Philippines men's national ice hockey team

Prior to 2008, there were no organized leagues and an unofficial Philippine national team composed of players from selected clubs participated in regional tournaments.[2] One such unofficial national team was "Manila Pilipinas" that participated at the HKAHC Invitational Amateur Ice Hockey Tournament in 2005. They were second runners-up team in the Bauhinia Division, the lowest of the three divisions in the invitational tournament.[3]

Starting 2008, ice hockey in the Philippines began to gain traction.[2] 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.[4] It was in this tournament that the Philippines played against another national side. They won 10–0[5] over a Macau squad, sanctioned by the Macau Ice Sports Federation.[6]

The Federation of Ice Hockey League (FIHL), a national ice hockey federation was then established in February 2015 to govern ice hockey in the Philippines[7] making efforts to organize a formal national team easier.[2]

French-Filipino general manager, Francois Gautier[8] led the Philippine national team in open tournaments in 2015. Gautier mentored the Philippine squad that finished third at the adult division of the 2015 Hong Kong Fives, as well the Philippines that took the Gold Cup Division title at the 2015 HKAHC Invitational Amateur Ice Hockey Tournament.[9]

The FIHL became an associate member of the IIHF on 20 May 2016[10][11] and by July 2016, the federation also became a member of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC). The FIHL's membership with these two bodies made them eligible to send national teams including a men's national team to the official tournaments such as the Challenge Cup of Asia and the Southeast Asian Games.[2]

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. They also played against the national team of Oman in the tournament.[12]

The Philippine national team participated at the 2017 Asian Winter Games,[13] which was their first official tournament.[14] They participated in Division II of the tournament.[15] The team, captained by Swiss-Filipino, Steven Füglister,[16] underwent a seven-month training which started in July 2016 prior to the competition.[17]

The team lost 10–5 in their first official match against Kyrgyzstan.[18] Philippines secured their first official win as a FIHL member when they defeated Qatar with a score of 14–2[19] and 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.[18]

The Philippines national team at the 2017 SEA Games.

The Philippines participated at an ice hockey tournament event of the 2017 Southeast Asian Games.[20] To prepare for the tournament, they participated at the 2017 Philippine Ice Hockey Tournament which was held at the SM Megamall Skating Rink in Mandaluyong.[21] The national team finished third behind second placed New York-based Islanders Red and first placed Singaporean side Pandoo Nation.[22]

The Philippine national team mentored by Czech head coach Daniel Brodan[23] started their Southeast Asian Games campaign with a 12–0 victory over Indonesia.[24] This was followed by their game against Singapore which ended with a 7–2 triumph.[25]

This was then followed by their game against Malaysia which saw the ejection of the Philippine captain, Steven Füglister from the game in the first period. He was given a game misconduct penalty for hitting a Malaysian player in a head while pursuing the puck although the skipper said the infraction was an unintentional accident.[26] The match ended with a 7–7 tie after regulation time after an extra five-minute-period which led to a shootout. The Philippines outshot Malaysia to register a win.[25]

The Malaysian organizers decided to suspend Fuglister for the final match against Thailand. The Philippines appealed this decision but failed to overturn the suspension.[26] Despite playing sans their captain, the Philippines wrapped up their campaign, undefeated with a 5–4 win over Thailand and clinched the first ever ice hockey gold medal in the history of the regional tournament.[27]

The Philippines hosted the Top Division of the IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia from 3 to 8 April 2018, their first IIHF-sanctioned tournament, at the SM Mall of Asia Ice Skating Rink in Pasay, Metro Manila.[28] The team was mentored by American head coach, Jonathan De Castro.[29] The national team settled for bronze after tying in points with champions Mongolia and runners-up Thailand. Goal differences of the three teams with matches against the two other teams, Kuwait and Singapore, disregarded was used as tiebreaker to determine the final standing.[30] 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.[31]

The Philippines failed to defend their Southeast Asian Games title at home in the 2019 edition of the regional games settling for a bronze medal finish. Kaspersky, an internet security firm, sponsored their participation in the regional games.[32]

The Philippines' ice hockey governing body, the Federation of Ice Hockey League, from 2017, projects the national team's first participation in the IIHF World Championships within three to five years.[33] They have applied to participate in the inaugural Division IV of the World Championships for the 2020 edition.[31][34] However the tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[35]

Roster for the 2019 IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia.[36]

Head coach: Daniel Brodan

No.	Pos.	Name	Height	Weight	Birthdate	Club
2	F	Lenard Rigel Lancero II	1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)	70 kg (150 lb)	(1995-07-02)2 July 1995 (aged 23)	Manila Lightning
7	F	Carl Montano	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)	85 kg (187 lb)	(1983-09-11)11 September 1983 (aged 35)	Manila Bearcats
8	D	Patrick Syquiatco	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)	84 kg (185 lb)	(1995-02-27)27 February 1995 (aged 24)	Manila Lightning
10	F	Danilo Pastrana	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)	70 kg (150 lb)	(1998-02-14)14 February 1998 (aged 21)	Manila Lightning
11	D	Jann So Tiong	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)	80 kg (180 lb)	(2002-02-01)1 February 2002 (aged 17)	Philippine Eagles
15	F	Samuel Bengzon	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)	75 kg (165 lb)	(1989-11-15)15 November 1989 (aged 29)	Manila Bearcats
17	G	Irell Perez	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)	74 kg (163 lb)	(1984-08-26)26 August 1984 (aged 34)	Manila Lightning
18	F	Jose Iñigo Cadiz	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)	90 kg (200 lb)	(1990-02-09)9 February 1990 (aged 29)	Manila Bearcats
19	D	Javier Cadiz	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)	77 kg (170 lb)	(1997-03-25)25 March 1997 (aged 21)	Manila Bearcats
25	F	Steven Füglister	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)	90 kg (200 lb)	(1986-01-25)25 January 1986 (aged 33)	Manila Chiefs
27	F	Jon David Samson	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)	65 kg (143 lb)	(1998-08-27)27 August 1998 (aged 20)	Manila Lightning
28	F	Francois Gautier	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)	87 kg (192 lb)	(1983-11-28)28 November 1983 (aged 35)	Philippine Eagles
29	G	Paolo Spafford	1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)	72 kg (159 lb)	(1985-06-10)10 June 1985 (aged 33)	Manila Chiefs
31	F	Miguel Relampagos	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)	75 kg (165 lb)	(1995-08-01)1 August 1995 (aged 23)	Manila Bearcats
69	D	Julius Santiago	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)	70 kg (150 lb)	(1996-06-03)3 June 1996 (aged 22)	Manila Chiefs
78	D	Carlo Tigaronita	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)	73 kg (161 lb)	(2002-07-08)8 July 2002 (aged 16)	Manila Lightning
79	D	Charles Cambaliza	1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)	68 kg (150 lb)	(1986-01-28)28 January 1986 (aged 33)	Unattached
81	F	Jan Aro Regencia	1.64 m (5 ft 5 in)	52 kg (115 lb)	(2000-10-18)18 October 2000 (aged 18)	Manila Chiefs
88	D	Richmond Yu	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)	71 kg (157 lb)	(1996-09-18)18 September 1996 (aged 22)	Manila Chiefs
96	F	Benjamin Imperial	1.66 m (5 ft 5 in)	75 kg (165 lb)	(1999-02-23)23 February 1999 (aged 20)	Philippine Eagles