Whatever happened to Greece, Armenia, and Ireland hockey programs?

[Sens of Anarchy]

The Irish seem to be the one people that can still have negative stereotypes tossed their way. I also love how the Irish could literally not care less what is said about them. They'll laugh along with you.

FYI, that's just an observation, not criticism. I have an "Irish Yoga" t-shirt lol. I'm also someone of Irish descent who gave up drinking before my body was permanently contorted into the position of the guy in the chair.

Love the Irish!

 

[Adele Dazeem]

I highly doubt the Armenians will do anything substantial at their current state.
Their recent (inept) government has catapulted any progress in every field, let alone hockey.
The best bet is for young Armenians to play in Russia, and do their best.

 

[Nathaniel Skywalker]

Considering the portuguese are the greatest roller hockey nation in history. They should really step on to the ice

 

[Smirnov2Chistov]

This really looks more like field hockey with those short sticks and could you imagine Chara playing this?

Clearly it’s Roller Hockey.

Players with Charas height are rare.

 

[chauron]

This thread is a good reminder how niche the Ice Hockey actually is

 

[DieSendungmitderMaus]

And yet the rosters of N/A professional sports teams are loaded with names that at least hint of Irish ancestry. And more than a few of these are elite. Ireland could do so much better imho.

What do those names have to do with Ireland's sporting potential though? I'm not even saying ROI punch below their weight, but a bunch of elite American athletes whose ancestors emigrated during the great famine don't mean anything.

 

[FrHockeyFan]

Digging the thread back up.

Looks like Armenia put their program together. According to NToIH.com, NT is planning to reintegrate the WC in 2025... just enough time to get plenty of diaspora players eligible by then...

AHL | Главная

ahl.life

Big Plans in Armenia - National Teams of Ice Hockey

By George Da SIlva - National Teams of Ice Hockey Armenian Ice Hockey League has big plans for the future of the national team and the league. 1. October 2023 Friendly match of the Armenian national ice hockey team after 13 years hiatus. 2. December 2023 Formation of the final composition of the...

nationalteamsoficehockey.com

 

[Albatros]

They'd better be more careful with that eligibility this time around...

 

[FrHockeyFan]

Looks like they've studied the bylaws this time...

 

[mattihp]

Any players of Armenian descent playing in the backyards of European hockey? The lower levels of Romanian(!) Hockey used to be chock full of North Americans. Lower levels of German leagues maybe also have a couple willing to sacrifice a couple of seasons in the Armenian league? France has a decent sized Armenian diaspora, but the league system isn't deep enough to find players who can step down to Armenian level I guess..

 

[FrHockeyFan]

A bit of movement from Greece. They are working on building up a traveling team to go playing tournaments around Europe. It would be made up of Greek-based players but is not a revival of the national team.



Meanwhile EP has a roster for a Greek entry for the upcoming Latam Cup at the end of August. Obviously it is almost entirely, bar one, made up of North American-based players coming from the local diaspora. There is one Greek-born guy and one former official NT member. The star player is obviously retired pro Miles Koules, a USNTDP alumnus with 3 WHL seasons under his belt followed by 6 pro seasons (139 AHL games, 95 ECHL games and a short Liiga stint). Former Uni of Lethbridge and Brampton Beast head coach Spiros Anastas will be assisting on the bench. He has extensive experience with a few NT programs around the world (South Korea, Estonia, Serbia)

Greece 2023-2024 - Roster, Stats & more

Greece - Development Cup - hockey team page with roster, stats, transactions at eliteprospects.com

www.eliteprospects.com

 

[MeHateHe]

A bit of movement from Greece. They are working on building up a traveling team to go playing tournaments around Europe. It would be made up of Greek-based players but is not a revival of the national team.



Meanwhile EP has a roster for a Greek entry for the upcoming Latam Cup at the end of August. Obviously it is almost entirely, bar one, made up of North American-based players coming from the local diaspora. There is one Greek-born guy and one former official NT member. The star player is obviously retired pro Miles Koules, a USNTDP alumnus with 3 WHL seasons under his belt followed by 6 pro seasons (139 AHL games, 95 ECHL games and a short Liiga stint). Former Uni of Lethbridge and Brampton Beast head coach Spiros Anastas will be assisting on the bench. He has extensive experience with a few NT programs around the world (South Korea, Estonia, Serbia)

Greece 2023-2024 - Roster, Stats & more

Greece - Development Cup - hockey team page with roster, stats, transactions at eliteprospects.com

www.eliteprospects.com

So Greece has a rink again? That's good news.

