Argentina men's national ice hockey team

Summary

The Argentina national ice hockey team (Spanish: Selección de hockey sobre hielo de Argentina) is the national men's ice hockey team of Argentina. The team is controlled by the Argentine Association of Ice and In-Line Hockey (AAHHL) and has been an associate member of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) since 31 May 1998.[2] Argentina is currently not ranked in the IIHF World Ranking and has not entered in any IIHF World Championship events, but they have played in the Amerigol LATAM Cup since 2018, a tournament for teams mostly from Latin America and the Caribbean.

Argentina
Shirt badge/Association crest
AssociationAsociación Argentina de Hockey sobre Hielo y en Línea
Head coachDicky Haiek
AssistantsRamon Arana
Most gamesPedro Baeza (55)
Top scorerMatias Weir (54)
Most pointsOwen Haiek (117)
Team colors     
IIHF codeARG
Ranking
Current IIHFNR (28 May 2023)[1]
First international
 Mexico 5–1 Argentina 
(Cuautitlán Izcalli, Mexico; 18 February 2012)
Biggest win
 Argentina 26–0 Chile 
(Mexico City, Mexico; 5 June 2017)
Biggest defeat
 Mexico 18–0 Argentina 
(Mexico City, Mexico; 8 March 2014)
IIHF Development Cup
Appearances1 (first in 2023)
Best result 2nd (2023)
Pan American Tournament
Appearances4 (first in 2014)
Best result 3rd (2017)
Amerigol LATAM Cup
Appearances5 (first in 2018)
Best result 1st (2023)
International record (W–L–T)
14–22–0
Medal record
Amerigol LATAM Cup
Gold medal – first place 2023 Coral Springs Division 1
IIHF Development Cup
Silver medal – second place 2023 Bratislava
Pan American Tournament
Bronze medal – third place 2017 Mexico City

History edit

Argentina played its first game in February 2012 against Mexico in a friendly match in Cuautitlán Izcalli, Mexico.[3] Argentina lost the game 1–5. The following day, they played their second friendly match against Mexico and suffered a wider loss of 1–10.[3]

Pan American Ice Hockey Tournament edit

Argentina has participated in all four editions of the Pan American Ice Hockey Tournament.

In the 2014 Pan American Ice Hockey Tournament, they recorded their first ever victory, defeating Brazil by a score of 5–3. They finished fourth after losing to Colombia in the bronze medal game, 9–1.

After disappointing performances in the 2015 and 2016 tournaments, in which the team finished near last place both times, Argentina obtained its first ever international ice hockey medal in the 2017 tournament. Argentina recorded the tournament's biggest ever win with a 26–0 score against Chile, before defeating Mexico's U23 squad 6–1 in the bronze medal match.

Amerigol competition edit

Amerigol LATAM Cup edit

While the LATAM Cup is the only annual competition for Argentina, it is not an IIHF-sanctioned tournament, and therefore does not count towards Argentina's official international record.

In 2018, 2019 and 2021, Argentina participated in the LATAM Cup tournament hosted by the Amerigol International Hockey Association. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was no 2020 edition of the tournament. The event is hosted at the Florida Panthers Ice Den in Coral Springs, Florida.

Argentina won against Brazil, Venezuela, and Mexico, before a semi-final elimination in 2018 and quarter-final eliminations in both 2019 and 2021. In the 2021 edition, Argentina was eliminated in double overtime by the eventual champions, Colombia.

2023 version of the LATAM cup was played again in Coral Springs, Florida at the Florida Panthers Ice Den and for the first time the Argentina Men's Division 1 team captured GOLD placing 1st overall. Argentina went 5–0 through the whole tournament (wins against Greece 2x, Mexico & Lebanon 2x) and capped it off with a Double OverTime game-winning goal by Captain Owen Haiek.

