The Slovenia men's national ice hockey team is the ice hockey team representing Slovenia internationally. It is governed by the Ice Hockey Federation of Slovenia. As of May 2025, Slovenia is ranked 15th in the world by the IIHF World Ranking. The team's biggest success is reaching the quarter-finals at the 2014 Winter Olympics. Their best record at the Ice Hockey World Championships is 13th place, achieved in 2002, 2005, 2025 and 2026.
Seven players from Slovenia have been drafted into the National Hockey League (NHL) since 1998; Anže Kopitar and Jan Muršak have played in the league.
History
200px|thumbnail|left|Slovenian players at the [[2008 IIHF World Championship|2008 World Championship]]
Before Slovenia's independence, Slovenian hockey players played for the Yugoslavia national team. From 1939, when Yugoslavia took part in its first World Championship, to 1991, when the country disintegrated, 91% of all Yugoslav national team members were Slovenes, including the entire squad that represented Yugoslavia at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo.
Slovenia declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, and joined the International Ice Hockey Federation the following year. They first played as an independent nation at the 1993 World Championship, hosting the Group C tournament, the lowest tier. They played in the elite division for the first time in 2002, and at their first Winter Olympics in 2014.
Tournament record
Olympic Games
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
!Year
!Round
!Position
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
|-
|1964–1991
|colspan=9|Part of Yugoslavia
|-
| 1992||colspan="9" rowspan="2" |Did not enter
|-
| 1994
|-
| 1998||colspan="9" rowspan="4" |Did not qualify
|-
| 2002
|-
| 2006
|-
| 2010
|-
| 2014||Quarter-finals||7th||5||2||0||0||3||10||16
|-
| 2018||Playoffs||9th||4||0||2||1||1||9||14
|-
| 2022||colspan="9" rowspan="2" |Did not qualify
|-
| 2026
|-
!Total|| ||0 Titles||9||2||2||1||4||19||30
|}
World Championship
{| class="wikitable"
|+Key
|-
|width="75px" align="center"|
|Promoted to higher division
|-
|width="75px" align="center"|
|Relegated to lower division
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Championship
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
! Coach
! Captain
! Position
|-
|1920 – 1992 || colspan=12 align=center|Part of Yugoslavia
|-
| 1993 Bled and Ljubljana, Pool C
|7
|5
|0
|0
|0
|2
|78
|16
| Rudi Hiti
|Drago Mlinarec
|4th in Pool C
|-
| 1994 Poprad and Spišská Nová Ves, Pool C
|6
|2
|0
|0
|0
|4
|26
|27
| Rudi Hiti
|Marjan Gorenc
|5th in Pool C
|-
| 1995 Sofia, Pool C
|4
|2
|0
|0
|0
|2
|28
|15
| Rudi Hiti
|Tomaž Vnuk
|7th in Pool C
|-
| 1996 Jesenice and Kranj, Pool C
|7
|5
|0
|0
|0
|2
|41
|19
| Vladimir Krikunov
|Nik Zupančič
|3rd in Pool C
|-
| 1997 Tallinn and Kohtla-Järve, Pool C
|5
|3
|0
|1
|0
|1
|25
|8
| Pavle Kavčič
|Tomaž Vnuk
|2nd in Pool C
|-
| 1998 Ljubljana and Jesenice, Pool B
|7
|5
|0
|1
|0
|1
|28
|15
