Next Nations to join IIHF?

[cjeagle]

I know it's possible and even in his 40s he would still be more than able to handle the level but as you said he has to be interested to do it. I just would welcome him more as a nice addition to the team if it happens than hoping that he may make the move like his brother and thinking he is the answer to improve the team. The great work done with local youth is way more important than whatever he can bring as a player as it wouldn't necessarily reflect the team's true level.

Jeffrey Füglister is still relatively young so any thought of retirement and joining the Philippine national ice hockey team is still years away.

However it is not just his playing ability that would be helpful to Philippine ice hockey. Like his brother he can play a coaching and organizational role in helping the sport grow in the Philippines. It is partly due to the efforts of the older more experienced members of the men's national team such as Fil Canadian Carl Montano and Fil Swiss Stephen Füglister that so many young players of both sexes had developed sufficiently enough to be contributing members of the men's and women's national team with some taking what they have learned as a foundation to further their careers in North America.

The success the national team has had in the international arena the past few years has also helped motivate younger Filipinos to pick up the sport which is important as the numbers of active hockey players although growing are still relatively low compared to other traditional or even mid level warm weather Div III hockey nations like Taiwan.

Even the Philippine President sent congratulatory messages to the national team and federation yesterday and many articles have been written on both traditional and social media on their momentous achievement which will serve as an inspiration for the youth who have started or want to pick up the sport.

I also saw the Füglister's Filipina mother congratulate and express pride in his son Stephen on facebook yesterday on the Gold medal achieved in the Division IV WHC and I am sure his brother Jeffrey has taken notice. The fact that Jeffrey seems to have taken the effort to become a dual citizen and gain a Philippine passport signifies intent to me that he plans to contribute more in the future.

 

[FrHockeyFan]

Jeffrey Füglister is still relatively young so any thought of retirement and joining the Philippine national ice hockey team is still years away.

However it is not just his playing ability that would be helpful to Philippine ice hockey. Like his brother he can play a coaching and organizational role in helping the sport grow in the Philippines. It is partly due to the efforts of the older more experienced members of the men's national team such as Fil Canadian Carl Montano and Fil Swiss Stephen Füglister that so many young players of both sexes had developed sufficiently enough to be contributing members of the men's and women's national team with some taking what they have learned as a foundation to further their careers in North America.

The success the national team has had in the international arena the past few years has also helped motivate younger Filipinos to pick up the sport seriously which is important as the numbers of active hockey players although growing are still relatively low compared to other traditional or even mid level warm weather Div III hockey nations like Taiwan.

Even the Philippine President sent congratulatory messages to the national team and federation yesterday and many articles have been written on both traditional and social media on their momentous achievement which will serve as an inspiration for the youth who have started or want to pick up the sport.

I also saw the Füglister's Filipina mother congratulate and express pride in his son Stephen on facebook yesterday on the Gold medal achieved in the Division IV WHC and I am sure his brother Jeffrey has taken notice. The fact that Jeffrey seems to have taken the effort to become a dual citizen and gain a Philippine passport signifies intent to me that he plans to contribute more in the future.

I am not denying any of this. I am happy the grassroot work done so far is bearing fruit. I am glad Fuglister 's mother is proud of her son (mine wouldn't give a crap about anything I do ).

I would just rather warrant against getting too excited about what a dual nat may bring to the program until he actually does it and not read too much in one's possible intentions based on a flag showing on an Eliteprospects profile. That's all.

And I will keep following tournaments at that level because I do admire the dedication the people involved put into their passion.

 

[Albatros]

If the planned 2029 Asian Winter Games in Saudi Arabia do take place that's going to be a ridiculous mega event, might see this or that dual national join even if they haven't represented the particular national teams otherwise. The hosts will probably want to have their own team too as for the next country to join the IIHF.

 

[cjeagle]

I am not denying any of this. I am happy the grassroot work done so far is bearing fruit. I am glad Fuglister 's mother is proud of her son (mine wouldn't give a crap about anything I do ).

I would just rather warrant against getting too excited about what a dual nat may bring to the program until he actually does it and not read too much in one's possible intentions based on a flag showing on an Eliteprospects profile. That's all.

