Philippines men's national ice hockey team

Philippines
Shirt badge/Association crest
AssociationHockey Philippines
General managerImelda Regencia
Head coachJuhani Ijäs
AssistantsIan McGrath
CaptainManvil Billones
Most gamesLenard Lancero (31)
Top scorerSteven Füglister (51)
Most pointsSteven Füglister (106)
Team colors       
IIHF codePHI
Ranking
Current IIHF55 Decrease 1 (28 May 2023)[1]
Highest IIHF54 (2020)
Lowest IIHF54 (2020)
First international
Philippines  10–0  Macau
(Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong; September 13, 2014)
Biggest win
Philippines  17–1  Malaysia
(Pasay, Philippines; December 8, 2019)
Biggest defeat
Thailand  10–1  Philippines
(Pasay, Philippines; December 6, 2019)
IIHF World Championships
Appearances2 (first in 2023)
Best result50th (2024)
Asian Winter Games
Appearances1 (first in 2017)
Best result13th (2017)
IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia
Appearances2 (first in 2018)
Best result 2nd (2019)
Southeast Asian Games
Appearances2 (first in 2017)
Best result 1st (2017)
International record (W–L–T)
25–8–0
Medal record
Challenge Cup of Asia
Silver medal – second place 2019 Kuala Lumpur
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Pasay
Southeast Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2017 Kuala Lumpur Team
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Pasay Team

The Philippines national ice hockey team is the national men's ice hockey team of the Philippines. They are controlled by the Federation of Ice Hockey League (FIHL) and a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) since May 20, 2016. Prior to that period, a national team has played in regional tournaments in Hong Kong since the 2000s.

The Philippines is currently ranked 54th in the IIHF World Ranking and have entered in the World Championship since 2023. They have played in the Challenge Cup of Asia, a regional tournament for lower-tier hockey nations in Asia.

History[edit]

Early history[edit]

Prior to 2008, there were no organized leagues and an unofficial Philippine national team composed of players from selected clubs participated in regional tournaments.[2] One such unofficial national team was "Manila Pilipinas" that participated at the HKAHC Invitational Amateur Ice Hockey Tournament in 2005. They were second runners-up team in the Bauhinia Division, the lowest of the three divisions in the invitational tournament.[3]

Starting 2008, ice hockey in the Philippines began to gain traction.[2] The Philippine national team participated again at the 2014 edition of the HKAHC invitational tournament. The team were champions of the Silver Plate Division, the second highest division in the tournament.[4] It was in this tournament that the Philippines played against another national side. They won 10–0[5] over a Macau squad, sanctioned by the Macau Ice Sports Federation.[6]

The Federation of Ice Hockey League (FIHL), a national ice hockey federation was then established in February 2015 to govern ice hockey in the Philippines[7] making efforts to organize a formal national team easier.[2]

2016: FIHL affiliation[edit]

The FIHL became an associate member of the IIHF on May 20, 2016[8][9] and by July 2016, the federation also became a member of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC). The FIHL's membership with these two bodies made them eligible to send national teams including a men's national team to the official tournaments such as the IIHF Asia and Oceania Championship (formerly the IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia) and the Southeast Asian Games.[2]

The Philippine national team participated once again at the HKAHC Invitational Amateur Ice Hockey Tournament for the 2016 edition. They settled for first runner-up place after they lost 4–3 in overtime to Mitsubishi Corp. in the Gold Plate Division final. They also played against the national team of Oman in the tournament.[10]

Official FIHL tournament debut[edit]

The Philippine national team participated at the 2017 Asian Winter Games,[11] which was their first official tournament.[12] They participated in Division II of the tournament.[13] The team, captained by Swiss-Filipino, Steven Füglister,[14] underwent a seven-month training which started in July 2016 prior to the competition.[15]

The team lost 10–5 in their first official match against Kyrgyzstan.[16] Philippines secured their first official win as a FIHL member when they defeated Qatar with a score of 14–2[17] and was followed by an 8–3 triumph against Kuwait, who were competing as the Independent Olympic Athletes. The team finished third in their division following their 9–2 win over Macau in the play-off for third place.[16]

2017 Southeast Asian Games[edit]

Philippine national team players in blue posing as a team on an ice rink
The Philippines national team at the 2017 SEA Games.

