The Ireland national ice hockey team () is the national men's ice hockey team of the Republic of Ireland run by the Irish Ice Hockey Association (IIHA) and a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) 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 IIHF tournaments since placing 4th with six points in 2013. With the closure of the Dundalk Ice Dome, they can 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 (EIHL) 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.
Early in 2007, Team Ireland moved their headquarters to the Dundalk Ice Dome. It was envisaged that the Ice Dome would 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 As of 30 May 2022, Ireland is currently not ranked in the IIHF World Ranking.
International competition
2004 IIHF World Championship Division III; Reykjavík, Iceland Game 1. Ireland 3 – Mexico 8 Game 2. Armenia 1 – Ireland 15 Game 3. Ireland 1 – Iceland 7 Game 4. Turkey 7 – Ireland 4 Final result: fourth place, one win, and three losses for 2 points, 23 goals for, 23 goals against
2005 IIHF World Championship Division III; Mexico City, Mexico Game 1. Ireland 23 – Armenia 1 Game 2. Luxembourg 8 – Ireland 4 Game 3. Ireland 4 – South Africa 5 Game 4. Mexico 6 – Ireland 1 Final result: fourth place, one win, and three losses for 2 points, 32 goals for, 20 goals against
2006 IIHF World Championship Division III; Reykjavík, Iceland Game 1. Ireland 0 – Armenia 6 Game 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, and one tie for 3 points, 5 goals for, 17 goals against
2007 IIHF World Championship Division III; Dundalk, Ireland Game 1. Ireland 11 – Mongolia 0 Game 2. Ireland 2 – New Zealand 4 Game 3. Ireland 3 – South Africa 1 Game 4. Ireland 4 – Luxembourg 3 (OT) Final result: second place, two wins, one overtime win, and one loss for 8 points, 20 goals for, 8 goals against [Team Ireland is Promoted to Division II of the 2008 IIHF World Championships]
2008 IIHF World Championship Division II Group B; Miercurea Ciuc, Romania Game 1. Ireland 1 – Serbia 13 Game 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: last place, five losses for 0 points, 8 goals for, 57 goals against [Team Ireland is relegated to the 2009 IIHF World Championship Div III]
2009 IIHF World Championship Division III; Dunedin, New Zealand Game 1. Ireland 3 – Greece 7 Game 2. Ireland 3 – Luxembourg 8 Game 3. Ireland 5 – Mongolia 0 (Forfeit) Game 4. Ireland 1 – Turkey 7 Game 5. Ireland 0 – New Zealand 9 Final result: fifth place, one win, and four losses for 3 points, 12 goals for, 31 goals against
2010 IIHF World Championship Division III Group A; Kockelscheuer, Luxembourg Game 1. Ireland 6 – Luxembourg 4 Game 2. Greece 1 – Ireland 3 Game 3. United Arab Emirates – 2 Ireland 8 Final result: first place, three wins for 9 points, 17 goals for, 7 goals against [Team Ireland is Promoted to Division II of the 2011 IIHF World Championships]
2011 IIHF World Championship Division II Group B; Zagreb, Croatia Game 1. Ireland 0 – Bulgaria 6 Game 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: last place, five losses for 0 points, 4 goals for, 68 goals against [Team Ireland is relegated to the 2012 IIHF World Championship Div III]
2012 IIHF World Championship Division III; Erzurum, Turkey Game 1. Luxembourg 7 – Ireland 2 Game 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 6 Game 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 2 Game 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 6 Game 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
