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Developing game with education

New initiative in co-operation between IIHF and Vierumäki

Source: I.I.H.F.

VIERUMÄKI, Finland – As an extension to the IIHF Audit, the International Ice Hockey Federation is taking on a new initiative to increase development services provided to member national associations by joining forces with the Vierumäki Institute and the students of the Degree Programme in Sports and Leisure Management in the new project “Student Ambassadors for Sport Development”.

With the win-win approach in meeting the demands of the education and working-life, project aims to develop a concept to plan, implement and evaluate national development projects in co-operation between the IIHF, member national associations as well as both staff and students of the Vierumäki Institute.

Χρόνια Πολλά και Ευτυχισμένο το Νέο Έτος 2012

Η "Αντίσταση στη Διαφθορά των Παγοδρομιών" σας εύχεται Χρόνια Πολλά και καλά, ευτυχισμένο το νέο έτος 2012 με απόλυτη δικαίωση όλων των εκκρεμών υποθέσεων στις Παγοδρομίες και αίσιο τέλος στην απαράδεκτη ταλαιπωρία αθλητών, γονέων, και φίλων των Αθλημάτων των Παγοδρομιών.

"Resisting the Corruption in Ice Sports" wishes you a Happy and Healthy New Year 2012 with full justification in all pending cases in Ice Sports and a successful end to the unacceptable suffering of athletes, parents, and friends of all Ice Sports in Greece.

Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise Take Suri on an Ice-Skating Adventure

Source: USmagazine

Credit: Fame Pictures

Ice queen in training?

Suri Cruise looks the part in her pink skirt and figure skates! On Saturday, the 5-year-old hit the ice with parents Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes in a Pittsburgh skating rink.

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes spent a wintry weekend with Suri in Pittsburgh. The family of three visited an ice rink, where they showed off their skating moves Saturday. Tom helped Suri along while Katie followed behind in a festive sweater. It was an extra special outing since Tom and Katie celebrated their five-year wedding anniversary on Friday. The couple got married in Italy on Nov. 18, 2006, and they've been busy ever since.

Σήμερα η κηδεία του Χατζηαθανασίου... Today is the Funeral of Chatziathanasiou...

Σήμερα 18.10.2011 και ώρα 15:00 στο Γ' Νεκροταφείο Αθηνών, κηδεύεται ο Χρήστος Χατζηαθανασίου του Βασιλείου και της Άννας, που απεβίωσε στις 15.10.2011.

Σχετική ανακοίνωση έχουν λάβει όλες οι αθλητικές ομοσπονδίες της χώρας.



Today 18.10.2011 at 15:00 in the Third Cemetery of Athens will be buried Christos Chatziathanasiou son of Vassilios and Anna, who died on 15.10.2011.
A relative notice received all Sports Federations in Greece.

Περιμένοντας τους Βαρβάρους... Waiting for the Barbarians...

Περιμένοντας τους Βαρβάρους

Κωνσταντίνος Π. Καβάφης

—Τι περιμένουμε στην αγορά συναθροισμένοι;

Είναι οι βάρβαροι να φθάσουν σήμερα.

—Γιατί μέσα στην Σύγκλητο μια τέτοια απραξία;

Τι κάθοντ' οι Συγκλητικοί και δεν νομοθετούνε;

—Γιατί οι βάρβαροι θα φθάσουν σήμερα.

Τι νόμους πια θα κάμουν οι Συγκλητικοί;

Οι βάρβαροι σαν έλθουν θα νομοθετήσουν.

—Γιατί ο αυτοκράτωρ μας τόσο πρωί σηκώθη,

και κάθεται στης πόλεως την πιο μεγάλη πύλη

στον θρόνο επάνω, επίσημος, φορώντας την κορώνα;

—Γιατί οι βάρβαροι θα φθάσουν σήμερα.

Κι ο αυτοκράτωρ περιμένει να δεχθεί

τον αρχηγό τους. Μάλιστα ετοίμασε

για να τον δώσει μια περγαμηνή. Εκεί

τον έγραψε τίτλους πολλούς κι ονόματα.