| Pavle Kavčič
|Bojan Zajc
|2nd in Pool B
|-
| 1999 Odense and Rodovre, Pool B
|7
|2
|0
|1
|0
|4
|14
|17
| Pavle Kavčič
|Tomaž Vnuk
|5th in Pool B
|-
| 2000 Katowice, Pool B
|7
|0
|0
|2
|0
|5
|16
|31
| Rudi Hiti
|Nik Zupančič
|7th in Pool B
|-
| 2001 Ljubljana, Division IB
|5
|4
|0
|1
|0
|0
|44
|6
| Matjaž Sekelj
|Tomaž Vnuk
|1st in Division IB
|-
| 2002 Gothenburg, Karlstad, Jönköping
|6
|3
|0
|0
|0
|3
|18
|26
| Matjaž Sekelj
|Tomaž Vnuk
|13th
|-
| 2003 Helsinki, Tampere, Turku
|6
|0
|0
|1
|0
|5
|12
|37
| Matjaž Sekelj
|Tomaž Vnuk
|15th
|-
| 2004 Gdańsk, Division IB
|5
|5
|0
|0
|0
|0
|33
|5
| Kari Savolainen
|Tomaž Vnuk
|1st in Division IB
|-
| 2005 Vienna, Innsbruck
|6
|2
|0
|0
|0
|4
|12
|32
| Kari Savolainen
|Robert Ciglenečki
|13th
|-
| 2006 Riga
|6
|0
|0
|2
|0
|4
|14
|26
| František Výborný
|Dejan Varl
|16th
|-
| 2007 Ljubljana, Division IB
|5
|5
|0
|—
|0
|0
|29
|5
| Ted Sator
|Marcel Rodman
|1st in Division IB
|-
| 2008 Quebec City, Halifax
|5
|0
|0
|—
|1
|4
|6
|22
| Mats Waltin
|Marcel Rodman
|15th
|-
| 2009 Vilnius, Division IA
|5
|4
|0
|—
|0
|1
|21
|7
| John Harrington
|Tomaž Razingar
|2nd in Division IA
|-
| 2010 Ljubljana, Division IB
|5
|4
|1
|—
|0
|0
|29
|10
| John Harrington
|Tomaž Razingar
|1st in Division IB
|-
| 2011 Bratislava, Košice
|6
|1
|0
|—
|1
|4
|15
|24
| Matjaž Kopitar
|Tomaž Razingar
|16th
|-
| 2012 Ljubljana, Division IA
|5
|5
|0
|—
|0
|0
|17
|9
| Matjaž Kopitar
|Tomaž Razingar
|1st in Division IA
|-
| 2013 Stockholm, Helsinki
|7
|0
|0
|—
|2
|5
|12
|27
| Matjaž Kopitar
|Tomaž Razingar
|16th
|-
| 2014 Goyang, Division IA
|5
|4
|0
|—
|0
|1
|15
|6
| Matjaž Kopitar
|Tomaž Razingar
|1st in Division IA
|-
| 2015 Prague, Ostrava
|7
|1
|0
|—
|0
|6
|9
|22
| Matjaž Kopitar
|Tomaž Razingar
|16th
|-
| 2016 Katowice, Division IA
|5
|4
|0
|—
|0
|1
|18
|8
| Nik Zupančič
|Jan Urbas
|1st in Division IA
|-
| 2017 Cologne, Paris
|7
|0
|0
|—
|1
|6
|13
|36
| Nik Zupančič
|Jan Muršak
|15th
|-
| 2018 Budapest, Division IA
|5
|2
|0
|—
|0
|3
|15
|15
| Kari Savolainen
|Jan Urbas
|5th in Division IA
|-
| 2019 Nur-Sultan, Division IA
|5
|2
|0
|—
|0
|3
|21
|12
| Ivo Jan
|Anže Kopitar
|4th in Division IA
|-
| 2020 Ljubljana, Division IA
|colspan=12 align=center|Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
|-
| 2021 Ljubljana, Division IA
|colspan=12 align=center|Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
|-
| 2022 Ljubljana, Division IA
|4
|4
|0
|—
|0
|0
|22
|5
| Matjaž Kopitar
|Mitja Robar
|1st in Division IA
|-
| 2023 Tampere, Riga
|7
|0
|0
|—
|0
|7
|9
|27
| Matjaž Kopitar
|Jan Urbas
|16th
|-
| 2024 Bolzano, Division IA
|5
|3
|0
|—
|0
|2
|14
|8
| Edo Terglav
|Robert Sabolič
|2nd in Division IA
|-
| 2025 Stockholm, Herning
|7
|1
|0
|—
|1
|5
|9
|29
| Edo Terglav
|Robert Sabolič
|13th
|-
| 2026 Zürich, Fribourg
|7
|1
|1
|—
|1
|4
|13
|25
| Edo Terglav
|Robert Sabolič
|13th
|-
| 2027 Düsseldorf, Mannheim
|
|
|
|—
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|}
Team
Current roster
Roster for the 2026 IIHF World Championship.
