Croatia Croatia is a nation in southeastern Europe . It was a part of the former nation of Yugoslavia . It borders Slovenia to the north , Hungary to the northeast , Bosnia and Herzegovina to the southeast , Serbia to the east , and Montenegro to the southeast . It has a population of about 4 , 500 , 000 and the capital is Zagreb . The first hockey team in Yugoslavia was formed in Zagreb , Croatia , in 1906 . The first official hockey games also took place in Zagreb ten years later . The Yugoslav Ice Hockey Federation was founded in 1930 , and clubs from Zagreb were among the best in Yugoslavia for many years . After the breakup of Yugoslavia , the Croatian Ice Hockey Federation was created in 1991 and the first Croatian national championship staged a year later . Croatia became a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation in 1992 and two years later , the Croatian national team made its debut in the C2 Pool of the World Championships . In 2001 - 02 , four teams played for the national championship and the title was taken by Medvescak Zagreb . The national championship has been played ever since . Croatia has not competed in the Olympics . At the World Championships , the country has played in Divisions II and III . The country ' s junior teams have competed at the World Junior Championships . And the women ' s team has competed at the world championships as well . Prior to World War II . In November 9 , 1935 the Association for Skating and Ice Hockey was founded in Zagreb , although ice hockey in Croatia had been inherent for some 30 years , considering that dr Franjo Bučar , the father of Croatian sport , had founded skating section in 1894 . First game on natural ice was played in the winter of 1916 between HAŠK ( Croatian Academic Sport Club ) and PHŠD ( First Croatian Sport Society ) . In 1922 , " Zagreb Winter Sub - federation " was founded which included skating , ice hockey and alpine skiing . The first game by Canadian rules was played in February 3 , 1924 between HAŠK and ZKD ( Zagreb Skating Society ) on ice next to the former Esplanade Hotel , which HAŠK won with 4 : 1 . The real uplift of the Croatian ice hockey was in 1930 when 3 clubs were founded , but as sections within the major sports companies : Marathon , Concordia and Karlovačko Športsko Udruženje . Other clubs were Sisak founded in 1931 as a part of Slavija Sports Society and KHL Varaždin founded in 1935 . In the late 1930s hockey teams from Croatia participated in the Yugoslav Hockey League . Initially the best clubs from various republics were promoted to the playoffs . Croatia hence had its own division in this league with clubs from Zagreb , Sisak , Karlovac and Varaždin . After World War II . A period of years after the Second World War is considered as the most prosperous for Croatian ice hockey and is associated with the name of Dragutin Friedrich . In 1946 he founded KHL Mladost which was a champion of SFR Yugoslavia in 1947 and 1949 . In 1947 , SD Zagreb was founded and the club won the championship of Yugoslavia in 1956 . In the early 1960s due to the crisis and the lack of funds for this sport , KHL Zagreb and the new KHL Medveščak Zagreb merged and the new club continued to work under the name KHL Medveščak . The same club got the first artificial ice in Croatia in Šalata . After that in 1966 Zagreb got the organization of a World Championship , group B . Due to completion of Dom Sportova in 1972 players got second artificial ice and in 1984 Croatian Ice Hockey Federation became independent . In 1986 , KHL Zagreb was established . Then , with significant economic support , KHL Medveščak won the championship of Yugoslavia in 1989 , 1990 and 1991 and Yugoslav cup in 1988 , 1989 , 1990 and 1991 . Post 1991 . With disintegration of Yugoslavia Croatian Ice Hockey League was established and since it 1991 operates under its present name . In 1992 Croatian Ice Hockey Federation became a member of IIHF . League . Croatian Ice Hockey League See Also .