photo: © International Ice Hockey Federation / Kristýna Pátková
The attendees have arrived, the conference rooms are ready, and the partners have set up their booths. The Global Hockey Forum is good to go.
The event officially began on Monday night with a welcome reception, featuring hockey royalty Cassie Campbell-Pascall and Henrik Lundqvist as keynote speakers.
“We’ve come here to work together and transfer knowledge, from big countries to small ones, and vice versa. Welcome to sunny Nice, France,” IIHF President Luc Tardif told the 485 registered participants, representing 71 member national associations.
“You’re going to spend three days here because you love the game and want to make it better for everyone, most importantly, for young boys and girls,” added IIHF Vice President Bob Nicholson.
Forums like the Global Hockey Forum give the IIHF a unique opportunity to bring all stakeholders together to tackle some of the biggest issues in the sport. In Nice, the three focus areas are Development, Marketing, and Women’s Hockey. Through open dialogue across every corner of the game, inspiring solutions can be found and partnerships strengthened, creating a roadmap for the sustainable global growth of hockey.
“A true leader is always willing to learn. If we want to grow the game, we have to include both genders,” said Campbell-Pascall. She then encouraged participants to embrace the spirit of collaboration: “Try to sit with someone you don’t know.”
Henrik Lundqvist, a recent IIHF Hall of Fame inductee, also spoke about the bonds that hockey creates.
“Hockey is a community. We all want to grow the game, but we also have each other’s backs and do it together,” he said, as he and Campbell-Pascall shared memories from their journeys to the top of the hockey world.
The two-day event features world-class presentations from experts in their fields. For example, the Development track opens with Dwight Mullins, who will speak about building a hockey ecosystem in a non-traditional market—in his case, Texas, where he has played a key role in growing the game and developing players and programs for the Dallas Stars and USA Hockey.
He will be followed by Alex Roberts, who will share insights on developing talent in Australia. As Head of Talent at the Queensland Academy of Sport in Brisbane, she leads the team responsible for identifying, developing, and supporting potential Australian Olympic and Paralympic athletes.
In the Marketing sessions, participants will dive straight into a hot topic when Kimi Kranz Sports takes the stage to discuss the current media rights landscape. Kranz, Senior Vice President at Infront Sports & Media, leads its Media, Betting & Technology department.
Meanwhile, in the Women’s Hockey stream, Tuesday morning begins with presentations on the benefits of diversity by Barbara Zibret-Kralj, India Gary-Martin, and Lisa Ferkul. Each brings a unique perspective thanks to their backgrounds in business, coaching, and professional women’s sports. All three will also join a panel discussion moderated by Campbell-Pascall.
All presentations from the Global Hockey Forum will be streamed on IIHF.TV, launched in spring 2025 to provide fans with greater access to live and on-demand international ice hockey content. The IIHF’s partner in the event is Région Sud in France.
The event officially began on Monday night with a welcome reception, featuring hockey royalty Cassie Campbell-Pascall and Henrik Lundqvist as keynote speakers.
“We’ve come here to work together and transfer knowledge, from big countries to small ones, and vice versa. Welcome to sunny Nice, France,” IIHF President Luc Tardif told the 485 registered participants, representing 71 member national associations.
“You’re going to spend three days here because you love the game and want to make it better for everyone, most importantly, for young boys and girls,” added IIHF Vice President Bob Nicholson.
Forums like the Global Hockey Forum give the IIHF a unique opportunity to bring all stakeholders together to tackle some of the biggest issues in the sport. In Nice, the three focus areas are Development, Marketing, and Women’s Hockey. Through open dialogue across every corner of the game, inspiring solutions can be found and partnerships strengthened, creating a roadmap for the sustainable global growth of hockey.
“A true leader is always willing to learn. If we want to grow the game, we have to include both genders,” said Campbell-Pascall. She then encouraged participants to embrace the spirit of collaboration: “Try to sit with someone you don’t know.”
Henrik Lundqvist, a recent IIHF Hall of Fame inductee, also spoke about the bonds that hockey creates.
“Hockey is a community. We all want to grow the game, but we also have each other’s backs and do it together,” he said, as he and Campbell-Pascall shared memories from their journeys to the top of the hockey world.
The two-day event features world-class presentations from experts in their fields. For example, the Development track opens with Dwight Mullins, who will speak about building a hockey ecosystem in a non-traditional market—in his case, Texas, where he has played a key role in growing the game and developing players and programs for the Dallas Stars and USA Hockey.
He will be followed by Alex Roberts, who will share insights on developing talent in Australia. As Head of Talent at the Queensland Academy of Sport in Brisbane, she leads the team responsible for identifying, developing, and supporting potential Australian Olympic and Paralympic athletes.
In the Marketing sessions, participants will dive straight into a hot topic when Kimi Kranz Sports takes the stage to discuss the current media rights landscape. Kranz, Senior Vice President at Infront Sports & Media, leads its Media, Betting & Technology department.
Meanwhile, in the Women’s Hockey stream, Tuesday morning begins with presentations on the benefits of diversity by Barbara Zibret-Kralj, India Gary-Martin, and Lisa Ferkul. Each brings a unique perspective thanks to their backgrounds in business, coaching, and professional women’s sports. All three will also join a panel discussion moderated by Campbell-Pascall.
All presentations from the Global Hockey Forum will be streamed on IIHF.TV, launched in spring 2025 to provide fans with greater access to live and on-demand international ice hockey content. The IIHF’s partner in the event is Région Sud in France.