Turkey national men's ice hockey team

The Turkish national ice hockey team is the national ice hockey team of Turkey, and is controlled by the Turkish Ice Hockey Federation ( _tr. Türkiye Buz Hokeyi Federasyonu, TBHF), a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation. It is currently ranked 41th in the IIHF's 2008 world final ranking list.

History

Turkey debuted in 2002 at the World Championships ranking last (6th) in the Division II Group A played in Cape Town, South Africa between March 31 and April 6.

The national team placed last (3rd) place at the next championships in Division III in Auckland, New Zealand April 3-6, 2003.

Turkey finished in 2nd place in the 2004 Division III World Championships held March 16-21 in Reykjavík, Iceland, thereby earning promotion to Division II for 2005 championships.

However, a last place in Division II Group A played April 10-16, 2005 in Zagreb, Croatia relegated them back to Division III in 2006.

Turkey's national team was again promoted to Division II after finishing 2nd in the Division III Group A at the 2006 World Ice Hockey Championships held April 24-29 in Reykjavík, Iceland.

Turkey competed in the Division II Group A at the 2007 World Ice Hockey Championships tournament held in Zagreb, Croatia from April 11 through April 17, 2007, where they once again finished last to be demoted back to division III.

The national team placed 4th at the 2008 IIHF World Championship - Division III held from March 31-April 4, 2008 in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg.

The national team's head coach is James MacEachern from Canada. His assistant is Tarık Göçmen.cite web |url=http://stats.iihf.com/Hydra/137/IHM1370TUR_32E_1_0.pdf |title=IIHF World Championship Div III, Men - Entry List by Team Turkey as of 28.03.2008 ]

2008 World Championship roster

Team members selected to take part at the 2008 IIHF Division III World Championship.

Notable Players

Cengiz Çıplak (25) is, without doubt, the best Turkish player ever. He was awarded the MVP crown as best forward in Division II Group A at the 2007 World Ice Hockey Championships although skating for the team that relegated. He received the same trophy at World Championship 2004. At the World Championship Division 3 in Iceland he was the torunaments topscorer. Çıplak learned his hockey in Edmonton and played in lower North American leagues, such as in the QMJHL as juniorTravnicek, Michal ((2008-03-31). [http://www.icehockey.lu/championship-2008/teams/turkey/ Hockey on the Rise] . Luxembourg Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved on 2008-05-20. ] . Within the 16 years of history of Turkish national ice hockey team, 25 goals in 18 games of Cengiz Çıplak makes him the highest goalscorer of all times [ [http://www.eurohockey.net/players/show_player.cgi?serial=67709 Cengiz Ciplak Player Profile] . European Hockey.Net. Retrieved on 2008-06-03. ] . Also he holds the record for the highest scorer in one game which he scored five goals in the game between Luxembourg and Turkey.

See also

*Turkey national women's ice hockey team
*Turkish Ice Hockey Federation
*Turkish Ice Hockey Super League

References

External links