Russian forward Alexander Svitov, known for his grinding style and aggressive physicality, today announced his retirement from pro hockey at age 38, after spending his final season in 2019-20 with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. Continue reading
Category Archives: World Championship
🇨🇿 Tomáš Rolinek Retires From Pro Hockey At Age 40
Czech forward Tomáš Rolinek, who captained the national team at three World Championships and to a Gold Medal in 2010, announced his retirement from pro hockey at age 40, after his final five seasons with Dynamo Pardubice of the Czech Extraliga.
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🇨🇿 🇫🇮 IHLC Classics: Hlaváč’s Golden Goal
From time to time, TheIHLC.com will feature detailed recaps and boxscores of some of the most legendary games in international hockey history, considered to be “IHLC Classics.” Today, in honour of State Day (also known as Den vzniku samostatného československého státu) in Czechia, we feature the first of three World titles for the Narodnitym in 1999, also featuring the first “Golden Goal” at the Worlds in 65 years.
🇨🇿 Czechia 1-4 (1-0 OT) Finland 🇫🇮
World Championship Final, Game 2
Håkons Hall, Lillehammer 🇳🇴
Sunday, 16 May 1999
The Czech Republic added the World Ice Hockey Championship to its Olympic title on Sunday with a 1-0 overtime victory over Finland.
Jan Hlaváč ended a pulsating afternoon of hockey when he raced into the Finnish zone and backhanded the puck past Miikka Kiprusoff at 16:32 of overtime, triggering a wild stampede off the Czech bench.
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🇫🇮 Janne Pesonen Retires From Kärpät At Age 38
Finnish winger Janne Pesonen, a regular on the Leijonat’s World Championship squads, today retired from pro hockey at age 38 after spending his final season with Kärpät of the Liiga.
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🇨🇦 “Mr. Game 7” Justin Williams Retires After 19 NHL Seasons
Canadian forward Justin Williams, who put off retirement for the 2019-20 NHL season to help the Carolina Hurricanes in the NHL playoff bubble, today announced his retirement from pro hockey at age 39.
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🇨🇿 Miloš Říha: 1958-2020
It was announced today that Miloš Říha, the current coach of the Czech men’s national hockey team, shockingly passed away in Prague at the age of 61. The cause of death is unknown at this time.
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🇨🇦 Dale Hawerchuk: 1963-2020
Dale Hawerchuk, the Canadian forward who had both a dazzling NHL and international career, and became a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001, tragically passed away due to stomach cancer at the age of 57.
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🇨🇦 Dan Hamhuis Retires From NHL After 16 Seasons
Canadian defender Dan Hamhuis today announced his retirement from pro hockey at the age of 37, following his Nashville Predators’ elimination from the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs bubble in Edmonton.
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🇨🇭 🇺🇸 IHLC Classics: Eisgenossen’s 60 Year Wait Is Over
From time to time, TheIHLC.com will feature detailed recaps and boxscores of some of the most legendary games in international hockey history, considered to be “IHLC Classics.” Today, in honour of Swiss National Day (also known as Schweizer Bundesfeiertag, Fête Nationale Suisse or Festa Nazionale Svizzera), we feature La Nati’s historic streak at the 2013 World Championship, namely their historic semifinal victory.
🇨🇭 Switzerland 3-0 United States 🇺🇸
World Championship Semifinal
Ericsson Globe, Stockholm 🇸🇪
Saturday, 18 May 2013
They did it. In a semi-final game featuring two teams challenging history, Switzerland defeated Team USA 3-0 to advance forward to their first opportunity for gold since 1935.
Whatever the outcome in the final game against Sweden will be, it will be the first World Championship medal for the Swiss in exactly 60 years.
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🇷🇺 Alexander Gusev: 1947-2020
Alexander Gusev, one of the key defensive backstops for the Soviet Red Army dynasty of the 1970’s that won Summit Series, Olympic and World Championship titles, passed away at the age of 73.
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🇷🇺 Ilya Nikulin Announces Career Is Over At Age 38
Russian defender Ilya Nikulin, who was a mainstay on the Russian blueline for nearly two decades, today confirmed his career is over after not having played since 2018-19, when he captained Dynamo Moscow of the KHL.
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🇺🇸 🇨🇦 IHLC Classics: America’s First (And So Far Only) Worlds Gold
From time to time, TheIHLC.com will feature detailed recaps and boxscores of some of the most legendary games in international hockey history, considered to be “IHLC Classics.” Today, in honour of Independence Day in the United States, we feature Team USA’s first (and so far only) World Championship title, all the way back from 1933.