And I will keep following tournaments at that level because I do admire the dedication the people involved put into their passion.

Here is Fuglister and the rest of the national team promoting the sport and asking other Filipinos to give Ice Hockey a try. You can see the team is a mixture of North American and locally born and trained players as well as well as veterans and youth. The Federation head mentioned their goal of trying to set up an ice rink with a large seating capacity(or convert an existing basketball/volleyball arena to one that can be used for ice hockey) like that in Mongolia and not just the ones in malls to be used for winter sports like ice hockey, speed and figure skating, and even curling hopefully with government help. The Canadian and Swedish embassies even offered their help.

 

[FrHockeyFan]

If the planned 2029 Asian Winter Games in Saudi Arabia do take place that's going to be a ridiculous mega event, might see this or that dual national join even if they haven't represented the particular national teams otherwise. The hosts will probably want to have their own team too as for the next country to join the IIHF.

Definitely I can see Saudi Arabia finally join the IIHF soon. And I guess Bahrein would make the jump as well. A bit surprised they didn't do it when all the other GCC countries were joining. Especially BAH who played the AWG back in 2011.

Apart from them but more like a long shot, I guess any of the countries represented at the Amerigol Latam Cup are going to try as well (Egypt, Venezuela). And maybe Kenya who seems to have apretty active scene (Kenya Ice Hockey League | Facebook)

 

[cjeagle]

I know it's possible and even in his 40s he would still be more than able to handle the level but as you said he has to be interested to do it. I just would welcome him more as a nice addition to the team if it happens than hoping that he may make the move like his brother and thinking he is the answer to improve the team. The great work done with local youth is way more important than whatever he can bring as a player as it wouldn't necessarily reflect the team's true level.

After retirement it's pretty easy to fulfill even the 4-year requirement if the interest is there though.

Aside from Jeffrey Fuglister there are 4 eligible Fil Am NHL players who can take this route after retirement.

Currently, there are four NHL players of Filipino descent: Nicholas Robertson (Toronto Maple Leafs), Jason Robertson (Dallas Stars), Matt Dumba (Minnesota Wild), and Devin Shore (Edmonton Oilers). Both Robertson brothers have represented the United States internationally at the junior level, while Dumba had represented Canada at the World Championships in 2016, winning the gold medal.

The Robertson brothers have expressed interest in the past before they found out about the IIHF rules preventing them from joining the Philippine national ice hockey team in the middle of their NHL career. There are also apparently insurance complexities preventing current NHL players from competing in lower level ice hockey competitions.

 

[cjeagle]

I know it's possible and even in his 40s he would still be more than able to handle the level but as you said he has to be interested to do it. I just would welcome him more as a nice addition to the team if it happens than hoping that he may make the move like his brother and thinking he is the answer to improve the team. The great work done with local youth is way more important than whatever he can bring as a player as it wouldn't necessarily reflect the team's true level.

With or without professional reinforcements, I think the Philippines will continue to go up the rankings. You can see their upward progression thru the years.

Hockey was introduced to locals back in the 1990's when the first ice skating rink was built in a mall(today the Philippines have a total of 4 ice skating rinks most of which are located near the capital) and kids got motivated to play it after watching Disney's Mighty Ducks movies. Some of those kids grew up to be pioneers and early members of the national team.

An unofficial national team named "Manila Pilipinas" that participated at the HKAHC Invitational Amateur Ice Hockey Tournament in 2005 in Hongkong. They were second runners-up team in the Bauhinia Division, the lowest of the three divisions in the invitational tournament.

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. It was in this tournament that the Philippines first played against another national side. They won 10–0 over a Macau squad, sanctioned by the Macau Ice Sports Federation.

A national federation the FIHL was formed in 2015 and they became an associate member of the IIHF the following year on May 2016. 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 the highest division of the tournament. They also played against the national team of Oman in the tournament which they defeated 9-0.

After gaining IIHF associate membership ni 2016, the Philippine national team participated at the 2017 Asian Winter Games, which was their first official tournament. They participated in Division II of the tournament. The team lost 10–5 in their first official match against Kyrgyzstan. Philippines secured their first official win as an IIHF member when they defeated Qatar with a score of 14–2 and this 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.

