July 2012 Volume 16 Number 3 Published by International Ice Hockey Federation Editor-in-Chief Horst Lichtner Editor Szymon Szemberg Design Adam Steiss From Helsinki with love... ...to Barcelona with hope. Photos: (top) Andre Ringuette / HHOF-IIHF Images, (bottom) Martin Merk Andre Ringuette / HHOF-IIHF Images, (top) Photos: Top Picture: Alexander Ovechkin waves the Russian flag after his team rode an undefeated record to World Championship gold. Bottom picture: IIHF General Secretary Horst Lichtner addresses the Hockey Forum. After celebrating Russia’s 23rd were the two main subjects, together with the issue of took a hit and we all must admit that we must assume IIHF World Championship gold in how to achieve harmony between the associations and responsibility for the situation, especially the pricing of Helsinki, we went to Barcelona the leagues regarding the national team breaks and re- the tickets. It was in many cases (in particular for the top to try to unite the various stake- lease of players to these events. games) far above of what a regular fan could afford. holder groups in Europe. The issues are many. Each one rep- As we will be back in Sweden and Finland next year, and RENÉ fasel EDITORIAL resents a challenge of its own and Stockholm will assume the role of main host, we will do you cannot solve everything in three everything we can to regain the confidence of the fans. days. But some very important resolutions were reached, The Hockey Forum was a success, but the real work the most important being that all relevant stakehold- With this in mind, the briefing for the 2013 organising starts now. ers will assign representatives to join forces in working committee has already begun. groups which will address these issues. It was the first time the IIHF invited all stakeholders of The 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship proved our sport in Europe to a meeting in order to try to address I would like to say thank you to all presenters, panelists once again how difficult it is to win on home ice. This was the fragmented ice hockey situation on the old continent. and specially invited guests who participated and who the 25th consecutive men’s senior event without the host Present were national associations, representatives of the made those three days really worthwhile. It is my wish winning gold. Next challenger to try and break the curse is top European leagues, their clubs, the union of leagues that the word “Barcelona” will in some years from now be Sweden, who has never won gold on home ice. (Hockey Europe) and European Trophy, the tournament synonymous with a new era of cooperation and progress, which represents 32 of Europe’s top teams. All in all, we not only in Europe but in the world of ice hockey. nn Congratulations to Canada, who despite a bad tour- were more than 150 people in the Catalan capital. nament-opening loss to the USA, came back to win the nn The 76th IIHF World Championship in Finland and Women’s gold in Burlington, their 10th but the first since What came out on June 12-14 were three very productive Sweden was the first co-hosted event of our annual flag- 2007. USA, which claimed gold in 2008, 2009 and 2011, days. On Day 1, we listened how the other major team ship championship since 1930. As Russia stormed to one saw their streak stopped. sports in Europe (football, basketball, handball) organ- of the most impressive showings for many years while ized their European club competitions and how they have claiming its 23rd Worlds gold medal (including 19 from I would like to extend a sincere thank you to organizers of restructured their governance structures to accommodate the Soviet days), there were things which we were not all our 26 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships this past the growing influence from the pro leagues and their entirely content with. season, and I wish all hockey fans a great summer. clubs. During the Annual Congress in Helsinki, I voiced concerns nn How to re-launch a sustainable European club com- about the many empty seats and the ensuing negative René Fasel petition and how to reform the IIHF’s current structure press this caused. The brand of the World Championship IIHF President 2 Volume 16 Number 3 July 2012 Volume 16 Number 3 July 2012 3 OBITUARIES HOCKEY FOrum Jamaica, Qatar join IIHF ranks Miro Subrt was associated with the game for more than 60 years, 55 of these with the IIHF. He was Hockey Forum eye-opener for stakeholders Federation welcomes first Caribbean nation, membership at 72 the longest serving top-rank of- HELSINKI – The International Ice Hockey Federation is the CEO. Both are Americans of Jamaican descent who ficial in international ice hockey, grows to 72 members countries