Great Britain and Spain as ice hockey powers

Despite its Canadian origins, the first ice hockey championships were held in Europe. Amateur ice hockey leagues emerged on the Old Continent in the 1880s, whilst professional ice hockey began around 1900.

The first European Championship took place from 10 to 12 January 1910 in Switzerland, at the winter resort of Le Avant, with four ‘official’ teams taking part - Great Britain, Germany, Belgium and Switzerland. An ‘unofficial’ participant was a team of Canadians studying at Oxford, known as the ‘Oxford Canadians’. That year, Great Britain made history by winning the first European Ice Hockey Championship.

Few people know that by that time, Spain was already well and truly playing hockey, albeit still on natural ice rinks in the Pyrenees of Catalonia. The first recorded mention of indoor ice hockey in Spain dates back to the 1920s. Georges Marquet, a Belgian businessman and owner of such prestigious hotels as the ‘Palace’ in Brussels and the ‘Ritz’ in Madrid, built an artificial ice rink in the Spanish capital. On 30 October 1922, in the presence of King Alfonso XIII, a French Renaissance-style building with a 55x28-metre ice rink, named the ‘Palacio de Hockey y Automóviles’, was officially opened.

By 1923, the Spanish Winter Sports Federation had already been founded, and Spain had joined the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). In the same year, the national team took part in its first international tournament - the ‘Challenge de Haute-Garonne’, held in France. At that time, the Spanish team won its first international match against Belgium, but lost the next match against France.

In 1924, Spain had the honour of competing in the European Ice Hockey Championship, which was held in Milan. Teams from France, Belgium, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland and Spain took part in the ninth edition of the ice hockey tournament for European countries. Spain failed to progress from Group A. During the first match against Switzerland, two of the seven players in the Spanish squad sustained injuries. As a result, the Swiss agreed to play with just five players, which allowed the match to continue. Switzerland won that match against Spain 12–0. In the second match, Sweden also agreed to play with only five players, and Spain lost again.

Ice hockey enjoyed a new surge in popularity in Spain during the 1970s. In 1972, the National Ice Hockey League (Liga Nacional de Hockey sobre Hielo) was established. The inaugural season featured six founding teams from several ‘northern’ regions: Real Sociedad, Jaka, Valladolid, Puigcerdá, Madrid and Barcelona.

Since 2001, Spain has competed in the second division of the Ice Hockey World Cup. The national team is showing signs of improvement. For example, after finishing 34th in the IIHF world rankings in 2009 and 30th in 2010, Spain moved up to the first division for the first time in its history in 2011.

It is worth noting that the Spanish national team has experienced both resounding defeats and equally resounding victories. For example, Spain’s biggest win was a 38–0 victory over Turkey in Johannesburg in 1992. Their heaviest defeat was a 19–0 loss to the Netherlands in Las Palmas in 1978.

Amidst all the football news, there is hardly any coverage of the ice hockey competitions taking place in Spain. Every year, however, the country hosts a national cup known as the Copa del Rey. It features the six best ice hockey teams in Spain, typically from the Basque Country, Catalonia, the Community of Madrid and Aragon, which, incidentally, is represented by HH Jaca, a club that has won La Liga Nacional de Hockey sobre Hielo most of the times.

Incidentally, eighteen years ago, Spanish women’s ice hockey players got their own national league. The Liga Nacional de Hockey Hielo Femenino was founded in 2008 and operates under the auspices of the Spanish Winter Sports Federation (RFEDH). The league’s most successful team is SAD Majadahonda, whose emblem features a bear from the Autonomous Community of Madrid, constantly pursued by the ‘Panthers’ from Valladolid.