ŠKODA and the ice hockey championship: 30 years together

ŠKODA and the ice hockey championship: 30 years together

Thirty years. That’s how long ŠKODA has been the main official partner of the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. Take a trip back in time to trace the history of this partnership and find out some interesting facts on the way.

10. 5. 2022 Lifestyle Sports Hockey

The IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship and ŠKODA have been partners since 1992. One year after that, the Czech carmaker became the event’s main sponsor and the logo with the winged arrow first appeared in the centre circle and on the players’ jerseys. At that time, the ŠKODA FORMAN was the official car of the championship. Before this year’s tournament gets underway, treat yourself to a bit of fun and hopefully learn something new at the same time.

Finland is the host country for this year’s 85th IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, which lasts from May 13 to 29. The games will be held in Helsinki and Tampere, and ŠKODA cars will be all around: the organisers will be using a fleet of 45 fully electric ENYAQ COUPÉ RS iV, ENYAQ iV, SUPERB iV and KODIAQs.

The big draw at this year’s championship is ŠKODA's new, all-electric SUV, the ENYAQ COUPÉ RS iV.

Did you know...

  • The longest hockey stick at the WC was 165 centimetres long, which is more than the height of the new ŠKODA FABIA (146 cm).
  • The fastest goal was scored just five seconds after the game started.
  • The ŠKODA Design team first designed the trophy for the most valuable player in 2018.
  • The fastest skating speed recorded at the ice hockey world championship was 41.32 km/h.
  • Pucks may be made mainly out of rubber, but you might be surprised to hear that soot is another part of its otherwise secret composition.
  • In 2021 the stadiums in Riga were filled with 15,000 “cardboard fans”.

Again this year, ŠKODA Design created the glass trophy for the tournament’s most valuable player. Designer Peter Olah decided to showcase crystalline design again.

And that’s no surprise: Finland, like the other Scandinavian countries, is an eMobility global leader, so the iV fleet will be right at home here. From 2019 to 2020 electric cars’ share of newly registered cars in Finland rose from eleven to eighteen per cent, which puts this country in fifth place globally, according to VDA, the German automotive industry association. Only the Netherlands (25 per cent), Sweden (32 per cent), Iceland (45 per cent) and Norway (75 per cent) are taking to eMobility faster.

What’s more, ŠKODA has decided to celebrate this year’s significant milestone in its partnership with the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship with a quiz, with tickets to the final in Tampere on offer for the winners. They will even have their trip and accommodation paid for! By the way, careful reading of this article will help you answer all the questions.

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Related Stories Based on tags: 2022, Icehockey, IIHF