The Greek national ice hockey team (Greek: Εθνική Ελλάδος χόκεϊ επί πάγου) is the national ice hockey team of Greece and as an associate member of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) competed in Division III of the IIHF World Championships. Greece are unable to compete in any IIHF tournaments 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 at the Peace and Friendship Stadium with five teams taking place. It was the first time that ice hockey games were held in an official-size rink in the country. 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 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 men's 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.
2013 IIHF World Championship Division III Qualification. Greece won the match 13-0.
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 any World Championship programs until an Olympic sized ice rink is constructed in the country.[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 the country despite not having an ice rink. He later received 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 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
Forwards
| # |
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 |
| 92 |
Ari Minadis |
F |
R |
Sep. 16, 1992 |
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 |
Goaltenders
| # |
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 |
Staff
| 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
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
| Game reference |
|---|
| Ntalimpor Ploutsis | Goalies | Khaled Al Suwaidi
Ahmed Al Dhaheri | Referee:
Benny Haxelmans |
| 2:30 – Koufis (Papadopoulous) | 1 – 0 | | | 1 – 1 | 13:45 – Al. Dhaheri (Al Zaabi, Al Darmaki) | | 14:23 – G. Kalyvas (D. Kalyvas, Papadopoulous) | 2 – 1 | | | 25:55 – Koufis (D. Kalyvas, Lempesis) | 3 – 1 | | | 41:37 – G. Kalyvas (D. Kalyvas, Pachos) (PP) | 4 – 1 | | | 49:13 – Pachos (G. Kalyvas) (PP) | 5 – 1 | | | 53:09 – Koufis (Papadopoulous) (PP) | 6 – 1 | | | 55:15 – G. Kalyvas (D. Kalyvas)(PP) | 7 – 1 | |
|
| 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 |
| 3:53 – D. Kalyvas (Papadopoulous, Tilios) (PP2) | 1 – 0 | | | 1 – 1 | 25:00 – Hamill (M. Morrison, O'Driscoll) (PP) | | 1 – 2 | 32:35 – M. Morrison (Ewen, Martin) | | 1 – 3 | 36:26 – M. Morrison (Hamill) (SH) |
|
| 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 |
| 0 – 1 | 29:31 – G. Kalyvas (D. Kalyvas) (PP2) | | 0 – 2 | 52:23 – Lambridis (Efkarpidis) | | 56:27 – Dessouroux (Welter) (PP2) | 1 – 2 | |
|
| 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 24, 1992 | Greece | 1:10 |  Spain | Johannesburg, South Africa |
Qualification-
References
External links
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| Africa | |
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| Americas | |
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Asia and
Oceania | |
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| Europe | |
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| Former teams | |
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Israel 26–2 Greece 
Bosnia and Herzegovina 
Mongolia 
Iceland 
New Zealand .svg.png){kind=small}
Belgium 
North Korea 
Australia 
Lithuania 
South Africa 
United Arab Emirates