—Γιατί οι δυο μας ύπατοι κ' οι πραίτορες εβγήκαν

σήμερα με τες κόκκινες, τες κεντημένες τόγες·

γιατί βραχιόλια φόρεσαν με τόσους αμεθύστους,

και δαχτυλίδια με λαμπρά γυαλιστερά σμαράγδια·

γιατί να πιάσουν σήμερα πολύτιμα μπαστούνια

μ' ασήμια και μαλάματα έκτακτα σκαλισμένα;

Γιατί οι βάρβαροι θα φθάσουν σήμερα·

και τέτοια πράγματα θαμπόνουν τους βαρβάρους.

—Γιατί κ' οι άξιοι ρήτορες δεν έρχονται σαν πάντα

να βγάλουνε τους λόγους τους, να πούνε τα δικά τους;

Γιατί οι βάρβαροι θα φθάσουν σήμερα·

κι αυτοί βαριούντ' ευφράδειες και δημηγορίες.

—Γιατί ν' αρχίσει μονομιάς αυτή η ανησυχία

κ' η σύγχυσις. (Τα πρόσωπα τι σοβαρά που έγιναν).

Γιατί αδειάζουν γρήγορα οι δρόμοι κ' οι πλατέες,

κι όλοι γυρνούν στα σπίτια τους πολύ συλλογισμένοι;

Γιατί ενύχτωσε κ' οι βάρβαροι δεν ήλθαν.

Και μερικοί έφθασαν απ' τα σύνορα,

και είπανε πως βάρβαροι πια δεν υπάρχουν.

Και τώρα τι θα γένουμε χωρίς βαρβάρους.

Οι άνθρωποι αυτοί ήσαν μια κάποια λύσις.

Waiting for the Barbarians

Constantine Cavafy (1864-1933), 

translated by Edmund Keeley

What are we waiting for, assembled in the forum?

The barbarians are due here today.

Why isn't anything happening in the senate?

Why do the senators sit there without legislating?

Because the barbarians are coming today.

What laws can the senators make now?

Once the barbarians are here, they'll do the legislating.

Why did our emperor get up so early,

and why is he sitting at the city's main gate

on his throne, in state, wearing the crown?

Because the barbarians are coming today

and the emperor is waiting to receive their leader.

He has even prepared a scroll to give him,

replete with titles, with imposing names.

Why have our two consuls and praetors come out today

wearing their embroidered, their scarlet togas?

Why have they put on bracelets with so many amethysts,

and rings sparkling with magnificent emeralds?

Why are they carrying elegant canes

beautifully worked in silver and gold?

Because the barbarians are coming today

and things like that dazzle the barbarians.

Why don't our distinguished orators come forward as usual

to make their speeches, say what they have to say?

Because the barbarians are coming today

and they're bored by rhetoric and public speaking.

Why this sudden restlessness, this confusion?

(How serious people's faces have become.)

Why are the streets and squares emptying so rapidly, 

everyone going home so lost in thought?

Because night has fallen and the barbarians have not come.

And some who have just returned from the border say

there are no barbarians any longer.

And now, what's going to happen to us without barbarians?

They were, those people, a kind of solution.

Ο αιφνίδιος θάνατος του Χατζηαθανασίου... Sudden death of Chatziathanasiou...

Σήμερα το πρωί 15.10.2011 απεβίωσε ο επί 26 χρόνια πρόεδρος της Ελληνικής Ομοσπονδίας Παγοδρομιών Χρήστος Χατζηαθανασίου από έμφραγμα σε ηλικία 60 ετών.

Ευχόμαστε ό,τι καλύτερο για το μέλλον τον αθλημάτων των παγοδρομιών στην Ελλάδα.
Εμείς σαν "Αντίσταση στη Διαφθορά των Παγοδρομιών" δεν πρόκειται να σταματήσουμε τον αγώνα μας, διότι στόχος μας είναι η κάθαρση και η υγιής ανάπτυξη των αθλημάτων αυτών στη χώρα μας και όχι η τιμωρία ενός και μόνο ατόμου.



This morning (15.10.2011) died the president of Hellenic Ice Sports Federation Christos Chatziathanasiou -cardial arrest- at age 60.
We wish Greek Ice Sports all the best for the future.
"Resisting the Corruption of Ice Sports in Greece" want hereby to make clear that we will not stop our struggle, because our goal is catharsis and a healthy development of these sports in our country and not just the punishment of a single individual.

Ένα κολλάζ γεμάτο όμορφες αναμνήσεις...

