Israel men's national ice hockey team

The Israel national ice hockey team (Hebrew: נבחרת ישראל בהוקי קרח) is the national men's ice hockey team of Israel. Since 2015, the team's Captain has been Eliezer Sherbatov. Israel was ranked 35th as of May 2017 by the International Ice Hockey Federation.[4] In 2019, the team won the gold medal in the 2019 IIHF World Championship Division II Group B tournament in Mexico City.

Israel
Shirt badge/Association crest
AssociationIce Hockey Federation of Israel
General managerFelix Kozak
Head coachTy Newberry
AssistantsPavel Levin
Eduard Revniaga
CaptainMichail Kozhevnikov
Most gamesSergei Frenkel (81)[1]
Top scorerDaniel Mazour (48)[2]
Most pointsSergei Frenkel (109)[1]
Team colors     
IIHF codeISR
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Home colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Away colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Third colours
Ranking
Current IIHF33 Increase 1 (28 May 2023)[3]
Highest IIHF32 (2014)
Lowest IIHF40 (first in 2011)
First international
Spain  23–4  Israel
(Johannesburg, South Africa; 22 March 1992)
Biggest win
Israel  26–2  Greece
(Cape Town, South Africa; 15 April 2011)
Biggest defeat
Latvia  32–0  Israel
(Ljubljana, Slovenia; 15 March 1993)
IIHF World Championships
Appearances28 (first in 1992)
Best result28th (2006)
International record (W–L–T)
67–84–9

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

Date Rank Movement
200234
200335Decrease 1
200436Decrease 1
200535Increase 1
200633Increase 2
200734[5]Decrease 1
200835[6]Decrease 1
200936[7]Decrease 1
Feb 201038[8]Decrease 2
Apr 201039[9]Decrease 1
201140[10]Decrease 1
201240[11]±0
201339[12]Increase 1
Feb 201433[13]Increase 6
Apr 201432[14]Increase 1
201533[15]Decrease 1
201634[16]Decrease 1
201735[4]Decrease 1

World Championships record

Eliezer Sherbatov drew international attention when he first played in the 2005 IIHF World U18 Championship Division III, in Bulgaria, at the age of 13, becoming the youngest player to step on the ice in an under-18 ice hockey world championship.[17][18] 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.[18][19][20]

The team was promoted to the IIHF World Championship Division I in 2005 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships.[21] The following year the team was relegated again to Division II.[22] In 2010, Israel was relegated to Division III.[23]

However, in 2011 the team finished first in Division III Group B, earning a promotion back to Division II.[24] 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.[18] Sherbatov led the tournament in points, goals, assists, and +/-, earning 26 points (14 goals + 12 assists) in just four games.[25] He was named the best forward of the tournament.[25][26]

At the 2012 IIHF World Championship Division II tournament in Bulgaria, the Israeli team was able to stay in the second division.[26] Beginning in 2015 and still as of 2020, Sherbatov was captain of the national team.[27][25]

In 2019, the team won the gold medal in the 2019 IIHF World Championship Division II Group B tournament in Mexico City, Israel's first gold medal in hockey.[28][20] With the win, the team qualified for the World Championships Division 2A.[29] 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.[26]

Year Place Division Division place Group GP W T L GF GA
199230thGroup C24th51132242
199331stGroup C16th72053097
199434thGroup C27th51041936
199535thGroup C26th63033923
199635thGroup D7th73133435
199733rdGroup D5th52032228
199835thGroup D3rd53023919
199933rdGroup D2nd4301215
200034thGroup D1st4301317
200132ndDivision II2ndGroup B54012111
200234thDivision II3rdGroup A53021422
200337thDivision II3rdGroup B51221119
200438thDivision II5thGroup A5014328
200530thDivision II1stGroup B54102111
200628thDivision I6thGroup A5005347
200734thDivision II3rdGroup B4202624
200836thDivision II4thGroup A52031628
200938thDivision II5thGroup A5104938
201039thDivision II6thGroup B50051155
201141stDivision III1st5500579
201239thDivision II5thGroup B52031922
201335thDivision II1stGroup B54013014
201434thDivision II6thGroup A51041937
201539thDivision II5thGroup B51041120
201637thDivision II3rdGroup B52032233
201737thDivision II3rdGroup B53022414
201837thDivision II3rdGroup B53022414
201935thDivision II1stGroup B55003216
2020Division IICancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic[30]
2021Division IICancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic[30]
202231stDivision II5thGroup A4004432
202333rdDivision II5thGroup A51041437
Total15165680628823

