IIHF president Luc Tardif wants Russia back in hockey fold ‘as soon as possible’

“We have to let the door open as soon as possible,” Tardif, the president of the International Ice Hockey Federation, said Sunday. “It will be interesting to see what’s going to happen in the next two months.”

Russia has been frozen out of the world junior hockey championship — the 2025 event concluded Sunday in Ottawa — along with other men’s, women’s and para hockey tournaments.

Tardif said a decision on the field for next year’s world juniors in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn., will be made in February. He added the IIHF will also press the International Olympic Committee on an answer for the 2026 Games in Milan and Cortina, Italy, that will see NHL players return after a 12-year absence.

“The organizing committees have to know who’s playing to organize a schedule,” Tardif said at the IIHF’s closing press conference in Ottawa. “The teams also have to see exactly what will be their schedule.”

Tardif said having Russia and Belarus, which was also banned due to its support for the war, would be good news for hockey and the world.

“We want them back as soon as possible,” he said. “It will mean the war will be over.

“(Russia) is missed for any competition. But let them come too early, that’s not going to be good.”

Tardif was also asked about the NHL’s plans for an international schedule that goes outside the IIHF sphere with the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off and a push to hold a World Cup every two years beginning in 2028.

Tardif said the NHL has floated the idea of a World Cup in Europe, but added that would be difficult with the men’s world championships, which are held each spring.

He also pointed out the IIHF doesn’t hold its men’s worlds in North American because it would conflict with the NHL playoffs.

“We want the same respect,” Tardif said. “The will to organize a competition together, we will do it in the Olympic Games, is still there. But what we want is a partnership — equality in the partnership. We made a proposition at the end of December, so now we open the discussion about that, and I hope we will have the same success as the Olympic Games.

“But we still got a lot to discuss.”

REFFING STANDARD

Canadian fans and players were left fuming after the underperforming national team was bounced from the world juniors in the quarterfinals for a second straight year.

The host nation’s performance was pockmarked by undisciplined play, but the referees did the squad no favours in its knockout-round loss to Czechia, including two questionable penalties for kneeing.

“If you want me to apologize, I can do it,” Tardif said. “I’m not on the ice. I’m not a referee, and I want to protect the referee. Get better and analyze what is good or not. That’s like the player. For a lot of games, sometimes that’s discipline and sometimes that’s maybe a bad call — maybe — but that’s human.”

2027 HOST CITIES

Hockey Canada has still yet to announce the host cities for the 2027 world juniors in Alberta. The province held a pair of pandemic-impacted tournaments in 2021 and 2022. Calgary is building a new NHL arena, but Scotia Place isn’t expected to be ready until the fall of 2027.

COSTELLO HONOURED

The IIHF announced the world junior MVP trophy has been renamed the Murray Costello Award. Costello, who led the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association and Hockey Canada as president for two decades, died in July at age 90.

This report was first published Jan. 5, 2025.

Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

IIHF president Luc Tardif wants Russia back in hockey fold ‘as soon as possible’

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