OT: Number of Hockey Players and Rinks by Country

[Beacon]

Abkhazia There are no ice rinks and no ice hockey is played.

Afghanistan The ice rink in Kabul was closed and then destroyed. A 13 team ball hockey league was created in 2006. There are ball hockey rinks in Kabul and Kandahar.

Albania No ice hockey is played and there are no indoor rinks. But the Pogradec lake is used for skating; and in 2005 they tried converting the local football field into an ice rink for a few weeks.

Algeria An Algerian ice and inline hockey federation exists.An ice rink just opened in Tizi Ouzo. A team plays in tournaments around Asia and Africa. They applied for an IIHF membership. Josef Boumedienne has an Algerian father. A number of players around the world have Algerian roots

Andorra IIHF member. There is an ice rink in Canillo. There are 71 registered players. There is a team, Andorra Hoquei Gel, they hosted the 1997 D pool world championships.

American Samoa There are no ice rinks and no hockey is played.

Angola Roller hockey is played but no ice rinks or ice hockey. In 2006 Luanda was the host for the first World Roller Club Championships 12 teams from 7 countries participated. In 1992 Angola finished 9th at the Summer Olympics where roller hockey was a demonstration sport.

Antigua and Barbuda There are no ice rinks and no hockey is played.

Argentina IIHF member, there are close to 30 rinks there. 200 registered players.

Armenia IIHF member. 5 rinks. 578 registered players. Teams are HC Urartu Yerevan, Dinamo Yerevan, Shirak Gyumri, SCA Yerevan, and Shengavit Yerevan.

Aruba There are no ice rinks and no hockey is played.

Anguilla There are no ice rinks and no hockey is played.

Australia IIHF member. 20 rinks. 2836 registered players. 8 teams.

Austria IIHF member. 131 rinks. 10378 registered players. There is a league system.

Azerbaijan IIHF member. 2 rinks in Baku are the Glavbakstroy Sports Palace and the Elite Shopping Centre. 3 teams are Atasport, Azneftheim, and Svyazist. In 1961 Baku hosted a tournament were the different soviet republics (not Azerbaijan) played against each other.

Bahamas There is a rink at Breezes Ski Resort. The rink measures 1,600 sq ft and is open 24 hours a day. Ice hockey skates, sticks, and pucks are given to guests during there stay. No competitive games are played.

Bahrain 1 rink with a small hockey league. 4 teams are Sharks, Buds, Rangers, and Bulldogs.They Applied for sn IIHF membership. There were 8 teams in the 1980s. Bahrain has sent teams to tournaments around Asia, They won tournaments in Dubai in 1995 and 1996 and finished as runner ups in 1994.

Bangladesh There is an ice rink in Dhaka; with some hockey activities.

Barbados There are no ice rinks and no hockey is played. But Barbados has become a winter holiday favourite for Ottawa Senators fans as the team holds annual contests to win a trip to Hockey Night in Barbados parties held at Bert’s Bar which is owned by Senators owner Eugene Melnyk. Fred Braithwaites parents came from Barbados Kevin Weekes, Anson Carters, and Peter Worrells parents also came from Barbados Shawn Belle has a Barbadian father Jamal Mayers grandparents came from Barbados Mike Grier also has Barbadian roots.

Belarus IIHF member. 22 rinks. 3302 registered players. There is a league system.

Belgium IIHF member .13 rinks. 1192 registered players. There is a league system.

Belize There is a rink with a concrete floor where roller hockey is played. No ice rinks or ice hockey though.

Benin There are no ice rinks and no ice hockey is played.

Bermuda There are no ice rinks and no ice hockey is played. But a team called the Bermuda triangles was formed to play in the 2008 World Pond Hockey Championships, they finished 59th out of 120 teams.

Bhutan There are no ice rinks and no ice hockey is played.

Bolivia Ice hockey activities existed in the 1970s, but no hockey is played now. Although the country has rinks in Santa Cruz de La Sierra and La Paz.

Botswana There are no ice rinks and no ice hockey is played.

Bosnia and Herzegovina IIHF member. 6 rinks. 249 registered players, teams are HK Bosna, HK Stari Grad, and HK Alfa. A national championship was held in 2002-03 and 2009-10.

British Virgin Islands There are no ice rinks and no ice hockey is played.

Brazil IIHF member. There are a number of rinks around the country. Some hockey is played.Teams are Sociedade Hipica campinas, Sertaozinho, Amparo NL, Palmeiras, Darks-Guariani, Portuguesa, and Capelle Hockey School.

