Israel moved one step closer to its ultimate goal of capturing gold at the 2024 IIHF U20 IIIA World Championship with an overwhelming 16-1 win against Kyrgyzstan.

An inexperienced Kyrgyz squad came to Bulgaria in an understudy status and two losses with an aggregate 16-4 score suggested that it should represent no threat to high-flying Israelis. However, victories never come by default which was proved once again at the start of the game. Having jumped to an early 2-0 lead inside the two-minute mark, our boys soon realized that any mistake could prove costly. With a slight lapse of concentration, they presented the opponents with a powerplay chance that was duly converted when Belek Maksatbekov halved the deficit.

If an alarm was needed at some point, this was the right time indeed. The goal fired our team up, they switched to another gear and never looked back. In the end, Mike Levin scored his second hat trick in as many games, Nikita Zitserman and Itay Kerner added a couple each, and there were also goals from Yann Raskin, Youval Turner, Nir Sigalov, Guy Aharonovic, Itay Bondar, Ori Segal, Sean Voshilo, Amit Ben Tov and Adi Rigler.

Levin, who added four assists to his three goals tonight, now tops the point-scoring as well as goal-scoring charts with 15 (8+7) points.

Goalie Alon Shpinel also got his name inked in the game sheet with an assist after he set up nicely Levin’s solo powerplay effort in the 19^th minute.

Now, after a day off, an encounter with Turkey awaits. The outcome of this clash seems to be crucial for the final standings. Tonight, Turkey lost 4-5 to Bulgaria which means that Israel solely tops the standings with 9 points after three games.

All 2024 IIHF U20 World Championship can be watched live HERE

Team Israel’s quest for gold at the 2024 IIHF U20 World Championship continued with an emphatic 7-3 win over the host nation Bulgaria with Mike Levin scoring three on the ice of Winter Sports Palace in Sofia.

The first period was a one-way traffic all the way. With a 31-3 shot count in our favor, the Bulgarians should have been happy to go back to the locker room trailing by just one goal. Adi Rigler’s powerplay marker midway through the opening frame separated the teams at the first intermission.

So, when in the 24^th minute Aleksandar Stanimirov leveled the score via a rare hosts’ counter attack one couldn’t beat the feeling that it all went against the run of play. Happily enough, justice was restored soon: Mike Levin put us back in front after just 42 seconds, and he only needed 47 seconds more to make the score 3-1. In the 34^th minute, after Nikita Zitserman, the youngest player of Evgeni Kozhevnikov’s team at the tender age of 15, netted the fourth, Israel seemed to be cruising.

But it is always tricky to play the hosts at any level. Bulgarians proved it with two quick goals later in the frame, with Stefan Pirotski and Aleksandar Kozhuharov giving the home crowd something to cheer for during the second intermission. With a 4-3 score, local supporters felt that anything was possible.

But it was not to be. In the third period, Kozhevnikov’s boys looked determined not to make any mistakes and gave the opponents no chance at all. Ori Segal and Yann Raskin scored a minute apart and Levin, later to be named Man of the Match, completed his hat-trick in the 59^th minute to secure the second win in as many days.

So, after two days of action, Israel tops the standings with Turkey being the only other team to win two of two. Early days, of course, but their head-to-head clash on Saturday, January 27^th, seems to be crucial for both squads.

But first, it is Kyrgyzstan, our next opponent, when the play resumes on Thursday. The puck drops at 16:30 Israel time. Stay tuned!

All 2024 IIHF U20 World Championship can be watched live

Israel U20 team kicked off its World Championship campaign with an exciting win over New Zealand. On the ice of Winter Sports Palace in Sofia, Bulgaria, our guys prevailed in a thrilling and highly entertaining contest by an 8-6 scoreline.

Things started well for the Israelis with Yahel Sharon giving them the lead inside the two-minute mark but the New Zealanders soon found their way back and by the first intermission our team was trailing 1-2 after strikes from Jacob Carey and Luc Taillon found the net.

