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HC Porto
Portuguese ice hockey team From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Ice Hockey Club Porto, or HC Porto for short, is a Portuguese ice hockey team based in the city of Porto. Established in 2023, they became the first ever Portuguese team to join the Spanish Liga Nacional de Hockey Hielo (LNHH).[1] Since 2024 the team feature in the Liga Ibérica, a combined Portuguese-Spanish league competition.
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Ice Hockey Club Porto was established in July 2023 by Portugal national ice hockey team head coach Jim Aldred, with the aim of developing the quality of Portuguese-based ice hockey players,[2] and to raise hockey's profile in Portugal.[3]
The team became the first Portuguese team to join the Liga Nacional de Hockey Hielo (LNHH) in Spain after an agreement made between the Portuguese Winter Sports Federation, Royal Spanish Winter Sports Federation and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF); however league regulations regarding minimum numbers of Spanish players meant that the Portuguese team would be ineligible to qualify for the post-season playoff, only featuring in regular season games.[1][4] Furthermore, due to the lack of full-sized ice rinks in Portugal, an arrangement was made with league officials for HC Porto to play all "home" games at rinks across Spain.[4][5]
One of the team's first major player signings was former Philadelphia Flyers defenceman Oskars Bārtulis.[6] HC Porto played its first competitive game LNHH on 19 September, losing 8–1 to Majadahonda HC,[7] with Latvian Janis Berzins scoring Porto's first ever goal.[8] During the 2023–24 season, HC Porto won seven of its 14 games, and placed fifth of eight teams.[9]
In March 2024, HC Porto won the inaugural Portugal national 3-on-3 hockey tournament, placing first in a four-team round robin with 10 points, ahead of the Vikings, Luso Lynx Hockey, and Ice Clube da Covilhã.[10]
On 13 September 2024, HC Porto were presented as participants in the newly created Liga Ibérica de Hóquei no Gelo. The new competition, established through a partnership between the Portuguese and Spanish Winter Sport Federations, announced HC Porto alongside the six leading Spanish teams from the LNHH.[4][11] HC Porto's first game of the season was delayed when the players' equipment did not arrive on the same flight as them. Their opponent, SAD Majadahonda, loaned their away jerseys and extra equipment to play the game, which HC Porto lost by a 5–1 score. When the lost equipment arrived, the next day's game was played resulting in 2–1 victory for HC Porto.[4] HC Porto won nine of their 18 games in the 2024–25 season, placing fourth of seven teams.[12]
HC Porto won the 2024–25 Portugal national 3-on-3 hockey tournament, undefeated in the regular season and playoffs.[13][14]
An olympic-sized rink with 600 seats is scheduled to open in Trofa in 2025, to provide a training facility for the team, and allow Portugal to host IIHF events.[15]
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