No Canadians secured a position on the International Ice Hockey Federation’s council, which comes as a surprise given Canada’s strong reputation in the sport. The election, held during the IIHF’s semi-annual congress in Tenerife, Spain, saw Hockey Canada’s president and CEO, Katherine Henderson, vying for one of the three available female council seats. Unfortunately, Henderson was eliminated in the second round of voting.
The council seats were won by Zsuzsanna Kolbenheyer from Hungary, Merve Tunali from Turkey, and Marta Zawadzka from Poland. Despite the absence of Canadian representation on the council, the region will be represented by Mike Trimboli, an American who was elected as the vice-president for the Americas and Oceania uncontested. Trimboli replaces Bob Nicholson, the former Hockey Canada president and CEO.
Notably, the newly elected council includes members from non-traditional hockey nations such as Andy Mills from New Zealand and Aivaz Omorkanov from Kyrgyzstan. Germany’s Franz Reindl succeeded the outgoing president, Luc Tardif, who hails from France but was born and raised in Quebec. Additionally, Petr Briza from Czechia was re-elected as the senior vice-president.
This marks the first time since 1978, with a brief exception from 1994-1998, that Canada does not have a representative on the IIHF Council. During that period, the Americas vice-president position was held by American Walter Bush Jr.