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.
 | |||
| Association | Asociación Argentina de Hockey sobre Hielo y en Línea | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Head coach | Dicky Haiek | ||
| Assistants | Ramon Arana | ||
| Most games | Pedro Baeza (55) | ||
| Top scorer | Matias Weir (54) | ||
| Most points | Owen Haiek (117) | ||
| Team colors | |||
| IIHF code | ARG | ||
|
| |||
| Ranking | |||
| Current IIHF | NR (27 May 2024)[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 | |||
| Appearances | 1 (first in 2023) | ||
| Best result |  2nd (2023) | ||
| Pan American Tournament | |||
| Appearances | 4 (first in 2014) | ||
| Best result |  3rd (2017) | ||
| Amerigol LATAM Cup | |||
| Appearances | 5 (first in 2018) | ||
| Best result |  1st (2023) | ||
| International record (W–L–T) | |||
| 14–22–0 | |||
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Amerigol LATAM Cup | ||
 |
2023 Coral Springs | Division 1 |
| IIHF Development Cup | ||
 |
2023 Bratislava | |
| Pan American Tournament | ||
 |
2017 Mexico City | |
History
editArgentina 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
editArgentina 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
editAmerigol LATAM Cup
editWhile 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
editIn 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
editPan 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
editLATAM 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
editLast 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
editLast 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
editReferences
edit- ^ "IIHF Men's World Ranking". IIHF. 27 May 2024. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
- ^ "Argentina". National Teams of Ice Hockey. Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
- ^ a b http://nationalteamsoficehockey.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Argentina-Men-All-Time-Results.pdf[permanent dead link]
- ^ "'We've planted the seed': Stars host first Amerigol LATAM Spring Classic". NHL.com. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
- ^ "Argentina dominó en el arranque del Clásico Primaveral". NHL.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 September 2022.
- ^ "Argentina logró histórico título en el Clásico Primaveral". NHL.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 September 2022.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Olé (28 March 2022). "Argentina campeón por primera vez en... ¡Hockey sobre hielo!". www.ole.com.ar (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 September 2022.
- ^ Argentina Ice Hockey - Roster
- ^ "Ice Hockey in Argentina". National Teams of Ice Hockey. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
