Puerto Rico Becomes Newest IIHF Member

Puerto Rico has become the IIHF’s 83rd official member association, joining the international hockey body as an associate member.

The IIHF ruled on the decision during a congress meeting in Turkey late last week.

President Scott Vargas runs the Puerto Rico Ice Hockey Association. The IIHF lists the organization as having just over 200 players, an impressive number given the team’s short hockey history.

In 2006, the island hosted an NHL pre-season game between the New York Rangers and Florida Panthers, the first time the league had ever played in the Caribbean. Hockey was put on hold at Jose Miguel Agrelot Coliseum shortly after.

In 2017, the Aguadilla Ice Skating Arena, the only ice hockey arena in the Caribbean, was heavily damaged by Hurricane Maria. The building remains inoperable.

But that didn’t stop them from working on building a competitive team – and before long, it paid off. Puerto Rico won gold at the 2022 Amerigol Latam Cup in the men’s and U-20 divisions. In 2021, the women’s team won gold in its first tournament as a team.

Puerto Rico’s first official game was a 6-2 loss to the Falkland Islanders on Sept. 8, 2019. The team has never lost consecutive games in international play.

To become a full IIHF member, Puerto Rico needs its own rink. Additionally, the American territory has electrical power issues, making it a formidable challenge. However, Puerto Rico’s governing body has worked on finding stability for a few years now, and there’s hope they’ll be able to challenge for full status soon.

Associate members can only play in limited IIHF events. There are 22 associate member nations, including Nepal, Jamaica, Armenia and Brazil.

Additionally, the IIHF announced that Iran has been promoted to a full-time member. Iran finished second in the men’s Division IV World Championship and is 56th in the world rankings.