Second year coach reviews his term

Slovakia will add a new competition

To financially help the clubs and compensate the premature end of the season, the Slovak Federation announced the creatiion of a new trophy, called Super Cup, for the next season. The clubs finished in the first six places in the last season plus two more teams resulting from a qualification round involving eight clubs will enter in the competition

(17 May 2020)

Awards in Belarus assigned

The Belarusian Federation announced the awards for the 19-20 Extraliga, one of few leagues completed in Europe. The winners are determined by the votes of all Extraliga clubs

Best Goalie: Maxim Malyutin (Shakhtar Soligorsk)
Best Defender: Andrei Antonov (Yunost Minsk)
Best Forward: Nikita Remezov (Neman Grodno)
Best Young Player: Nasser Subkhi (HK Gomel)
Playoffs MVP: Maxim Malyutin (Shakhtar Soligorsk)
Coach of the Year: Yuri Faikov (Shakhtar Soligorsk)

(17 May 2020)

Hlinka Gretzky Cup cancelled

Hockey Canada announced the traditional junior tournament Hlinka Gretzky Cup, which was to be hosted next August 3-8 in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta, was cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak

(12 May 2020)

Chinese clubs won’t compete in VHL anymore

According to Sport-Express portal, all the three Chinese clubs competing in VHL - Tseng Tau Jilin City, KRS Beijing and ORGZHI Beijing - won't compete in the next season. At the moment only ORGZHI, the Kunlun Red Star farm club, confirmed the withdrawal and rumours are it could move somewhere to Russia. No specific reason was cited, but the possible cause is the planned debut of the Chinese championship or the Covid-19 outbreak which has made travel between nations difficult.
Previously also the Uzbek club Humo Tashkent announced the withdrawal from the league

(27 Apr 2020)

Cergy promoted to LIgue Magnus

Cergy-Pontoise Jokers, the regular season champion of French Division 1, will play in Magnus Ligue in the next season, as determined by the Head Office of the Federation after reviewing the dossier presented by the club. In the same way HC Epinal is promoted to Division 1 from Division 2 and Reims and Poitiers will play in Division 2, coming from Division 3. Châlons asked to be relegated in Division 3

(26 Apr 2020)

Vladislav Nikiforov suspended for 15 months

Kazakh defender Vladislav Nikiforov, 19, was disqualified by the IIHF Disciplinary Council for 15 months - until February 8, 2021. In a doping test taken on November 8, 2019, when the Kazakhstan U20 national team played at the Baltic Challenge Cup in Tallinn, meldonium was found, which is included in the WADA list of prohibited substances.

In his explanation, the player indicated that meldonium was prescribed to him by a doctor last summer. He admitted that he did not inform the doctor that he was a hockey player. The athlete also said that he had no intention of using prohibited substances.

The International Hockey Federation found that the anti-doping rule violation was not committed intentionally. In addition, the young age of the hockey player and his lack of knowledge about doping were taken into account. The player declined the appeal and decided on the IIHF Disciplinary Board.

(26 Mar 2020)

Shakhtar to the finals in Belarus

No corona break in Belarus. Today Shakhtar Soligorsk beat Neman Grodno 1-0 to qualify for the finals against Yunost. The finals start on Friday.

(24 Mar 2020)

Greg Ireland is the new coach of team Italy

Following the resignation of Clayton Beddoes at the beginning of March, Italian Federation announced Greg Ireland as new coach of national team. Ireland, 54, from Orangeville, Ontario, currently the coach of HC Bolzano, start his work with the National team as soon as the emergency of the COVID 19 virus will pass. After the announcement of the IIHF of the cancellation of the World Top Division, the next commitment for team Italy is the Olympic qualifying tournament at the end of August in Riga, Latvia.

(22 Mar 2020)