Air plane tragedy in Russia

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl KHL team wiped out in crash

From: I.I.H.F. 07.09.2011

The most recent team photo of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl on the KHL website. The charter plane of the club crashed on 7 September 2011.

ZURICH – The gruesome process of identifying the bodies began late on Wednesday and continued on Thursday morning. 43 people, including 36 from the KHL Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey club, died in the crash, the worst ever in the history of ice hockey. 

The Yakovlev Yak-42 airplane had just taken off from Yaroslavl’s Tunoshna Airport and was heading towards the Belarusian capital Minsk for the club’s opening KHL season game against Dynamo Minsk on Thursday. 

The plane crashed shortly after take-off, only some two kilometres from the runway, after experiencing immediate problems. The initial reports from various news sources and the Russian Ice Hockey Federation claimed that all passengers perished, with one of the co-pilots being very seriously injured. The first bulletins reported 34 people dead, but the number had increased to 43 three hours after accident, 35 members of the Lokomotiv hockey club and seven crew. 

It was reported that Yaroslavl-born Alexander Galimov was among the survivors, and reports which said that the 26-year-old Russian forward and died of his severe injuries in hospital a few hours after the crash, were later denied. 

Galimov was still fighting for survival in the hospital on Thursday morning. He has 80% body burns.

The list of the confirmed dead included 2010 Vancouver Olympics All-Star, Slovak Pavol Demitra, Czech 2010 World Champions Jan Marek and Josef Vasicek, 2011 World U20 Champions, Russians Daniil Sobchenko and Yuri Urychev, Swedish national team goaltender Stefan Liv, Canadian coach Brad McCrimmon, Latvian national team defenseman Karlis Skrastins and German national team defenseman Robert Dietrich.

Later, the Ministry of Emergency (MCS) confirmed that also Belarusian national team defenseman Ruslan Salei was among the killed in crash.

The plane took off at 16:05 local time from the Tunoshna airport, but it did not reach its projected altitude and crashed into a radar.

“This is a terrible tragedy for the global ice hockey community with so many nationalities involved,” said IIHF President René Fasel, who immediately called the Russian Ice Hockey Federation and KHL officials to offer condolences. “Our thoughts and prayers are with family and friends of the victims.”

“Despite the substantial air travel of professional hockey teams, our sport has been spared from tragic traffic accidents,” Fasel added. “But only until now. This is the darkest day in the history of our sport. This is not only a Russian tragedy, the Lokomotiv roster included players and coaches from ten nations.”

President Fasel had an earlier scheduled trip to Russia on Thursday. He has informed IIHF.com that he will stick to his travel plans and take the opportunity to mourn the dead together with Russian ice hockey and sport authorities, as well as seek more information about the extent of the casualties.

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, coached by former NHL defenceman, Canadian Brad McCrimmon, has been one of Russia’s most successful post-Soviet clubs, winning the national championship in 1997 (as Torpedo Yaroslavl), 2002 and 2003. They also won the silver medal in the 2003 IIHF Continental Cup.

“At first we didn't want to believe it,” said a Lokomotiv media official. “But right now there is no hope.”

He also said that everyone from the main roster and four junior players were on the plane.

The Kontinental Hockey League opened its season on Wednesday with defending champion Salavat Yulayev Ufa hosting Atlant Mytishi. The game was underway when the airplane crash in Yaroslavl happened and was abandoned when news of the crash broke.

The decision KHL President and IIHF Council Member Alexander Medvedev announced on the ice was greeted with respectful applause from the crowd.

“We will do all that we can to ensure that top level hockey continues in Yaroslavl and that Lokomotiv remains one of the strongest clubs in the Kontinental Hockey League,” Medvedev said.

Some hours after the crash mourning fans started to gather outside of Lokomotiv's home stadium, Arena 2000. The President of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation, Vladislav Tretiak, said in one of his statements that it will not use the Yak-42 aircraft for the Russian national team.  

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl’s season opening roster carried players from Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Germany, Latvia, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Sweden.

