Russia is Eager to Catch up With Canada in the Number of People Playing Hockey

The third World Hockey Forum (WHF) opened on December 13, 2018 in Moscow. It is dedicated to prospects for the development of hockey for children and young people, analysis of national programs for training hockey players, as well as ways of using up-to-date marketing tools to promote hockey. President of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation Vladislav Tretiak mentioned on the sidelines of the forum that the World Junior Hockey Championship 2023 might be held not only in Novosibirsk but also in Omsk, if they resolve the issue with the ice arena. The IIHF is already informed about the initiative.

In his welcoming speech during the opening President of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) René Fasel noted: “This important discussion platform determines the agenda for the upcoming hockey year and sets the tone for a professional conversation between sports officials, coaches, athletes, experts and businessmen. Only such a constructive approach is able to ensure the harmonious and comprehensive development of hockey in the difficult conditions of today’s competitive environment.”

The Russian Ice Hockey Federation (RIHF) is aimed at increasing the number of professional players at least twice. First vice president of the RIHF and head of the team headquarters Roman Rotenberg spoke about this at a panel discussion of the World Hockey Forum, which was dedicated to national programs for developing hockey players in different countries.

“We always set specific goals and indicators. The number of professional players in Russia is over 100 thousand, but we are not comfortable with this figure. We need a systematic approach, and we are striving to increase this number, that is, to have at least 200 thousand people playing hockey. Canada, where 600 thousand people are playing, is the benchmark in this regard, and we are trying to reach the same, step by step,” Rotenberg said.

Russia plans to build 50 hockey rinks this year. “We are aimed at reaching the number of 400 rinks. We see that after the collapse of the USSR we have fallen behind our colleagues in this respect, even though we continue to win,” Rotenberg noted.

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