The schedule for the 2026 IIHF World Championship was today announced for the tournament taking place in Zürich and Fribourg, Switzerland, with the host Eisgenossen looking to finally conquer the tournament after consecutive Silver medal finishes, only three months after the conclusion of the 2026 Olympics in Milan.
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Tag Archives: Olympics
🇫🇮 Juhamatti Aaltonen Announces Retirement At 40
Finnish forward Juhamatti Aaltonen, whose two-decade career spanned nearly a dozen teams over six European countries, along with numerous appearances for his native Leijonat, today confirmed his retirement from hockey at age 40, following the 2024-25 season with Jokerit Helsinki.
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🇨🇿 Josef Černý: 1939-2025
Josef Černý, the Czech winger whose dominant play led him to amass double digits in Czech league, World Championship and Olympic titles in his playing career from 1956-79, today passed away at the age of 85.
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🇸🇰 Jaroslav Halák Confirms Retirement From Hockey At 40
Journeyman Slovak goaltender Jaroslav Halák, who backstopped seven different NHL teams and the Slovakian national squad for twenty pro seasons, today confirmed his retirement from hockey, two years after his last professional game.
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🇺🇸 🇨🇿 IHLC Classics: Team USA Conquers Gold In Olympic Valley
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 American Independence Day, and in light of Team USA’s first World Championship title in decades, we look back at the last time the Americans were crowned World Champions, at the 1960 Olympics – the aftermath of the original “Miracle On Ice.”
🇺🇸 United States 9-4 Czechoslovakia 🇨🇿
Olympic Medal Round
Blyth Memorial Ice Arena, Olympic Valley 🇺🇸
Sunday, 28 February 1960
The Americans had no time to celebrate (their previous day’s victory over the Soviet Union) because they were scheduled to be on the ice at eight the next morning to face the Czechs for the Gold medal.
Organizers expected the Canada–Soviet Union game to be for the Gold, so the USA-Czech game was scheduled for early Sunday.
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🇫🇮 Pentti Matikainen: 1950-2025
Pentti Matikainen, the long-time coach of numerous clubs across Finland’s Liiga, as well as a multi-event medalist in leading the Finnish national team, passed away from cancer at the age of 74 in Helsinki.
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🇨🇦 🇷🇺 🇸🇰 🇺🇸 Hockey Hall Of Fame Announces Class Of 2025
The Hockey Hall Of Fame today announced the newest members that will join as the Class of 2025 on 10 November, with long-time nominee Alexander Mogilny finally getting the call, alongside Jennifer Botterill, Brianna Decker, and first-time nominees Zdeno Chára, Duncan Keith and Joe Thornton, all to join the ranks of the Hall in Toronto.
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🇨🇦 Marie-Philip Poulin Named 2025 IIHF Female Player Of The Year
Canadian forward Marie-Philip Poulin, the most decorated Canadian women’s player in history, was today awarded the IIHF’s Female Player Of The Year Award for the 2024-25 season, capping a season in which she led the PWHL in scoring and captured tournament MVP honours at the 2025 Women’s World Championship.
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🇮🇹 2026 Women’s Olympic Hockey Schedule Released
The schedule for the women’s tournament at the 2026 Olympics in Milan, Italy was released by the IIHF today, kicking off hockey at the Olympics on Thursday, 05 February.
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Provisional Men’s Rosters Named For 2026 Winter Olympics
With eight months to go until the NHL makes its return to the Winter Olympics after a twelve year absence, the provisional rosters for each of the twelve participating men’s nations were revealed today by each nations’ respective international association, naming six active professionals to each roster that will face off in Milan in February 2026.
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🇨🇿 Petr Koukal Confirms Retirement, Shift To Coaching
Czech centre Petr Koukal today announced the end of his playing career at age 42 as part of a transition to coaching, ending a 20+ year career capped by three Czech Extraliga titles and a World Championship Gold medal.
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🇷🇺 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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🇨🇦 Claire Thompson Joins Triple Gold Club
Canadian defender Claire Thompson tonight joined Triple Gold Club, just the sixth woman to do so since the advent of the Walter Cup, after capturing the Cup as part of Minnesota’s back-to-back title, becoming the first Canadian female player to join the club, adding to her World Championship and Olympic Gold medal.
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🇺🇸 Minnesota Frost Repeat As Walter Cup Champions
In a grueling series that saw every game go to overtime, the Minnesota Frost emerged victorious in Game 4 of the Walter Cup Finals, defeating the Ottawa Charge to capture their second consecutive title.
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🇨🇭 King Of The Worlds: Andres Ambühl Formally Retires At 41
Swiss forward Andres Ambühl, the six-time Swiss champion and all-time leader in IIHF World Championship tournaments and games played, today played his 151st and final World Championship game following Switzerland’s Gold Medal overtime loss, formalizing his retirement from the sport at the age of 41 after a two decade-plus professional career.
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🇷🇺 IIHF Confirms 2026 Russian Decision Falls To IOC, Future Tournament Hosts
The IIHF today, at their end-of-tournament press conference in Stockholm, Sweden, confirmed a number of items outlined at this week’s IIHF Congress, including the traditional awarding of tournament hosts for future events, and confirmation that the IIHF has submitted plans to the International Olympic Committee to proceed with excluding Russian men’s and women’s hockey teams from the 2026 Olympics, set to begin in nine months in Milan, Italy.
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🇫🇷 🇰🇿 France, Kazakhstan Relegated For 2026 IIHF World Championship
On the final day of group round action at the 2025 World Championship, both relegation spots to Division IA in 2025 were confirmed, with France and Kazakhstan, set to head back down to Division IA next season, missing out on the 2026 Worlds in Switzerland.
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IHLC Preview – 2025 World Championship
The top teams in international hockey will converge on Stockholm, Sweden and Herning, Denmark starting this Friday 09 May, kicking off the premiere event of the global hockey calendar, the 2025 IIHF World Championship.
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🇨🇦 Flower Out: Marc-André Fleury Retires At Age 40
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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🇫🇮 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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International Hockey Lineal Championship 