2022 Amerigol LATAM Spring Classic edit

In March 2022, Argentina won their first ever championship in ice hockey national team competition at the 2022 Amerigol LATAM Spring Classic in Farmers Branch, Texas, a suburb of Dallas.[4] Argentina was undefeated in this tournament. In the group phase, the team defeated Venezuela (11–3), recorded their first ever victory against Colombia (8–3), defeated Puerto Rico (4–2), and defeated Brazil (10–6).[5] In the semi-finals, Argentina again defeated Venezuela (10–3), before winning the championship against Puerto Rico by a score of 6–3.[6] The title win received significant mainstream press coverage in Argentina.[7][8]

Tournament record edit

Pan American Tournament edit

Year Host Result Pld W OTW OTL L
2014   Mexico City 4th place 4 1 0 0 3
2015 5th place 5 1 0 0 4
2016 5th place 5 1 0 0 4
2017   3rd place 6 2 0 0 4
Total 4/4 20 5 0 0 15

Amerigol LATAM Cup edit

LATAM CUP 2022 Dallas
Gold Medal
1st Place

LATAM CUP 2022 Miami
Silver Medal
2nd Place

LATAM CUP 2023 Miami
Gold Medal
1st Place

IIHF Development Cup edit

Year Host Result Pld W OTW OTL L
2017 through 2022 did not participate
2023   Bratislava   2nd place 4 3 0 0 1
Total 1/4 4 3 0 0 1

Roster edit

Last roster update: September 1st, 2022 [9]

Head coach:   Dicky Haiek

# Name Pos Team
88 Rafael Martell G
73 Christian Freer G
31 Brody Lim G
XX Copello Augusto G
5 Pedro Baeza C
11 Owen Haiek C
XX Kevin Garcia C
XX Benjamin Chubbs C
39 Nicolas Grabenheimer LW
13 Vaughn Pongonis LW
XX Vega Nico LW
53 Daniel Ioannou RW
28 Mati Weir RW
86 Ethan Lim RW
37 Mateo Rampoldi LW
10 Germanier-Torrado Ian D
25 Tomas Del Gesso D
19 Andres Iannicelli D
22 Juan Mandayo D
24 Matias Pizzini D
29 Tomas Abrate D
33 Mariano Gonzalez Leoni D

10 Neil Sosa D


20 Ronald Sosa D

All-time record against other national teams edit

Last match update: 18 September 2022[10]

Team GP W T L GF GA Dif
  Brazil 7 5 0 2 41 30 +11
  Chile 1 1 0 0 26 0 +26
  Colombia 11 2 0 9 22 63 -41
  Jamaica 2 0 0 2 5 10 -5
  Mexico 8 1 0 7 4 66 -62
  Puerto Rico 5 3 0 2 21 17 +4
  Venezuela 4 4 0 0 39 12 +27
Total 36 14 0 22 158 198 -40

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "IIHF Men's World Ranking". IIHF. 28 May 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  2. ^ "Argentina". National Teams of Ice Hockey. Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  3. ^ a b http://nationalteamsoficehockey.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Argentina-Men-All-Time-Results.pdf[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ "'We've planted the seed': Stars host first Amerigol LATAM Spring Classic". NHL.com. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  5. ^ "Argentina dominó en el arranque del Clásico Primaveral". NHL.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  6. ^ "Argentina logró histórico título en el Clásico Primaveral". NHL.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  7. ^ "Los Leones del hielo, campeones: cómo la sed de gloria supera la falta de infraestructura en el deporte". LA NACION (in Spanish). 29 March 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  8. ^ Olé (28 March 2022). "Argentina campeón por primera vez en... ¡Hockey sobre hielo!". www.ole.com.ar (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  9. ^ Argentina Ice Hockey - Roster
  10. ^ "Ice Hockey in Argentina". National Teams of Ice Hockey. Retrieved 14 April 2023.

External links edit

  • Official website  
  • Argentine Association of Ice and In-Line Hockey (in Spanish)
  • Amerigol International Hockey Association