Thursday evening, Jamaica will kick off its campaign to defend its title against Greece, Puerto Rico, and Lebanon... in hockey. The Challenger Series Montreal pits the four nations’ senior men’s teams against each other for the second time at the Pierrefonds Sportsplex on Montreal’s West Island. Last year’s series was in Chicago, New York and Toronto. “The Challenger Series represents a movement, offering emerging hockey nations unprecedented opportunities to build their programs, gain international recognition, and inspire future generations,” the series’ website reads. “By featuring diaspora players competing for their heritage countries, the tournament creates powerful connections that will fuel hockey’s growth for years to come.” Jamaica won the inaugural series against Lebanon, but struggled in round one of the 2025 edition by losing all its games in Chicago. Jamaican players said, before their game, that they want to bring the heat that their country is known for to the ice. “We don’t want to be cast in the shadow, of ‘Oh Jamaica has an ice hockey team?’ No. We’re hockey players, we’re Jamaican, we’re coming to play the game,” said forward Brenton William Augustus Carter. Greece, on the other hand, has won all of their first-round games. “Now, with a target on their backs and a tough road ahead, the team is gearing up to battle Puerto Rico, Lebanon, and new tournament entrant, Greece,” reads a news release from the team. “The team is coming to Montreal with renewed energy and a significantly bolstered lineup,” the Jamaican team’s news release reads. “Key players sidelined by injury have returned, and three seasoned athletes have been called up to fill crucial roles.” The Montreal games run through the weekend in Pierrefonds, with the final at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday. If we could do it in bobsled... For Jamaica, none of the players actually live in the country, but they’re all of Jamaican descent. Carter’s late father was born and raised in Kingston, and he’s proud to wear the green, yellow and black sweater. “Every time I put on my jersey, just something in my soul, it just feels right,” he said. “Everything feels like it’s coming together, and it means the world to me.” The Jamaican Olympic Ice Hockey Federation was created in 2011 to build the sport on the Caribbean island. Federation president Don Anderson said there are about 85 Jamaicans registered with the program. “[I] used to be a member of the Olympic Association at the forefront of the bobsled movement,” he said. “Two years ago, three years ago, if you talked ice hockey in Jamaica. People would say ice hockey?” There are no rinks in the country, and the team practices just once before tournaments. “We never see it as an obstacle,” said Jamaican goalie Moriyah Tulloch. “That’s just something that makes us fired up even more because we don’t get that opportunity to practice all year. We have to come out and step on the gas pedal with a 100 mph.” Since 2019, Jamaica has won 21 games and lost eight. “It’s cool to be playing, but we want to win,” said coach Nathan Robinson. “And keep kind of moving up with the IIHF and getting the ratings and the respect and credibility.” In the end, the team wants to make it to the Winter Olympics. “We know it’s a very high-hanging fruit, but that has never stopped us from doing anything as Jamaicans,” said Anderson. “So the theory is if you can qualify in the winter Olympics in bobsled, then you can do it in ice hockey.”
