Color of Hockey: Puerto Rico takes big step forward with 3x3 gold medal

William Douglas has been writing The Color of Hockey blog since 2012. Douglas joined NHL.com in 2019 and writes about people of color in the sport. Today, he profiles Puerto Rico’s women’s team winning the 2025 IIHF Women’s 3x3 Series in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Lee M.J. Elias calls Puerto Rico’s 5-1 loss to host Argentina in the preliminary round of 2025 IIHF Women’s 3X3 Series on Nov. 17 a blessing in disguise.

“It really taught us what we needed to learn quickly,” the Puerto Rico coach said. “I told the team ahead of the tournament, ‘Look, we have the talent, but we do not have the tactics, and we're going to have to learn them.’”

Puerto Rico applied the lessons learned four days later, when it rallied from a 5-2 deficit in the closing minutes to defeat Argentina 7-6 in overtime to win the gold medal in Buenos Aires in a tournament that featured two squads from the host nation and teams from Brazil and Colombia.

“The things that we did differently were understanding that in 3x3 we don’t have defensemen and offense men like in 5-on-5," Elias said. "We have offensive and defensive situations and understanding that everyone has a role everywhere on the ice. 3x3 is so fast paced, with no stoppages. There is no room for hesitation, no room for not skating. For my players, it all clicked with three minutes left in second half of the championship.”

The win avenged Puerto Rico’s 7-3 loss to Argentina in the gold medal game of the inaugural IIHF Women’s 3x3 Series in Sao Paulo in November 2024. Puerto Rico scored 37 goals in five games in this year’s tournament at Buenos Aires’ Fantasy Skate on the way to the gold medal.

IIHF 3x3 hockey differs from traditional ice hockey; it's usually played on a smaller rink like Fantasy Skate, which opened in October 2024, or on a sectioned-off NHL or international-sized rink with three skaters and a goalie per side and a running clock. There are no stoppages and icing results in a penalty shot.

The 3x3 format is played in the Youth Olympics and the Women’s 3x3 Series is a test drive of sorts by the IIHF, which is eyeing 3x3 hockey as a Winter Olympics sport, perhaps as early the 2030 in the French Alps Olympics.

Elias said Puerto Rico is proud to have participated in the series and IIHF Development Cup tournaments for emerging hockey nations and territories.

“It’s a chance for us to play on the world stage because our goal is to get to the world championships,” he said. “So to travel to another hemisphere, to go to a rink in which Argentina has been training for a year and to play in front of their fans, it’s amazing.”

Puerto Rico’s goaltenders were singled out for praise by teammates, opponents and IIHF officials for their performance. Kaylee Awrachow, an 18-year-old from Maple Shade, New Jersey, who plays with Miami University’s American Collegiate Hockey Association’s women’s Division I team, earned the championship victory.

“I’m proud of how we fought until the end, and being able to contribute to such a big victory is something I’ll carry with me for a long time,” Awrachow told NHL Español.

Estela Vazquez, a Manhattan resident who plays for the Greenwich Country Day School girl’s team in Connecticut, was named best goalie in the tournament.

Vazquez, who turned 14 on Wednesday, became the youngest goalie to play in an IIHF-sanctioned senior competition and record a shutout, a 17-0 win against Brazil in the tournament’s semifinal. She was allowed to play through an IIHF special exemption for nations competing in development cup contests, Puerto Rico Ice Hockey Association president Scott Vargas said.

Vazquez allowed five goals, tied for the fewest in the tournament with Florencia Gutierrez Peydro, a goalie on one of Argentina’s two teams in the tournament.

“I literally got so excited I fell off the bench,” Vazquez said of receiving the award. “I cried. That was the first time I cried tears of happiness. It was a great experience with the ladies. They’re super nice, great, welcoming family. And just participating in an IIHF tournament, it’s something I won't forget for a while.”

Puerto Rico hockey is on a roll this year. The men won gold and the women took silver at the 2025 Amerigol LATAM Cup Spring Classic, hosted by the Vegas Golden Knights at America First Center in Henderson, Nevada, the practice facility of Vegas’ American Hockey League affiliate, March 19-22.

Puerto Rico’s men’s team won the 2025 Development Cup, a six-team tournament sanctioned by the International Ice Hockey Federation for its associate member nations that was held in Canillo, Andorra, in April that featured the host nation, Brazil, Greece, Liechtenstein and Portugal.

Puerto Rico men’s and women’s squads were among 16 teams representing 12 countries at the Dream Nations Cup at the Rink at American Dream in East Rutherford, New Jersey, held May 27-June 1. PRHIA teams also participated in the Challenger Series in Chicago and Montreal May 8-July 13. The men faced Greece, Jamaica and Lebanon.

The women’s bracket included Greece and a team comprised of players from across North America.

Puerto Rico has been an IIHF associate member since September 29, 2022. It doesn’t have full membership and can’t compete in IIHF world championships because the island currently doesn’t have a permanent indoor operational ice rink, per federation rules. The Aguadilla Ice Skating Arena, which opened in 2005 and was the only ice skating facility in the Caribbean, was damaged by Hurricane Maria in 2017 and hasn't reopened.

The Coliseo de Puerto Rico Jose Miguel Argelot in San Juan, where the New York Rangers defeated the Florida Panthers 3-2 in the first and only NHL game played on the island, on Sept. 23, 2006, has ice-making ability but is a large multi-use venue.

PRIHA officials hope winning and performing well at events like the IIHF 3x3 series and development cup will help attract private or government investment of the construction of a permanent ice rink on the island to make its world championship and Olympic hockey ambitions a reality.

“The women’s program is exploding," said Miguel Vazquez, Estela’s father. "The men just recently won the Development Cup in Andorra a couple of months ago, everything’s, like, it’s almost turbocharged.

"Everybody’s all pumped up for the next event. It’s crazy but good stuff happening.”