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.
The Russian men's national ice hockey team is the national men's ice hockey team of Russia, overseen by the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia. As of 2021, they were rated third in the IIHF World Ranking. The team has competed internationally from 1992 until a 2022 ban, and is recognized by the IIHF as the successor to the Soviet Union team and CIS team. Russia has been one of the most successful national ice hockey teams in the world and a member of the so-called "Big Six," the unofficial group of the six strongest men's ice hockey nations, along with Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Sweden, and the United States. The European nations of the Big Six participate in the Euro Hockey Tour, which Russia won nine times since 2005. Since September 2021, the head coach is Alexei Zhamnov, who took over from Valeri Bragin.
The IIHF World Junior Championship (WJC), or simply the "World Juniors" in ice hockey circles, 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 2001 IIHF Women's World Championships was held April 2–8, 2001 in six cities in the state of Minnesota. Venues included the Ice Center in Plymouth, the Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis, the Recreation Centre in Rochester, the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, the Columbia Arena in Fridley, and the Schwan Super Rink, in Blaine. Team Canada won their seventh consecutive gold medal at the World Championships defeating the United States. Russia upset Finland 2–1 to capture their first medal in women's hockey.
The International Ice Hockey Federation is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 83 member countries.
Stéphane Da Costa is a French professional ice hockey player who is currently playing for Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Born in France, Da Costa moved to the United States as a junior to develop as a player. After junior, Da Costa moved on to NCAA collegiate hockey, playing two seasons with Merrimack College. He then signed as a free agent with the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Ottawa Senators in 2011, and played three seasons in the organization, including 47 games with Ottawa. In 2014, he left the organization as a free agent, signing with CSKA Moscow.
Pierre-Édouard Bellemare is a French professional ice hockey center for the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has also played for the Philadelphia Flyers, Vegas Golden Knights, Colorado Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning.
Florian Hardy is a French professional ice hockey goaltender who is currently playing with Les Ducs D’Angers of Ligue Magnus France. Hardy joined Dornbirner on June 24, 2015, after his first season in the DEL with EHC München.
The 2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships was the 39th edition of Ice Hockey World Junior Championship, played from December 26, 2014 to January 5, 2015. It was co-hosted by Toronto, Ontario, and Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and organized by Hockey Canada, Hockey Quebec, the Ontario Hockey Federation, the Montreal Canadiens, Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment and Evenko. Games were split between Air Canada Centre in Toronto and Bell Centre in Montreal, with Montreal hosting Group A matches and two quarter finals, and Toronto hosting Group B, along with the relegation games, two quarter finals, along with the semi-finals, bronze medal, and gold medal games.
The 2017 IIHF World Championship, the 2017 edition of the annual Ice Hockey World Championships, was held from 5 to 21 May 2017 in Cologne, Germany and Paris, France. The official tournament mascots were Asterix and Obelix, the main characters from popular French comic book series The Adventures of Asterix. The logo incorporates the silhouette of deceased German national team goaltender Robert Müller, who succumbed to a brain tumor at just 28 years of age. German tennis player Angelique Kerber, 1. FC Köln and German Olympic soccer team goalkeeper Timo Horn and Paris Saint-Germain F.C.'s Brazilian winger Lucas Moura were named celebrity ambassadors for the event.
The 2017 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships was the 41st edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship. The main tournament was co-hosted by the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec and the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario. This was the 14th championship that Canada had hosted. Montreal and Toronto also jointly hosted the 2015 edition. The tournament consisted of 30 games between 10 nations.
The 2018 IIHF World Championship was an international ice hockey tournament hosted by the Danish cities of Copenhagen and Herning, held from 4 to 20 May 2018. The IIHF announced the winning bid on 23 May 2014 in Minsk, Belarus. South Korea made its debut at the World Championship, having played in the lower divisions previously.
The 2019 IIHF World Championship was hosted from 10 to 26 May 2019 by Slovakia. It was the second time that Slovakia has hosted the event as an independent country, as was the case in 2011. The host cities were Bratislava and Košice, as announced by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) on 15 May 2015 in Prague, Czech Republic.
Pierre-Luc Dubois is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre for the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL). Dubois was born in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Quebec, but grew up in Rimouski. He was drafted third overall in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The 2021 IIHF World Championship took place from 21 May to 6 June 2021. It was originally to be co-hosted by Minsk, Belarus and Riga, Latvia, as the IIHF announced on 19 May 2017 in Cologne, Germany. Their joint bid won by a very tight margin against the Finnish bid with the cities of Tampere and Helsinki. On 18 January 2021 the IIHF decided to remove Belarus as a co-host due to the rising political unrest there. On 2 February, the IIHF voted to confirm Latvia as the sole host for the 2021 IIHF World Championship.
Alexandre Texier is a French professional ice hockey forward for the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL). Texier started his career with Brûleurs de Loups in the French Ligue Magnus, winning the Coupe de France in 2017 and earning the Jean-Pierre Graff Trophy as best young player in the French League.
Philippe Lacarrière is a French former ice hockey player and current ice hockey executive.
Patrick Francheterre is a French retired ice hockey player, coach, manager and international administrator. His playing career included time with CPM Croix and Dogues de Bordeaux as a player-coach, and with the France men's national ice hockey team at the Ice Hockey World Championships and the 1968 Winter Olympics. After retiring from playing, he served as the head coach of the national team, and two terms as its general manager. He later became a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation council and was honored with the Paul Loicq Award in 2017 for contributions to international ice hockey.
Luc Tardif is a Canadian-born French ice hockey executive, and former professional ice hockey player. A native of Trois-Rivières, Quebec, he played in the Quebec Junior A Hockey League and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, then was an all-star player for the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières. During his professional career in France, he acquired French citizenship, won two Nationale A League titles, and won the Charles Ramsay Trophy four times with Chamonix HC as the league's top scorer. Later in his career, he was a player-coach for the Dragons de Rouen, then served as the team's vice-president and oversaw the youth hockey program.
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