Former Soviet head coach Viktor Tikhonov, who coached the dominant Red Army team from 1977 to 1994, winning eight World Championships, three Olympic Gold Medals and the 1981 Canada Cup, has died in Moscow following a long illness at the age of 84.
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Category Archives: IHLC News
🇫🇮 The Finnish Flash Retires: Teemu Selänne Not Returning To Jokerit
After a brilliant 21-year NHL career, an impressive start with his hometown Jokerit, and one of the greatest international careers in hockey history, Teemu Selänne has confirmed that he will not be making a “victory lap” with Jokerit, after retiring from the Anaheim Ducks at the end of last season.
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World Cup Update: Euro, Rookie All-Star Teams To Compete?
As first reported by Sportsnet, representatives from the NHL and IIHF met in Toronto in advance of the Hockey Hall Of Fame Class of 2014 induction ceremony to discuss the 2016 World Cup Of Hockey logistics, mainly the status of the two final spots to round out a field of eight teams to play in Toronto.
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HHOF Inducts Four International Legends
Tomorrow, the Hockey Hall Of Fame will enshrine four new members into its players category as the Class of 2014 – not just players who shined in their National Hockey League careers, but also for the tremendous careers they achieved internationally. Dominik Hašek, Peter Forsberg, Rob Blake and Mike Modano share numerous Olympic, World Championship and World Cup championships between them, in addition to all having held the International Hockey Lineal Championship in their illustrious careers.
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🇯🇵 Japan Qualifies For 2015 Women’s World Championship
Japan has nabbed the eighth and final qualification spot for the 2015 Women’s World Championship in Malmö, Sweden, defeating the Czechs 2-1 in the third and final game of their qualification playoff series in Yokohama, Japan.
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IHLC Preview – 2014 Karjala Tournament
Thanks to Russia’s dethroning of Finland in the finals of the 2014 IIHF World Championships this past May, the IHLC is guaranteed to join the Euro Hockey Tour circuit, with the first stop being the Karjala Tournament in Helsinki, Finland.
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IHLC Preview – 2014 Four Nations Cup
For the first time since February’s Sochi Olympics, the top four nations in women’s hockey will meet in Kamloops, British Columbia, to compete in the nineteenth annual Four Nations Cup, pitting Canada, the United States, Sweden and Finland against each other.
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🇨🇦 2016 World Cup Set To Be Hosted In Single City: Toronto
As first reported by ESPN, part of the delay for the anticipated 2016 World Cup Of Hockey announcement were discussions between the NHL and the Montréal Canadiens, in the hopes that Centre Bell could co-host the tournament with Toronto in September 2016. However, the league has expressed a desire to keep the entire tournament in a single city, hosted out of the Air Canada Centre (pictured above), home of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
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2016 World Cup Of Hockey Details Released
According to a report by Hokej.cz, details regarding the next iteration of the World Cup Of Hockey in 2016 were released at the annual IIHF Congress in Tenerife, Spain, with dates being confirmed for the tournament rumoured to be hosted in Toronto.
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🇰🇷 Korea Granted Berths At 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics
After months of speculation and deliberation over whether the host nation of the 2018 Olympics, Korea, would be granted automatic berths in the games for ice hockey, the IIHF today announced at their IIHF Congress meeting that both the Korean men’s and women’s teams would gain berths to the Games. As reported by the IIHF, the decision was made to increase investment to Korea’s hockey program in the three-plus years leading up to the games to ensure that the Koreans field competitive teams in 2018.
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🇸🇰 Miroslav Hlinka: 1972-2014
As reported by SME, former Slovakian national team forward Miroslav Hlinka, a member of the stalwart team that shocked the world with a Gold Medal performance at the 2002 World Championships, has died of suicide at the age of 42.
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🇫🇮 “Captain K” Hanging It Up: Saku Koivu Retires
After an 18-year NHL career, and an illustrious span as the captain of Finland since 1998, Saku Koivu announced his retirement from the Anaheim Ducks.
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2015 Women’s World Championship Schedule Released
The IIHF has released a new microsite for the 2015 Women’s World Championship in Malmö, Sweden, worldwomen2015.com, and with it released the full schedule for the World Championship in March and April.
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🇺🇸 Bob Suter: 1957-2014
Former U.S. national team defenceman Bob Suter, who helped helm the legendary 1980 U.S. Olympic team to the stunning “Miracle On Ice” victory at the 1980 Olympics over the Soviet Union, has died of a heart attack at age 57.
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🇨🇦 2016 IIHF Women’s World Championship Awarded To Kamloops
Hockey Canada today announced that Kamloops, British Columbia would host the 2016 IIHF Women’s World Championship in April 2016, after the IIHF had awarded Canada with the tournament previously. All games will take place at the Interior Savings Centre (host of the 2014 Four Nations Cup) and the McArthur Island Sports And Event Centre, with specific dates and schedule to follow at a later date.
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Welcome to the IHLC!
Welcome to the official home of the International Hockey Lineal Championship, tracking the best in international hockey in a boxing-style, “king of the hill” lineal format, where every game has the potential to be a “title” match! You can learn more about the IHLC concept, how the rules of the championship work, or peruse the 100+ years of history of the IHLC, including game results and where teams rank amongst the world’s top squads.
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🇸🇪 Bäckström Awarded Olympic Silver in Sweden
As was first reported earlier in the month, the International Olympic Committee and IIHF righted a big wrong committed at the Gold Medal Game in Sochi this past February, awarding a silver medal to Swedish forward Nicklas Bäckström, who was barred from the game just prior to puck drop over testing positive for pseudoephedrine in an allergy medication, which was later discovered to be prescribed to him, and not ingested maliciously.
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2015 World Championship Schedule Released
The IIHF has released a new microsite for the 2015 World Championship in Prague and Ostrava, Czechia, iihfworlds2015.com, and with it released the full schedule for the World Championship in May.
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🇸🇪 Bäckström To Receive 2014 Olympic Silver Medal
One of the most intriguing story lines of the 2014 Gold Medal Game between Canada and Sweden, in which Canada won 3-0 to win its second straight Olympic Gold and retain the International Hockey Lineal Championship, was not the players in the game, but the one player who was not in the game: Nicklas Bäckström.
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2015 Women’s World Championship Groups Announced
Some more details on the 2015 Worlds in Malmö have been released – the all-important groupings! The teams break down as follows (current IIHF rankings in parentheses):
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International Hockey Lineal Championship 