If you ask a passerby on the streets of Kyiv about a professional hockey club in the city that takes part in the national championship, I’m 100% sure that he will answer: “No!” That is why, while writing this article, I would very much like to draw as much attention as possible to this sport and the Hockey Club (HC) Ice Wolves, in particular.
What is this club? Who founded it? Who plays for it? Where do the games take place? Is there a social network? We will talk about this in this article.
Unique Fact
HC Ice Wolves is a young, developing club from the capital city. They play in the Parimatch Ukrainian Hockey League. Founded in 2017 by Andrey Khapkov, a former goalkeeper who once played for such clubs as HC “Kiev”, HC “Sokol”, HC “Kharkov” and HC “Bely Bars.” Aside from being the club’s president, Andrey also trains goalkeepers and is declared for the 2020-2021 season as a goalkeeper. He is the FIRST and ONLY playing president in the championship!
Khapkov shows by example young goalkeepers how to work. Another interesting fact is that the first name of the club was HC “Wolves.” However, over time, it was changed to HC “Ice Wolves.”
Team Lineup
What about the achievements of their players? To date, the following prominent hockey players are declared and play for the team:
- Alexander Pankov (Forward) – twice JHL bronze medalist and winner of the Gagarin Cup and the Bratina Cup;
- Artyom Neverov (Defender) – became the champion of Ukraine in the 2008/2009 season with HC “Sokol” and also played at the youth world championships from 2004 to 2007;
- Georgiy Kicha (Forward) – has experience playing for the U-18, U-20 and Senior National Teams of Ukraine;
- Andrey Ankudinov (Forward) – scored one goal and won silver medals at the Junior World Championship as part of the Russian national team in the 2008/2009 season. Also he won the Bratina Cup with Toros in the 2011/12 season, and he is a silver medalist of the MHL, VHL and KHL championships;
You can find out more about the rest of the players and the life of the club from their social networks: Instagram, Facebook.
2020-2021 Season
The championship started last October 22. Home games for HC “Ice Wolves” are held at the arena of the SEC “Terminal” located at Brovary, St. Kievskaya, 316.
Today, the fanbase of HC “Ice Wolves” in social networks amount to about a thousand people but it continues to grow.
The club often gives gifts to its fans for their activity, so subscribe to the HC Ice Wolves social networks and get your prize!
Due to the pandemic, matches are held without spectators. But you can always watch the live broadcast on the web portal X-SPORT. So that we notice you, don’t forget to mark our page in your Instagram stories.
Future Plans
We hope that after this article, even more people will learn about hockey in the capital and this sport will eventually become as recognizable as football. We appreciate and love every fan and will be glad to see new faces in our “wolf pack!”.
