Tolga Bozaci made his debut with the Turkish Men’s National Team at the 2016 IIHF World Championship Division 3. By 2019, he had emerged as the nation’s starting goaltender. Unfortunately, that era is coming to an end, as Bozaci has announced his retirement from the sport of ice hockey at the age of 26.
The Kocaeli native retires with an 11-17 record, an 85.11 SV%, and a GAA of 4.26 in major international competition for Türkiye. He won a gold medal and promotion at the 2016 World Championship Division 3, later won silver medals at the 2019 Division 3 and 2022 Division 3A championships, and also earned a bronze medal in Division 3 in 2018. Bozaci also played a total of 16 games for the U18 and U20 national teams, where he would win gold medals at the 2015 U18 World Championship Division 3B and 2017 World Junior Championship D3.
Bozaci also had a successful domestic career in the Türkiye InterCity Süper Lig, from 2014 to 2024. He captured four Turkish titles with Zeytinburnu Belediye SK in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019. These victories resulted in five appearances in the IIHF Continental Cup, where he went 2-5-0 and had an 83.0 SV%.
This leaves the question in regards to who will replace Tolga Bozaci in net? It was just reported that Russian goaltender Savely Voronov has obtained Turkish citizenship and is eligible to represent the national team. Once Voronov makes his debut with Türkiye then he will become the first ever naturalized player in the national team’s history.
The 26-year-old, who was born in Tver, has played in the Türkiye InterCity Süper Lig since 2019. Voronov won championships with Buz Beykoz in 2020 and Buz Adamlar GSK in 2022.