The second period unfolded with a completely different script. Ori Segal leveled the score at 2-2 in the 28th minute. Although another goal from Taillon briefly gave New Zealand the lead, it was short-lived. Nikita Zitserman and Adi Rigler netted goals just 48 seconds apart, followed by two more markers from the unstoppable Mike Levin, one of them short-handed. Israel entered the locker room with a commanding 6-3 lead.

But New Zealand’s challenge was far from over. Two goals in the 43^rd minute cut the deficit to the minimum and the opponents kept their pressure on Alon Shpinel forcing a couple of spectacular saves from our goalie. Backed by his strong performance, the team regrouped, and Itay Kerner and Zitserman restored a three-goal cushion. There was still enough time left for Carey to pull one back with four minutes to play but our guys stood firm to protect the score.

“Winning is always nice but our joy is doubled by the very fact that we can compete here”, said Mikhael Horowitz, CEO of the Ice Hockey Federation of Israel. “Our players traveled from all over the world to represent Israel at the U20s after receiving last-minute notice that we would be able to attend. We are excited, we expect good results and we have a very good team. Our guys played for a few years alongside each other, they are good friends and they want to bring gold to Israel.”

“Not everything went according to plan in our first game”, added the head coach Evgeni Kozhevnikov, “but we are confident. We had a couple of practice sessions before the start which showed that we were in good shape, and now we are committed and motivated, and expectations are high.”

Team Israel U20 continues its quest for gold tomorrow with a game against hosts Bulgaria. The puck drops at 20:00 local/Israel time.

All 2024 IIHF U20 World Championship can be watched live

The tragic events of October 7th, forever etched in history as “Black Saturday,” brought unprecedented changes to our nation, impacting every facet of life, including ice hockey. At home, the IHFI had to defer the commencement of the INHL’s new season. Internationally, adjustments were also inevitable.

When the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) decided to relocate the U20 Division IIIA World Championship from Tnuvot’s OneIce Arena to Bulgaria, IHFI acknowledged this unavoidable change with a sense of regret but also with understanding and respect.

However, the decision that followed, announced on January 10th, shocked many across the globe. The IIHF declared a ban on all Israeli teams from participating in IIHF tournaments, citing safety and security concerns for all participants.

“In light of concerns over the safety and security of all participants in the Championships, Israel will not participate in IIHF Competitions for the time being,” stated the official release on IIHF.com.

This decision, perceived as unjust, ill-motivated, and discriminatory, prompted IHFI to launch a vigorous campaign for its reversal. With unanimous support from national sports authorities, we fought to overturn a decision that threatened to set Israeli hockey back and nullify our recent accomplishments.

After a week of intense and uncompromising battle for our rights, the IIHF finally heeded our voice, lifting the ban. “Following recent exchanges and extensive discussions with all involved stakeholders, the IIHF has received confirmation from the Ministry of Youth and Sport in Bulgaria and the related Organizing Committee, allowing the Israeli National Team to participate in the 2024 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship Division III, Group A (WM20IIIA), taking place in Sofia from January 22-29, 2024,” announced the IIHF on January 17th.

Thus, the Israeli U20 team is en route to Bulgaria for this annual celebration of junior ice hockey. In Sofia, from January 22nd to the 28th, our players will face off against counterparts from Bulgaria, Mexico, Kyrgyzstan, New Zealand, and Turkey. While the results remain to be seen, we proudly declare our first victory of the year.

Our heartfelt thanks go to the National Olympic Committee of Israel as well as the Israeli Ministry of Sport which also supported our case, and our supporters worldwide. Your unwavering efforts to restore justice were invaluable, and the outpouring of support through our website was genuinely touching. This victory is undeniably ours collectively!

Dear hockey lovers, you are most welcome to our brand-new English webpage! As a new era in the development of our game arrives, we are doing our best to enlarge our audience and raise public awareness of all the processes currently taking place in Israeli ice hockey.

