
Following an IIHF Council meeting, the International Ice Hockey Federation today confirmed that their ban on Russian and Belarusian teams, dating back to their invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, was extended through the 2026-27 hockey season.
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Tag Archives: Belarus
๐ท๐บ In Memoriam – Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 2011-12

Today marks the anniversary of the tragic air disaster of Yak-Service Flight 9633 on 07 September 2011, that crashed near Yaroslavl, Russia, and killed the entire roster and staff of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the KHL, and all but one of the flight crew members, when a pilot error caused the aircraft to fail its takeoff, running off the runway and crashing into a tower mast.
Then-IIHF president Renรฉ Fasel declared the crash as “the darkest day in the history of our sport,” as fans from across the world, and in particular Russia and the eight other nations represented by team players and staff, mourned for the shocking and tragic loss. On this sad anniversary, TheIHLC.com commemorates this deep loss, and remember those who perished in the accident.
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๐ท๐บ International Olympic Committee Confirms No Russian Hockey At 2026 Olympics

After confusion arose from the IIHF announcing during their annual Congress last week that Russia would not participate at the 2026 Milan Olympics, only to backtrack and say the final decision laid with the IOC, the IOC confirmed today that this is in fact the case, and Russian teams would be banned from the Games.
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๐ท๐บ ๐ง๐พ IIHF Extends Russia, Belarus Ban Into 2025-26 Season

Following an IIHF Council meeting, the International Ice Hockey Federation today confirmed that their ban on Russian and Belarusian teams, dating back to their invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, was extended through the 2025-26 hockey season.
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๐ฑ๐ป ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฐ Latvia, Denmark, Slovakia Clinch Final Milan 2026 Men’s Olympic Qualifying Spots

After nearly a year of Olympic qualifiers that began last December, with 30 teams competing across three rounds of play, came to a conclusion today for the final three spots in Milan, with the spots being clinched locked up by Latvia, Denmark and Slovakia for the 2026 Olympics, in a carbon copy clinching scenario from three years earlier.
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๐ท๐บ Metallurg Magnitogorsk Sweeps To 2024 Gagarin Cup Victory

After a near-elimination in the conference finals, Metallurg Magnitogorsk today completed a four-game sweep of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in the 2024 Gagarin Cup finals, capturing their third title and first in eight years.
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๐ง๐พ Konstantin Koltsov: 1981-2024

Konstantin Koltsov, the Belarusian journeyman winger who recently moved into a coaching position in the KHL, today was announced dead of an apparent suicide in Miami, Florida at the age of 42.
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๐ท๐บ ๐ง๐พ IIHF Extends Russia, Belarus Ban Into 2024-25 Season

During an IIHF Council meeting, the International Ice Hockey Federation today confirmed that their ban on Russian and Belarusian teams, dating back to their invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, was extended through the 2024-25 hockey season.
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๐จ๐ฆ Restarted 2022 World Junior Championship Schedule Released

The schedule for the rescheduled 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship has been released, restarting the tournament in Edmonton, Canada following the cancellation of December’s tournament due to an outbreak of the COVID-19 Omicron variant.
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2022 KHL Awards Ceremony Held In Moscow

The Kontinental Hockey League formally wrapped their fourteenth season tonight in Moscow with their annual Closing Ceremony, awarding the league’s top teams, players and executives for their performance this year, with Gagarin Cup champions CSKA Moscow coming away as the big winners, and ten IHLC winners taking home trophies.
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IHLC Preview – 2022 World Championship

The top teams in international hockey will converge on Tampere and Helsinki, Finland starting this Friday, 13 May, kicking off the premiere event of the global hockey calendar, the 2022 IIHF World Championship.
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๐ท๐บ IIHF To Move 2023 World Championship From Russia

The IIHF today announced, that “out of concern for the safety and well-being of all participating players, officials, media, and fans,” that the 2023 IIHF World Championship, set to take place in Saint Petersburg, Russia next May, would be moved to a different location, due to Russia’s continued and deepening of invasion of Ukraine.
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IIHF Announces Tournament Updates Following Russia, Belarus Suspensions

Just under three weeks after announcing that Russia and Belarus were banned from IIHF participation after the Russian-led and Belarusian-backed invasion of Ukraine that began on 24 February, today the International Ice Hockey Federation announced replacement clubs for upcoming participation in the upcoming 2022 Men’s, Women’s and Junior World Championships.
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๐ท๐บ ๐ง๐พ Russia, Belarus Suspended From IIHF Competition, Hosting Rights

After a sweeping recommendation from the International Olympic Committee to remove Russia and Belarus from international sporting competitions, following their invasion of Ukraine that began on 24 February, today the International Ice Hockey Federation announced a number of updates regarding their respective participation and hosting of future competitions.
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IHLC 2021 In Review – Men’s

With the international hockey calendar returning (relatively) to normal in 2021, the IHLC saw a flurry of activity throughout the year, bookended with stops on the Euro Hockey Tour, and a relocated World Championship in between. Continue reading
Remainder Of 2022 World Junior Championship Cancelled

After the third game in two days needed to be cancelled due to positive cases on an individual team, today the IIHF announced that the remainder of the 2022 World Junior Championships in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta, Canada would be cancelled.
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IIHF Confirms No Relegation From 2022 World Junior Championship

After a degree of uncertainty surrounding how the IIHF would handle the 2023 World Junior Championships after the bottom two division tournaments set to take place in January 2022 were cancelled due to COVID-19, today they announced no teams in the ongoing Top Division would be relegated in 2022.
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๐ท๐ธ ๐ฒ๐ฝ IIHF Cancels January 2022 Tournaments, Including Junior Division IIB & III

Thanks to the rapid spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant across the globe, the IIHF today announced that all tournaments set to begin in January 2022 will be cancelled, including the entire Under-18 Women’s World Championship, and the two bottom Divisions in the World Junior Championship.
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IHLC Preview – 2022 World Junior Championship

After COVID-19 forced the 2021 World Junior Championship into a bubble, the tournament returns to Alberta, Canada for 2022, with Edmonton and Red Deer hosting the world’s top under-20 hockey teams in front of fans for the first time since January 2020, just before the world changed forever.
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๐ง๐พ Belarus Promoted To World Junior Top Division In 2023

After a one-year stasis of the same ten teams in the World Junior Championship Top Division thanks to COVID-19, today Belarus punched their ticket to Russia in 2023 by emerging victorious atop Division IA in Denmark, going a perfect 5-0 in the tournament and sealing their victory with a win over Norway.
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