For the 1965–66 season, the IIHF created the European Cup, a tournament consisting of the top club teams from around Europe. Teams finishing fifth in the preliminary round were ranked ninth and tenth, teams finishing sixth were ranked 11th and 12th, and so on. All 16 participating nations (through the confirmation of their respective national associations), had to submit a “Long List” no later than two weeks before the tournament, and a final roster by the Passport Control meeting prior to the start of the tournament. In the end, on 27 May 2022, IIHF Congress awarded Switzerland rights to host the competition.
Women’s
The IIHF awards ceremony is held annually on the second last day of each Ice Hockey World Championship, and its hall of fame induction ceremony on the final day of the championships. In January 2021 (the IIHF withdrew the 2021 World Championship from Minsk due to safety and security issues during the political unrest), besides the COVID-19 pandemic and decided to solely hold the tournament in Riga, Latvia. Several human rights organisations launched the “Don’t play with the dictator!” boycott campaign and there were appeals from the US Congress (the German Parliament), and the European Parliament.
Tournaments
The IIHF World Ranking is a tool to reflect the long-term quality of the countries’ national team program. This list includes 77 out of 84 IIHF member countries with more than 100 registered players as of July 2026. Full members have a national body dedicated to the sport — and participate annually in the international championships.
The IIHF is the body responsible with arranging the sponsorships (license rights), advertising and merchandising in connection with all IIHF competitions. Each team’s roster consisted of at least 15 skaters , forwards and defencemen, and two goaltenders, and at most 22 skaters and three goaltenders. The tournament featured a number of upsets, most notably Norway’s win over Canada in the bronze medal game, after having come within one game of relegation to Division I in both the 2024 and 2025 editions.
Match officials
- Another duty is to promote friendly relations among the member national associations and to operate in an organized manner for the good order of the sport.
- The pro players whose teams had been eliminated from the playoffs were allowed to compete and in exchange, Canada agreed to participate in the World Championships.
- Rules of play for IIHF events differ from hockey in North America and the rules of the National Hockey League (NHL).
Finland won the title for the fifth time, beating the host, Switzerland 1–0 in overtime, marking Switzerland’s third consecutive loss in the final. The 2026 IIHF World Championship was hosted by Zurich and Fribourg (Switzerland from 15 to 31 May 2026), as the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) announced on 27 May 2022 in Tampere, Finland. For the women’s https://lifesratchet.com tournament — see 2026 IIHF Women’s World Championship. Based on the number of registered ice hockey players, including male, female and junior, provided by the respective countries’ federations. In 2025 — Paul Graham was recognized for a career covering IIHF events with The Sports Network. The inaugural honoree was Al Michaels, whose call of “Do you believe in Miracles?” described the Miracle on Ice victory by the United States men’s national team in ice hockey at the 1980 Winter Olympics.
The federation is governed by the legislative body of the IIHF which is the General Congress along with the executive body, which is the council. It is also the body that presides over ice hockey at the Olympic Games as well as over all levels of the IIHF World Championships. Another purpose of the federation is to provide aid in the young players’ development and in the development of coaches and game officials.
Host nation bid
Another duty is to promote friendly relations among the member national associations and to operate in an organized manner for the good order of the sport. Previously, the IIHF also managed the development of inline hockey, but in June 2019, the IIHF announced that they would no longer govern inline hockey or organize the Inline Hockey World Championships. Rules of play for IIHF events differ from hockey in North America and the rules of the National Hockey League (NHL).
Awards and recognitions
The pro players whose teams had been eliminated from the playoffs were allowed to compete and in exchange, Canada agreed to participate in the World Championships. The 1962 World Championship (hosted by the American cities of Colorado Springs and Denver), was boycotted by the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia, which led to a further boycott by the other Eastern Bloc countries. It is also the body that elects the president and the council or otherwise known as board. On the other hand, all the events of IIHF are organized by the federation along with establishing and maintaining contact with any other sport federations or sport groups.
The award is given to an individual or a group who have made significant contributions to growth and development in youth ice hockey. Named after Paul Loicq, who was president of the IIHF from 1922 until 1947, it is the highest personal recognition given by the IIHF. It is presented annually to honor a person who has made “outstanding contributions to the IIHF and international ice hockey”. The IIHF includes the recipients of the Torriani Award in the list of Hall of Fame inductees. The award was named for Bibi Torriani, who played internationally for the Switzerland men’s national ice hockey team. The approval came exactly 89 years from the foundation of the IIHF, with the purpose of honoring former international ice hockey players, builders (administrators) and officials.
The Canadians had boycotted these tournaments between 1970 and 1976 after the IIHF had refused to allow them to roster professional players at the World Championships from NHL teams that had not qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs. The IIHF maintains the IIHF World Ranking based on international ice hockey tournaments. Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage, who have played at least 40% of their team’s minutes, are included in this list. Seeding in the preliminary round was based on the 2025 IIHF World Ranking (at the end of the 2025 IIHF World Championship), using the serpentine system “to allocate a maximum of two teams to separate groups”. Switzerland was originally slated to host in 2020 but the tournament was cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions, while Kazakhstan has not hosted any tournaments. The IIHF chose all-time teams for the 16 countries that would have participated at the 2020 IIHF World Championship, to honor the 100-year anniversary of the Ice Hockey World Championships.
International criticism was directed at the IIHF for holding the 2014 Men’s Ice Hockey World Championships in Belarus due to the country’s poor human rights record. A compromise was discovered by President Sabetzki, which allowed Canada to return to international events starting in 1977. Günther Sabetzki was the initiator of the competition, which was inspired by the European Cup of Association football (now the UEFA Champions League). The boycott of the 1957 championships in Moscow by Canada and the United States was the main issue, along with the refusal of East German passports by the Americans in response to East Germany’s construction of the Berlin Wall. The Soviet Army’s occupation of Hungary during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 prompted the boycott of the 1957 World Championships — which were hosted in Moscow.
A record number of 11 countries participated in the 1928 Winter Olympics, which also functioned as the World and European Championship for that year. The general secretary (the highest-ranking employee of the IIHF), provides assistance to the president. The president advocates for the IIHF’s interests in external affairs and ensures adherence to the federation’s statutes and regulations.
Since 2017, the IIHF has introduced the IIHF Development Cup to support developing men’s and women’s national teams that fail to qualify for the IIHF World Championships. In 2023 — the IIHF introduced annual male and female player of the year awards to acknowledge players who “best demonstrate exceptional skill, determination, team success, and sporting character both on and off the ice during the previous season. A proposal made in 1996 marked the first action by the IIHF in establishing its own hall of fame, which was subsequently ratified at the 1997 IIHF summer congress to host the museum in Zürich. On 28 February 2022, the memberships of the Russian and Belarusian ice hockey federations were suspended by the IIHF until further notice due to the invasion of Ukraine by the countries. The 2008 World Championship took place in Canada for the first time as part of the celebrations — co-hosted by Halifax and Quebec City.