2022 Development Cup; Füssen, Germany Game 1. Liechtenstein 7 – Ireland 6 Game 2. Ireland 7 – Algeria 6 Game 3. Ireland 6 – Andorra 6 Game 4. Ireland 3 – Colombia 3 Game 5. Portugal 4 – Ireland 12 Final result: third place, two wins, one loss, and two ties for 6 points, 34 goals for, 26 goals against
2023 Development Cup; Bratislava, Slovakia Game 1. Argentina 11 - Ireland 6 Game 2. Ireland 4 - Colombia 6 Game 3. Portugal 1 - Ireland 10 Game 4. Ireland 5 - Liechtenstein 6 Final Result: Fourth place, one win, three losses for 3 points, 25 goals for, 24 goals against
2024 Development Cup; Bratislava, Slovakia Game 1. Brazil 0 – Ireland 16 Game 2. Ireland 12 – Greece 3 Game 3. Colombia 1 – Ireland 9 Game 4. Ireland 7 – Argentina 4 Game 5. Ireland 8 – Portugal 3 Gold medal game. Ireland 5 – Portugal 1 Final result: first place, six wins, no loss, and no ties for 15 points, 57 goals for, 12 goals against
Personnel Aaron Guli – Head Coach Paul Cummins - Assistant Coach Aaron Collins - Assistant Coach Greg Ireland - Assistant Coach Aeidamar Sally - General Manager Patryk Karasinski - Equipment Manager Derek O'Neill - Media Manager Odhran Duffy - Physio
Current roster Roster for the 2023-24 Development Cup
Head coach: Aaron Guli
No.Pos.NameHeightWeightBirthdateTeam 1 G Jack O'Dea 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) 73 kg (161 lb) 2001 (age 23/24) Sacred Heart University, NCAA 2 F Darragh Bond Icehawks Eindhoven, Netherlands4 3 D Greg Munday Without Club 8 D Raimonds Karpinskis 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) 70 kg (154 lb) Without Club 9 D Greg Zaffino 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) 95 kg (209 lb) Without Club 10 D Tarin McNamara 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 82 kg (181 lb) Without Club 15 D Thomas Carpenter - A 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 82 kg (181 lb) HC Prilly Black Panthers, SwissDiv1 17 F Adam Robinson - A 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 83 kg (183 lb) Edinburgh Capitals, SNL 18 F Ronan Weir 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) 68 kg (150 lb) Without Club 19 F David Sally 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 78 kg (172 lb) Without Club 20 F Nolan Regan 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) 82 kg (181 lb) Hockey Punks, Latvia 22 F Sam Owen 2004 (age 20/21) Kilmarnock Thunder, SNL 23 F Aidan Connolly 77 kg (170 lb) Salve Regina University, NCAA III 24 F Declan Weir - C 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in) 75 kg (165 lb) Alpena 45ers, MIHL 28 F Jamie Ferguson 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) 70 kg (154 lb) Kilmarnock Thunder, SNL 35 G Andrew Dickson 82 kg (181 lb) Belfast Giants, EIHL 39 F Nolan Sheeran 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 91 kg (201 lb) Dundas Real McCoys, ACH 54 D Sean O'Neill Solihull Barons, NIHL 1 55 F Harvey Wooldridge 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 80 kg (176 lb) Connecticut RoughRiders, EHL 72 F Alec Young 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 84 kg (185 lb) Without Club 89 D Zac Cummins Without Club 91 F Andrew Stefura 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 82 kg (181 lb) Castleton University, NCAA III All-time record against other nations Last match: 27 April 2024 Team 1 1 0 0 7 6 4 3 1 0 25 20 2 1 0 1 13 15 3 2 0 1 38 8 1 0 0 1 1 9 1 1 0 0 16 0 2 0 0 2 4 13 1 0 0 1 0 5 3 1 1 1 16 10 1 0 0 1 4 21 5 4 0 1 29 17 3 0 0 3 1 29 1 0 0 1 1 7 2 0 0 2 11 13 8 3 0 5 25 41 2 0 0 2 4 14 3 3 0 0 24 4 2 0 0 2 6 21 1 0 0 1 6 9 2 0 0 2 2 13 2 0 0 2 1 7 7 5 0 2 49 35 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 69 27 3 39 322 412
References
External links
Official website IIHF profile