The Lokomotiv Yaroslavl roster:

Goalkeepers:

Stefan Liv (SWE)

Olexander Vyukhin (UKR)

Defencemen:

Vitali Anikeyenko (RUS)

Mikhail Balandin (RUS)

Robert Dietrich (GER/KAZ)

Marat Kalimulin (RUS)

Karel Rachunek (CZE)

Ruslan Salei (BLR)

Maxim Shuvalov (RUS)

Karlis Skrastins (LAT)

Pavel Trakhanov (RUS)

Yuri Urychev (RUS)

Forwards:

Gennadi Churilov (RUS)

Pavol Demitra (SVK)

Alexander Galimov (RUS)

Alexander Kalyanin (RUS)

Andrei Kiryukhin (RUS)

Nikita Klyukin (RUS)

Jan Marek (CZE)

Sergei Ostapchuk (BLR)

Pavel Snurnitsyn (RUS)

Danil Sobchenko (UKR)

Ivan Tkachenko (RUS)

Josef Vasicek (CZE)

Alexander Vasyunov (RUS)

Artyom Yarchuk (RUS)

Coaches:

Brad McCrimmon (CAN, head coach)

Alexander Karpovtsev (RUS, assistant coach)

Igor Korolev (RUS, assistant coach)

Footnote: This is the biggest single tragedy in the history of ice hockey. On January 7, 1950, the Moscow VVS team crashed near Sverdlovsk on its way to a league game. All 19 on board, 11 of them VVS players, died. On November 8, 1948, five Czechoslovak national team members died in plane crash in the English Channel, among them IIHF Hall of Famer, Ladislav Trojak.

Cyprus Open Ice Figure Skating Championship / Κυπριακό Ανοικτό Πρωτάθλημα Καλλιτεχνικού Πατινάζ

Time	Saturday, June 25 · 9:00am - 11:00am
Location	Limasol Ice Rink in Cyprus 25 th JUNE 2011 at Limasol Ice Rink
Created By	Skate Cyprus
More Info	ΑΝΟΙΚΤΟ ΠΡΟΤΑΘΛΗΜΑ ΚΑΛΛΙΤΕΧΝΙΚΟΥ ΠΑΤΙΝΑΖ ΛΕΜΕΣΟΣ ΚΥΠΡΟΣ 25 ΙΟΥΝΙΟΥ 9 π.μ CYPRUS OPEN ICE FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIP 25 th JUNE 2011 at Limasol Ice Rink 9 a.m Skate Cyprus CALL FOR ENTRIES AT: 00357 96 65 64 64 Mr. Marious

Balkan Ice Hockey Union

by HSC Csiiszereda, on Tuesday 07.06.2011

Romania and eight other Balkan states, with the support of International Ice Hockey Federation, founded Balkan Ice Hockey Union, the regional body that will have as main goal the development of hockey in this region of Europe. Read on to find out more! source: rohockey.ro

The initiative belonged to the federation officials in Romania, Serbia and Bosnia Herzegovina, who first met in April last year for a regional development program. The first discussion was attended by representatives of associations from Romania, Serbia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Turkey. Structure and objectives of the Union were presented by the International Ice Hockey Federation, who came up with the proposed extension of this regional program, so this platform was joined three other countries: Croatia, Slovenia and Greece.

International Ice Hockey Federation appreciated the usefulness of this program and sent one of its representatives to talk, Ernest Aljancic, member of the IIHF, which, ultimately, the Balkans and was elected president of Ice Hockey, with headquarters in Sarajevo.

The Balkan Ice Hockey Union has been designed and structured for a period of five years, the main objectives being:

- Promotion of ice hockey in the region;

- Promotion and development of children at hockey;

- Joint organization of competitions;

- Organizing training camps central;

- Development of technical training by attending seminars to coaches, referees and other officials;

- Development of the relations with the Center of Excellence from Vierumaki

- Develop a marketing program for the region- Cooperation among members

All activities organized by the Balkan Union Ice Hockey Federation will be co-financed by the International Ice Hockey

The first part of the season 2011-2012, provides for the organization in Sarajevo, a camp for the Under 16 national team, which will be led by instructors sent by the international organization. In this field, will attend five players (four + a goalkeeper) with a coach.

In September, Serbia will hold the Nationals Challenge Cup Under 16 World Championship competition organized on the model, the participating teams will be divided into two value groups, according to rankings.

Each team shall be composed of 15 players, two goalies, five officials and an arbitrator being accepted and the proposal that the group should be included more than three players and a goalkeeper in the Under 17. During this competition, IIHF instructors will design a training program specifically for goalkeepers, referees and officials.

The following editions of Challenge U16 Cup will be organized by Turkey (2012), Croatia (2013) and Romania (2014). Under discussion in 2015 will be held for teams Under 20 Challenge Cup, which will be hosted by Greece. 