The Philippines participated at an ice hockey tournament event of the 2017 Southeast Asian Games.[18] To prepare for the tournament, they participated at the 2017 Philippine Ice Hockey Tournament which was held at the SM Megamall Skating Rink in Mandaluyong.[19] The national team finished third behind second placed New York-based Islanders Red and first placed Singaporean side Pandoo Nation.[20]

The Philippine national team mentored by Czech head coach Daniel Brodan[21] started their Southeast Asian Games campaign with a 12–0 victory over Indonesia.[22] This was followed by their game against Singapore which ended with a 7–2 triumph.[23]

This was then followed by their game against Malaysia which saw the ejection of the Philippine captain, Steven Füglister from the game in the first period. He was given a game misconduct penalty for hitting a Malaysian player in a head while pursuing the puck although the skipper said the infraction was an unintentional accident.[24] The match ended with a 7–7 tie after regulation time after an extra five-minute-period which led to a shootout. The Philippines outscored Malaysia to register a win.[23]

The Malaysian organizers decided to suspend Fuglister for the final match against Thailand. The Philippines appealed this decision but failed to overturn the suspension.[24] Despite playing sans their captain, the Philippines wrapped up their campaign, undefeated with a 5–4 win over Thailand and clinched the first ever ice hockey gold medal in the history of the regional tournament.[25]

2018 and 2019 IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia[edit]

The Philippines hosted the Top Division of the IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia from April 3 to 8, 2018, their first IIHF-sanctioned tournament, at the SM Mall of Asia Ice Skating Rink in Pasay, Metro Manila.[26] The team was mentored by American head coach, Jonathan De Castro.[27] The national team settled for bronze after tying in points with champions Mongolia and runners-up Thailand. Goal differences of the three teams with matches against the two other teams, Kuwait and Singapore, disregarded was used as tiebreaker to determine the final standing.[28] The national team improved its best finish in the tournament in the following edition of the tournament in 2019 hosted in Malaysia. They lost to Mongolia in the final settling for second place.[29]

2019 Southeast Asian Games[edit]

The Philippines failed to defend their Southeast Asian Games title at home in the 2019 edition of the regional games settling for a bronze medal finish.

Kaspersky, an internet security firm, sponsored their participation in the regional games.[30]

IIHF World Championships[edit]

The Philippines' ice hockey governing body, the Federation of Ice Hockey League, from 2017, projects the national team's first participation in the IIHF World Championships within three to five years.[31] They have applied to participate in the inaugural Division IV of the World Championships for the 2020 edition.[29][32] However the tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[33] The 2021 Division IV tournament would also get cancelled. The Philippines' debut in the World Championship would be further postponed, after it withdrew from the 2022 Division IV tournament citing inability to train due to closure of ice rinks in the past two years due to the pandemic.[34][35]

By August 2022, ice rinks have reopened[36] and in October 2022, Finnish instructor Juhani Ijäs has been appointed as head coach and program director of the Philippine national team.[37]

They would finally make their World Championship debut by taking part in the 2023 Division IV tournament in Mongolia. They swept all three games against Indonesia, the hosts, and Kuwait to earn a promotion to Division III.[38][39]

Tournament record[edit]

World Championships[edit]

Year Host Result Pld W OTW OTL L
1930 through 2015 Not an IIHF member
2016 through 2019 did not enter
2020 Kyrgyzstan Bishkek Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
(was to enter Division IV)
2021 All lower division tournaments
cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic[40]
(was to enter Division IV)
2022 Withdrew due to the COVID-19 pandemic[41]
(was to enter Division IV)
2023 Mongolia Ulaanbaatar 52nd place
(1st in Division IV)		 3 2 1 0 0
2024 Bosnia and Herzegovina Sarajevo 50th place
(4th Division III B)		 5 2 0 0 3
Total 2/3 8 4 1 0 3