🇺🇸 United States 2-1 Canada 🇨🇦 (OT)
World Championship Gold Medal Game
Zimní stadion Štvanice, Prague 🇨🇿
Sunday, 26 February 1933
In the early days of international hockey, Canada was all but invincible. It won the first four Olympic tournaments (1920, 1924, 1928, 1932) and the first two World Championships (1930 and 1931) without losing a single game.
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🇨🇦 🇫🇮 IHLC Classics: Canada’s Record Double Dozen
From time to time, TheIHLC.com will feature detailed recaps and boxscores of some of the most legendary games in international hockey history, considered to be “IHLC Classics.” Today, in honour of Canada Day, we feature Canada’s record 24th World Championship Gold Medal, which they captured over Finland in 2007.
🇨🇦 Canada 4-2 Finland 🇫🇮
World Championship Gold Medal Game
Arena Khodynka, Moscow 🇷🇺
Sunday, 13 May 2007
Here’s an incredible bit of trivia: By winning the 2007 IIHF World Championship, Canada earned its 24th gold medal, more than any other nation. Canada’s seven Olympic gold medals are also tops (tied with the Soviet Union).
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🇨🇦 🇸🇰 Hockey Hall Of Fame Announces Class Of 2020
The Hockey Hall Of Fame today announced the newest members that will join as the Class of 2020, with two first-ballot inductees joining a trio of Canadian players who have long awaited their call to the Hall in Toronto.
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2020 IIHF Extraordinary Congress Sets Future Calendar
With the scheduled 2020 IIHF Congress that was set for Zürich during the now-cancelled 2020 World Championships, today the International Ice Hockey Federation held their Extraordinary Congress virtually (due to the COVID-19 pandemic), setting the schedule for both the 2020-21 international hockey calendar, as well as for the 2022 Olympic qualification.
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🇨🇿 Martin Erat Retires From Kometa Brno At Age 38
Czech winger Martin Erat, who spent twenty years professionally in the NHL, KHL and Czech leagues, as well as representing the Narodnitym many times, today announced his retirement from his final club, HC Kometa Brno.
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🇷🇺 🇨🇦 IHLC Classics: The Red Army Stuns Canada…And The World
From time to time, TheIHLC.com will feature detailed recaps and boxscores of some of the most legendary games in international hockey history, considered to be “IHLC Classics.” Today, in honour of Russian National Day, we feature the Red Army’s first major international title, and their debut IHLC matchup, against Canada to finish the 1954 World Championship.
🇷🇺 Soviet Union 7-2 Canada 🇨🇦
World Championship Final Round
Stockholms Olympiastadion, Stockholm 🇸🇪
Sunday, 07 March 1954
There is no question that 1954 was the start of the modern era of international hockey. Prior to the World Championship in Stockholm, Sweden, that year, Canada ruled the ice lanes uncontested. Indeed, from 1920 to 1954, it lost only two significant games, one to the United States at the 1933 World Championship and one to Great Britain at the 1936 Olympics.
But in 1954, the Soviet Union made its first appearance in international hockey, and it did so in a blaze of glory. The Soviets had only started playing “Canadian hockey” (as opposed to European bandy) in 1946, and just eight years later that nation’s top players and managers believed they were ready to play against the world – and win.
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🇫🇮 Lasse Kukkonen Retires At 38 From Oulu Kärpät
Finnish defender Lasse Kukkonen, a mainstay of the Leijonat since 1999 that helped Finland to just its second World Championship in history in 2011, today announced his retirement from his hometown club, Oulu Kärpät, at age 38.
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🇸🇰 Ján Laco Announces Retirement At Age 38
Slovak goaltender Ján Laco, whose theatrics at the 2012 World Championship landed Slovakia a surprise Silver medal, today announced his retirement from pro hockey at the age of 38.
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🇬🇧 🇨🇦 IHLC Classics: Foster & Brenchley Shock The World
From time to time, TheIHLC.com will feature detailed recaps and boxscores of some of the most legendary games in international hockey history, considered to be “IHLC Classics.” To celebrate on what should have been the day of the 2020 World Championship Gold Medal final, instead we recap one of the biggest upsets in Olympic and World Championship history, the fall of Canada at the hands of Great Britain in 1936.
🇬🇧 Great Britain 2-1 Canada 🇨🇦
Olympic Second Round
Olympia-Kunsteis-Stadion, Garmisch-Partenkirchen 🇩🇪
Tuesday, 11 February 1936
It was an Olympics coated in sportive controversy and by the presence of Adolf Hitler, who used the global sports event as a propaganda tool, three years before the outbreak of the biggest catastrophe in the history of mankind.
In the end, history shows that Canada lost the Gold medal and Great Britain won. The process to that result, however, was anything but simple.
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