At club level teams will be organized two regional leagues: Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia and Bosnia Herzegovina, in a league, Turkey, Bulgaria and Greece, in the other league. For the moment, Romania will not evolve in any of the two leagues, given that our country has a competition in partnership with Hungary.

Representatives of the world court decided to send letters of support from officials of each Member State (the Government Olympic Committee, Ministry of Sports) will highlight the importance of developing the sport, and support for this discipline.

Let the numbers speak... Αφήστε να μιλήσουν τα νούμερα...

Elite Prospects Greece

Rouen to host Super Final

Nineteen teams will play in 2011-2012 Continental Cup

By I.I.H.F. on 04.06.2011

The Continental Cup Super Final goes back to Rouen, France, where it was hosted in 2009.

Photo: Martin Merk

BUDAPEST – The International Ice Hockey Federation has determined the clubs, groups and dates for the 2011-2012 IIHF Continental Cup at the Annual Continental Cup Meeting in Budapest, Hungary.

The Super Final will be held in Rouen, France, January 13-15, 2012. The Rouen Dragons hosted the event already in 2009 in their small, but atmospheric Île Lacroix Arena. The club from the Normandy region recently defended its title in the French Ligue Magnus.

Reigning Continental Cup champion Yunost Minsk from Belarus will be the other pre-qualified team for the Super Final. Yunost is a regular Continental Cup participant, having won the Belarusian championship three years in a row.

Two more finalists will be determined in the preliminary round events. In total 19 teams from as many countries will participate in the Continental Cup that is spread over four stages and six tournaments.

Almost all teams are national champions from their countries. A notable exception is Russia’s representative Rubin Tyumen, which won the VHL, Russia’s second-tier league.

Donbass Donetsk, the winner of the Ukrainian league, will also play in the VHL next season and will host one of the two third-round tournaments of the Continental Cup. The other will be held in Herning, Denmark.

The second-round groups will be played in Dunaujvaros (Hungary) and Miercurea Ciuc (Romania) while the first round takes place in the Turkish capital of Ankara.

2011-2012 IIHF Continental Cup

First round, 30 September - 2 October 2011:

Group A in Ankara, Turkey: White Caps Turnhout (BEL), Baskent Yildizlari Ankara (TUR), Tartu Kalev-Välk (EST), Metula HC (ISR).

Second round, 21-23 October 2011:

Group B in Dunaujvaros, Hungary: HYS The Hague (NED), CH Jaca  (ESP), Dunaujvarosi Acelbikak (HUN), Winner Group A.

Group C in Miercurea Ciuc, Romania: Liepajas Metalurgs (LAT), Olimpija Ljubljana (SLO), HSC Csikszereda (ROU), Beibarys Atyrau (KAZ).

Third round, 25-27 November 2011:

Group D in Herning, Denmark: HC Asiago (ITA), Sheffield Steelers (GBR), Herning Blue Fox (DEN), Winner Group B.

Group E in Donetsk, Ukraine: Rubin Tyumen (RUS), Cracovia Krakow (POL), Donbass Donetsk (UKR), Winner Group C.

Super Final, 13-15 January 2012:

Group F in Rouen, France: Rouen Dragons (FRA), Yunost Minsk (BLR), Winner Group D, Winner Group E.

The delegates at the annual Continental Cup meeting in Budapest decided about the groups and hosts of the 2011-2012 IIHF Continental Cup.

World Open In-Line Figure Skating & Dance Championship 1-4 July 2011

By Skate Cyprus Academie on 27.05.2011

Organized by the World In-Line Figure Skating Association
www.skatingworld.org
FOR ENTRIES from Cyprus, contact: skate Cyprus Club.
Tel : 00357 96 65 64 64
e-mail: skatecyprus@hotmail.com
Web: www.skatecyprus.com

Time	Friday, July 1 at 9:30am - July 4 at 6:00pm
Location	Panticosa Espania
Created By	Skate Cyprus Academie

When ice isn’t ice...

Development of plastic ice is coming along – slowly

By IIHF Andrew Podnieks 12.05.2011

Try it on plastic: The fan zone beside Bratislava's Orange Arena provides a synthetic ice rink.