Brunei There is an ice rink in Bandar Seri Begawan. No hockey is played. Craig Adams, who won a Stanley Cup with Carolina in 2006, was born in Brunei.

Bulgaria IIHF member. 8 rinks. 303 registered players. There is a league system.

Burkina Faso no ice rinks and no hockey is played. Benjamin Agnel, who played for the French National Team, was born in Ouagadougou.

Burma/Myanmar There are no ice rinks and no ice hockey is played.

Burundi There are no ice rinks, and no ice hockey is played.

Cambodia There are no ice rinks, and no ice hockey is played.

Cameroon There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Canada IIHF member. 13451 rinks. 499695 registered players.There are lots of leagues.

Cape Verde Islands There are no ice rinks, and no ice hockey is played.

Cayman Islands There are no ice rinks and no ice hockey is played. But a team from there participated in the World Pond Hockey Championships in Canada in 2005.

Central African Republic There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Chad There are no ice rinks and no ice hockey is played.

Chile IIHF member. There are ice rinks rinks in Santiago and Puerto Montt. No ice hockey is played.

China IIHF member. 76 rinks. 448 registered players, a few teams.

Chinese Taipei/Taiwan IIHF member. 11 rinks. 851 registered players. A few teams.

Christmas Island There are no ice rinks and no ice hockey is played.

Cook Islands There are no ice rinks, and no ice hockey is played.

Colombia There are 2 ice rinks in Bogota. But no hockey is played.

Comoros There are no ice rinks, and no ice hockey is played.

Congo There are no ice rinks and no ice hockey is played.

Costa Rica An ice rink exists. And 1 team (El Castillo Knights) plays. There is also a hockey league there.

Croatia IIHF member. 6 rinks. 591 registered players. There is a league system.

Cuba There used to be a team called the Havana Tropicals, who played in the Tropical Hockey League in 1938-39. There was an ice rink. There are no ice rinks and no ice hockey is played these days.

Cyprus There is an ice rink in Famagusta. The 2 teams are the Limassol Solar Bears and the Famagusta ice crows. And 2 more rinks are planned.

Czech Republic IIHF member. 180 rinks. 97102 registered players. There is a league system.

Democratic Republic of the Congo There are no ice rinks, and no ice hockey is played.

Denmark IIHF member.22 rinks. 4056 registered players. There is a league system.

Djibouti There are no ice rinks, and no ice hockey is played.

Dominica There are no no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Dominican Republic There is an ice rink in Santo Domingo. But no ice hockey is played.

Easter Island There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Ecuador There is an ice rink in Quito. Hockey is played.

East Timor/ Timor-Leste There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Egypt There is a regular ice rink in Sharm El Sheikh, and an artificial ice rink in Cairo. No hockey is played.

El Salvador There are no ice rinks, and no ice hockey is played.

Eritrea There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Equatorial Guinea There are no ice rinks, and no ice hockey is played.

Estonia IIHF member. 13 rinks. 950 registered players. There are 2 leagues the Meistriliiga and the Esiliiga.

Ethiopia There are no ice rinks, and no ice hockey is played.

Falkland Islands There are no ice rinks, and no ice hockey is played.

Faroe islands There are no ice rinks, and no ice hockey is played.

Fiji There is an ice rink in Nadi. But no hockey is played.

Finland IIHF member. 247 rinks. 61684 registered players. There is a league system.

France IIHF member. 154 rinks. 17133 registered players. There is a league system.

French Guiana There are no ice rinks, and no ice hockey is played.

French Polynesia/Tahiti There are no ice rinks, and no ice hockey is played.

Gabon There are no ice rinks, and no ice hockey is played.

Gambia There are no ice rinks, and no ice hockey is played.

Georgia IIHF member. There are 3 rinks. Ice hockey is played. The 4 teams are Ice Knights, Grey Wolves, Mimino, and the Fiery Crusaders. In 1962 Georgia beat Armenia 11-2.

Germany IIHF member. 219 rinks. 28967 registered players. There is a league system.

Ghana There are no ice rinks, and no ice hockey is played.

Gibraltar There is an ice rink. No ice hockey is played.

Great Britain IIHF member. 44 rinks. 5627 registered players. There is a league system.

Greece IIHF member. 3 rinks. 596 registered players, a few teams.

Greenland They participated in hockey at the Arctic Games. There is an outdoor rink. Lakes and ponds are also used for skating.

Grenada There are 2 ice rinks. No ice hockey is played.

Guadeloupe There are no ice rinks, and no ice hockey is played.

Guatemala There are 2 rinks in Guatemala City. No ice hockey is played.

