๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ Russian Female Players Banned From Olympics For Life Due To Doping (UPDATED)


After the IOC’s landmark decision to ban Russia outright from the 2018 Olympics, but still allow individual athletes to compete under the Olympic flag if they pass IOC drug tests, the IOC today announced that members of Russia’s women’s team at the 2014 Sochi Games failed their tests, and are thus banned for life from the Olympics.
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IOC Expels Russia From 2018 Olympics, Hockey Status In Question


The International Olympic Committee today announced an outright ban on the Russian delegation at the upcoming Olympic Games this February in Pyeongchang, South Korea, although athletes that are cleared of a controversial state-sponsored doping program are allowed to participate under the Olympic flag.
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2018 Men’s Olympic Hockey Schedule Released


The IIHF today released the schedule for the men’s tournament at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, with the tournament beginning on Wednesday, 14 February, while both hosts Korea and defending champions Canada begin the tournament the following day.
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๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Ukrainian Players Caught Up In Division IA Bribery Scandal


A bribery scandal has struck the hockey world, with news coming from Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat that two Ukrainian players were caught accepting bribes to throw the 2017 World Championship Division IA, which clinched Korea their first promotion in history to the 2018 World Championships, putting the legitimacy of their win, along with Korea’s future, in potential doubt.
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2017-18 Euro Hockey Tour Schedule Released


The full schedule for the 2017-18 Euro Hockey Tour has been announced, the highlights being the moving of the Sweden Hockey Games to April (due to this year’s Olympics in February), and the addition of teams from Canada, Switzerland and Korea, all preparing for the Games in PyeongChang.
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2018 World Championship Schedule Released


The IIHF has released the full schedule for the 2018 World Championship in Copenhagen and Herning, Denmark, with defending champions Sweden opening the tournament against Belarus, while hosts Denmark open the tournament against Germany on opening day.
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2018 Euro Hockey Challenge Schedule Confirmed


The Euro Hockey Challenge will return in the lead-up to the 2018 World Championships this season, with yet another scheduling reformat thanks to the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, with national teams fine-tuning their rosters before heading to Copenhagen and Herning.
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๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡น ๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ท Austria, South Korea Promoted To 2018 World Championship


The two teams that narrowly missed promotion to the 2017 World Championship today both punched their tickets to the 2018 tournament in Denmark, with Austria and South Korea locking up their spots at the World Championship Division IA finals in Kyiv, Ukraine.
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๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ต ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Japan Promoted, Czechia Relegated At Womenโ€™s Worlds


After falling to Switzerland in a best-of-three relegation series, Czechia has been demoted to Division I Group A in 2018, while Japan, victors of 2017 Group IA in Graz, Austria, will be promoted for the 2019 Women’s World Championships, with no tournament being held in 2018 due to the PyeongChang Olympics.
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NHL Confirms Players Will Not Attend 2018 PyeongChang Olympics


After months of speculation and negotiations, the National Hockey League today announced that they will not actively participate in the 2018 Olympics in Korea, ending a 20-year span of NHL participation in the Games.
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๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S. Women’s Team, USA Hockey Strike New Agreement


In a good news story after weeks of bad blood between the U.S. Women’s National Team and USA Hockey, a new four year agreement has been agreed upon by both parties, ensuring that the U.S. team will suit up for the Women’s World Championships, which begin in just three days time in Plymouth, Michigan.
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๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S. Women’s Team Vows Boycott Of World Championship, USA Hockey Responds


In a shocking development less than a month before the 2017 Women’s World Championship in Plymouth, Michigan, the U.S. women’s national team today announced, in solidarity, that they will sit out the Worldsย in protest of a lack of support from USA Hockey, the culmination of a year’s worth of legal proceedings with the American hockey body.
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๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ญ ๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ต Switzerland And Japan Clinch Final Olympic Qualifying Spots

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After nearly half a year of Olympic qualifiers that began in Mexico last October, four rounds of play and 22 teams competing for a mere two spots in PyeongChang, the final qualification spots were today clinched by Japan and Switzerland for the 2018 Winter Olympics.
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๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ด ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฎ ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช Norway, Slovenia, Germany Nab Final 2018 Olympic Spots

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After nearly a year of Olympic qualifiers that began in Bulgaria last October, three rounds of play and 28 teams competing for just three spots in PyeongChang, the final slots were today locked up by Norway, Slovenia and Germany for the 2018 Winter Olympics.
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๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช ๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ต Germany Promoted, Japan Relegated For Womenโ€™s Worlds

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After losing consecutive tilts to Switzerland in the relegation round, Japan has been demoted to Division I Group A in 2017, while Germany, sweeping this year’s Group A in Aalborg, Denmark, will be promoted to the 2017 Women’s World Championship next April in Plymouth, Michigan, USA.
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First Five Nations Qualify For 2018 Olympic Women’s Tournament

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As a result of Switzerland’s stumble out of Group B and into the relegation round at the ongoing World Championships, Russia and Sweden locked up the final two spots available to qualify automatically for the women’s tournament at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, Korea. They join Canada, the United States, Finland and hosts Korea, with the final two spots to be gained in a qualification tournament ending in February 2017.
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IHLC Preview – 2016 Women’s World Championship

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The U.S. women’s national team looks to continue its torrid winning streak since Sochi, looking to capture another clean sheet at the 2016 World Championships in Kamloops, British Columbia, after cleaning house at both the 2015 Worlds and 2016 Four Nations Cup.
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๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ Beijing Announced As Host Of 2022 Winter Olympics

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After a two-city race between Asian powers to host the XXIV Olympiad, it was today announced in Kuala Lumpur that Beijing, China will host the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, after defeating Almaty, Kazakhstan by a vote of 44-40.
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World Championship Sets Fields For 2016 Worlds, 2018 Olympics

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With the dust settled over Prague, and Canada returning to North America with World Championship Gold in tow, we can not only look back on a tremendous (and record-breaking) 2015 tournament, but to future tournaments in men’s hockey, particularly next year’s Worlds and the 2018 Olympics.
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