Asian Winter Games[edit]

Year Host Result Pld W OTW OTL L
1986 through 2011 did not enter
2017 Japan Sapporo 13th place
(3rd in Division II)		 4 3 0 0 1
Total 1/1 4 3 0 0 1

Challenge Cup of Asia[edit]

Year Host Result Pld W OTW OTL L
2008 through 2017 did not participate
2018 Philippines Pasay 3rd Place 4 3 0 0 1
2019 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur 2nd Place 5 4 0 0 1
2020 Singapore Singapore Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Total 2/12 9 7 0 0 2

Southeast Asian Games[edit]

Year Host Result Pld W OTW OTL L
2017 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur 1st place 4 3 1 0 0
2019 Philippines Pasay 3rd Place 6 4 0 0 2
Total 2/2 10 7 1 0 2

Team[edit]

Current roster[edit]

Roster for the 2023 IIHF World Championship Division IV.[42]

Head coach: Finland Juhani Ijäs

No. Pos. Name Height Weight Birthdate Club
2 F Lenard Rigel Lancero II 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) 72 kg (159 lb) (1995-07-02)2 July 1995 (aged 27) Philippines Manila Hawks
3 F Kenwrick Sze 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) 96 kg (212 lb) (2004-12-13)13 December 2004 (aged 18) Philippines Mustangs
7 F Carl Montano 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) 98 kg (216 lb) (1983-09-11)11 September 1983 (aged 39) Philippines Mustangs
8 F Carlo Angelo Tigaronita 1.66 m (5 ft 5 in) 80 kg (180 lb) (2002-07-08)8 July 2002 (aged 20) Philippines Manila Hawks
11 D Jann So Tiong 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) 89 kg (196 lb) (2002-02-01)1 February 2002 (aged 21) Philippines Mustangs
12 D Einzenn Ham 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 90 kg (200 lb) (2003-12-16)16 December 2003 (aged 19) Philippines Mustangs
13 F Mikel Sean Miller 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) 72 kg (159 lb) (1988-08-27)27 August 1988 (aged 34) Philippines Manila Hawks
14 D Carlo Martin Tenedero 1.63 m (5 ft 4 in) 65 kg (143 lb) (1985-02-07)7 February 1985 (aged 38) Philippines Manila Hawks
16 F Patrick Daniel Abis 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) 66 kg (146 lb) (2003-09-28)28 September 2003 (aged 19) Philippines Manila Hawks
18 F Jan Aro Regencia 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) 58 kg (128 lb) (2000-10-18)18 October 2000 (aged 22) Philippines Mustangs
20 F John Glenn Lagleva 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) 52 kg (115 lb) (2004-06-06)6 June 2004 (aged 18) Philippines Manila Hawks
22 D Dan Carlo Pastrana 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) 56 kg (123 lb) (2005-05-09)9 May 2005 (aged 17) Philippines Manila Hawks
24 D Eishner Jigsmac Sibug 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) 72 kg (159 lb) (1999-04-14)14 April 1999 (aged 23) Philippines Mustangs
25 F Steven Füglister 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 90 kg (200 lb) (1986-01-25)25 January 1986 (aged 37) Philippines Manila Hawks
29 G Paolo Spafford 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) 78 kg (172 lb) (1985-06-10)10 June 1985 (aged 37) Philippines Manila Hawks
30 G Gianpietro Iseppi 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 90 kg (200 lb) (1982-04-24)24 April 1982 (aged 40) Philippines Manila Bearcats
31 F Miguel Relampagos 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) 75 kg (165 lb) (1995-08-01)1 August 1995 (aged 27) Philippines Manila Hawks
61 F Manvil Billones 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) 75 kg (165 lb) (1993-11-01)1 November 1993 (aged 29) Philippines Manila Hawks
69 D Julius Santiago 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) 75 kg (165 lb) (1996-06-03)3 June 1996 (aged 26) Philippines Manila Hawks
97 F Jorell Crisostomo 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) 63 kg (139 lb) (2000-04-25)25 April 2000 (aged 22) Philippines Manila Hawks

