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 hock ...

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 ''"N ...

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 Ron Berteling (born 6 September 1957) is a Dutch retired ice hockey player and coach. He represented the Netherlands ice hockey at the 1980 Winter Olympics, and served as captain of the Netherlands men's national ice hockey team from 1982 to 19 ...

Henk Hille Henk Hille (born 16 May 1959) is a Dutch former professional ice hockey player. A defenceman, he played three seasons in the Allsvenskan in the mid-1980s and 48 times for the Netherlands national ice hockey team including all their contests ...

Mari Saris Mari Saris (born September 1, 1958) in a former Dutch professional ice hockey player. He played 25 seasons for Nederlandse IJshockey Bond clubs and for the Nederlands at the 1981 World Ice Hockey Championships. He was born in 's-Hertogenbosch. ...

Alexander Schaafsma Alexander Schaafsma (born 28 February 1974 in Groningen) is a Dutch ice hockey player. Career A defenceman, Schaafsma began his senior club career in 1990–91 with hometown GIJS Groningen. He played 1991–2 with the Rotterdam Panda's, then 19 ...

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 seaso ...

Ben Tijnagel Ben "Bennie" Tijnagel (12 June 1964 – 5 December 2005) was a Dutch professional ice hockey player. He played a total of 18 seasons in the Eredivisie. He also competed for the Netherlands in the 1987 World Ice Hockey Championships. Biography Bo ...

Harrie van Heumen Harrie van Heumen (born 24 December 1959) is a former ice hockey forward from the Netherlands. He participated in the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New Yor ...

Bill Wensink Bill Wensink (born July 15, 1958 in Kingston, Ontario) is a Canadian former ice hockey player. A Dutch Canadian, he spent 14 years playing in the Eredivisie and in two IIHF World Championships for the Netherlands national ice hockey team. Wensi ...

Championships

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

References

External links

1986 Team photo with player and staff names
( Dutch)
Netherlands Ice Hockey Federation history
( Dutch) {{RotterdamSport Ice hockey teams in the Netherlands Ice hockey clubs established in 1986 Sports clubs in Rotterdam