2000, The national team of Portugal played three games, the only games they ever played. The team they compiled to play was made up of former Portuguese immigrants who played ice hockey in the United States and Canada, as well as former players from traditional roller hockey. The event consisted of three games between the newly created national team of Portugal and the First Portuguese Canadian Cultural Center (FPCCC) from Toronto, Ontario, representing Canada. The games were held from June 21 and ending at June 23, 2000 at the Palácio do Gelo in Viseu.
The tournament was a game venture by the Federação Portuguesa de Desportos No Gelo and the Embassy of Canada, namely the Ambassador of Canada, Robert Vanderloo. The event was also sponsored by Banco Comercial Português and Nortel.
The FPCCC won the first game 18–6 and the second 21–5. Pedro Regado was the first ever player to score for Portugal when he scored on 8:04 mark of the first period. The third and final game was played with the decision to mix-up the teams, placing Portuguese descendants of the FPCCC on the Portuguese team. At the end of the third match, the score was a close 15–11 for FPCCC. Portugal has not played an organized match until 2015.
2015 onwards
In January 2015, Portugal returned to play two international exhibitions games, against the Cesti Ivi at Elvas, Portugal. Portugal won their first game ever with a 6-4 win and a 6-2 win on the day after. This exhibition games were sponsored by the Czech Republic embassy in Portugal, namely by the strong support of Czech embassador Stanislav Kázecký.
On January 14, 2016. Portugal played two exhibition games in Prague, Czech Republic. Portugal lost 0-2 against the Cesti Ivi and 0-3 against the Sklepovsti Srsani. Two days afterwards Portugal won their first ever away game with a 4-3 victory against the Cesti Ivi.
On the 14 and 15 January 2017, Portugal hosted a quadrangular tournament in Elvas, Portugal. This was the largest ice hockey competition ever held in the country. Other than team Portugal, there were invited two teams from Czech Republic, the Cesti Ivi, the Sklepovsti Srsani and the second division French team Evry-Viry Jets. Even if Portugal was not able to conquer the tournament, this event was another step forward for the Portuguese ice hockey community and showed their capacity of organizing an international event.
Portugal is now expected to play in May 2017, at Granada, Spain.