Rotterdam Panda's was a professional

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 h ...

team in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. They played in the Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

, the highest-level hockey division in the Netherlands. Home games were played at the Weena-ijshal, a (now-closed) arena near Rotterdam Central train station.

History

Ice hockey had been played in Rotterdam since the 1950s. The Rotterdam Panda's team played six seasons in the Eredivisie, winning its first national championship during its first season. It attracted several players from other teams in the Eredivisie, especially Nijmegen. The team sported a green and white jersey with the logo of the

World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wo ...

panda as a crest. Securing a home arena was a major problem for the Panda's. The Weena-ijshal shut its doors in 1993. Since then, there has been no commitment to build a new ice hockey arena in Rotterdam, despite discussions as lately as 2007.

Season results

''Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, T = Ties, L = Losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, Pts = Points''

Notable players

* Ron Berteling * Henk Hille * Mari Saris * Alexander Schaafsma *

Sean Simpson Sean Simpson (born May 4, 1960) is a Canadian ice hockey coach and former professional ice hockey player. He last served as head coach of Adler Mannheim in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) in Germany. As a player, Simpson played two AHL seas ...

* Ben Tijnagel * Harrie van Heumen * Bill Wensink

Championships

;Dutch National Championship 3 times: 1986-87; 1988–89; 1989–90

References

External links

1986 Team photo with player and staff names
(

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

)
Netherlands Ice Hockey Federation history
(

) {{RotterdamSport Ice hockey teams in the Netherlands Ice hockey clubs established in 1986 Sports clubs in Rotterdam