Bulgaria men's national ice hockey team
 | |
| Association | Bulgarian Ice Hockey Federation |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Robert Kalaber |
| Assistants | Juraj Dušička Ivaylo Velev |
| Captain | Martin Boyadjiev |
| Most games | Malin Atanasov (143) |
| Most points | Alexei Yotov (149) |
| Team colors | |
| IIHF code | BUL |
| Ranking | |
| Current IIHF | 40  (6 June 2021)[1] |
| Highest IIHF | 30 (first in 2003) |
| Lowest IIHF | 40 (2017) |
| First international | |
Bulgaria  4–2  Yugoslavia(Bucharest, Romania; 17 January 1942) | |
| Biggest win | |
Bulgaria 20–0  Turkey(Pretoria, South Africa; 28 March 1998) | |
| Biggest defeat | |
Kazakhstan  31–0 Bulgaria(Poprad or Spišská Nová Ves, Slovakia; 25 March 1994) Ukraine  31–0 Bulgaria(Poprad or Spišská Nová Ves, Slovakia; 26 March 1994) | |
| IIHF World Championships | |
| Appearances | 42 (first in 1963) |
| Best result | 14th (1970) |
| Olympics | |
| Appearances | 1 (first in 1976) |
| International record (W–L–T) | |
| 135–252–23 | |
The Bulgarian national ice hockey team (Bulgarian: Национален отбор по хокей на лед на България, Natsionalen otbor po khokeĭ na led na Bŭlgariya) is the national men's ice hockey team of Bulgaria. The team is controlled by the Bulgarian Ice Hockey Federation and a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). As of 2018, Bulgaria is ranked 38th in the IIHF World Ranking and competes in Division III of the Ice Hockey World Championships.
The team has participated once at the Olympic Winter Games. This happened in Innsbruck in 1976, when Bulgaria fell to the Czechoslovak team 14–1 in the first round. After a few more losses the team finished last in the tournament.
Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, hosted the games of Division II, Group B of the 2009 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships. Bulgaria's opponents at the tournament were Belgium, Mexico, Spain, South Africa and South Korea. In 2011, Bulgaria was also in Division II, with Croatia, Romania, China, Ireland and Iceland.
Historically, the team has played in the second highest level four times, with their highest placement being 14th in 1970. However, the only year that they ever earned promotion (by placing 1st or 2nd in Pool C) was in 1975, which also qualified them for the 1976 Olympics. The only year that they won any games in Pool B was 1992 (at that time it was contested between nations ranked 13th to 20th), defeating Japan, China and Yugoslavia.
Goaltender Konstantin Mihailov played in 28 Ice Hockey World Championships with Bulgaria, and was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2019, as a recipient of the Torriani Award to recognize his international hockey career.[2]
World Championship record[]
| Year | City | Country | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | Stockholm | Sweden | 4th place in Group C (19th) |
| 1967 | Vienna | Austria | Bronze in Group C (19th) |
| 1969 | Skopje | Yugoslavia | 5th place in Group C (19th) |
| 1970 | Bucharest | Romania | 8th place in Group B (14th) |
| 1971 | Several cities | the Netherlands | 5th place in Group C (19th) |
| 1972 | Miercurea Ciuc | Romania | 4th place in Group C (17th) |
| 1973 | six cities | the Netherlands | 4th place in Group C (18th) |
| 1974 | Grenoble, Gap, Lyon | France | Bronze in Group C (17th) |
| 1975 | Sofia | Bulgaria | Silver in Group C (16th) |
| 1976 | Aarau and Biel/Bienne | Switzerland | 8th place in Group B (16th) |
| 1977 | Copenhagen and Hørsholm | Denmark | Bronze in Group C (20th) |
| 1978 | Las Palmas | Spain | 5th place in Group C (21st) |
| 1979 | Barcelona | Spain | 4th place in Group C (22nd) |
| 1981 | Beijing | China | 6th place in Group C (22nd) |
| 1982 | Jaca | Spain | 6th place in Group C (22nd) |
| 1983 | Budapest | Hungary | 6th place in Group C (22nd) |
| 1985 | Megève, Chamonix, Saint-Gervais | France | 6th place in Group C (22nd) |
| 1986 | Puigcerdà | Spain | Bronze in Group C (19th) |
| 1987 | Copenhagen, Herlev, Hørsholm | Denmark | 7th place in Group C (23rd) |
| 1989 | Sydney | Australia | 5th place in Group C (21st) |
| 1990 | Budapest | Hungary | 6th place in Group C (22nd) |
| 1991 | Brøndby Municipality | Denmark | 4th place in Group C (20th) |
| 1992 | Klagenfurt | Austria | 5th place in Group B (17th) |
| 1993 | Eindhoven | the Netherlands | 8th place in Group B (20th) |
| 1994 | Poprad and Spišská Nová Ves | Slovakia | 7th place in Group C1 (27th) |
| 1995 | Sofia | Bulgaria | 9th place in Group C1 (29th) |
