Israeli Pride Takes the Ice at UBS Arena

On March 23, 2025, the Jerusalem Capitals and HC Tel Aviv met at center ice for the puck drop, marking the first North American game ever played by Israeli professional hockey teams.Marc

But what Chris Blake, a non-Jewish player from Texas on HC Tel Aviv, remembers most about that night is not the shots, not the lead changes, not even the overtime goal that sealed a 7–6 finish.

He remembers 8,000 voices breathing hope into the arena, singing Hatikvah, Israel’s national anthem, with pride.

Jews and their allies standing together, families wrapped in blue and white, children lifted onto their parents’ shoulders, Jewish identity on full display.

In a time when Jews are told to stay quiet, this is what it looks like to stand fully seen.

We are here, united. Our hope is not lost.

There is no such thing as Jewish survival alone.

After five summers with the league, Chris Blake admits he still does not understand Hebrew. Still, he felt the moment and proudly stood shoulder to shoulder with his teammates on the blue line. “It wasn’t just hockey,” he said. “This is real life.”

Welcome to the Israel Elite Hockey League, a bridge for the world to see Israel’s true face through lives intersecting on a sheet of ice where teammates who pray differently, speak different languages, and carry different experiences lace up their skates with a shared purpose.

On Feb. 22, 2026, the Jerusalem Capitals and HC Tel Aviv face off at UBS Arena, the home of the NHL's New York Islanders.

They will “show the world who we are, not just as players, but as Jews, as Israelis, as a family,” said a Jerusalem Capitals forward Evgenij Kozhevnikov.

What began as a summer league has become a rink where differences melt and family and belonging take shape.

For Chris Blake, that belonging began as a curiosity about “hockey in the Middle East,” and became something like a second home.

In Israel, that curiosity became something else. Teammates arguing over plays in three languages. Families setting extra places at Shabbat tables. A country that refused to fit the narrative the world had handed him.

Now, each summer, players come from Texas, Toronto, Moscow, and Montreal.
From small towns where no one has ever met a Jew and from big cities where Jews feel increasingly alone.

Some are Jewish, many are not. All of them leave with a stake in our story.

They live in Tel Aviv, sweat through practice, and share locker rooms in Ashdod by day.

By night, they wander the shuk, stand in silence at the Western Wall, and discover the beauty of Israel's beaches.

“They become witnesses to coexistence and warmth the world didn’t want them to see,” co-founder Marc Brunengraber said.

“They return home and say, ‘I was there. I lived with Israelis. I saw the true face and soul of Israel.’”

Evgenij Kozhevnikov describes the experience as “being swallowed by something bigger than hockey, which turns this league's rosters into a family.”

They come to play hockey and they leave with relationships, memories, a sense of belonging they did not know they were missing.

Hope wears skates and it keeps moving forward.

This is the heartbeat of the Israel Elite Hockey League.

For three hours on February 22, 2026, at UBS Arena, we live that truth in the purest language we all speak.

Hockey.

Click here if you want to be a part of this year's incredible event. Enter code AISH in the Unlock tab for $5 off.  

Photo Credit: Dennis DaSilva, UBS Arena