Also in the same year, the Philippines participated in ice hockey at the 2017 Southeast Asian Games which is the biggest sporting event in SEA and is a high profile media event in the region that helped elevate the sport of ice hockey in the national consciousness where they won the Gold medal after defeating Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. It is during and after this event that the local media first started following the team and writing articles about ice hockey regularly. To prepare for the tournament, instead of joining another invitational club tournament abroad, the Philippines organized the 2017 Philippine Ice Hockey Tournament where they finished third to New York-based Islanders Red and first placed Singaporean side Pandoo Nation that consisted of many players from different nations including the US, Canada, Japan and Singapore.

In 2018 the Philippines decided to host the Top Division of the IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia from 3 to 8 April 2018, their first IIHF-sanctioned tournament where they settled for bronze(based on goal differential) after tying in points with champions Mongolia and runners-up Thailand. 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.

They experienced a slight bump in their upward trend in 2019 after finishing 3rd in the SEA Games next to champions Thailand and runner up Singapore due to untimely injury issues and last minute coaching changes. The lack of preparation showed. They then went on hiatus for the next few years due to the COVID Pandemic postponing their scheduled entry to the IIHF World Championships in 2020 after gaining full IIHF membership in 2019.

They would finally make their IIHF World Championship debut by taking part in the 2023 Division IV tournament in Mongolia this year in the process defeating their former tormentor and host Mongolia to win the Gold medal. They swept all three games against Indonesia 14-0, Mongolia 7-6 in OT(margin should have been higher except for all the penalties levied against them allowing Mongolia to catch up), and Kuwait 14-0 to earn a promotion to Division III B.

They are already making plans on doing better next year in the 2024 Division IIIB World Championships and preparing for the revival of ice hockey in the SEA Games in 2025 in Thailand where they will need to take into account the Thai Swede reinforcements of the Thai national ice hockey team which plays in a higher division(IIIA) of the IIHF World Championships. Fortunately the coach and program director they just hired this year knows the Thai national team inside out as the former Thai national team coach the past few years and they have 2 years to prepare for them.

 

[cjeagle]

If the planned 2029 Asian Winter Games in Saudi Arabia do take place that's going to be a ridiculous mega event, might see this or that dual national join even if they haven't represented the particular national teams otherwise. The hosts will probably want to have their own team too as for the next country to join the IIHF.

How can Saudi Arabia host the Winter Games when they don't have outdoor skiing and bob sledding venues to play? Even indoor events will be a struggle because of the fact that they are in a region with the highest temperatures on earth.

 

[Albatros]

How can Saudi Arabia host the Winter Games when they don't have outdoor skiing and bob sledding venues to play? Even indoor events will be a struggle because of the fact that they are in a region with the highest temperatures on earth.

That remains to be seen, for now it's a planned futuristic resort up in the mountains not far from the Jordanian border where at least artificial snow should be possible. I don't think they'll do bobsleigh or skeleton events given their negligible popularity anywhere in Asia, but various skiing events they're committed to. Hockey is ironically probably among the most plausible disciplines for them to organize more or less successfully.

 

[cjeagle]

That remains to be seen, for now it's a planned futuristic resort up in the mountains not far from the Jordanian border where at least artificial snow should be possible. I don't think they'll do bobsleigh or skeleton events given their negligible popularity anywhere in Asia, but various skiing events they're committed to. Hockey is ironically probably among the most plausible disciplines for them to organize more or less successfully.

I am not sure that is practical or feasible but hey congrats to them if they can pull that off. Hopefully the Saudis wouldn't have any problems with the form fitting attire that female speedskaters wear.

 

[FrHockeyFan]

RDS article on Kenya's hockey community working on forming an official NA and joining the IIHF.

Hockey : Le Kenya veut devenir membre de l'IIHF | RDS

Des démarches sont entreprises dans le but que le Kenya intègre la Fédération internationale de hockey sur glace.

www.rds.ca

 

[Jussi]

I am not sure that is practical or feasible but hey congrats to them if they can pull that off. Hopefully the Saudis wouldn't have any problems with the form fitting attire that female speedskaters wear.

Female figureskaters on the other hand...