Coaching history[edit]

Year Coach GC W OTW OTL L Pts
2017 Czech Republic Daniel Brodan[21] 8 6 1 0 1 20
2018 United States Jonathan De Castro 5 4 0 0 1 12
2019 Czech Republic Daniel Brodan[43] 11 8 0 0 3 24
2022– Finland Juhani Ijäs [fi] 3 2 1 0 0 8

Fixtures and results[edit]

Main article: Philippines men's national ice hockey team fixtures and results
Against other national teams[44]
Opponent Date Score Scores by period Tournament Host venue
 Indonesia March 23, 2023 14–0 4–0, 6–0, 4–0 IIHF World Championship – Division IV Steppe Arena, Ulaanbaatar
 Mongolia March 25, 2023 7–6 3–0, 0–3, 3–3
OT: 1–0
 Kuwait March 26, 2023 14–0 1–0, 4–0, 9–0
 Singapore February 23, 2024 6–3 0–0, 2–2, 4–1 IIHF World Championship – Division III Skenderija, Sarajevo
 Iran February 24, 2024 14–2 7–0, 2–1, 5–1
 Bosnia and Herzegovina February 26, 2024 3–6 0–2, 1–2, 2–2
 North Korea February 27, 2024 2–10 1–2, 0–7, 1–1
 Hong Kong February 29, 2024 5–9 1–3, 3–3, 1–3


All-time record against other national teams[edit]

Last match update: 29 February 2024[44]

Key
     Positive balance (more Wins)
     Neutral balance (Wins = Losses)
     Negative balance (more Losses)
Team GP W T L GF GA
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 0 0 1 3 6
 Hong Kong 1 0 0 1 5 9
 Indonesia 3 3 0 0 34 1
 Iran 1 1 0 0 14 2
 Kuwait 3 3 0 0 35 3
 Kyrgyzstan 1 0 0 1 5 10
 Macau 1 1 0 0 10 0
 Malaysia 4 4 0 0 47 13
 Mongolia 4 3 0 1 23 21
 Oman 1 1 0 0 9 0
 North Korea 1 0 0 1 2 10
 Qatar 2 2 0 0 28 4
 Singapore 7 6 0 1 49 17
 Thailand 3 1 0 2 10 21
Total 32 25 0 7 269 108

References[edit]