Head coach: Edo Terglav
{| width="80%" class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 90%; text-align: center;"
!No.
!Pos.
!Name
!Height
!Weight
!Birthdate
!Team
|-
| 6 || D || align=left| || || || || style="text-align:left;"| SK Horácká Slavia Třebíč
|-
| 8 || F || align=left| || || || || style="text-align:left;"| HK Olimpija
|-
| 10 || F || align=left| || || || || style="text-align:left;"| HK Olimpija
|-
| 12 || F || align=left| || || || || style="text-align:left;"| HK Olimpija
|-
| 13 || F || align=left| || || || || style="text-align:left;"| Augustana Vikings
|-
| 15 || D || align=left| – A || || || || style="text-align:left;"| HK Olimpija
|-
| 17 || D || align=left| || || || || style="text-align:left;"| Blainville-Boisbriand Armada
|-
| 18 || F || align=left| || || || || style="text-align:left;"| Steinbach Black Wings Linz
|-
| 21 || F || align=left| || || || || style="text-align:left;"| HK Olimpija
|-
| 23 || F || align=left| || || || || style="text-align:left;"| HK Olimpija
|-
| 24 || F || align=left| – A || || || || style="text-align:left;"| HC Pustertal Wölfe
|-
| 25 || F || align=left| || || || || style="text-align:left;"| Steinbach Black Wings Linz
|-
| 26 || D || align=left| || || || || style="text-align:left;"| HC Slavia Praha
|-
| 29 || D || align=left| || || || || style="text-align:left;"| Gothiques d'Amiens
|-
| 30 || G || align=left| || || || || style="text-align:left;"| HK Olimpija
|-
| 33 || G || align=left| || || || || style="text-align:left;"| HDD Jesenice
|-
| 41 || D || align=left| || || || || style="text-align:left;"| HK Olimpija
|-
| 44 || D || align=left| || || || || style="text-align:left;"| HK Olimpija
|-
| 46 || F || align=left| – A || || || || style="text-align:left;"| Ilves
|-
| 49 || F || align=left| || || || || style="text-align:left;"| RPI Engineers
|-
| 55 || F || align=left| – C || || || || style="text-align:left;"| HK Olimpija
|-
| 61 || G || align=left| || || || || style="text-align:left;"| HK Olimpija
|-
| 86 || D || align=left| || || || || style="text-align:left;"| HK Olimpija
|-
| 91 || F || align=left| || || || || style="text-align:left;"| EV Lindau Islanders
|-
| 92 || F || align=left| || || || || style="text-align:left;"| Fehérvár AV19
|}
Coaching history
- Rudi Hiti (1992–1995)
- Vladimir Krikunov (1995–1996)
- Pavle Kavčič (1996–1999)
- Rudi Hiti (1999–2000)
- Matjaž Sekelj (2001–2003)
- Kari Savolainen (2003–2005)
- František Výborný (2005–2006)
- Ted Sator (2006–2007)
- Mats Waltin (2007–2008)
- John Harrington (2009–2010)
- Matjaž Kopitar (2010–2015)
- Nik Zupančič (2015–2017)
- Kari Savolainen (2017–2018)
- Matjaž Kopitar (2019–2023)
- Edo Terglav (2023–present)
NHL entry draft
220px|thumbnail|Two-time [[National Hockey League|NHL champion Anže Kopitar at the 2008 World Championship]]
Players from Slovenia selected in the NHL entry draft.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year !! Name !! Overall !! Team
|-
| 1998 || Edo Terglav || 249th overall || Buffalo Sabres
|-
| 2000|| Jure Penko || 203rd overall || Nashville Predators
|-
| 2001 || Marcel Rodman || 282nd overall || Boston Bruins
|-
| 2005 || Anže Kopitar || 11th overall || Los Angeles Kings
|-
| 2006 || Jan Muršak || 182nd overall || Detroit Red Wings
|-
| 2017 || Jan Drozg || 152nd overall || Pittsburgh Penguins
|-
| 2024 || Jan Goličič || 118th overall || Tampa Bay Lightning
|}
References
External links
- IIHF profile