| 1996 | Kaunas and Elektrėnai | Lithuania | 6th place in Group D (34th) |
| 1997 | Canillo | Andorra | 7th place in Group D (35th) |
| 1998 | Krugersdorp and Pretoria | South Africa | Gold in Group D (33rd) |
| 1999 | Eindhoven Tilburg | South Africa | 8th place in Group C (32nd) |
| 2000 | Beijing | China | 9th place in Group C (33rd) |
| 2001 | Bucharest | Romania | 4th in Division II Group B (35th) |
| 2002 | Novi Sad | Yugoslavia | 4th in Division II Group B (35th) |
| 2003 | Sofia | Bulgaria | Bronze in Division II Group B (34th) |
| 2004 | Elektrėnai | Lithuania | 4th in Division II Group B (36th) |
| 2005 | Zagreb | Croatia | 4th in Division II Group A (35th) |
| 2006 | Sofia | Bulgaria | Silver in Division II Group A (32nd) |
| 2007 | Zagreb | Croatia | 5th in Division II Group A (38th) |
| 2008 | Miercurea Ciuc | Romania | 5th in Division II Group A (38th) |
| 2009 | Sofia | Bulgaria | 4th in Division II Group B (36th) |
| 2010 | Naucalpan | Mexico | 4th in Division II Group A (35th) |
| 2011 | Zagreb | Croatia | 5th in Division II Group B (38th) |
| 2012 | Sofia | Bulgaria | Bronze in Division II Group B (37th) |
| 2013 | İzmit | Turkey | 6th in Division II Group B (40th) |
| 2014 | Luxembourg | Luxembourg | Gold in Division III (41st) |
| 2015 | Cape Town | South Africa | 4th in Division II Group B (38th) |
| 2016 | Mexico City | Mexico | 6th in Division II Group B (40th) |
| 2017 | Sofia | Bulgaria | Silver in Division III (42nd) |
| 2018 | Cape Town | South Africa | Silver in Division III (42nd) |
| 2019 | Sofia | Bulgaria | Gold in Division III (41st) |
| 2020 | Reykjavík | Iceland | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic[3] |
| 2021 | Reykjavík | Iceland | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic[4] |
Roster[]
Roster for the 2018 IIHF World Championship.[5]
| Goaltenders | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Player | Catches | Height | Weight | Date of birth | Club |
| 1 | Dimitar Dimitrov | L | 180 cm | 75 kg | 7 October 1997 | Irbis-Skate SK Sofia
|
| 25 | Ivan Stoynov | L | 190 cm | 85 kg | 27 May 1993 | CSKA Sofia
|
| Defencemen | ||||||
| # | Player | Shoots | Height | Weight | Date of birth | Club |
| 4 | Nikolay Bozhanov | L | 186 cm | 80 kg | 6 December 1994 | Irbis-Skate SK Sofia
|
| 5 | Reymand Mladenov | L | 188 cm | 90 kg | 25 November 1998 |  HK Maribor
|
| 6 | Bogdan Stefanov | R | 180 cm | 85 kg | 14 December 1990 | Irbis-Skate SK Sofia
|
| 7 | Martin Gyurov | L | 180 cm | 85 kg | 3 March 1975 | Irbis-Skate SK Sofia
|
| 12 | Ivaylo Georgiev | L | 182 cm | 85 kg | 3 June 1998 | Slavia Sofia
|
| 17 | Konstantin Dikov | L | 170 cm | 65 kg | 10 May 2002 |  Okanagan Hockey Academy
|
| 18 | L | 175 cm | 75 kg | 5 March 2000 |  Grey Highlands Hawks
| |
| Forwards | ||||||
| # | Player | Shoots | Height | Weight | Date of birth | Club |
| 8 | Yanaki Gatchev | R | 175 cm | 76 kg | 27 August 1997 | Irbis-Skate SK Sofia
|
| 9 | Stanislav Muhachev | L | 187 cm | 95 kg | 25 February 1985 | Irbis-Skate SK Sofia
|
| 10 | Ivan Hodulov | R | 178 cm | 78 kg | 4 September 1994 | CSKA Sofia
|
| 11 | Tomislav Georgiev | R | 183 cm | 90 kg | 8 June 1997 |  Connecticut Nighthawks
|
| 13 | Veselin Dikov | L | 178 cm | 73 kg | 21 February 1998 | Connecticut Nighthawks
|
| 16 | Martin Nikolov | R | 176 cm | 78 kg | 12 February 1994 |  Avesta BK
|
| 19 | Daniel Dilkov | R | 187 cm | 73 kg | 25 May 1998 |  MsHK Žilina
|
| 21 | Lyubomir Stoyadinov | R | 182 cm | 85 kg | 18 July 1976 | Slavia Sofia
|
| 22 | L | 170 cm | 65 kg | 19 January 2000 |  BK Mlada Boleslav
| |
| 23 | R | 186 cm | 85 kg | 2 April 1990 |
| |
| 24 | L | 178 cm | 83 kg | 11 May 1987 | Irbis-Skate SK Sofia
| |
References[]
- ^ "IIHF Men's World Ranking". IIHF. 6 June 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
- ^ Podnieks, Andrew (6 February 2019). "Hall of Fame Class of 2019 named". International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
- ^ "Men's Division II, III cancelled". IIHF. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
- ^ "IIHF – IIHF Council announces more cancellations". International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
- ^ "2017 World Championships Division 3 Team Bulgaria. (Men)" (PDF). International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
External links[]
 Ice hockey in Bulgaria | |
|---|---|
| Bulgarian Hockey League | |
| National teams | |
| Other articles | |
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- Bulgaria men's national ice hockey team
- National ice hockey teams in Europe
- Ice hockey teams in Bulgaria