Robbie Sigurdsson always wanted to represent his home country in the world hockey championships.

He just never thought he would do it wearing an Iceland jersey.

Sigurdsson, a 2011 Mars graduate, got the chance this season at the IIHF World Championship Division II, Group A tournament in Jaca, Spain. A dual citizen (his mother, Laura, is American, and his father, Stefan, is a former Icelandic national team soccer player), Sigurdsson donned Iceland's colors for the first time.

Iceland had one win, an overtime loss and three regulation losses to finish fifth out of six teams with four points. The Netherlands beat Spain for the title, and Belgium and Serbia finished with seven points. China was last with one point.

“It was great playing for Iceland. To be able to put on the jersey and play for my country was the biggest honor of my life, so far,” Sigurdsson said. “It was a great experience to play against different countries.”

Sigurdsson, a forward, excelled at the tournament by leading Iceland with five points. He scored twice in a 5-4 loss to Belgium to open the tournament and was named player of the game. His cousin, Bjorn Sigurdarson, was on the squad and had three goals and an assist.

“That was something special for me to do so well. I expected to be at the top of the leaderboard,” Sigurdsson said. “There was good chemistry between my cousin and me. It was nice to get some points. It was nice to be voted an alternate captain for the team, too.”

Sigurdsson, who helped lead Mars to three Penguins Cup titles (2009-11) and two state championships (2010-11), spent a year in Iceland upon graduation. He returned to the United States for two years to play junior hockey for the Pittsburgh Vengeance and Bay State Breakers (Mass.), in hopes of landing a college scholarship. He decided to head back to play in the semipro Icelandic Hockey League in order to gain eligibility to compete internationally for Iceland.

“I knew it always was an option with my dual citizenship. My first goal was to play junior hockey and go to college. Then Iceland changed the rule that you had to play two consecutive years in the country in order to gain eligibility to play for the national team,” he said.

In his first season with Skautafélag Reykjavíkur, Sigurdsson finished second in team scoring with 28 points (15 goals, 13 assists) in 21 games. This season, he led his team and finished third in the league with 42 points (19 goals, 23 assists).

Sigurdsson plans on returning home to the Mars area this summer. His plans for next hockey season are not set.

“I have a couple offers to go to Sweden next year. I am not sure, though,” he said. “Playing in Iceland has been a real fun time. It's been a wonderful experience.”

Joe Sager is a freelance writer.

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