The Israel national ice hockey team ( he, נבחרת ישראל בהוקי קרח) is the national men's

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

team of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. Since 2015, the team's Captain has been

Eliezer Sherbatov Eliezer "Elie" Alexeevich Sherbatov ( he, אליעזר שרבטוב; born 9 October 1991) is an Israeli-Canadian ice hockey player who plays for the Jonquière Marquis of the Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey, after having played for HC Mariupol o ...

. Israel was ranked 35th as of May 2017 by the

International Ice Hockey Federation The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; french: Fédération internationale de hockey sur glace; german: Internationale Eishockey-Föderation) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 83 m ...

. In 2019, the team won the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

in the 2019 IIHF World Championship Division II Group B tournament in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

. Its greatest achievement in its history was winning its division II group in 2005 and being promoted to division I for the first, and thus far only, time. Israel was relegated back to division II a year later.

Ranking

World Championships record

drew international attention when he first played in the 2005 IIHF World U18 Championship Division III, in

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

, at the age of 13, becoming the youngest player to step on the ice in an under-18 ice hockey world championship. He scored 9 points (4 goals + 5 assists) in 5 games, as the team won a bronze medal, Israel's first in hockey in a championship tournament. The team was promoted to the

IIHF World Championship Division I The IIHF World Championship Division I is an annual sports event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation. The divisional championship is played in two groups. History From 2001 until 2011 the two national teams that lost the relegati ...

in 2005 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships. The following year the team was relegated again to Division II. In 2010, Israel was relegated to Division III. However, in 2011 the team finished first in Division III Group B, earning a promotion back to Division II. Israel won all five of its games by a combined score of 57–9, and was promoted to the IIHF Division II WHC to be played in 2012. Sherbatov led the tournament in points, goals, assists, and +/-, earning 26 points (14 goals + 12 assists) in just four games. He was named the best forward of the tournament. At the

2012 IIHF World Championship Division II The 2012 IIHF World Championship Division II was an international Ice hockey tournaments run by the International Ice Hockey Federation. Group A was contested in Reykjavík, Iceland from April 12–18, 2012 and Group B was contested in Sofia, Bu ...

tournament in

, the Israeli team was able to stay in the second division. Beginning in 2015 and still as of 2020, Sherbatov was captain of the national team. In 2019, the team won the

in the 2019 IIHF World Championship Division II Group B tournament in

, Israel's first gold medal in hockey. With the win, the team qualified for the World Championships Division 2A. Sherbatov was named Best Forward, and had the best +/- rating, was the top goal scorer, and was the top scorer with 15 points (7 goals + 8 assists) in 5 games.

Olympics

Israel has tried to qualify for the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

three times. In 1996 they advanced past Greece, and were eliminated by Yugoslavia before the main qualification rounds, in trying to advance to the 1998 Olympics. For the

2014 Winter Olympics , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

, Israel attempted to qualify, going 0–3 in the pre-qualifier. For the

2018 Winter Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , winte ...

, Israel again attempted to qualify. However, they were unable to, going 1–2 in the pre-qualifier.

Team

Notable players

Oren Eizenman Oren Eizenman (born March 27, 1985) is an Israeli-Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He last played for the Nippon Paper Cranes in the Asia League Ice Hockey (ALIH). Biography Eizenman was born in Toronto, Canada, to Ronit and Moshe ...

Coaches

All-time record against other nations

''As of 30 April 2022''

References

External links

IIHF profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Israel National Ice Hockey Team Ice hockey teams in Israel National ice hockey teams in Asia