Olympics

Israel has tried to qualify for the Olympics 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, Israel attempted to qualify, going 0–3 in the pre-qualifier.[31]

For the 2018 Winter Olympics, Israel again attempted to qualify.[32] However, they were unable to, going 1–2 in the pre-qualifier.

Team

Roster

Roster for the 2023 IIHF World Championship.[33]

Goaltenders
# Player Catches Height Weight Date of birth Club
1 Nir Tichon L 183 cm 75 kg (1993-10-17) 17 October 1993 Czech Republic HC Stadion Cheb
25 Maxim Kalyayev L 179 cm 79 kg (1998-04-15) 15 April 1998 Israel Rishon Devils
Defencemen
# Player Shoots Height Weight Date of birth Club
5 Denis Kozev L 182 cm 86 kg (1998-09-08) 8 September 1998 Israel Maccabi North Stars Metulla
4 Evgeni Kozhevnikov L 188 cm 95 kg (1981-10-29) 29 October 1981 Israel HC Bat Yam Chiefs
10 Michail Kozhevnikov L 183 cm 88 kg (1981-10-29) 29 October 1981 Israel HC Bat Yam Chiefs
2 Nir Sigalov L 173 cm 83 kg (2005-04-06) 6 April 2005 United States HC Rhode Island
Forwards
# Player Shoots Height Weight Date of birth Club
7 Roey Aharonovich L 175 cm 71 kg (1996-07-07) 7 July 1996 United States Bryn Athyn Lions
14 Itay Ben Tov L 180 cm 83 kg (1994-07-24) 24 July 1994 Israel Maccabi North Stars Metulla
12 Timur Galeyev L 174 cm 68 kg (1996-06-20) 20 June 1996 Israel Jerusalem Bears
24 Yuval Halpert L 171 cm 74 kg (2000-09-20) 20 September 2000 Netherlands Dordrecht Lions
3 Ariel Kapulkin R 176 cm 77 kg (1998-09-19) 19 September 1998 United States NYU Violets
22 Maxim Khubashvili L 182 cm 76 kg (1997-11-18) 18 November 1997 Israel Rishon Devils
16 David Levin L 179 cm 80 kg (1999-09-16) 16 September 1999 England Nottingham Panthers
11 Daniel Mazour L 186 cm 86 kg (1992-01-05) 5 January 1992 Israel Monfort Ma'alot
9 Aviv Milner L 183 cm 85 kg (1995-02-23) 23 February 1995 Israel Kfar Saba Kings
15 Yann Raskin R 184 cm 77 kg (2005-06-22) 22 June 2005 Canada Ayr Centennials
23 Ori Segal L 173 cm 78 kg (2004-05-08) 8 May 2004 United States Walpole Express
17 Ilya Spektor L 171 cm 86 kg (1996-04-10) 10 April 1996 Israel Kfar Saba Kings
6 Itay Vaitz R 185 cm 75 kg (2001-05-22) 22 May 2001 Finland LeKi-75
19 Viktor Vorobiev L 182 cm 86 kg (1987-05-24) 24 May 1987 Israel Kfar Saba Kings

Notable players

Coaches

List of coaches for each tournament[34]

