Group photo of the medal-winning men’s and women’s teams at the 2015 Pan-American Ice Hockey Tournament in Mexico.
photo: Mexican Ice Hockey Federation
The Mexican Ice Hockey Federation organized the 2nd Pan-American Ice Hockey Tournament in Mexico City.
Like at the first edition last year a men’s and women’s competition were held at the Ice Dome in the Mexican capital city.
The event endorsed by the IIHF involved 11 teams from four Latin American countries.
The men’s tournament was won by Colombia in its only second-ever international ice hockey tournament.
The team consisted mostly of players coming from inline hockey including two of its top players competing in the U.S. with Daniel Echeverri and Michael Nijjar.
The Colombians shut out the other opponents with an aggregate score of 29-0 before playing the Mexican men’s national team, the only of the participating teams in the men’s tournament that plays in the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship program. The game ended with a 4-3 shootout win for the Colombians.
The Mexicans had also streamrolled their other opponents and entered the last day as first-ranked team with a goal difference of 47-2 from the first four games. But then they were surprisingly stopped by the Colombians who reached a 3-3 tie after 60 minutes before securing the tournament win in the shootout.
The other team that notably improved was Brazil thanks to better preparation for the event since also the Brazilian players normally compete in inline hockey due to the lack of appropriate ice rinks in the country. After a 0-5 record last year they claimed the bronze medal after wins against Argentina’s A and B teams as well as against Mexico’s U17 team.
The Mexican U17 team claimed fourth place thanks to two 1-0 victories over Argentina A and B while the A-team won the all-Argentine clash 2-1 to finish the event fifth.
Brian Baxter Arroyo was the tournament’s scoring leader with 16 goals and 21 points followed teammates Roberto Chabat (13 points), Adrian Cervantes (12), Miguel Colas (9) and Colombia’s Julian Leon (8). The Mexican forward joined the tournament with the experience from nine World Championship Division II tournaments and playing some years abroad including in the highest Ukrainian league.
On the women’s side the Mexicans fared better and successfully defended their position as number-one ice hockey team in Latin America. In the five-team tournament it was again Colombia that came closest, although with a high margin as Mexico blanked them 6-0.
Colombia claimed second place by beating Mexico B (1-0), Argentina (5-0) and Brazil (3-2) in the other games. Mexico B won the bronze and Argentina earned a fourth-place finish thanks to a 3-2 opening-day win against Brazil.
Claudia Tellez was the tournament’s top scorer with 9 goals and 15 points. The scoring stats were led by seven Mexicans followed by Colombia’s Valentina Rodriguez, who had three goals and four points.
Like at the first edition last year a men’s and women’s competition were held at the Ice Dome in the Mexican capital city.
The event endorsed by the IIHF involved 11 teams from four Latin American countries.
The men’s tournament was won by Colombia in its only second-ever international ice hockey tournament.
The team consisted mostly of players coming from inline hockey including two of its top players competing in the U.S. with Daniel Echeverri and Michael Nijjar.
The Colombians shut out the other opponents with an aggregate score of 29-0 before playing the Mexican men’s national team, the only of the participating teams in the men’s tournament that plays in the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship program. The game ended with a 4-3 shootout win for the Colombians.
The Mexicans had also streamrolled their other opponents and entered the last day as first-ranked team with a goal difference of 47-2 from the first four games. But then they were surprisingly stopped by the Colombians who reached a 3-3 tie after 60 minutes before securing the tournament win in the shootout.
The other team that notably improved was Brazil thanks to better preparation for the event since also the Brazilian players normally compete in inline hockey due to the lack of appropriate ice rinks in the country. After a 0-5 record last year they claimed the bronze medal after wins against Argentina’s A and B teams as well as against Mexico’s U17 team.
The Mexican U17 team claimed fourth place thanks to two 1-0 victories over Argentina A and B while the A-team won the all-Argentine clash 2-1 to finish the event fifth.
Brian Baxter Arroyo was the tournament’s scoring leader with 16 goals and 21 points followed teammates Roberto Chabat (13 points), Adrian Cervantes (12), Miguel Colas (9) and Colombia’s Julian Leon (8). The Mexican forward joined the tournament with the experience from nine World Championship Division II tournaments and playing some years abroad including in the highest Ukrainian league.
On the women’s side the Mexicans fared better and successfully defended their position as number-one ice hockey team in Latin America. In the five-team tournament it was again Colombia that came closest, although with a high margin as Mexico blanked them 6-0.
Colombia claimed second place by beating Mexico B (1-0), Argentina (5-0) and Brazil (3-2) in the other games. Mexico B won the bronze and Argentina earned a fourth-place finish thanks to a 3-2 opening-day win against Brazil.
Claudia Tellez was the tournament’s top scorer with 9 goals and 15 points. The scoring stats were led by seven Mexicans followed by Colombia’s Valentina Rodriguez, who had three goals and four points.