The Greece National Ice hockey team has competed in 10 IIHF World Championship Division III (1992, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013) 4 World Championship Qualifications (1993, 1996, 2008 and 2012) and 1 Olympic Qualification (1996)
At present time, Greece is unable to compete in IIHF tournaments because it cannot fulfill the minimum standard of having one operational "Olympic size" indoor rink in the country. The National Team last competed in the 2013 IIHF World Championship Division III that were held in South Africa and will only compete again officially when a regular ice rink opens and the Greek Ice Hockey Championship starts up again.
History
Ice hockey started in Greece in 1984 by players that returned to Greece from abroad. The first official Greek Championship was held in 1989 at the Peace and Friendship Stadium with five teams taking place. It was the first time that ice hockey games were held in an official-size rink in the country. In 1990, the first junior national team was formed and took part in the World Junior Championship Pool C, held in Yugoslavia. In 1991, the junior national team took part in the World Junior Championship, held in Italy. In 1992, the first ever men's national team was formed and took place in the World Championships Pool C2 held in South Africa. With only two weeks of serious training abroad and the support of the Greeks of South Africa, the men's national team finished ahead of three other new hockey nations, winning the bronze medal, placing them 29th overall.
Despite the great achievement, the start of the decline of the sport came in 1993. Economic help was discontinued by the Greek Undersecretary of State for Sports and all expenses to keep ice hockey alive were passed over to the players. Practices stopped and many players quit.
Since May 2003, the last ice rink in Greece closed and the national team was left without an ice rink. In the next 4 years, players of the national team traveled at their own expense in the Czech Republic in order to train themselves.
Ice hockey was slowly dying until Dimitris Kalyvas (last captain of the Greece National Team) decided to start efforts to bring the National Team back to international competition. He focused his efforts with the Greek Government and specifically the Ministry of Sports in Greece, but also with the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). After many months of effort he convinced the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) that the National Team is still active and that development of the sport is continuing in the country despite not having an ice rink. He later received the support of the Hellenic Ice Sports Federation. After many emails, the IIHF decided to send 2 delegates to Athens to investigate. After a review by the IIHF in 2007 Greece retained its status within the IIHF and took part in a qualification tournament against Armenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina in Sarajevo prior to the 2008 Division III championship in Luxembourg. They defeated both teams, beating Bosnia-Herzegovina 10 – 1 in their first international game after almost 10 years and Armenia 8 – 5 (although Armenia was forced to forfeit each game 5 – 0 for using non-eligible players). After the qualification that gave new life to Ice Hockey in Greece, they went on to take part in 6 consecutive World Championships Div. III. From 2008 until 2013, highlighted by a second-place finish (Silver Medal) in their group (third overall) in 2010.
Dimitris went on to be the longest running Captain of the National team and one of the longest running Captains in international ice hockey history wearing the "C" on his jersey for 15 years. He is also the top scorer of Greek Ice Hockey history having scored 26 goals and 55 points helping the National team on and off the ice.
Unfortunately, despite the efforts of the National team and Dimitris continuous efforts off the ice, the IIHF determined in 2013 that the team will not be able to participate in any World Championship programs until an Olympic sized ice rink is constructed in the country.[2]
In December 2023, it was announced that Greece would ice a team at the 2024 IIHF Development Cup, a tournament for nations that can't participate in the IIHF World Championship, due to the lack of an Olympic sized ice rink. Greece will play against Liechtenstein, Ireland, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil & Portugal.
In order for Greece to create a national team again that will participate in IIHF World Championships, the following need to occur:
1) an Olympic-size rink needs to open in the country
2) a Greek League of at least 4 Teams needs to get organized.
If players with Greek heritage who are living abroad want to play for the Greece National Team, then they need to follow the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) rules [3] below.
According to the rules of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), which is the governing body of Ice Hockey Worldwide:
When a player has multiple citizenship (for example Greek-Canadian or Greek-American, etc.) and he/she has never represented any country in any IIHF championship or an Olympic competition or in qualifications to these competitions, then in order to play for the country of his/her choice he/she must:
a) Hold a passport of the country they chose to represent. In this case a Greek Passport.
b) prove that he has participated at least two consecutive hockey seasons and 16 consecutive months (480 days) in the national competitions of his new country after his 10th birthday (In our case the Greek Ice Hockey League where games are played in Greece). Female players need to have participated on a consistent basis for at least one hockey season and have been member of the new national association for at least 8 consecutive months (240 days) during that period.
c) Is a resident in the country that he/she wishes to represent (lives in Greece) during which period he/she has neither transferred to another country nor played ice hockey within any other country.
After following the above a player would be eligible to play for the national team of Greece.
All-times top Scorers of the National Team
Men's Hellenic National Team (including 2013 World Championship Div. III)
The Greece national ice hockey team competed in the 2010 IIHF World Championship Division III which was held in Luxembourg from April 14-17. The team was successful in winning the silver medal; gold went to Ireland and the host country Luxembourg won bronze
Note: Greece was awarded a 5–0 victory over Armenia in the 2008 IIHF World Championship Division III Qualification after Armenia forfeited the game due to player eligibility issues. The score of the game was originally an 8–5 for Greece.