Guinea There are no ice rinks, and no ice hockey is played.

Guinea-Bissau There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Guam There are no ice rinks, and no ice hockey is played.

Guernsey There is an occasional ice rink. No ice hockey is played.

Guyana There are no ice rinks, and no ice hockey is played.

Haiti There are no ice rinks, and no ice hockey is played.

Holland/Netherlands IIHF member. 24 rinks. 3059 registered players. There is a league system

Honduras There is an ice rink in a mall. No ice hockey is played.

Hong Kong IIHF member. 5 rinks.182 registered players. There is a small hockey league.

Hungary IIHF member. 28 rinks. 2034 registered players. There is a league system.

Iceland IIHF member. 3 rinks. 599 registered players, a few teams.

India IIHF member. 9 rinks. A hockey championship is played. There are 3 teams.

Indonesia There are 3 ice rinks. There is a league in Jakarta.

Iran There is an ice rink in Tehran. No ice hockey is played.

Iraq There is an ice rink. No hockey is played.

Ireland IIHF member. 2 rinks. 499 registered players, a few teams.

Israel IIHF member. 1 rink. 500 registered players, a few teams.

Isle of Man There is an occasional ice rink. No ice hockey is played.

Italy IIHF member. 63 rinks. 6454 registered players. There is a league system.

Ivory coast/Cote d`iviore There is an ice rink in Abidjan. No hockey is played.

Jamaica Inline hockey is played. But there are no ice rinks or ice hockey.

Japan IIHF member. 239 rinks. 21027 registered players, There is a league system.

Jersey There is an occasional ice rink. No hockey is played.

Jordan There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Kazakhstan IIHF member. 42 rinks. 5251 registered players. There is a league system.

Kenya There is an ice rink in Nairobi. There is a pickup hockey league.

Kiribati There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Kosovo There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Kuwait IIHF member. 3 rinks. 306 registered players, a few teams.

Kyrgyzstan A national championship is played.In 2006 there was a tournament with 10 teams. There are outdoor rinks in Tscholopnata, Chayek, and Bishkek. In 1962 the Kyrgyz national team played a game against Lithuania losing 7-2. They will participate in ice hockey at the 2011 Asian Winter Games.

Laos There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Latvia IIHF member. 23 rinks. 4539 registered players. There is a league system.

Lebanon They had a team, Veg group Beirut, but the sole Lebanese rink closed.

Lesotho An ice rink is planned at Tiffindel Ski Resort.

Liberia There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Libya There is an ice rink in Benghazi city. No hockey is played.

Liechtenstein IIHF member. 3 rinks. 96 registered players. There is a team, Vaduz-Schellenberg.

Lithuania IIHF member. 6 rinks. 817 registered players, lots of teams.

Luxembourg IIHF member. 3 rinks. 320 registered players, 5 teams.

Macau IIHF member. 1 rink. 67 registered players.

Macedonia IIHF member. There is an ice rink in Skopje. 3 teams, Makoteks, HK Skopje, and Vardar Skopje.

Madagascar There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Malawi There are 3 ice rinks. In 1978 a 4 team championship was played with the Ribadoui Royals winning, and Hassana finishing second. No ice hockey is played these days.

Malaysia IIHF member. 2 rinks. 250 registered players, a few teams.

Maldives There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Mali There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Malta The sole Maltese rink has closed. There used to be 4 teams.

Martinique There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Marshall Islands There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Mauritania There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Mauritius There is inline skating. And synthetic ice there. No hockey is played.

Mayotte There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Mexico IIHF member. 18 rinks. 2220 registered players. There is a league system.

Micronesia There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Moldova IIHF member. 2 rinks. 6 teams, Solar Moldova ,Acvila ,HC Moldavia, Ice Bravo ,Pantera ,and Codru. 2 more rinks are planned.

Monaco There is an outdoor ice rink. Some hockey is played.

Mongolia IIHF member. 17 rinks. 890 registered players, a few teams.

Montenegro There is an ice rink in Podgorica. No hockey is played.

Montserrat There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Morocco IIHF member. 1 rink. 90 registered players. 4 teams are Rabat capitals, Les Ifis, Falcons, and Cobras.

Mozambique Grupo Desporvito de Maputo participated in roller hockey tournament in Angola in 2006. (lots of roller hockey is played). They considered joining the IIHF for roller purposes.

Nagorno-Karabakh There are no ice rinks, and no ice hockey is played.

Namibia IIHF member. 5 rinks. 450 registered players.There is a team, the Windhoek Lions.

