Philippine Ice Hockey
- Thread starter cjeagle
- Start date
This is great.
I remember when I went to the Philippines to visit family in 2011. Before we left, we spent a night in Manila near the mall of Asia. I remember there was a half sized ice surface set up for skating, and a sign advertising a Hockey tournament and workshop. I was extremely surprised, and sad that we were leaving before I could see the tournament. It's great to hear that they now have a program and are doing quite well to boot.
Thanks for creating this thread and making it easy to track Filipino hockey development!
I remember when I went to the Philippines to visit family in 2011. Before we left, we spent a night in Manila near the mall of Asia. I remember there was a half sized ice surface set up for skating, and a sign advertising a Hockey tournament and workshop. I was extremely surprised, and sad that we were leaving before I could see the tournament. It's great to hear that they now have a program and are doing quite well to boot.
Thanks for creating this thread and making it easy to track Filipino hockey development!
SemireliableSource
Liter-a-cola
The better question is do they have anyone interested and eligible. The best case scenario would be players that already hold Filipino citizenship. I doubt anyone wants to bother with the two-year or four-year processes.
The IIHF has residency requirements which would make it difficult for someone outside the country to play for the Philippines.
The older Fuglister actually lives and works in the Philippines now along with other Filipinos who learned their hockey abroad so they were able to establish residency and fulfill the requirements set by the IIHF.
This makes it hard for hockey loving Fil Ams and Fil Canadians who probably can make the team to play for the Philippines since they live and work in North America.
Also as mentioned the younger Fuglister has already played for Switzerland rendering him ineligible to play for another country.
I'm aware, but exceptions have been made before in cases where the representative situation has changed in a fundamental way. An application could very well be refused because of the two-year rule, but having played for another country prior to 2016 wouldn't necessarily be a problem.
The Philippines Men's Ice Hockey Team won over Mongolia in OT 7-6 early this morning, their 2nd win(after a 14-0 rout of Indonesia) in their debut participation in the World Ice Hockey Championships Division IV. It was a good win over a cold weather nation, host and pre tournament favorite Mongolia. They will most likely rout Kuwait in their final game in a few days giving them the Div IV World Ice Hockey Championship on their first try and clinching promotion to Div III B next year. All the players are based in the Philippines as per IIHF rules.
They were initially scheduled to make their debut in the World Ice Hockey Championships back in 2020 but the COVID quarantine prevented that for the next few years until the ice rinks were finally able to open this year allowing them to train.
They were initially scheduled to make their debut in the World Ice Hockey Championships back in 2020 but the COVID quarantine prevented that for the next few years until the ice rinks were finally able to open this year allowing them to train.
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Lakas
And i'll do it again in 2 minutes
They just beat Kuwait 14-0, so moving on to Division IIIB next year. Really liking Kenwrick Sze game, and at 18, he’s going to be Team Philippine’s future.
Congrats to the Champions Philippines! Celebration Time.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/210573394910451/?s=single_unit
Yeah Sze is a rookie and homegrown too. This is his first time to join the senior team. He was very impressive in terms of size (6'1"), speed and was production wise one of the best players of the tournament for the Philippines. Considering his size and skill and youth, he should try to take his game to North America.
There was also a lot of new young faces since I last watched them in 2019 before the pandemic so the future looks bright. They are getting younger and better.
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IIHF - Golden debut for the Philippines
After three years of Covid frustration, victory at its first IIHF World Championship event
It’s been a long wait, but it was worth every moment for the Philippines after winning Division IV gold at the first attempt.
The Asian nation was due to make its first IIHF World Championship appearance back in the 2019/20 season. However, the pandemic prevented that tournament from taking place. The following year was also cancelled and in 2022 the Filipino team had to withdraw prior to the competition in Kyrgyzstan. But all that frustration was forgotten in Ulaanbaatur, Mongolia, as the Philippines swept to gold and promotion to Division IIIB.
Back in competitive action for the first time since December 2019’s Southeast Asia Games, team Philippines wasted no time in making an impact. Just 21 seconds into the opening game against Indonesia, rookie forward Kenwrick Sze got his team’s first goal. The 18-year-old Manila native finished with a hat-trick and four assists in a 14-0 victory in that first game. Sze was one of three hat-trick heroes in that game, with newly-appointed team captain Manvil Billones and Carl Michael Montaro also notching trebles.
However, there was a far tougher test in store for the Philippines when they faced Mongolia. The host nation won its opening game 8-0 against Kuwait, and both teams went into game two knowing a regulation-time win would clinch gold.
