| Irbis-Skate Sofia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| City | Sofia, Bulgaria |
| League | Bulgarian Hockey League |
| Founded | 2012 |
| Home arena | Winter Sports Palace |
| Colours | Blue, black, white |
| Head coach | Stanislav Mukhachev |
| Website | www |
| Franchise history | |
| 2012–present | Irbis-Skate Sofia |
| Championships | |
| Bulgarian Hockey League | 8 |
| Bulgarian Cup | 9 |
Irbis-Skate Sofia (Bulgarian:Спортен клуб ИРБИС-СКЕЙТ) is a Bulgarian professionalice hockey team based inSofia, that competes in theBulgarian Hockey League. Irbis-Skate Sofia was founded in 2012 and joined the Bulgarian Hockey League for the 2015–16 season. The club won the 2015–16 season and the 2016Bulgarian Cup and as a result qualified for the2016–17 IIHF Continental Cup.
Irbis-Skate Sofia was founded in August 2012 and initially competed in small tournaments and exhibition matches againstBulgarian Hockey League teams.[1][2] The club also formedminor ice hockey teams to compete in competitions before entering their under-12 team into the national championship for the 2013–14 season.[2][3][4] In 2015 Irbis-Skate Sofia entered theBulgarian Hockey League for the 2015–16 season with their home arena being theWinter Sports Palace.[5] The club finished the first round of the 2015–16 season in first place and as a result won the 2016Bulgarian Cup. Irbis-Skate Sofia then went on to win all their remaining games of the season and finished in first place to claim their first Bulgarian Hockey League title.[6] As a result of winning the 2015–16 season Irbis-Skate Sofia qualified for the2016–17 IIHF Continental Cup where they entered in the first round.[7] The club was selected as host of the Group A tournament and was drawn againstHC Bat Yam,Partizan Belgrade andZeytinburnu Belediyespor.[7][8]