Czech Republic men's national ice hockey team Czech Republic men's national ice hockey team The Czech men's national ice hockey team is the national ice hockey team of the Czech Republic. It is one of the most successful national ice hockey teams in the world and a member of the so-called "Big Six", the unofficial group of the six strongest men's ice hockey nations, along with Canada, Finland, Russia, Sweden and the United States. It is governed by the Czech Ice Hockey Association. The Czech Republic has 72,075 players officially enrolled in organized hockey (0.7% of its population). The Czechs won the gold medal at the 1998
Ice hockey in Slovenia formed Slovenian Ice Hockey League. In the same year Slovenia national ice hockey team was formed, playing their first official match in Austria in 1992. Ice hockey in Slovenia Ice hockey in Slovenia is governed by the Ice Hockey Federation of Slovenia ("Hokejska zveza Slovenije"). Slovenia is participating in the international ice hockey as an independent nation since 1991, when the country gained independence from SFR Yugoslavia. Ice hockey came to the territories that are today part of Slovenia in the late twenties, when it was promoted by Stanko Bloudek. First ice hockey match was played by Ilirija and Kamnik