Israel
- Thread starter Eye of Ra
- Start date
-
Xenforo Cloud will be upgrading us to version 2.3.5 on March 3rd at 12 AM GMT. This version has increased stability and fixes several bugs. We expect downtime for the duration of the update. The admin team will continue to work on existing issues, templates and upgrade all necessary available addons to minimize impact of this new version. Click Here for Updates
Anton Babchuk
Registered User
Levin has never played for Israel. He most likely isn't even eligible due to playing for Canada at the U-17s.
Playing in a tournament that is not IIHF-sanctioned has nothing to do with player eligibility.
Anton Babchuk
Registered User
I had to check Jonatan Tanus since he is finnish and I was a bit upset that he was included on list. Yeah for somehow he has an israeli citizenship but hes not eligible since he has represented Finland various times.
SoundAndFury
Registered User
- May 28, 2012
- 12,284
- 6,274
JMCx4
#91 and counting ...
Very difficult for a "Team Israel" to be accepted & competitive with a single NHL-sized rink in the country (not yet opened). The team would need to have some number of home-grown players to be sanctioned internationally, and that requires in-country infrastructure & development programs & a unified ice hockey organization. Too early for any of that.
Israel is sanctioned internationally. They play at the lower levels of the IIHF championships regularly - every year since 1992. They have had a U18 team since 2001. The Israel Ice Hockey Federation exists. The Canada Center in Metulla is a full-sized ice rink.
With the players mentioned above - Tanus is ineligible for a whole host of reasons, Birbraer is 40 years old, and Kozhevnikov (also nearly 40) and Sherbatov already suit up regularly for Israel. Levin is probably eligible, but most of the rest of the team is made up of Israel league amateurs. They wouldn't even be a mediocre D1B team; they'd be an elevator D1B/D2A team at best. Most likely a solid D2A team with their best possible roster.
I'm not saying that they'll be competing with the likes of Canada anytime soon, but they definitely have a hockey program.
JMCx4
#91 and counting ...
I don't follow Israeli hockey much, but it's my impression that domestic hockey competitions use mostly the severely undersized yet much more conveniently located rink in Holon?
SoundAndFury
Registered User
- May 28, 2012
- 12,284
- 6,274
I'd expect them to find more filler guys if they were serious about it and there was at least some money involved. Eliteprospects certainly don't know what 2nd passport 5th rate hockey players in NA or Russia have stashed in their drawer somewhere. There are a lot of Jewish people out there and it wouldn't be hard to find better players than the guys from the local league. It also doesn't take much to overcome Ukraine these days. That's how I imagined the best-case scenario.
Phil Parent
Sorel, 'fant d'chienne!
None of those players would have the requisite two years in Israeli domestic competition for dual citizens before being eligible though. That's why it almost has to be filled with local guys. Levin - last I checked, he might be now - isn't actually a Canadian citizen, so he only has one passport.
SoundAndFury
Registered User
- May 28, 2012
- 12,284
- 6,274
Correct me if I'm wrong but you only need 2 years if you acquire a passport, not if you had it all along.
As per IIHF Bylaws:
"4.2. Players that have never played in an IIHF Championship
4.2.1. A male player who has two legal citizenships or more, or has changed his citizenship or has acquired or surrendered a citizenship and wants to participate for the first time in an IIHF Championship and/or an Olympic competition or in qualifications to these competitions, then in order to play for his Country of choice the player must:
a) Prove that he has (i) participated in the competitions within his Country of choice on a consistent basis, over at least sixteen (16) consecutive months (480 days) and during two hockey seasons after his 10th birthday (ii) resided in his Country of choice during that period and (iii) neither transferred to another Country nor played ice hockey for a team registered or located within any other Country during that period; and
b) If the Country of his choice is one to which the player has transferred then he must have had an international transfer that was approved by the IIHF and dated at least 16 months (480 days) prior to his proposed participation."
The IIHF webpage on eligibility seems to imply that the two-year rule is only for players acquiring a new citizenship, but it is just poorly worded and probably needs fixing.
Yeah, you always need those two years if you want to represent a country and have more than one passport. Only few exceptions like Liam Stewart.
Current example is Joey Daccord, goalkeeper for the Ottawa Senators, who holds a Swiss passport since he was born but couldn't represent Switzerland. He'd need to play NLA for 16 months. Another example is Taylor Moy, who has the same background and is now eligible to play for Switzerland (in fact he was already last year) after playing now 3 seasons in the NLA (Tyler Moy at eliteprospects.com)
Current example is Joey Daccord, goalkeeper for the Ottawa Senators, who holds a Swiss passport since he was born but couldn't represent Switzerland. He'd need to play NLA for 16 months. Another example is Taylor Moy, who has the same background and is now eligible to play for Switzerland (in fact he was already last year) after playing now 3 seasons in the NLA (Tyler Moy at eliteprospects.com)
