The Club
The first Portuguese club at the top level of ice hockey
HC Porto was founded in July 2023 to give Portugal what it never had: a professional ice hockey team competing every week at a high level. Registered with FDI-Portugal, the Portuguese Winter Sports Federation and a member of the IIHF, the club was admitted that same summer to the Liga Nacional de Hockey Hielo, Spain's top division, as its first ever Portuguese member.
How it started
Portugal had no full-size ice rink and no professional team. In 2023 a group of players, coaches and organisers decided that the way to change this was not to wait for the rink, but to build the team first. Under an agreement between the Portuguese and Spanish federations and the IIHF, HC Porto entered the 49th season of Spain's top league, playing its home games at rinks across Spain.
The debut season ended in 5th place and, on 24 March 2024, with HC Porto's first Portuguese national title, won in the final of the first national 3×3 championship against Ice Clube da Covilhã.
In September 2024 the Spanish league became the Liga Ibérica, with HC Porto as its founding Portuguese member. The second season brought a 3rd-place finish, a second national title, unbeaten, and an Instagram following that grew past 13,000.
The 2025/26 season was the club's third at the top level, with a roster from Portugal, Latvia, Spain, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Canada, the Netherlands and the USA, and a third national title in a row. In 2026/27 the club stepped out of the league to rebuild its base for the return in 2027/28.
Timeline
- July 2023Club founded in Porto. Admitted to the Liga Nacional de Hockey Hielo, the first Portuguese member.
- September 2023Pre-season camp in Madrid and first league game, with no home rink and an unpaid roster.
- March 2024Portuguese champions: winners of the first national 3×3 championship.
- Spring 20245th place in the debut season of Spain's top division.
- June 2024First international tryout camp in Riga, Latvia.
- September 2024Founding member of the Liga Ibérica (Spain + Portugal).
- Spring 20253rd place in the Liga Ibérica. Second national title, unbeaten.
- June 2025Second tryout camp at the Latvian national team facility in Riga.
- 2025/26Third season at the top level. Third consecutive national title.
- 2026/27Rebuilding year: youth programme and equipment bank.
- 2027/28Return to the Liga Ibérica.
What we are for
Compete
Represent Portugal at the highest club level in Iberian hockey and work towards the IIHF Continental Cup.
Develop
Give Portuguese players, coaches and organisers a daily high-performance environment. Four current national team players came through the club.
Grow the game
A youth programme and a national equipment bank, so that cost never stops a child from trying hockey.
A home in Trofa
The ice arena project in Trofa, north of Porto, is the club's future home and a future national centre for ice sports. The project has faced financing and construction challenges; as works resume, the club is preparing activation plans, youth sessions, school visits and national team events, so that the arena opens with a community ready to use it.
Season by season
| Season | Competition | Result | National |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023/24 | Liga Nacional de Hockey Hielo (Spain, top division) | 5th place · debut season | Portuguese Champions (3×3) |
| 2024/25 | Liga Ibérica (founding member) | 3rd place | Portuguese Champions (3×3), unbeaten |
| 2025/26 | Liga Ibérica | Third season at the top level | Portuguese Champions (3×3), third in a row |
| 2026/27 | Rebuilding year | No Liga Ibérica entry · youth programme, national events | Defending the national title |
| 2027/28 | Liga Ibérica | The return · target: top 4 |
Club leadership
Legal. Clube Hóquei no Gelo de HC Porto Ice Hockey is a non-profit sports club registered in Portugal (NIF 517601443), affiliated with FDI-Portugal.