That set the stage for a roller-coaster battle. The Philippines led 3-0 at the first intermission, Mongolia hauled it back to 3-3 after 40 minutes. Among the home scorers, Chinzolboo Mighigsuren stepped up from his impressive performance here in the U18 Asia and Oceania Championship tournament a couple of weeks earlier. The 16-year-old potted the first in Mongolia’s fightback here before his father, team captain Mishigsuren Namjil (aged 39) had a goal and an assist to help his country tie the games.
A breathless third period saw the teams share six goals before the action went to overtime. The winner came 72 seconds into the extras, with Billones instrumental in the decisive play. First, he broke clear of the Mongolian defence but saw his shot rebound to safety off the frame of the goal. However, he regained possession and sent a cross-ice feed for Eishner Sebug to beat Munkhbold Bayarsaikhan and win the game. Both Billones and Sebug were born in the USA to Filipino families, and both were making their first international appearances at this tournament after completing the naturalization formalities.
Despite the defeat, the majority of the 3,267 fans who came to the impressive new Steppe Arena in the Mongolian capital could still harbour some hopes of their team grabbing gold. The Philippines needed to defeat Kuwait in its final game to secure top spot. That proved to be a straightforward task, with another 14-0 scoreline ensuring there would be no stumble at the last. Sze got another early opener but it wasn’t until the second period that the floodgates opened. Montano scored another hat-trick, finishing the tournament with 10 (6+4), while Billones had 4 (2+2) to secure firt place in the scoring race with 12 (5+7). John Fuglister, a Swiss-born veteran of the Filipino hockey scene also had 3 (2+1) points in another convincing Filipino victory.
Mongolia wrapped up a silver medal in the final game of the tournament, defeating Indonesia 5-1. For Indonesia, that was a third successive loss in its first IIHF competition. However, the newcomers can take some consolation from a competitive display in a 2-4 loss to Kuwait in what was, in effect, the bronze-medal game.
Among the individual achievements, the Philippines unsurprisingly dominated the scoring chart. The top five scorers – Billones, Sze, Fuglister, Montano and Jan Aro Regencia – all represented the gold medallist, while Sibug’s four-point haul from the blue line made him the top scorer among defenders.
Mongolia’s leading scorers had six points each. Gerelt Ider and Mishigsuren Namjil both finished with two goals and four assists, Erdenesukh Bold contributed 1+5. Kuwait Ali Alsharraf was the leading scorer from the other nations here. Alsharraf also got the nod as the directorate’s best forward of the competition, with Sibug claiming best defender and Mongolian netminder Bayarsaikhan winning the best goalie prize.
The Philippines’ victory sees the team move up to next season’s Division IIIB competition.
___
I just want to point out an error in the article. Fil Ams and other Filipinos born abroad don't need to be naturalized if at least one of their parents are Filipino citizens. They are entitled to Philippine citizenship under the Philippine constitution and just need to show proof of their parent's citizenship to apply for a passport.
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The Philippines hired a new coach and assistant coach for this competition in Finns Juhani Ijäs(head coach) & Jan-Peter Lassila(goalkeeper coach) but I find it interesting that Ian McGrath of the Embassy of Canada in Manila served also as the PH Team’s Assistant Coach who probably either did not get a salary or was compensated for by the Canadian Embassy which is actively supporting the Philippine Federation with promoting ice hockey in the country.
"The DFA(Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs) also wishes to congratulate Mr. Ian McGrath of the Embassy of Canada in Manila, who served as the PH Team’s Assistant Coach. Mr. McGrath’s involvement with the team is a testament to the richness of PH-Canada relations, and how PH-Canada collaboration can have great outcomes."
My guess is that knowing the strength of Canadian hockey, Ian probably served as the defensive coordinator while head coach Ijas was responsible for the offense(regular and power play lineups).
"The DFA(Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs) also wishes to congratulate Mr. Ian McGrath of the Embassy of Canada in Manila, who served as the PH Team’s Assistant Coach. Mr. McGrath’s involvement with the team is a testament to the richness of PH-Canada relations, and how PH-Canada collaboration can have great outcomes."
My guess is that knowing the strength of Canadian hockey, Ian probably served as the defensive coordinator while head coach Ijas was responsible for the offense(regular and power play lineups).
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Involvement of NHL players?
Sy also mentioned that there is an issue if players from the National Hockey League (NHL) are involved, as far as policies are concerned.
He explained that because of insurance issues, some NHL players could not play in lower level ice hockey world championships.
The top division currently has the following countries: Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States.