 

[FrHockeyFan]

So Greece has a rink again? That's good news.

Well, they always had a couple of small size rinks, just not an olympic size one needed to play WC.

 

[Garl]

I think, Armenia can get a decent team, if gather all Russian Armenians.

Man, imagine what kind of a team Ireland can get!

 

[Kshahdoo]

Man, imagine what kind of a team Ireland can get!

There is Armenian ethnicity in Russia, there is no Irish ethnicity in Canada or US...

 

[Garl]

There is Armenian ethnicity in Russia, there is no Irish ethnicity in Canada or US...

Kinda like there is no ukrainian or belarussian ethnicity in Russia right?

 

[Kshahdoo]

Kinda like there is no ukrainian or belarussian ethnicity in Russia right?

There is. Another thing is most Ukrainians and Belarussians choose to be Russians in Russia, while Armenians don't.

 

[FrHockeyFan]

There is Armenian ethnicity in Russia, there is no Irish ethnicity in Canada or US...

You've never met an American tourist going around the streets of Dublin.

 

[Garl]

There is. Another thing is most Ukrainians and Belarussians choose to be Russians in Russia, while Armenians don't.

This makes no sense, where did all this irish people go?

 

[Kshahdoo]

This makes no sense, where did all this irish people go?

Irish people outside Ireland have mostly not been Irish for 100+ years. So they are Irish the same way that Kuzmenko is Ukrainian just because his last name is Ukrainian. With this logic it's obvious that Gretzky is Belarussian...

 

[Garl]

Irish people outside Ireland have mostly not been Irish for 100+ years. So they are Irish the same way that Kuzmenko is Ukrainian just because his last name is Ukrainian. With this logic it's obvious that Gretzky is Belarussian...

Yes, similar to ukrainians and belarussians in Russia. Irish in US I think actually separate themselves more, at least due to religion

However, if they would put up a team of players of irish descent, which is basically what you propose for russian armenians it should be quite good

 

[Kshahdoo]

Yes, similar to ukrainians and belarussians in Russia. Irish in US I think actually separate themselves more, at least due to religion

However, if they would put up a team of players of irish descent, which is basically what you propose for russian armenians it should be quite good

It's quite different. Russian Armenians are officially Armenians, they look like Armenians, they speak Armenian, so they are basically Armenians who live in Russia. You can't say the same about Irish living in US.

 

[KillerMillerTime]

What do those names have to do with Ireland's sporting potential though? I'm not even saying ROI punch below their weight, but a bunch of elite American athletes whose ancestors emigrated during the great famine don't mean anything.

I went grades 6-12 with a girl whose family immigrated from Ireland in 1966-67 school year. She was the second oldest of 3. Her younger brother was the only child born in the US. He became a Captain of UVM and was one year ahead of John LeClair.

 

[FrHockeyFan]

So I mentioned higher up there will be a Greek entry at this year's Latam Cup.

Turns out that "Heritage Team" has kind of created a bit of a steer in the Greek ice hockey community. That team is backed by the Greek Winter Sports Federation, the official NA for the sport in the country.

The locals would have preferred the NA working on an official national team that could compete in the Development Cup. They also hope that if any money is made out of selling jerseys, it will trickle down towards hockey development in the country and not "get lost along the way".

They still wish all the best for that team in the upcoming tournament.

What is the Greek Heritage Ice Hockey team? – Ice Hockey in Greece :: Χόκεϋ επί Πάγου στην Ελλάδα

www.icehockey.gr

 

[FrHockeyFan]

Amerigol has released its schedules for the upcoming Latam Cup tournaments next month.

News: 2023 AMERIGOL LATAM CUP OFFICIAL SCHEDULE - Amerigol International Hockey Assoc.

www.amerigolhockey.com

The Greek Heritage Team is entering the Division I event where they will face last year's finalist and IIIHF Development Cup runner-up Argentina, Arab Cup champion Lebanon and the Mexico Warriors. Greece and Lebanon faced each other in a 3-game Development Series last weekend.

Meanwhile Division II will include an Armenian entry. It seemed at first another case of an Heritage Team as Canada-based Armenia HC's founder Herag Saiyan said in an interview back in January they were planning taking part in this tourney. But the home country could be seriously involved as well as EP lists Natalia Kazantseva as the team manager. Kazantseva is the GM for HC Lions who recently won the Armenian Hockey League's regular season.



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