Photos: Matthew Manor / HHOF-IIHF Images

BRATISLAVA – On a personal level, hockey is all about practicing your wrist shot, skating, fitness. But there’s a whole other aspect to the game which is far more scientific, like the development of skates or the one-piece stick. But the grandmother of all research surely must be the attempt to make a hockey rink without artificial ice.

Such endeavours have been going on for years (see story from 2009), but no one has yet been able to manufacture a playing surface that is cheap, easy to make and maintain, and has the same characteristics of arena ice. Not to say people aren’t trying. At the Fan Zone in Bratislava, for instance, the IIHF is offering fans a chance to skate on something called Scan-ICE, a synthetic surface which is like ice – but not really. Not yet.

“This really started with the Facilities Committee,” started Adam Sollitt, Coordinator Research & Audit. He is one of only two IIHF employees who doesn’t work at the federation’s Zurich address. Instead, he lives and works in Vierumäki, Finland. “They wanted to have an official position on plastic ice, and one of my roles is to do research for the different IIHF committees. They wanted to understand how close this is to real ice. We are looking at it from two angles, the scientific, and the practical, in the form of user feedback.”

“For the first part, we have partnered with a technical university in Finland that is testing a variety of suppliers of this material. They are testing its friction values and gliding properties, both with the blade and the puck. We have one machine called a pin-on-disc, which uses a small sample of the synthetic. This goes in a machine that spins it around and then a small pin, which is part of a blade, comes down onto the machine. As it spins, we can calculate the friction of the blade.”

“We also have a big robotic arm which we can outfit with a skate, and it can skate patterns on the material to calculate the friction values. This is the first part, to find the gliding properties of ice and synthetic ice.”

“The second part,” he continued, “is the test in the Fan Zone, so we can get some user feedback. We’ve had more than 1,000 people skate on it and offer their opinions – coaches, game officials, Olympians, and many fans. We’ll take the results of our survey here, along with the research, and summarize it all for the semi-annual Congress in Turkey in September. The Facilities Committee will then make an official recommendation of how or if this synthetic ice can be used by the member associations.”

Scan-ICE is by no means the only company that is trying to make plastic ice, but it won a bid to be the demonstration surface here in Bratislava, and it has also been endorsed by Hockey Canada. As well, the company already had the material in Bratislava, making for easy setup and configuration.

It is ice-like in the sense that you put on skates to use the surface, but it is much slower than ice. Step onto it for the first time – and you don’t go anywhere. You must drive your legs much harder to move because there is far more friction than the smooth, slippery qualities of artificial ice.

Of course, the purpose of developing plastic ice is to allow countries all over the world to build hockey rinks without the substantial costs involved in maintaining ice, from electricity to cooling systems, air conditioning, and resurfacing. The first step to developing players is to get them skating and working on their skills, so the more rinks the better, whether it’s in northern Ontario or Luxembourg, New Zealand, or Mexico.

“This is definitely a more economical way to produce ice rinks,” Sollitt agreed. “For our members that have difficulty in building full-size ice rinks, this could be a great alternative.“

Sollitt’s dual role with the IIHF in research and auditing isn’t as strange as it might seem. “I did audits in about 55 of our 69 member nations,” he explained, “and afterwards I met with all of the IIHF’s committees to discuss what our members had and didn’t have, what were their needs or their requests. I bring all this back to Vierumäki, where our students spend one day a week doing a project about a specific topic. Synthetic ice is now one area where six students are also helping.”

Sollitt has discovered several other aspects about this ice which suggest it won’t be coming to a World Championship any time soon. For starters, while companies suggest the surface will last 10-20 years, the wear and tear suggests it has a shelf life closer to four years.

Also, although there is no Zamboni needed to prepare it for play, to sweep, clean, and prepare synthetic ice takes about an hour and is required every two or three hours of casual skating. Imagine two World Championship teams requiring clean ice after 20 minutes – and having to wait an hour! Not happening.

Interestingly, because the synthetic ice is softer, Sollitt reports it is an injury-free surface, which is encouraging. But, he once skated for five continuous minutes on it and then measured the blade temperature at the middle of the rocker. It was 70 degrees Celsius, so hot you would burn your finger on touch. With so much friction, the high temperature is not surprising, but not acceptable if the surface is to be used for serious games.

So there you have it, hockey fans. For the purists, the game remains the same, and for small nations hoping to develop the sport, cheaper, easier ice might be on the way – just not before dawn.