Nauru There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Nepal Lake Tilicho is frozen into an ice rink for 3-4 months a year. No ice hockey is played.

Netherlands Antilles There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

New Caledonia There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

New Zealand IIHF member. 9 rinks. 1510 registered player. There is a league system.

Nicaragua A road hockey league exists. There is an occasional ice rink. No ice hockey is played.

Niger There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Nigeria There is an ice rink in Lagos. No hockey is played.

Niue There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Northern Cyprus There is an ice rink. No hockey is played.

Northern Mariana Islands There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

North Korea IIHF member. 18 rinks. 3270 registered players, lots of teams.

Norway IIHF member. 40 rinks. 6385 registered players. There is a league system.

Oman There is an ice rink. The 2 teams are the Wadi Dogs, and Muscat Cobras. Thet Applied for an IIHF membership.

Pakistan There are ice rinks in Lahore and Karachi. Hockey is played. They were denied an IIHF membership, but they will re-apply in 2012.

Palau There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Palestine A Palestinian hockey website exists.

Panama There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Papua New Guinea There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Paraguay There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Peru There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played. There used to be an ice rink in a mall in Lima.

Philippines There are 3 rinks. And a hockey league.

Pitcairn Islands with only 50 residents they are the smallest country in the world. There are no ice rinks and no hockey is played.

Poland IIHF member. 28 rinks. 2923 registered players. There is a league system.

Portugal IIHF member. There is an ice rink. 116 registered players. 3 teams, Viseu lobos, Inline All Stars, and Serta Vikings.

Puerto Rico There are ice rinks in Aguadilla and San Juan. No hockey is played.

Qatar There are 2 ice rinks. They have a 2 division league.

Reunion There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Romania IIHF member. 12 rinks. 1500 registered players. There is a league system.

Russia IIHF member. 260 rinks. 84720 registered players. There is a league system.

Rwanda There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

St Kitts and Nevis There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

St Martin There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

St Pierre and Miquelon There are 2 teams,the Cougars and Missiles. There is an ice rink.

St Helena There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

St Vincent and the Grenadines There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

St Lucia There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Samoa There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

San Marino There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Sao Tome and Principe There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Saudi Arabia Ice hockey is played. There are rinks in Dhahran, Jeddah, and Riyadh. They applied for an IIHF membership.

Senegal There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Serbia IIHF member. 4 rinks. 563 registered players. There is a league system.

Seychelles There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Sierra Leone There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Singapore IIHF member. 1 rink. 351 registered players, there are a few teams.

Slovakia IIHF member. 66 rinks. 8671 registered players. There is a league system.

Slovenia IIHF member. 10 rinks. 1434 registered players. There is a league system.

Solomon Islands There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Somalia There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Somaliland There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

South Africa IIHF member. 4 rinks. 341 registered players.There is a league system.

Spain IIHF member. 18 rinks. 780 registered players. There is a league system.

South Korea IIHF member. 38 rinks. 1247 registered players.There is a league system.

South Ossetia There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Sri Lanka There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Sudan There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Suriname There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Swaziland There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Sweden IIHF member. 463 rinks. 60374 registered players. There is a league system.

Switzerland IIHF member. 188 rinks. 24705 registered players. There is a league system.

Syria There is an ice rink in Damascus. No hockey is played.

Tajikistan There are no indoor rinks, but lots of outdoor lakes/ponds are used for skating. No ice hockey is played.

Tanzania There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Thailand IIHF member. 3 rinks. 220 registered players, a few teams.

Togo There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Tokelau There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Tonga There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Transnistria There is an ice rink, no ice hockey is played.

Trinidad and Tobago There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Tunisia There is an ice rink in Tunis. An ice hockey federation exists .There is a team. They applied for an IIHF membership.

Turkey IIHF member. 6 rinks. 790 registered players. There is a league system.

Turkmenistan There is an ice rink in Ashgabat. Hockey is played.

Turks and Caicos Islands There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Tuvalu There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Uganda There is an ice rink in Kampala.There is a team, called the Kampala Alligators.

Ukraine IIHF membe.r 31 rinks. 4228 registered players. There is a league system.

United Arab Emirates IIHF member. 4 rinks. 200 registered players. There is a league system.

Uruguay There is an ice rink in Montevideo. No ice hockey is played.

United States IIHF member. 2025 rinks. 465975 registered players. There are lots of leagues.

