The “Flower” has bloomed for the last time – after confirming his retirement at the beginning of the 2024-25 NHL season, Marc-André Fleury has officially played in his final NHL game at the age of 40, following Minnesota’s elimination from the Stanley Cup playoffs, ending a remarkable 21-season career spanning stops in Pittsburgh, Las Vegas, Chicago and the Twin Cities.
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Category Archives: IHLC News
🇫🇮 Valtteri Filppula Confirms Retirement At Age 41
Finnish forward Valtteri Filppula, the first Finn to become a member of the Triple Gold Club by virtue of his 2008 Stanley Cup, and Olympic and World Championship titles both in 2022, today confirmed his retirement following at the age of 41.
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🇷🇺 It’s Officially Official – Ilya Kovalchuk Retires From Hockey At Age 41
After initially claiming his career was over in early March, soon correcting that to clarify he was simply a free agent, Russian winger Ilya Kovalchuk today made it official that, at the age of 41, he would be stepping away from hockey for good, following an illustrious career highlighted by one Olympic and two World Championship titles.
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🇭🇺 🇳🇴 Hungary, Norway Relegated From 2024 Women’s Worlds
After clawing their way back to the Top Division in 2024, it was a sudden relegation back to Division IA for both Norway and Hungary, who were officially both relegated with one day left in competition in České Budějovice.
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IHLC Preview – 2025 Women’s World Championship
The IIHF Women’s World Championship is coming to Czechia for the first time in its history, as the reigning world champions Canada will look to conquer České Budějovice for their second straight Gold medal in the 24th edition of the tournament from 09-20 April, with all games held at Budvar Aréna.
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🇨🇿 Jiří Kochta: 1946-2025
Jiří Kochta, the Czechoslovak winger who was a member of the historic 1972 World Championship Gold medal squad, and would capture eight international medals in his career, has passed away at the age of 78.
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🇨🇦 🇫🇮 🇸🇪 🇺🇸 IHLC To Miss Four Nations Face-Off Final
Just as it was uncertain that the IHLC would even be contended at the Four Nations Face-Off to begin with, necessitating a Finland win with less than a week before the tournament began, the IHLC will now be leaving North America, by virtue of Sweden‘s 2-1 round robin final victory over the United States, meaning that the IHLC will not be paired with the Four Nations title.
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World Cup Of Hockey Set To Return In 2028
On the eve of the inaugural (and potentially only) Four Nations Face-Off, the NHL and NHLPA today announced the return of the World Cup Of Hockey, set to debut in February 2028 as a mid-season, rather than preseason, tournament, and recurring every four years thereafter.
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IHLC Preview – 2025 Four Nations Face-Off
For the first time in nearly a decade, the NHL will be presenting a true “best on best” international tournament, but in a smaller format than usual, with teams from Canada, Sweden, Finland and the United States facing off in the inaugural Four Nations Face-Off.
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🇸🇪 Loui Eriksson Confirms Retirement After Two Year Absence
Two years after his most recent game in the Swedish Hockey League semifinals, Loui Eriksson today confirmed his retirement from pro hockey, leaving the sport at age 39 after twenty pro seasons across three countries.
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🇯🇵 🇸🇪 🇩🇪 Japan, Sweden, Germany Clinch Final Milan 2026 Women’s Olympic Qualifying Spots
After three months of Olympic qualifiers, with 24 teams competing across two rounds of play, came to a conclusion today for the final three spots in Milan, with the spots being clinched locked up by Japan, Sweden and Germany for the 2026 Olympics.
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🇨🇦 🇫🇮 🇸🇪 🇺🇸 IHLC To Be Contended At Four Nations Face-Off
By virtue of a 20-save shutout from Oskari Salminen and a three point game from Julius Nättinen in Stockholm earlier today, the IHLC will officially be brought to the inaugural Four Nations Face-Off next week, as Finland’s win over Czechia guarantees that Finland or Sweden will bring the title across the Atlantic to Montréal.
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IIHF Hall Of Fame Announces 2025 Inductees
The IIHF has announced the Hall Of Fame Class of 2025, to be inducted at May’s World Championships in Stockholm, with five different nationalities and a pair of Swedish goaltenders highlighting the class.
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🇰🇿 Kazakhstan Relegated From World Junior Championship
For the second straight year, Germany narrowly avoided relegation at the World Junior Championship, this time eliminating Kazakhstan in a 4-3 victory to send the Kazakhs back down to Division IA in 2026, after only one year in the Top Division.
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IHLC 2024 In Review – Junior
The 2024 international junior calendar saw the United States dominate throughout the year, capturing Gold in early January 2024 and looking to repeat as world champions again, for the first time ever, in 2025.
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IHLC 2024 In Review – Men’s
The 2024 international men’s hockey calendar saw four different nations capture the title throughout the year, with a European champion ensuring a more active back half of the year than Canada’s 2023 Gold medal victory originally allowed for.
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IHLC 2024 In Review – Women’s
The 2024 calendar year saw a reduction in international competition due to the rise of the Professional Women’s Hockey League, but there was still plenty of drama between the United States and Canada all throughout North America over the International Hockey Lineal Championship.
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IHLC Preview – 2025 World Junior Championship
With the holidays approaching, this means that immediately after Christmas ends, the IIHF World Junior Championship will begin, this time being hosted in Canada’s capital of Ottawa, Ontario, with the world’s top under-20 teams convening for the title of global supremacy.
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🇩🇰 Denmark Promoted To World Junior Top Division In 2026
For the first time since 2019, Denmark will be returning to the World Junior Championship Top Division, after being pushed to the brink by Austria before upsetting them in a do-or-die final showdown in Bled, Slovenia, winning 5-4 in regulation to capture the Division IA tournament and book their ticket to Minnesota in 2026.
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🇱🇻 Kaspars Daugaviņš Announces Surprise Retirement From Hockey
Latvian forward Kaspars Daugaviņš, who captained his country to their historic first ever World Championship medal in 2023, today announced his sudden retirement from the sport at age 36, ending a 20+ year pro career spanning teams across seven countries, citing family issues as the reason for the sudden, mid-season announcement.
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International Hockey Lineal Championship 