The Museum of Hockey hosted a press conference regarding the upcoming World Hockey Forum, which will take place in Moscow on the 16-17 of December. The event is a joint project between the Russian Ice Hockey Federation and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). The spokesperson for the event is “Roteks”, a company which organizes world-class exhibitions and congresses.

Among the participants in the press conference were Vladislav Tretiak – the President of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation; Pavel Bure –  the President of the World Legends Hockey League; and Operations Director of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation – Dmitry Kurbatov.

Vladislav Tretiak, RIHF President: “On behalf of our organization, I would like to thank the International Ice Hockey Federation, which entrusted us with hosting the World Cup this year. Today we’d like to announce the creation of the most prestigious international ice hockey forum. It is a great honour to be able to host this event. Among the invitees are Rene Fasel – the President of the international federation; Vitaly Mutko – member of the council and Deputy Prime Minister; The Minister of Sport – Pavel Kolobkov; the President of the Continental Hockey League – Dmitry Chernyshenko, as well as other members of the KHL. Likewise, we expect the eminent players and experts to take part – people like Phil Esposito, Mike Keenan, and Yari Kurri. We plan to discuss the current challenges we face, the steps we need to take to further develop international ice hockey, marketing of the game, and the nuances around preparing young players for the transition to professional ice hockey. We also want to touch upon topics such as ice hockey as a socio-cultural phenomenon, the need to raise awareness of youth and women’s hockey, and hockey as a large-scale sport.

The President of the World Legends Hockey League – Pavel Bure: “Russian ice hockey turns 70 this year. Out of all the events celebrating this anniversary – the World Forum is just about the most important. The world’s top specialists will come together in one place. Everything moves forward – and hockey is also developing. That’s why it’s so important to find a platform where specialists can come together and share ideas. It’s great that the forum is being organized here in Moscow by our very own federation.”