Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan
Continent	Eurasia
Population	9,165,000
Registered players	N/A
Referees	N/A
Rinks	2
National teams	None
National federation	Ice Hockey Federation of the Republic of Azerbaijan
IIHF since	May 6, 1992
IIHF ranking	N/A
Top league	None
Current champion	Azerbaijan Hockey League Championship

Azerbaijan is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Baku is the capital and largest city.

Overview

National Teams

Men's · Men's-U20 · Men's-U18 · Women's · Women's-U18

Domestic Teams

See Category:Ice hockey teams in Azerbaijan

Arenas

See Category:Arenas in Azerbaijan

Competitions

Competition	Founded	Folded	Notes
Azerbaijan Hockey League Championship	2025	-	National league

History of hockey in Azerbaijan

The Ice Hockey Federation of the Republic of Azerbaijan was founded in 1991 as part of the Soviet Ice Hockey Federation. After the Soviet Union broke up in 1992, the federation became independent, and joined the IIHF on May 6, 1992.

There were claims going back to around 2010 that three teams named Atasport, Azneftheim and Svayzist existed in Azerbaijan; there were however no sources that seemed to back it. It appears that these were actually field hockey teams.

The country's first ice rink opened in 1990 within what is now known as the Heydar Aliyev Sports and Concert Complex. In 1991, the legendary Anatoly Tarasov, at the request of the Azerbaijani sports committee, asked Valery Laryukov, the founder and current President of the Ice Hockey Federation of the Republic of Azerbaijan, to go to Baku and open a hockey school, which about 200 local kids attended. After the country became independent, ice hockey was not developed by the Ministry of Sports, and died out, with the rink itself closing.

In 2019, Vyacheslav Fetisov visited Baku and talked about developing the sport in Azerbaijan with the Minister of Youth and Sports, Azad Rahimov, and Alexander Ovechkin also stated that he intended to help ice hockey get off the ground in the country. There are hopes of constructing a large rink that could eventually serve as home to a Kontinental Hockey League team, but as of 2026, no further developments have occurred.

There is an ice rink in Baku known as the Glavbakstroy Sports Palace. On June 2, 2023, the rink at the Heydar Aliyev Sports and Concert Complex re-opened. The Ministry of Youth and Sports of Azerbaijan opened the facility to aid in the development of figure skating and ice hockey in the country. It was noted that there were plans to start an ice hockey program in Azerbaijan, and negotiations were underway to hire coaches. The Baku Flames were formed later that year, and conducted their first full-ice 5-on-5 match on October 11, 2023, against a local squad known as M9.

On February 13, 2024, 18 players attended the first open training session for an Azerbaijani national ice hockey team, led by Head Coach Aleksandr Bilinov and Zaur Mammadaliyev, the later saying "Our primary objective is to foster the growth of ice hockey in Azerbaijan. We firmly believe that it will gain popularity, attracting more participants and fans." On April 29, 2024, the Baku Flames defeating Ice Brotherhood from Moscow, 10-6. They would later win the B Division of the 2024 ADIHIC Cup in Kazan, Russia.

A team representing Azerbaijan, but composed almost entirely of Russians, save for two Azerbaijanis, has competed in the amateur Friendly Hockey League in Russia for many years.