Ireland men's national ice hockey team
The Irish national ice hockey team is the national men's ice hockey team of the Republic of Ireland run by the Irish Ice Hockey Association and a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation since 26 September 1996.
The Republic of Ireland gained promotion to Division II of the IIHF World Championships in 2007, but after a worst performance in their Division II debut, they were then relegated back to Division III. The team is unable to participate in any IIHF World Championship tournaments since placing 4th with 6 points in 2013. With the closure of the Dundalk Ice Dome, they no longer meet their minimum participation standards. In 2017, the team returned at international competition after a four-year absence, and played at the inaugural Development Cup in Canillo, Andorra. They finished as the runners-up after falling 11–4 to Morocco.
The team has had members from both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and has a working relationship with the Belfast Giants of the Elite Ice Hockey League and new Irish clubs, Flyers Ice Hockey Club and Dundalk Bulls.
History
The Republic of Ireland was accepted into the IIHF in May 1996 after a nomination by Great Britain and a second by Canada. They have not had a long history of international competition, with the Irish national team first competing in 2004.Future
Early in 2007, Team Ireland moved their headquarters to the Dundalk Ice Dome. It is envisaged that the Ice Dome will become a center of excellence for ice hockey in the Republic of Ireland and it was here that Team Ireland took silver in the IIHF World Championship Division III and gained promotion to Division II. The next year they were relegated after a last place finish in Division II, but in 2010, they earned a first-place result and again earned promotion to Division II. The next year the took last place in the Division II Group B World Championships and were relegated to Division III which they played in. In 2012 and 2013, earning fourth place in the World Championship each year. They have not competed at a world championship since.IIHF World Ranking
In the IIHF World Ranking, Ireland is currently not ranked as of 21 May 2018.International competition
2004 IIHF World Championship Division III">2004 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships#Division III">2004 IIHF World Championship Division III; [Reykjavík], Iceland
Game 1. Ireland 3 – Mexico 8Game 2. Armenia 1 – Ireland 15
Game 3. Ireland 1 – Iceland 7
Game 4. Turkey 7 – Ireland 4
Final result: fourth place, one win, three losses for 2 points, 23 goals for, 23 goals against
2005 IIHF World Championship Division III">2005 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships#Division III">2005 IIHF World Championship Division III; [Mexico City], Mexico
Game 1. Ireland 23 – Armenia 1Game 2. Luxembourg 8 – Ireland 4
Game 3. Ireland 4 – South Africa 5
Game 4. Mexico 6 – Ireland 1
Final result: fourth place, one win, three losses for 2 points, 32 goals for, 20 goals against
[2006 IIHF World Championship Division III]; [Reykjavík], Iceland
Game 1. Ireland 0 – Armenia 6Game 2. Iceland 8 – Ireland 0
Game 3. Turkey 2 – Ireland 2
Game 4. Ireland 3 – Luxembourg 1
Final result: fourth place, one win, two losses, one tie for 3 points, 5 goals for, 17 goals against
[2007 IIHF World Championship Division III]; [Dundalk], Ireland
Game 1. Ireland 11 – Mongolia 0Game 2. Ireland 2 – New Zealand 4
Game 3. Ireland 3 – South Africa 1
Game 4. Ireland 4 – Luxembourg 3
Final result: second place two wins, one overtime win, one loss for 8 points, 20 goals for, 8 goals against
2008 [IIHF World Championship Division II Group B">2008 IIHF World Championship Division II#Group B Tournament">2008 [IIHF World Championship Division II Group B]; [Miercurea Ciuc], Romania
Game 1. Ireland 1 – Serbia 13Game 2. Ireland 4 – Bulgaria 7
Game 3. Ireland 1 – Belgium 9
Game 4. Ireland 1 – Romania 21
Game 5. Ireland 1 – Israel 7
Final result: sixth place zero wins, five losses for 0 points, 8 goals for, 57 goals against
[2009 IIHF World Championship Division III]; [Dunedin], New Zealand
Game 1. Ireland 3 – Greece 7Game 2. Ireland 3 – Luxembourg 8
Game 3. Ireland 5 – Mongolia 0
Game 4. Ireland 1 – Turkey 7
Game 5. Ireland 0 – New Zealand 9
Final result: fifth place one win, four losses for 3 points, 12 goals for, 31 goals against
2010 IIHF World Championship Division III Group A">2010 IIHF World Championship Division III#Group A Tournament">2010 IIHF World Championship Division III Group A; [Kockelscheuer], Luxembourg
Game 1. Ireland 6 – Luxembourg 4Game 2. Greece 1 – Ireland 3
Game 3. United Arab Emirates – 2 Ireland 8
Final result: first place three wins, zero losses for 9 points, 17 goals for, 7 goals against
2011 IIHF World Championship Division II Group B">2011 IIHF World Championship Division II#Group B Tournament">2011 IIHF World Championship Division II Group B; [Zagreb], Croatia
Game 1. Ireland 0 – Bulgaria 6Game 2. China 5 – Ireland 0
Game 3. Romania 22 – Ireland 0
Game 4. Ireland 4 – Croatia 21
Game 5. Iceland 14 – Ireland 0
Final result: sixth place zero wins, five losses, for 0 points, 4 goals for, 68 goals against
[2012 IIHF World Championship Division III]; [Erzurum], Turkey
Game 1. Luxembourg 7 – Ireland 2Game 2. Ireland 5 – Greece 3
Game 3. Ireland 3 – Turkey 5
Game 4. Ireland 8 – Mongolia 4
Game 5. North Korea 5 – Ireland 0
Final result: fourth place, two wins, three losses, for 6 points, 18 goals for, 24 goals against
[2013 IIHF World Championship Division III]; [Cape Town], South Africa
Game 1. Greece 3 – Ireland 6Game 2. South Africa 7 – Ireland 4
Game 3. Luxembourg 5 – Ireland 0
Game 4. Ireland 1 – North Korea 2
Game 5. Ireland 7 – United Arab Emirates 3
Final result: fourth place, two wins, three losses, for 6 points, 18 goals for, 20 goals against
2017 Development Cup; Canillo, Andorra
Game 1. Morocco 10 – Ireland 2Game 2. Ireland 9 – Portugal 4
Game 3. Ireland 5 – Andorra 3
Final. Morocco 11 – Ireland 4
Final result: runners-up, two wins, two losses, for 6 points, 20 goals for, 28 goals against
2018 Development Cup; Füssen, Germany
Game 1. Macedonia 9 – Ireland 6Game 2. Portugal 12 – Ireland 4
Game 3. Ireland 6 – Andorra 4
Semifinal. Portugal 10 – Ireland 1
Bronze medal game. Ireland 8 – Andorra 7
Final result: third place, two wins, three losses, for 6 points, 25 goals for, 42 goals against
Personnel
- Nigel Smeaton – Head Coach
Team
2013 Roster
Head coach: Kenneth RedmondAll-time record against other nations
Last match: 1 October 2017| Team | ||||||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | |
| 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 38 | 8 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 | |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 13 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 21 | |
| 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 14 | |
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 29 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |
| 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 25 | 36 | |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 14 | |
| 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 4 | |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 21 | |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 13 | |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 7 | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 4 | |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 43 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 13 | |
| 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 13 | |
| 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 21 | |
| 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 5 | |
| Total | 48 | 15 | 1 | 32 | 175 | 308 |