Slovenia men's national ice hockey team


The Slovenian men's national ice hockey team is controlled by the Ice Hockey Federation of Slovenia. The team is currently ranked 18th in the world by the International Ice Hockey Federation as of the 2019 IIHF World Ranking. Their best record is 13th place at the Ice Hockey World Championships, while their highest IIHF ranking is 12th place.
Six players from Slovenia have been drafted into the NHL since 1998; Anže Kopitar and Jan Muršak have played in the league.

History

As a member of Yugoslavia, Slovenia had been a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation since 1939 and participated in several World Championships and five Winter Olympics. Many of the players on the Yugoslav national team came from Slovenia: from 1939, when Yugoslavia first played a World Championship, to 1991 when it was broken up, 91% of all players on the national team were Slovene, and the entire roster for the team at the 1984 Winter Olympics, held in the Yugoslav city of Sarajevo were from Slovenia.
Slovenia declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, and joined the International Ice Hockey Federation in 1992 along with Croatia and several former Soviet republics. They first played as an independent nation at the 1993 World Championship, hosting the Group C tournament, the lowest tier. They reached the elite division for the first time in 2002 IIHF World Championship. They played at their first Winter Olympics at the 2014 Sochi Games.

Tournament record

Olympic Games

World Championship

Team

Current roster

Coaching history

Players from Slovenia selected in the NHL Entry Draft
YearNameOverallTeam
1998Edo Terglav249th overallBuffalo Sabres
2000Jure Penko203rd overallNashville Predators
2001Marcel Rodman282nd overallBoston Bruins
2005Anže Kopitar11th overallLos Angeles Kings
2006Jan Muršak182nd overallDetroit Red Wings
2017Jan Drozg152nd overallPittsburgh Penguins