Slovenia men's national junior ice hockey team
Introduction The '''Slovenia men's national under 20 ice hockey team''' is the national under-20 ice hockey team of Slovenia. The team is controlled by the Ice Hockey Federation of Slovenia, a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation.
History Slovenia played its first game in 1992 against Estonia during the Pool C qualification tournament of the 1993 IIHF World U20 Championship. Slovenia won the game 4–3 however failed to qualify for the Group C tournament after finishing second in their group and outside of the only next round qualification spot which went to Latvia. During the same tournament Slovenia also achieved their largest win in international participation after they beat Greece 30–1.For the next two years Slovenia remained to the Pool C qualification tournament but failed to qualify in both years. However a format change for the 1995 IIHF World U20 Championship meant that Slovenia who finished last in the Pool C1 Qualification tournament moved on to the newly formed Pool C2 tournament. During this tournament Slovenia had their worst defeat in international participation after being beaten by Kazakhstan 0–11.After advancing to the Pool C2 tournament Slovenia finished second in the group standings behind Kazakhstan and gained promotion to the Pool C for the following year. Slovenia remained in Pool C until 2001 when the International Ice Hockey Federation changed the format of the World Championships and Slovenia was reseeded into the Division II tournament. During the first year of the Division II tournament at the 2001 IIHF World U20 Championship Slovenia gained promotion to Division I after defeating Japan in the final. Slovenia has continued to compete in the Division I tournament and in 2013 finished fourth in the Division I Group A tournament being held in Amiens, France.Anze Kopitar currently holds the team record for most points with 21.Kopitar competed in three IIHF World U20 Championship for the Slovenian under-20 team from 2004 to 2006 with his best result in 2005 where he scored 10 goals and three assists in the Division I Group B tournament at the 2005 IIHF World U20 Championship.
International competitions
References
External links * Ice Hockey Federation of Slovenia