Belarus

Belarus is a country in Eastern Europe. Minsk is the capital and largest city. Belarus was a part of the Soviet Union until 1991.

History of hockey in Belarus
Hockey was first played in Belarus after World War II. In 1946, the country's most successful team, Torpedo Minsk (later Dynamo Minsk, and now Tivali Minsk) was founded, and started playing in the Soviet Championship League.

In 1992, the Belarus Ice Hockey Federation became independent after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Belarus joined the IIHF on May 6, 1992.

The Belarusian Extraliga started play in the 1992-93 season. In the 2004-05 season, the league admitted teams from Latvia and Ukraine into the league. Tivali Minsk has won the most league titles, with six.

The Belarusian national team first participated in the C-Pool Qualification tournament in 1992, in an attempt to qualify for the 1993 World Championships. They failed to qualify for the tournament, and made their debut at the 1994 World Championship Pool C. They enjoyed success shortly thereafter, and played in the A-Pool in 1998. They participated at the 1998 Olympics, finishing in 7th place. Four years later in Salt Lake City, they took fourth place at the tournament. They lost to Russia 7-2 in the bronze medal game, after defeating Sweden 4-3 in a monumental upset in the quarterfinals. Belarus failed to qualify for the 2006 Olympics in Turin, but qualified for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, in which they finished in ninth place.

The junior national team made its debut at the World Junior Championships in 1993. They first qualified for the A-Pool in 1999. The team has made 20 appearances at the world juniors, with their best finish being ninth in 2001 and 2002.