Winners
| Year | Winner | National Team | Club | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Connor Bedard |  Canada U20 | Regina Pats (WHL) | [3] |
| 2024 | Roman Červenka |  Czech Republic | SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers (NL) | [4] |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Annually to the player who "best exemplifies exceptional skill, determination, team success, and sporting character on and off the ice during the preceding season." |
| History | |
| First award | 2023 |
| First winner | Connor Bedard |
| Most recent | Roman Červenka (2024) |
The IIHF Male Player of the Year award is given out annually by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), in recognition of the ice hockey player who "best exemplifies exceptional skill, determination, team success, and sporting character on and off the ice during the preceding season." [1] It is selected by a panel of media and IIHF representatives drawn from among the member states of the International Ice Hockey Federation. [2]
In order to be eligible, a player must have competed in at least one of four IIHF tournaments (the Winter Olympics, IIHF World Championships, IIHF World Junior Championships, or IIHF World U18 Championships) as well as in a national domestic league "of the highest caliber for that country," with "the combined performances of which were deemed superior to all other players." [1]
It was first awarded in 2023, along with its counterpart, the IIHF Female Player of the Year. Connor Bedard, of the Canadian national junior team and the WHL's Regina Pats, was the inaugural recipient. [3]
| Year | Winner | National Team | Club | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Connor Bedard | Canada U20 | Regina Pats (WHL) | [3] |
| 2024 | Roman Červenka | Czech Republic | SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers (NL) | [4] |
The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The IIHF was created in 1908 while the European Championships, the precursor to the World Championships, were first held in 1910. The tournament held at the 1920 Summer Olympics is recognized as the first Ice Hockey World Championship. From 1920 to 1968, the Olympic hockey tournament was also considered the World Championship for that year.
Hockey Canada is the national governing body of ice hockey and ice sledge hockey in Canada. It is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation and controls the majority of organized ice hockey in Canada. There are some notable exceptions, such as the Canadian Hockey League, U Sports, and Canada's professional hockey clubs; the former two are partnered with Hockey Canada but are not member organizations. Hockey Canada is based in Calgary, with a secondary office in Ottawa and regional centres in Toronto, Winnipeg and Montreal.
The Canada men's national ice hockey team is the ice hockey team representing Canada internationally. The team is overseen by Hockey Canada, a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation. From 1920 until 1963, Canada's international representation was by senior amateur club teams. Canada's national men's team was founded in 1963 by Father David Bauer as a part of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association, playing out of the University of British Columbia. The nickname "Team Canada" was first used for the 1972 Summit Series and has been frequently used to refer to both the Canadian national men's and women's teams ever since.
Geraldine Heaney is an Irish-Canadian ice hockey coach and former defenceman. She played 18 seasons and over 1,000 games with the Toronto Aeros organization, won six Ontario provincial championships and was named Ontario Women's Hockey Association (OWHA) most valuable defenceman on three occasions. The Aeros retired her jersey number 91 in 2006. Internationally, Heaney was a member of the Canadian national team in the first seven Women's World Championships, winning gold each time. She is a two-time Olympian, winning silver at the inaugural tournament in 1998 tournament, and gold in 2002. On June 14, 2022, she became the head coach of the Toronto Six of the Premier Hockey Federation.
James Murray Costello is a Canadian retired ice hockey player, executive, and administrator. He played four seasons in the National Hockey League and was the younger brother of Les Costello. He was a lawyer by trade, and was president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association from 1979 to 1994, then and its successor Hockey Canada, when facilitated the merger of the two organizations. He helped establish the program of excellence for the Canada men's national junior ice hockey team; and oversaw the foundation of the Canada women's national ice hockey team, and the inaugural 1990 IIHF Women's World Championship. In addition to his work on Canadian national hockey, he spent 15 seasons as an executive in the Western Hockey League, and another 14 years as an International Ice Hockey Federation council member. He is inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, the IIHF Hall of Fame, the Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame, Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, and is an Officer of the Order of Canada, and a recipient of the Order of Hockey in Canada.
The IIHF World Junior Championship (WJC), sometimes referred to as World Juniors, is an annual event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) for national under-20 ice hockey teams from around the world. It is traditionally held in late December, ending in early January. The tournament usually attracts the top hockey players in this age category.
The IIHF Hall of Fame is a hall of fame operated by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It was founded in 1997, and has resided at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto since 1998. Prior to 1997, the IIHF housed exhibits at the International Hockey Hall of Fame in Kingston, Ontario. Inductions are made annually at the medal presentation day of the Ice Hockey World Championships. As of 2024, the IIHF has inducted 253 members.
The Canadian men's national under-20 ice hockey team is the ice hockey team representing Canada internationally in under-20 competition. Their primary participation in this age group comes at the International Ice Hockey Federation's World Junior Championship, held annually every December and January. The team also participates in various exhibition matches and occasional exhibition series, such as the 2007 Super Series against their Russian counterparts, an eight-game exhibition series commemorating the 35th anniversary of the 1972 Summit Series.
The International Ice Hockey Federation is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 82 member countries.
The Finnish women's national under-18 ice hockey team is the national women's junior ice hockey team of Finland, which represents Finland at the International Ice Hockey Federation's Ice Hockey U18 Women's World Championship and other international U18 tournaments. The team is officially nicknamed the Tyttöleijonat and the nickname is regularly used in Finnish-language media.
The Swedish women's national under-18 ice hockey team is the national women's junior ice hockey team of Sweden. The team represents Sweden at the International Ice Hockey Federation's Ice Hockey U18 Women's World Championship and other international ice hockey tournaments and events.
The Torriani Award is given annually by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) to an ice hockey player with an "outstanding career from non-top hockey nation". It was inaugurated in 2015, and is awarded alongside the annual IIHF Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the Ice Hockey World Championships. It is named for Bibi Torriani, who played internationally for the Switzerland men's national ice hockey team. Recipients of the Torriani Award are inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame into their own category, separate from other players, referees and builders.
Zoltán Kovács is a Hungarian ice hockey coach and administrator. He joined the Hungarian Ice Hockey Federation as a secretary in 1994, then served as its general secretary from 1998 to 2017, and has served as its vice-president since 2017. He played for the Hungary men's national junior ice hockey team in 1980, and was its manager in 2003 when the team earned promotion to Division I of the IIHF World U20 Championship. He played professionally for Ferencvárosi TC, and sat on several International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) committees. The IIHF named Kovács as the 2020 Paul Loicq Award recipient, for his contributions to the IIHF and international hockey.
Connor Bedard is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). Considered one of the greatest ice hockey prospects of his generation, he was selected first overall by the Blackhawks in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft and made his NHL debut that year.
Emma Martine Söderberg is a Swedish professional ice hockey goaltender for PWHL Boston of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) and member of Sweden women's national ice hockey team. She played college ice hockey with the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs women's ice hockey program.
Sandra Frey is a Swiss retired ice hockey player and referee. After playing for the Swiss national team, she became the first female referee to work in the men's Swiss League. She later became the first woman to referee a gold-medal game at the IIHF Women's World Championship, doing so in 1992, 1994, and 1997. She retired from on-ice officiating after the 1998 Winter Olympics women's ice hockey tournament, then worked as a referee supervisor for the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).
The IIHF Female Player of the Year award is given out annually by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), in recognition of the ice hockey player who "best exemplifies exceptional skill, determination, team success, and sporting character on and off the ice during the preceding season." It is selected by a panel of media and IIHF representatives drawn from among the member states of the International Ice Hockey Federation.
| World Championships |
| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other competitions | |||||
| Awards and honors |
| ||||
| Related articles | |||||