Forward Steven Füglister, who is Filipino-Swiss, also pointed out the IIHF eligibility rules as to why some NHL players cannot play in other countries.
"The IIHF has their eligibility rules, which makes it impossible for these guys to suit up for the Philippines," he said.
But the former team captain, who was Player of the Game in the recently concluded IIHF World Championships – Division 4, said he would be happy if they took part to some extent.
New head coach Juhani Ijäs, a native of Finland, said he hopes the NHL can also help and hopes their players can also join practices.
"Hopefully, the NHL can help out also," he said. "Of course, for the Philippine side, we need to provide a good package for the players. I don't really know how is their family situation, if they travel here during the off season or not, but if they are ever here, they are always welcome to join our practices."
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, while Dumba had represented Canada at the World Championships in 2016, winning the gold medal.
Excuse my ignorance but are these filipino based players or North Americans of filipino descent? Either way, it's pretty impressive.
From reading above, it seems like they're Philippines based. Which is even cooler. Good luck in the future.
From reading above, it seems like they're Philippines based. Which is even cooler. Good luck in the future.
Some were trained in North America while the majority of the national team learned their hockey in the Philippines.
With regards to the World Hockey Division IV Championships they just won, the Philippines unsurprisingly dominated the scoring chart in this year's tournament. The top five scorers – Billones, Sze, Fuglister, Montano and Jan Aro Regencia – all represented the gold medallist, while Sibug’s four-point haul from the blue line made him the top scorer among defenders. Sze and Regencia are local products while Billones, Montano and Sibug are North American trained players. Fil Swiss Steven Fuglister is European trained and played semi pro hockey in Switzerland before moving to the Philippines permanently.
Other players like Tigaronita also plays junior hockey in the US and Cristosomo goes to college in Canada. Both learned their hockey in the Philippines before moving on to North America.
Either way since the IIHF requires players to have played 2 years in the country's national league in order to qualify to play for their national team, all the national team players lived in the Philippines at some point for an extended period although some went on to study and play hockey in North America.
To summarize a short history of Ice Hockey in the Philippines I will repost a reply I made in another thread.
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" first 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 which allowed 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.
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Unbeatable forces clash in PHL Championship as Sharks and Lightning vie for the ultimate prize. Who will emerge victorious as the undisputed champions of ice hockey in the Philippines?"
Bronze Medal
From underdogs to champions: The remarkable rise of Team Lightning in the Philippine Hockey League
Congrats to the 2023 PHL Champions Lightning
Lakas
And i'll do it again in 2 minutes
Philippines beat Singapore 6-3 in their first game of the tournament.
Congrats Philippines on their first win in the 2024 IIHF Division III B World Hockey Championships. One down. Four more to go.
Thrilling victory for Team Philippines as they triumph over Singapore on Day 1 of the 2024 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division III B in
!
Manvil Billones shines as Player of the Game with 2 goals + 1 assist. Jan Aro Regencia follows with 2 goals + 1 assist, and John Steven Fuglister impresses with 4 assists.
Next challenge awaits against Team Iran February 24, 2024 at 23:00 Philippine Time.
Thrilling victory for Team Philippines as they triumph over Singapore on Day 1 of the 2024 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division III B in
Manvil Billones shines as Player of the Game with 2 goals + 1 assist. Jan Aro Regencia follows with 2 goals + 1 assist, and John Steven Fuglister impresses with 4 assists.
Next challenge awaits against Team Iran February 24, 2024 at 23:00 Philippine Time.
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FT Philippines 14-2 Iran
It starting to look like the Div IIIB Championship will depend upon the North Korea - Philippine match as N Korea also defeated Singapore 7-4 with a similar 2-0 record.
The Phillippines is still ahead in the standings with a +15 goal differential compared to +5 with N Korea after 2 games.
N Korea actually was playing in Division II a few years ago but was relegated after not participating in the IIHF World Championships for a few years post COVID.
It starting to look like the Div IIIB Championship will depend upon the North Korea - Philippine match as N Korea also defeated Singapore 7-4 with a similar 2-0 record.
The Phillippines is still ahead in the standings with a +15 goal differential compared to +5 with N Korea after 2 games.
N Korea actually was playing in Division II a few years ago but was relegated after not participating in the IIHF World Championships for a few years post COVID.
Kenwrick Sze and Eishner Jigsmac Sibug score
Exciting matchups ahead, don’t miss the next clash on Tuesday, February 26, 2023, at 3 AM (Philippine time) against the home country
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Let's see them first beat Bosnia tomorrow, they started with the two easiest games and it's only going to get tougher from here.
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