Period Name
1992–1993Israel Gideon Lee
1994Canada Marshall Uretsky
1995Israel Russia Semyon Yakubovich
1996–1997Russia Nikolai Epshtein
1998Israel Russia Lev Sudat
1999–2000Israel Sergei Matin
2001–2004Israel Boris Mindel
2005–2009Canada Jean Perron
2010Israel Boris Mindel
2011Israel Sergei Belo
2012–2014Canada Jean Perron
2015–2017United States Derek Eisler
2018Israel Russia Semyon Yakubovich
2019–2021Czech Republic United States Bobby Holík
2022–presentUnited States Ty Newberry

All-time record against other nations

As of 30 April 2022

Team GP W T L GF GA
 Australia125074458
 Belgium156184660
 Bulgaria116235036
 China91082558
 Croatia5005536
 Estonia5005979
 France100109
 Georgia110072
 Germany1001211
 Great Britain1001012
 Greece54105913
 Hungary100108
 Iceland106044429
 Ireland110071
 Japan100117
 Kyrgyzstan110054
 Latvia1001032
 Lithuania100127
 Luxembourg4220269
 Mexico116054246
 Mongolia110050
 Netherlands100107
 New Zealand83053631
 North Korea85214531
 Romania4004255
 Serbia72051939
 South Africa87014621
 South Korea40131123
 Spain81161568
 Turkey88007811
 Ukraine1001029
Total15566980631832

References

  1. "Sergei Frenkel profile". eliteprospects.com.
  2. "Daniel Mazour profile". eliteprospects.com.
  3. "IIHF Men's World Ranking". IIHF. 28 May 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  4. "2017 Men's World Ranking".
  5. "2007 Men's World Ranking".
  6. "2008 Men's World Ranking".
  7. "2009 Men's World Ranking".
  8. "2010 Men's World Ranking (after Olympics)".
  9. "2010 Men's World Ranking".
  10. "2011 Men's World Ranking".
  11. "2012 Men's World Ranking".
  12. "2013 Men's World Ranking".
  13. "2014 Men's World Ranking (February)".
  14. "2014 Men's World Ranking (April)".
  15. "2015 Men's World Ranking".
  16. "2016 Men's World Ranking".
  17. Alex Di Pietro. "Sherbatov a Montréal Junior". The Suburban. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  18. Sammy Hudes (22 July 2011). "Israeli hockey player shocks world; (Video) Eliezer Sherbatov scores unbelievable, made-for-YouTube goal". Ynet.
  19. Mike G. Morreale (18 July 2011). "Sherbatov scored amazing D-III Worlds goal". National Hockey League.
  20. Marty Klinkenberg (21 August 2020). "Israeli-Canadian Eliezer Sherbatov on his Jewish heritage and playing hockey in Poland". The Globe and Mail.
  21. "2005 IIHF World Championship Div II Group A".
  22. "Final rankings" (PDF).
  23. 2010 IIHF World Championship DIV II Group B
  24. 2011 IIHF World Championship DIV III
  25. Murray Greig (24 August 2020). "Israeli's Auschwitz switch causes stir". China Daily.
  26. "Eli Sherbatov profile – Ели Шербатов Профиль". Eurohockey.com.
  27. Cramer, Philissa (9 August 2020). "Captain of Israel's hockey team signs to play in Oswiecim, otherwise known as Auschwitz". Cleveland Jewish News.
  28. Joshua Halickman (3 May 2019). "Gold-medal celebration on ice for Israel hockey". The Jerusalem Post.
  29. Abigail Klein Leichman (5 May 2019). "Israeli national ice-hockey team wins gold medal". ISRAEL21c.
  30. "Men's Division II, III cancelled". IIHF. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  31. "Here are the 32 hockey teams asking to be a part of 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics". Yahoo! Sport.
  32. "IIHF Error page". iihf.com.
  33. "2023 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships Division II, Group A – Team Israel Roster. (Men)". International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  34. "Team Staff History For Israel". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
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