This is beyond any doubt a much-needed and time-driven decision. Ice hockey is a fast-growing, truly international sport representing a county with a unique mix of cultures, thus launching an English website always seemed the right move, especially as Israel is vying for worldwide recognition and preparing to host the IIHF Men’s Under-20 World Championship in Division IIIA to be staged at One Ice Arena in Tnuvot next January.

Please note that the website is still under construction, filling it with all the essential and updated information will take some time but we are committed to doing this sooner rather than later. So, make sure this page takes a well-deserved spot in your bookmarks panel, and come back soon for changes and updates. Or sign up for our newsletter to ensure that you will never miss anything.

See you in the web. And at the rink, of course!

The second season of the Israel Elite Hockey League (IEHL) came to a thrilling end. HC Netanya regained their title from last year beating Bat Yam Dolphins 7-3 in the final. IEHL is a private project involving players from various countries and made mostly for fun – after all, what else can you expect from summer hockey? So, probably, you would think it is not worth mentioning on the Federation’s official website but … Let’s not jump to a foregone conclusion.

The significant change from the previous, inaugural edition, is that this time Israel U20 team was among the eight contestants. When you talk about young players and their development you would never argue with the obvious fact that every chance must be taken to let them gain new experience. Playing a few games against unlikely opposition, and spending more time on the ice no matter when and where can do only good for the youngsters, especially with the World Championships on home soil around the corner. And this is exactly how the new IHFI management feels and acts.

This is how the IEHL turned from pure fun to an important part of Israel U20 preparations for the 2024 IIHF Junior World Championship in Division 3A to be held in January at One Ice Arena. In a span of five weeks, the team played 13 games and enjoyed a run to the semifinals finishing just off the medals. But this is not – and never was – a question of win/loss record or placings for the young Israelis. As wise men say, you can either win or learn, and this is exactly the case for the country’s best talents still on a learning curve. They already have vast experience playing at U20 and U18 World Champs, and now the IEHL gave them another chance to grow as a team. And the chance was gratefully taken.

This was a truly unique experience as they had to play very different opponents. There were long-established teams amongst them, teams that played together for many years in the national championship, as well as teams composed of players who has seen each other for the first time here. Sometimes you know what to expect sometimes you don’t have the slightest clue but, in the end, it all adds to the excitement.

As exciting was the last week of the tournament for these guys. On Tuesday, July 18th, Israel U20 played the final game of the group stage, and the next day almost the entire team traveled north, to Metulla, for the final game of the national juniors’ league. There, they had to split and play against their teammates in a Kfar Saba Kings Jr. vs. North Stars Jr. clash. And on Thursday, they were back together in a national team playing against HC Tel Aviv in the IEHL quarterfinal.

Learning is fun, isn’t it? Especially, learning ice hockey as a junior!

Kfar Saba Kings completed the unique national titles sweep. A 6-4 win over North Stars of Metulla in the INHL Junior League final means that all four trophies for the 2022/23 season now rest proudly in the organization’s head office cabinet at One Ice Arena. Previously, men’s, youth, and U13 teams have won their respective leagues, and on Wednesday, Kings Juniors added the last missing piece of the puzzle.

Their victory – achieved on the opponents’ ice of Canada Center, the country’s oldest and most northern arena – was by no means straightforward. In the second period, the Kings had to claw back from a three-goal deficit only to find themselves trailing again at 4-3. But Vasily Lysov’s short-handed equalizer in the 42^nd minute seemed to knock the home team spirit down and when eight minutes later Daniel Andreas Mueller put the Kings in front for the first time, the North Stars saw no way back. They tried to save the game by pulling the goalie for the sixth skater but to no avail. More than that, it led to an empty-netter in the dying seconds.

Israel’s top two junior teams will resume their rivalry in October when the new INHL season starts. But in January, all the clubs’ matters will be put aside as most Kings and North Stars players will unite under the national flag to represent their country at the 2024 IIHF U20 World Championship in Division 3A. The tournament will be hosted by One Ice Arena from January 22-29 with six teams representing four continents – Israel, Bulgaria, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, New Zealand, and Turkey – will contest promotion to Division 2B of the World Championships pyramid.