Baltic League finally get off the ground

Poland League will have 12 participants

Zagłębie Sosnowiec and STS Sanok joined the 9 teams that had already received the right to play in PHL. Earlier, licenses were obtained by: Comarch Cracovia, GKS Katowice, GKS Tychy, JKH GKS Jastrzębie, KH Energa Toruń, KTH Krynica, KH Podhale Nowy Targ, Re-Plast Unia Oświęcim and Stoczniowiec Gdańsk.
Despite some opposition by other clubs, also Poland U23 will participate in the competition, which means that a total of 12 teams will start, one more than previous season

"Due to the fact that we have 12 teams, the competition will start two days earlier than planned, September 11. Next week schedule will be approved - adds League Commissioner Marta Zawadzka.

(15 Jul 2020)

Pavel Kruty passed away

Forward Pavel Kruty died in Orsk today, as reported by the VHL official website. He was 23 years old.

In the morning, Pavel Kruty, who was at the training camp of the Yuzhny Ural Orsk, felt unwell. He was given first aid by the club doctor. The player was taken by an ambulance to the intensive care unit, where he died. A preliminary diagnosis is pulmonary embolism.

Last season Pavel Kruty played for Saryarka Karaganda and recently moved to Yuzhny Ural Orsk. He played also for KRS Heilongjiang and Amur Tigers Khabarovsk, In 1997 was named to MHL All-Star Game

(10 Jul 2020)

Two goalies suspended in MHL

Two goalkeepers from the Molodezhnaya Hockey League (Russian Youth Hockey League- MHL) teams have been sentenced to eight months of disqualification for the use of illicit substances, according to the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA).

Disqualifications were imposed on 20-year-old Nikolai Shashkov from Steel Fox Magnitogorsk and 21-year-old Anton Borodkin from Sarmat Orenburg

In Shashkov\'s doping analysis, was found tuaminoheptane, and for Borodkin - methylhexanamine.

(09 Jul 2020)

New Zealand withdraws teams

-IIHF

The New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation has withdrawn its teams for its first two scheduled participations in the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship program.

The 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship Division III in Mexico will thus be played with seven teams and the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women's World Championship Division II Group B in Turkey with four teams.

(09 Jul 2020)

Ertis Pavlodar withdrew from Continental Cup

Ertis Pavlodar won't participate in next Continental Cup as previously announced. Altai-Torpedo Ust Kamenogorsk, the farm club of HC Torpedo, will replace Ertis as owner of Kazakhstan Cup. Altai will play in Amiens, France next 13-15 November with Amiens, Ferencvaros and a team qualified from round played in October

(05 Jul 2020)

IIHF suspended the players involved in match-fixing in Belarus

All the players involved in the match-fixing scandal in Belarus received a provisional suspension by IIHF as reported in a short note issued by International Federation:
"in accordance with IIHF Code of Conduct Rule 3.6, the IIHF has decided to provisionally suspend the players from all ice hockey competitions or activities authorized and/or organized by the IIHF or any IIHF Member National Association as of 2 July 2020.These cases will now be referred to the IIHF Disciplinary Board for further review and sanctioning."

The players, all from Dinamo Maladzyechna, are:
Goaltender Alexei Ivanov
Defenders Nikita Ustinenko, Sergei Sheleg and Alexander Syrei
Forwards Pavel Boyarchuk,Stanislav Kuchkin and Vyacheslav Lisichkin

(04 Jul 2020)

Slovak Extraliga should start on October 2

The beginning of the Tipsport Extraliga was tentatively set for October 2. The date should be finally confirmed for next Tuesday at the club meeting in Zvolen. The competition should have 12 participants but the position of Hungarian teams is still unknown
The regular season will have 50 rounds. The best six teams will advance to the playoffs automatically, the teams in 7th-10th place will play the preliminary round for participation in the elimination round. No team will be relegated and the winner of the 1 Liga will earn a direct promotion.

(02 Jul 2020)

Tomek Valtonen resigned as Poland coach

Finnish Tomek Valtonen resigned as Poland National Team as reported by Hokej.net portal.
"We have not reached agreement on organizational issues. Next season I will be working in a foreign club and I will not be able to visit Poland more often, which was what the Polish Ice Hockey Association expected from me" said Valtonen

(18 Jun 2020)