Although South America is a large continent, ice hockey is but a small part of it. Only four of the IIHF’s 84 Member National Associations are located in that part of the world—Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Columbia. None have ever been part of the IIHF’s World Championship program, but if one is going to become active any time soon, it will likely be Argentina.

There are only about 1,000 ice hockey players in the country, and most are in the Buenos Aires area or down in Ushuaia, the “end of the world,” as they say about the region. But the Argentine federation is guided by the determined and passionate hand of Dicky Haiek, a 58-year-old who played inline before there was ice, and who has done his best to grow the game for more than 30 years now. 

“In 1994 roller hockey started to become popular in Argentina, and the next year in Chicago there was the first inline tournament under the Federacion Internacional de Roller Skate (FIRS),” Haiek explained, going back to the roots of ice hockey in his country. “I played at the first three FIRS’s World Championships (1995, ‘96, ‘97), and when the IIHF took over inline I went to the IIHF Inline World Championship in Anaheim, California and was introduced to Rob Van Rijswijk. I told him we wanted to join the IIHF. I returned home to Argentina and explained to the government we have no hockey federation, and in 1997 we made an application to the IIHF and went to the Congress and made a presentation. We created a national federation that combined ice hockey and inline called “Asociacion Argentina de hockey sobre hielo y en linea (AAHHL)” and we started to play the inline world championships under the IIHF. So now I am the president. My name is Jorge, but everybody calls me Dicky.”

Member of the IIHF since 1998

Argentina officially joined the IIHF on May 31, 1998, and it has been an Associate Member ever since. The country currently has two rinks, one in Buenos Aries called Fantasy Skate, which is an indoor rink with artificial ice and measures about half the size of a regulation rink, 40m x 20m. The other is in Ushuaia. It is an Olympic size, outdoor rink (60m x 30m) but has a concrete floor and artificial ice. But because it isn’t covered they don’t meet the IIHF’s Minimum Participation Standards which are essential to joining the World Championship program.

It is a frustration for Haiek as he tries to create interest in the game in football-mad, Messi-loving Argentina. “We have the basics,” he continued. “We have the Learn to Play program, a coaching program, officials program, goalkeeper program, development program. We have camps and schools and everything, but we need an indoor 60m x 30m rink to go to the next level.”

Fantasy Skate is located in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, far from Avenida Alvear, Teatro Colon, Palermo, and other downtown attractions. It opened only a year ago thanks to owner Hernan Penela, a hockey lover trying to make a difference.

If Penela built a proper 60m x 30m rink, would he qualify for government funding? “I don’t know,” Haiek says. “Maybe they would give him some land. But the government has to be stable, and we can’t have an economic crisis. The money is one thing, but the daily cost to run the arena is another problem. It’s difficult. But I see the light.”

Fantasy Skate currently runs a league that plays five nights a week, 9pm to midnight. The teams are Fantasy Skate, Club Argentina de hockey sobre hielo y en linea (CAHHL), ACEMHH, Hazard, Winter and Ovejas Negras.

But Haiek and Penela have bigger ambitions. They are starting a new league in the next few weeks that will consist of four teams playing at least 15 games over a five-month season. All games will be standard five skaters a side, and everything about the new league is meant to conform to the IIHF’s minimum standards. In addition to the top four teams, there will be a Division II of six teams, a Division III of six teams, and a women’s league of at least three teams. 

But there are challenges that the top federations don’t have to deal with. Haiek wants the games played on Friday and Saturday nights, to attract fans, but Penela has a promotion on those nights starting at 21.00 that allows two-for-one admission to public skating.

Most of the ice-hockey players in Argentina come from inline, where there are about 3,000 active players across the country. They are all amateurs—some are students; some have full-time jobs. Some are teenagers; some in their forties. 

Ice-hockey players also have challenges just buying equipment and getting their skates sharpened, but Haiek tries to help as much as he can. 

“They buy their equipment online, but I represent CCM and Warrior and I can get some equipment, but not a lot because it’s very expensive. But when players travel to tournaments, we order equipment as well and can bring it home. We also have an automatic skate sharpening machine, and we have another machine that was donated by Wade Davis from Okotoks near Calgary. We have a Russian goaltender living in Argentina who does the sharpening like a pro.”

First official national team games in 2012

Officially, both the men’s and women’s national teams played their first ever games on the same day—February 18, 2012. The men lost to Mexico by a 5-1 score in a friendly in Mexico City, while the women defeated Mexico, 1-0 later the same day.

Apart from that, Argentina has participated in the Development Cup and LATAM Cup tournaments, the former organized by the IIHF, the latter a twice-yearly event in Florida. 

“Last year, our women’s team won a 3x3 event in Sao Paolo,” Haiek explained. “This year there was a Development Cup in Andorra, but we couldn’t go because we had already committed to playing the LATAM Cup Pring Classic in Las Vegas and we played there again in August in Coral Springs, Florida. We had six teams—two men, two women, a U12, and a U14 team, about 90 players in total. The players have to finance their own participation. If we are able to play in the IIHF World Championships, the IIHF is able to help us. This is why we want to play in the lower divisions—it would help so much with the development of players here.”

IIHF Women’s 3x3 Series in November

Next month, Haiek will help host a major event. The IIHF will organize from 16 to 21 November at Fantasy Skate IIHF Women’s 3x3 Series, a major opportunity to highlight the game in Argentina. Participating teams include Brazil, Colombia, Puerto Rico, and two teams from Argentina.

This format hearkens back to the beginnings of hockey in Argentina. In 1985, there was a boom in small ice rinks and many of the games were played 3x3. There was a rink in Recoleta, and others in Flores, Palermo, Belgrano, San Isidro, Caballito, and Boedo, all of which produced rivalries and great seeds to develop the game. But in 1987, there was an energy crisis in the country and most of these rinks were forced to close.

Haiek is guided by lifetime support from his wife, Florencia. They have been married since 1999, and in 2008 she competed for Argentina at the Summer Olympics in Beijing in windsurfing. A year earlier she had won a bronze medal in the Pan Am Games in Rio de Janeiro. Today, she is a goalie with the women’s national team in ice hockey! 

The couple have two kids, a son, Owen, 25, and a daughter, Iara, 24. Both played hockey at the Ontario Hockey Academy in Cornwall, Ontario in the late 2010s. Owen has played in the Spanish league and Iara has played in women’s leagues in Spain and now Hungary. 

In addition to his work as president of the ice hockey federation, Haiek is also the owner of an inline league, “Liga Argentina de Roller Hockey – LARH,” that plays at another venue in Buenos Aires—Peru Beach. The league has been going strong since 1996, and most of the best players from Argentina play in the LARH. Teams from every part of Argentina compete in three men’s divisions and two women’s divisions. In all, there are 43 teams, each with 15 players. Games are played in a 4x4 format and provide a vital opportunity for players to develop skating and puck-handling skills.

Argentina is proving that the game can survive on the determination of a few, but growth needs more. The 3x3 is a start, and perhaps Ushuaia can host other small tournaments in the future where their artificial ice can guarantee good conditions even without a roof. One thing is certain—if it happens in Argentina, it happens because of the passion and determination of Dicky Haiek. 

All the games of the 3x3 tournament will be livestreamed at IIHF.com.