🇷🇺 Yevgeni Kuznetsov Suspended By IIHF Until 2023, Stripped Of Bronze


Russian star forward Yevgeni Kuznetsov, a two-time World Champion and World Junior Champion with the Big Red Machine, today was handed a four year ban from international competition by the International Ice Hockey Federation, after a video surfaced earlier this summer of Kuznetsov ingesting cocaine.
Continue reading

🇸🇪 Swedish Women’s Team Vows Boycott For 2019-20 Season


Similar to a scenario that played out in 2017 with the U.S. women’s team, today all 43 members of the Swedish women’s national program announced they will boycott participation in any further international competition, including November’s Four Nations Cup in Luleå.
Continue reading

🇫🇮 Linda Välimäki Announces Retirement From Ilves


Just weeks after Riikka Sallinen retired from the Finnish national team, another key forward from this year’s Silver medal squad announced their retirement, with Linda Välimäki announcing on Twitter she is retiring from the game at age 29.
Continue reading

🇫🇮 Niklas Bäckström Retires From Tappara At Age 41


Finnish netminder Niklas Bäckström, a key to the Leijonat goaltending corps since 1998, today announced his retirement from Tappara of the Liiga, joining the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets as a European scout.
Continue reading

🇨🇦 Roberto Luongo Retires After 19 NHL Seasons


Canadian goaltender Roberto Luongo, the third winningest goalie in NHL history, only trailing Hall of Famers Martin Brodeur and Patrick Roy, today announced his retirement from professional hockey at the age of 40.
Continue reading

Hockey Hall Of Fame Announces Class Of 2019


The Hockey Hall Of Fame today announced the newest members that will join as the Class of 2019 on 15 November, with the most decorated women’s player in history, the first Iron Curtain star to defect to the west, and a pair of multiple Stanley Cup champions, who between them hold a number of International Hockey Lineal Championships, all to join the ranks of the Hall in Toronto.
Continue reading

🇮🇹 Milan–Cortina d’Ampezzo Announced As Host Of 2026 Winter Olympics


Today, during the 134th session of the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne, Switzerland, the Italian bid of Milan–Cortina d’Ampezzo was awarded the hosting rights to the 2026 Winter Olympics, winning the hosting rights over Stockholm–Åre, Sweden.
Continue reading

🇫🇮 Riikka Sallinen Retires For Second Time At 46


Finnish forward Riikka Sallinen (previously Välilä, née Nieminen), an integral member of the Naisleijonat since 1989 who retired in 2003, but returned in 2013, today announced her re-retirement from professional hockey at the age of 46.
Continue reading

🇨🇦 Jay Bouwmeester Joins Triple Gold Club


The only player eligible to join in this year’s Stanley Cup Final, defender Jay Bouwmeester tonight joined Triple Gold Club by virtue of winning Lord Stanley’s Mug with the St. Louis Blues, becoming the 30th male and twelfth Canadian to join the club, adding to his two World Championship and Olympic Gold medals.
Continue reading

Major Announcements Made At 2019 IIHF Congress


The IIHF Annual Congress today was held on the off day at the 2019 World Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia, with a number of major announcements voted on to impact the future of international hockey in the coming years.
Continue reading

🇩🇰 Jannik Hansen Announces Retirement Following Gagarin Cup Win


Danish winger Jannik Hansen, just one week removed from winning the Gagarin Cup with CSKA Moscow, announced his retirement from pro hockey at the age of 33, ending the career of a trailblazer for Danish players in professional hockey both in North America and Europe.
Continue reading

🇫🇮 Venla Hovi Announces Retirement After Historic Worlds Silver Medal


Finnish forward Venla Hovi, only a day removed from Finland’s shocking silver medal finish on home ice at the 2019 Women’s World Championship, announced her retirement on Twitter at age 31, capping a year of both Worlds silver and a Clarkson Cup.
Continue reading

🇸🇪 🇫🇷 Sweden, France Relegated From Women’s World Championship


In one unsurprising development, and in another very surprising development, France and Sweden have been relegated to Division IA of the 2020 Women’s World Championship, with France going back down after their first trip to the Top Division, while Sweden is relegated for the first time in their history.
Continue reading

IHLC Preview – 2019 Women’s World Championship


For the first time in its history, the IIHF Women’s World Championship will expand to a 10-team field when the best women’s players in the world face off in Espoo, Finland, for the 2019 edition of the championship, the 19th edition of the tournament.
Continue reading

🇨🇦 Canadian Womens Hockey League Announces Shutdown


In a shocking development only a week after their championship was awarded to a record audience, the Canadian Womens Hockey League today, claiming an unsustainable business model, would be ceasing operations as of 1 May, ending a 12-year tenure as one of the top two North American women’s leagues, putting a cloud of uncertainty over next week’s World Women’s Championship, as a number of the players now enter the tournament without a club team to return to in 2019-20.
Continue reading

🇨🇦 🇺🇸 Calgary Inferno Wins 2019 Clarkson Cup, Alex Rigsby Joins Triple Gold Club


The top-tier Canadian women’s hockey league today awarded their champion, a week after the American Isobel Cup was awarded to the Minnesota Whitecaps, with the Calgary Inferno defeating the Canadiennes de Montréal 5-2 in Toronto to win their second Clarkson Cup in four seasons. Continue reading

🇸🇰 Ladislav Nagy Retires Following Dukla Trenčín Elimination


Following in the steps of fellow countryman and teammate Branko Radivojevič, Slovak forward Ladislav Nagy today announced his retirement from hockey at age 39, as he too was part of the HK Dukla Trenčín team that was eliminated from the Slovak Extraliga playoffs.
Continue reading

🇸🇰 Branko Radivojevič Retires Following Dukla Trenčín Elimination


Slovak forward Branko Radivojevič, a key part of the Slovakian national team since the 2000 World Junior Championship, announced his retirement from hockey at age 38, after his club team, HK Dukla Trenčín, was eliminated from the Slovak Extraliga playoffs.
Continue reading