  1. ^ "IIHF Men's World Ranking". IIHF. May 28, 2023. Retrieved May 28, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d "A cooling trend". IIHF. July 28, 2016. Retrieved September 30, 2016.
  3. ^ "Japan Team Wins Hong Kong Hockey Tournament". Hong Kong Amateur Hockey Club. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  4. ^ "2014 HKAHC Invitational Amateur Ice Hockey Tournament" (in English and Chinese). Hong Kong Amateur Hockey Club. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  5. ^ "2014 HKAHC Tour Schedule". Hong Kong Amateur Hockey Club. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  6. ^ "2014 HKAHC Invitational Amateur Ice Hockey Tournament Teams" (in English and Chinese). Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  7. ^ Henson, Joaquin (October 25, 2015). "Pinoys break ice in hockey". The Philippine Star. Retrieved September 30, 2016.
  8. ^ "Philippines". IIHF. Retrieved September 30, 2016.
  9. ^ "IIHF grows in Asia". iihf.com. May 21, 2016. Archived from the original on May 20, 2016. Retrieved September 30, 2016.
  10. ^ "2016 HKAHC Tour Schedule". Hong Kong Amateur Club. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  11. ^ "29 Filipino athletes to compete in 2017 Asian Winter Games". Manila Bulletin. Manila, Philippines. November 25, 2016. Retrieved November 25, 2016.
  12. ^ "Southeast Asian newcomers". IIHF. March 1, 2017. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  13. ^ "PH hockey team off to Japan for Asian Winter Games". ABS-CBN News. February 16, 2017. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
  14. ^ "Steven Füglister at eliteprospects.com". www.eliteprospects.com.
  15. ^ Gamboa, Ray Butch (February 25, 2017). "Ice hockey for Pinoys – why not". The Philippine Star. Retrieved February 25, 2017.
  16. ^ a b "PH Ice Hockey Team ranks 3rd in Asian Winter Games". Philippine News Agency. February 28, 2017. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  17. ^ Ellis, Steven (February 23, 2017). "Philippines Win First Official Game, Thailand in Good Standing". National Teams of Hockey. Eurohockey.com. Retrieved February 25, 2017.
  18. ^ "Exciting times for Asia". IIHF. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  19. ^ Terrado, Reuben (June 16, 2017). "PHIT tournament a big part of Philippine ice hockey team's buildup for SEA Games". Sports Interactive Network Philippines. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  20. ^ "Quest:2017 Philippine Ice Hockey Tournament". Business & Leisure. Sunshine Television. December 12, 2017. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  21. ^ a b "Team Roster Philippines (PHI) – Ice Hockey Southeast Asian Games" (PDF). IIHF. August 20, 2017. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
  22. ^ "SEA Games: PH ice hockey team shuts down Indonesia". ABS-CBN News. August 21, 2017. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
  23. ^ a b Terrado, Reuben (August 24, 2017). "Philippine ice hockey team moves past Malaysia and into gold medal match against Thais". Sports Interactive Network Philippines. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
  24. ^ a b Valderrama, Aeron Paul (September 2, 2017). "Tough ordeals make historic gold worth it for Ice Hockey Team". Tiebreaker Times. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
  25. ^ Songalia, Ryan (August 24, 2017). "Philippines defeats Thailand to win first ever SEA Games ice hockey gold". Rappler. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
  26. ^ Manez, Mark (March 27, 2018). "Philippines hosts 2018 IIHF Challenge Cup". Dugout Philippines. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  27. ^ "IIHF Ice Hockey Challenge Cup of Asia – Team Roster (PHI – Philippines)" (PDF). IIHF. April 2, 2018. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  28. ^ Palmer, Dan (April 8, 2018). "Mongolia win IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia on goal difference". Inside the Games. Dunsar Media Company Limited. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  29. ^ a b Valderama, Aeron Paul (March 9, 2019). "Philippine Hockey Team goes one better with silver in Challenge Cup 2019". Tiebreaker Times. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
  30. ^ "PH ice hockey, tennis teams for 30th SEA Games get support from Kaspersky". Philippine Information Agency. July 12, 2019. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
  31. ^ "After SEA Games, Pinoy Mighty Ducks now eye World Championships". August 31, 2017. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
  32. ^ "Philippine hockey jersey displayed in Toronto Hockey Hall of Fame". The Philippine Star. June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  33. ^ "IIHF cancels March tournaments". IIHF. March 2, 2020.
  34. ^ Merk, Martin (December 13, 2021). "Debut for Philippines postponed". IIHF. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
  35. ^ Mangubat, Lio (December 14, 2021). "Unable to train for 18 months, PH withdraws from hockey world championships". Sports Interactive Network Philippines. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
  36. ^ "ICE to see you again at SM Skating". Manila Bulletin. August 11, 2022. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
  37. ^ Cua, Aric John Sy (October 6, 2022). "Hockey Philippines hails new coach". The Manila Times. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
  38. ^ "Golden debut for the Philippines". IIHF. March 27, 2023.
  39. ^ Fuertes, Rommel Jr (March 28, 2023). "PH hockey team earns promotion after unbeaten campaign". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  40. ^ "IIHF – IIHF Council announces more cancellations". IIHF. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
  41. ^ "Debut for Philippines postponed". IIHF. December 13, 2021. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
  42. ^ "Philippines". IIHF. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  43. ^ "IIHF – Philippines (2019 Ice Hockey Challenge Cup of Asia)" (PDF). IIHF. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  44. ^ a b "Philippines Men All Time Results" (PDF). National Teams of Ice Hockey. Retrieved December 8, 2017.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Philippines men's national ice hockey team.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Philippines_men%27s_national_ice_hockey_team&oldid=1218268445"