as two new members want to develop their favourite sport in the country of and was part of 14 Olympic ice Mandate aimed at improving the game in Europe were accepted by the 2012 IIHF Annual Congress. their heritage. hockey tournaments, starting in 1960 at Squaw Valley. For many By Martin Merk leagues. The same opinion was shared in an internet fan of the Olympic tournaments Subrt Jordi Bertomeu of Euroleague basketball Jamaica joins the IIHF as an associate member, and Qa- Jamaica is the first Caribbean nation that joins the IIHF. 1926-2012 poll. was the IIHF’s Technical Delegate. tar as a full member under the precondition of an audit. BARCELONA – The IIHF organized for the first time a n The Qatar Ice Hockey Federation was founded in 2010 Hockey Forum dedicated to topics concerning European Some club representatives, however, suggest guaranteed From 1957, Subrt was a directorate member at the The Jamaican Olympic Ice Hockey Federation was found- to develop programs for senior and junior players and ice hockey and invited all stakeholders to openly discuss, long-time participation rather than having qualification IIHF World Championships and Olympic ice hockey ed last winter. The Caribbean country has one ice rink becomes the third country from the Gulf region after the listen and draw conclusions. principles based on the European credibility model of tournaments. He was chairman of the1959 IIHF World and currently 20 players but aims to grow the game and United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. sport. Championship Organizing Committee and elected fulfill the criteria to participate in IIHF tournaments in The event was seen as a vital success in terms of gene- the same year to the IIHF Council, later becoming its the future. The country of less than two million inhabitants has two rating ideas that that could have a lasting effect on It was agreed that the various stakeholders name repre- Vice President in 1966. Subrt stepped down from the ice rinks, both located in the capital of Doha: the Vil- European ice hockey in the years to come if converted sentatives to join together and work on a European club IIHF Council during the 2003 IIHF General Congress in And the dream is lagio Ice Rink in the to action. competition. to once participate Aspire Zone and the Marbella. He was named IIHF Life President soon after and was elected to the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2004. He at the Olympics City Center Ice Rink at The Hockey Forum with more than 150 participants repre- Another core topic was governance structures in interna- passed away on April 5 at age 85. Michele Centenaro, GS of the European Club Association like the Jamaican West Bay. senting clubs, leagues, national associations, broadcasters tional sport federations – an issue the IIHF wants to work bobsled team in Paul Cyr, a member of Canada's gold-medal win- and other stakeholders started with presentations from on with the new Council that will be elected in September. Calgary 1988 that The national league, ning U20 team in 1982, passed away at age 48 on other major team sports from which ice hockey can learn. The goal is to bring stakeholders closer together in deci- became famous in which kicked off in the 19 May in Nakusp, British Columbia. That 1982 team the film “Cool Run- 2010/2011 season, was the first to win gold for Canada at the U20 World nings”. includes five teams Championship under Hockey Canada's Program of and 70 players are af- Excellence. Cyr went on to play 470 NHL games. The organization is JAMAICA Facts Qatar Facts filiated with the Qatar chaired by Edmond Population: 2,889,187 Population: 1,951,591 Ice Hockey Federation. Roman Gasser passed away on 20 February at age 94. He L. Phillipps Jr., and Area: 10,991 sq km Area: 11,586 sq km As well, there’s an ice Location: island in the Caribbean Sea, Location: Middle East, peninsula border- was a referee-in-chief who was a significant influence on his son Edmond R. south of Cuba ing the Persian Gulf and Saudi Arabia hockey school with hockey in Italy for several decades. Born in Bolzano in 1917, Phillipps, a player Capital City: Kingston Capital City: Doha more than 100 regis- Gasser served in World War II as a pilot before he became a NHLPA Executive Director Donald Fehr Status: IIHF Associate Member Status: IIHF Full Member (pending audit) and Level 4 coach, tered participants. player and pioneer for Italian hockey. He was the referee-in- chief for 24 years and received the Medal of Merit in Sport NEWS & NOTES by the Italian National Olympic Committee. n AUSTRIA: The Austrian Ice Hockey Association named n POLAND: Piotr Halasik has been elected President Vladimir Krutov, two-time Olympic Alpo Suhonen its new sport director.