Portugal men's national ice hockey team

2000

Ice hockey was played in Portugal from 1996 until 2006 in the Palácio do Gelo shopping center, in Viseu. Since 2010, ice hockey practices and friendly games have been played in Elvas, Portugal.

In 2000, the national team of Portugal played three games, the only games they ever played. The team they compiled to play was made up of former Portuguese immigrants who played ice hockey in the United States and Canada, as well as former players from traditional roller hockey. The event consisted of three games between the newly created national team of Portugal and the First Portuguese Canadian Cultural Center (FPCCC) from Toronto, Ontario, representing Canada. The games were held from June 21 to June 23, 2000, at the Palácio do Gelo in Viseu.

The tournament was a game venture by the Federação Portuguesa de Desportos No Gelo and the Embassy of Canada, namely the Ambassador of Canada, Robert Vanderloo. The event was also sponsored by Banco Comercial Português and Nortel.

The FPCCC won the first game 18–6 and the second 21–5. Pedro Regado was the first ever player to score for Portugal when he scored on 8:04 mark of the first period. The third and final game was played with the decision to mix-up the teams, placing Portuguese descendants of the FPCCC on the Portuguese team. At the end of the third match, the score was a close 15–11 for FPCCC. Portugal has not played an organized match until 2015.

2015 onwards

In January 2015, Portugal returned to play two international exhibition games, against the Čeští lvi in Elvas, Portugal. Portugal won their first game ever with a 6–4 win and a 6–2 win on the day after. This exhibition games were sponsored by the Czech Republic embassy in Portugal, namely by the strong support of Czech ambassador Stanislav Kázecký.

On January 14, 2016. Portugal played two exhibition games in Prague, Czech Republic. Portugal lost 0–2 against the Čeští Lvi and 0–3 against the Sklepovští Sršáni. Two days afterwards Portugal won their first ever away game with a 4–3 victory against the Čeští Lvi.

On 14 and 15 January 2017, Portugal hosted a quadrangular tournament in Elvas, Portugal. This was the largest ice hockey competition ever held in the country. Other than team Portugal, there were invited two teams from Czech Republic, the Čeští Lvi, the Sklepovští Sršáni and the second division French team Evry-Viry Jets. Even if Portugal was not able to conquer the tournament, this event was another step forward for the Portuguese ice hockey community and showed their capacity of organizing an international event.

Portugal played on 22 and 23 April 2017 at an international tournament with teams from Norway, Finland and Spain at Granada, Spain. The national team now led by their Canadian Coach Jim Aldred was able to retain a 6–0 victory against the Granada Eagles. It was the first away tournament played by Portugal and it showed a clear improvement in their level of play.^{[citation needed]} Aldred's team affiliated with the Portuguese Winter Sports Federation (FDIP), and he was invitated to oversee the Portugal national team,^[2][3] with his wife as the manager.^[4][5]

The first international event Aldred coached for Portugal was the inaugural IIHF Development Cup, hosted in Andorra in 2017.^[6] Winning their debut game in a shootout by a 3–2 score versus the Andorra national team, Portugal had losses to the Ireland national team and the Morocco national team. In the third-place match, Portugal defeated Andorra by a 5–3 score for the bronze medal.^[7][8] Later in 2017, Aldred led Portugal to a second-place finish at a ten-team tournament in his former hometown of Nijmegen.^[9]

On April 28 and 29, 2018, Portugal returned to Granada to play the Mr. Taxi Cup.

Returning to the Development Cup in 2018, Aldred added players from the Portuguese diaspora to earned a silver medal, following a loss by a 4–5 score to the North Macedonia national team.^[10] Portugal had two wins and one loss, and scored 27 goals in three tournament games.^[11]

When the IIHF Development Cup resumed in 2022, Aldred coached the Portugal national team each year since.^[6][12] After two consecutive cups without winning a game,^[a] Portugal placed second at the 2024 Development Cup with a loss to the Ireland national team by a 5–1 score in the final game.^[15]

In July 2023, Ice Hockey Club Porto was established by national team head coach Jim Aldred, with the aim of developing the quality of Portuguese-based ice hockey players.^[16] The team became the first Portuguese team to join the Spanish Liga Nacional de Hockey Hielo (LNHH).^[17]

Aldred has cited the lack of a standard-sized rink as the primary obstacle to developing ice hockey in Portugal.^[2] In collaborating with the FDIP, Aldred hopes for a rink in the Lisbon metropolitan area, in addition to the Olympic-sized rink scheduled for the Porto metropolitan area, to open in Trofa in 2025.^[5]

IIHF Development Cup

• 2017, Canillo, Andorra: bronze^[18][19]
• 2018, Füssen, Germany: silver^[20][21]
• 2022, Füssen, Germany: 6th place^[22]
• 2023, Bratislava, Slovakia: 5th place^[23]
• 2024, Bratislava, Slovakia: silver^[24]
• 2025, Canillo, Andorra: bronze^[25]