I.I.H.F.: Changes in Worlds Structure

Congress approves new format in IIHF Championship program 12.05.2011

By I.I.H.F. Martin Merk on 12.05.2011

The IIHF Extra - Ordinary Congress approved the new IIHF World Championship structure for Division I and below.

Photo: Matthew Manor / HHOF - IIHF Images

BRATISLAVA – The IIHF Extra-Ordinary Congress in Bratislava approved a change in the IIHF World Championship program on May 12 that affects all events of the Division I level and down to Division III in any category as of the 2011-2012 season.

The changes in the program structure were unanimously approved by the IIHF’s member national associations. The objective is to have all nations play on a level which reflects their current status of development.

From the season 2011-2012, the events in all categories will be structured vertically, which means that the Division I groups A and B will be two separate tiers, same as the Division II groups A and B and eventual Division III groups.

Previously, the 12 teams of each Division played in the same tier divided into two groups while now the best six teams of a division will be seeded into Group A and the following six teams in Group B to increase parity and the number of competitive games.

In the men’s category the two teams promoted to the Top Division will be the best two teams of the Division I Group A. The last-placed team of next year’s Division I Group A event will move down to Group B, and the best Group B team up to Group A.

By way of example: Poland will accordingly play in the Division I Group B the next season. This means, that in order for Poland to earn promotion to the Top Division, they must first win the Division I Group B which will earn them promotion to Division I Group A for the next year. In Division I Group A, the top two teams earn promotion to the Top Division. 

Accordingly, the best Division II Group A team in next year’s event will be promoted to the Division I Group B and replace the last-placed team of that group (see illustration below).

Another major change is that in the future only one team (instead of two) will be relegated from the Top Division of the U20 and U18 categories and only one team will be promoted to the Top Division.

This is the first major format change since the current championship structure was implemented in 2000. An IIHF study of all championship results showed that depending on the category in men’s events (senior, U20, U18) between 49 and 68 per cent of the games ended with a goal difference of five or more goals in the 2010-2011 season.

The majority of these uncompetitive games were played against nations not completely fulfilling the minimum participation standards.

In the women’s senior category where the program has already been structured vertically before the equivalent number was 30 per cent. This situation was urging for a change that was eventually approved.

The following illustration shows the changes for the men’s senior category:

According to the new structure, the teams will be seeded as follows (subject to change at the Annual Congress this weekend depending on the host country and eventual swapping):

• Division I Group A: Austria (17), Slovenia (18), Hungary (19), Great Britain (20), Japan (21), Ukraine (22).
• Division I Group B: Korea (23), Poland (24), Netherlands (25), Lithuania (26), Romania (27), Australia (28).
• Division II Group A: Spain (29), Estonia (30), Croatia (31), New Zealand (32), Serbia (33), Iceland (34).
• Division II Group B: Belgium (35), China (36), Mexico (37), Bulgaria (38), Israel (39), South Africa (40).
• Division III: DPR Korea (41), Ireland (42), Turkey (43), Luxembourg (44), Greece* (45), Mongolia* (46).

Note: Bosnia & Herzegovina and Chinese Taipei applied to enter the Division III. The fulfillment of the minimum standards for participation will be reviewed until the IIHF Semi-Annual Congress, 22-24 September, in Istanbul, Turkey. The admission of additional teams could make a Division III Qualification tournament with the two last-ranked teams seeded in Division III (Greece, Mongolia) necessary.

Note: The new structure will also be implemented for all categories in men’s (senior, U20, U18) and women’s (senior, U18) events. The final composition of the groups of all categories and the host countries will be determined at the IIHF Annual Congress and published on IIHF.com presumably on Saturday.

Together with the new structure, the congress also approved changes in the organizer support and contribution to teams. In the future, the organizer support for six-team events in men’s tournaments and other categories (U20, U18, women, women U18) in Division I and lower will be the same. Earlier they were lower in other than the men’s senior category.

The money given to organizers and teams increases from CHF 14.3 million to CHF 15.8 million next year following the changes.

The Extra-Ordinary Congress also approved housekeeping changes of the IIHF’s Statues and Bylaws concerning governance, minimum standards for participation in the IIHF World Championship categories men’s U18 and women’s U18, tax issues of national associations hosting IIHF events and bylaws related to WADA code compliance.