US Virgin islands There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Uzbekistan There is a synthetic ice sheet in Tashkent. The regular ice rink in Tashkent has closed. Tashkent Binokor played in the Russian league from 1970-1988. Some notable players who were born in Uzbekistan are Yuri Gunko and Dmitri Riabykin who were both drafted in the NHL. Nikita Zakharov and Sergei Antipov play in Russia. Andreas Klundt was also born there. In 1986 the Uzbek national team played a game against Latvia, losing 5-2.

Vanuatu There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Vatican City There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Vietnam There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Venezuela There are 2 rinks in Caracas, and 1 in Mount Avila. No hockey is played.

Western Sahara There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Yemen There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Zambia There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played.

Zimbabwe There are no ice rinks, and no hockey is played. But Rory Hopkins who played in the English Premier Hockey League in the early 2000s was born in Harare

Click to read more...

 

[Stanley Foobrick]

United Arab Emirates IIHF member. 4 rinks. 200 registered players. There is a league system.

I know Canadians who have moved there for work. Might have something to do with it. LOL

 

[Made Dan]

Japan has 21,027 players? Wow. A lot more than I would've thought.

 

[park rangers]

There's a country called Jersey?

 

[SingnBluesOnBroadway]

End the lockout!

 

[The Gloaming]

There's a country called Jersey?

Why would there be a New Jersey if they never even had plain old Jersey?

 

[Clowes Line]

Why would there be a New Jersey if they never even had plain old Jersey?

Colonies were named by Britain after existing towns/counties in Britain. That's why the area is "New England". Not countries.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yorkshire = New York

Territory of England = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey

 

[ChipAyten]

There's a country called Jersey?

It's (along with the Isle of Man, famous for its TT) an island between France and England in the channel. It's an independent property of the crown, not a sovereign state. They are self governing for their domestic issues but ultimately answer to and rely on the crown for all issues outside of it's borders. Jersey and it's people are not part of the United Kingdom or EU and face some complications in regards to passports, citizenship and travel.

 

[Whiplash27]

Japan has 21,027 players? Wow. A lot more than I would've thought.

That was the most surprising to me as well.

 

[YoSoyLalo]

End the lockout!

Yeah, I've never even heard of some of these places.

 

[Giacomin]

Cool!

 

[Siamese Dream]

It's (along with the Isle of Man, famous for its TT) an island between France and England in the channel. It's an independent property of the crown, not a sovereign state. They are self governing for their domestic issues but ultimately answer to and rely on the crown for all issues outside of it's borders. Jersey and it's people are not part of the United Kingdom or EU and face some complications in regards to passports, citizenship and travel.

The Isle of Man isn't between France and England might want to check your geography there

But yes you are right, technically it isn't a country but it's not part of the UK either.

 

[Pantokrator]

I need to move to one of these countries with less than 100 players so that I might have a chance to be considered a decent ice hockey player.

 

[Nanaki]

End the lockout!

Yep. Diggin deep for conversations these days... No offense to the OP meant at all. I would rather talk about how the season is going.

 

[ChipAyten]

The Isle of Man isn't between France and England might want to check your geography there

But yes you are right, technically it isn't a country but it's not part of the UK either.

I didn't mean Isle of Man was in the channel, I meant they were alike in their designation as a crown dependency. Man is between England and Ireland of course.

 

[Whiplash27]

On a side note, North Korea has more registered players than there are Islanders fans

 

[Beacon]

On a side note, North Korea has more registered players than there are Islanders fans

More successful financially also.

 

[Stugots]

It's cool to see organized hockey in so many countries you wouldn't think had hockey. Ice hockey is pretty hard to play in many areas because of the weather factor and how expensive it is to build and maintain facilities. You can see why soccer (football) is really the world's game: all you need is a ball. Compare that to hockey where you need the facility obviously and then you have to spend hundreds on equipment. It's not easy.

 

[Hunter Gathers]

It's (along with the Isle of Man, famous for its TT) an island between France and England in the channel. It's an independent property of the crown, not a sovereign state. They are self governing for their domestic issues but ultimately answer to and rely on the crown for all issues outside of it's borders. Jersey and it's people are not part of the United Kingdom or EU and face some complications in regards to passports, citizenship and travel.

And they all look like this:

The native "blow back" is the traditional haircut of the male youth.

 

[Colin226]

My parents just got back from Tanzania and can confirm that they don't even know what hockey is.. Their safari guide had a Dartmouth Hockey shirt on but said he didn't know what it was (I guess they get a lot of discontinued US clothing items over there)

They tried to explain to him what hockey is but what do you say to someone who lives in the bush without electricity? "You know ice, that stuff you can't afford to even put in your drinks? Yeah, in America we have so much that we play games for fun on giant blocks of that stuff"