Ice hockey was played sporadically in Armenia during the 1960’s.

In 1962, the Armenians played in a tournament that was held in Sverdlovsk (today Jekaterinburg), Russia, where teams from all the Soviet states played against one another. One of the Armenian games was a 0-1 loss to Lithuania on March 8,1962. Today there is a league in Armenia. The city of Yerevan renovated the “Swan Lake” outdoor ice rink in Yerevan for $460,000 in 2006. It was originally built in the 1960’s. There are two indoor and three outdoor rinks in the country.

2004…
In 2004 Armenia made their World Championship debut in the Division III held in Reykjavik, Iceland.
The team was put together of players from all four teams in the country. Ten players came from HC SCA Yerevan, Five players came from league champion Dinamo Yerevan. Four from HC Shirak and one from HC Shengavit. Armenia had a pretty old team as nine players were over 30 years old.

Goalie Mher Hovhanisyan fought heroically between the pipes as he was bombarded with 107 shots. He made an incredible 90 saves. Armenia then also lost their last game 1-11 to their archenemies Turkey. But the Turkish side showed great sportsmanship by not racking up the score. They played their third and fourth line extensively and both teams were encouraging each other.

Armenia’s best player in the tournament was goalie Mher Hovhanisyan, the sole representative from HC Shengavit. The 31-year old veteran saved 215 out of 272 shots. The Armenian team finished last but the players learned a lot from this experience.

2005…
In 2005 Armenia finished last once again in Mexico (Division III). They lost all four games. South Africa 1-33, Ireland 1-23, Luxemburg 3-38 and Mexico 0-48. Against Mexico they were outshot 121 to 8. Goalie Armen Lalayan made 73 saves. Lalayan wasn’t as good as Hovhanisyan the previous year and only had a dismal 54,92 save %. While posting a 35,50 GAA. Raffi Kajberouni once again had the worst plus-minus on the team with a -81 rating. He was also the second best pointgetter for Armenia with 2+1. Best was defenseman Simon Yeghayan with 2+2. Eight players came from HC SCA Yerevan, six from Dinamo Yerevan,  four from HC Shirak and two from HC Shengavit. 17 of the 20 players also played in 2004.

2006…
In 2006 Armenia returned to Reykjavik (Division III) and this time they were much better, finishing third. Only four players remained from the previous year as they had 16 new faces on the roster, including several Los Angeles based Armenians. The Los Angeles area in fact have several Armenian teams (players with roots in Armenia). Armenia also had a new coach, 42-year old American Doug Decesare.

Armenia lost their opening game 3-8 but played well. In the next one they earned their first ever victory after defeating Ireland 6-0. Quite a turnaround from the previous year. John Ghazanchyan had two goals and three assists while the tournaments vice-scoring champ, Gevork Kandakharyan had two goals and two assists. Goalie Lavik Ghazaryan made 19 saves to earn the shutout. Only 239 spectators were on hand to witness this historical victory. Armenia then lost 4-5 in a hardfought game against Iceland, the strongest team in Division III.
In the last game Armenia beat Luxemburg 10-6 after having trailed 1-5.
Armenia had the best powerplay in the tournament (27,03%).
Kandakharyan had 14 points (7+7) in 4 games and shared the scoring lead in the tournament with Turkey’s Ciplak. Manuk Balian had 9 points (7+2) and finished 4th overall.  Another player that finished in the top 10 was John Ghazanchyan who had 6 points (3+3) in 3 games. Petros Khachatryan (2+4) and Karapet Blikyan (1+5) also had 6 points. Goalie Ghazaryan finished with a 4.75 GAA and a save % of 86,62.

2007...

With the success from 2006 big things were expected from Armenia in Ireland. Would they repeat their third
place finish ? Well, as it turned out Armenia never played in the tournament as they were denied visas at the Irish embassy in Moscow. Karen Khachatryan, the President of the Armenian Hockey Federation was furious at the decision. “They deliberately denied us entry. I think there was some preliminary arrangement between the embassy and the team of Ireland. The Armenian team is stronger than that of Ireland. The Irish secured their chances to participate in the next phase by this act.”  Mr. Khachatryan was of the opinion that the embassy had presented unreasonable grounds, “Armenia is a poor country, and the hockey players won't return to their homeland on arriving in Ireland. I want to remind that the Armenian sportsmen have been to more developed countries but they never wished to stay there for ever,” Mr. Khachatryan said in a statement.
Armenia was eventually banned for two years by the IIHF.