Centre ICE Summit to host notable hockey minds

National and International Hockey Personnel gather in Edmonton for Summit  

(Edmonton, AB) – From grassroots to professional hockey, Edmonton will be hosting a spectrum of hockey minds as the Centre ICE Summit kicks off on Wednesday, August 8 and runs until Sunday, August 12 at Rogers Place. Coinciding with the Hlinka Gretzky Cup presented by RAM, Centre ICE Summit is an opportunity for hockey personnel to come together and learn from each other, envision what the future of the game will look like and strategize to continue to grow the great game of hockey.

The Centre ICE Summit will feature several streams of hockey development with key focuses on coaching, officiating, facility operations and athlete experiences.

While the future of the National Hockey League (NHL) skates on Rogers Place ice, the future of hockey in Alberta will be skating around the Downtown Community Arena at the Summer ICE Jamboree, run by Hockey Alberta and Oilers Entertainment Group (OEG). Novice hockey players from across Alberta will be placed on teams, each representing the countries playing in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, and become immersed in the excitement of international hockey and the thrill of learning and playing alongside new teammates. Half-ice games will run throughout Saturday, August 11 and Sunday, August 12 and will include both coach and officials development. For more information on Summer ICE Jamboree, please visit SummerIceJamboree.com.

Facility Operators are an important element of any hockey event. This week, operators from across Canada will spend several days together as they work on furthering their skill sets and gaining hands-on experience to take back to their respective buildings. Led by Rogers Place facility operations staff, attendees will observe how an international event runs from behind the scenes. For more information on the Facility Operations Summit, please visit CentreIceSummit.com.

Coaches from all levels of hockey will be participating in various skill development sessions during Centre ICE Summit. With a keen focus on sharing best practices, several key groups will be hosting on-ice and off-ice learning sessions, including Hockey Canada, the Western Hockey League (WHL) and Hockey Alberta. Coaches will learn from experts in the field, as well as each other, and will work to continue developing their personal coaching strategies.

A key part of any hockey game is the officiating. Centre ICE Summit will host officials from several levels of hockey, starting from grassroots development levels all the way up to the international level. While participants at the higher levels of hockey will focus their discussions on how new rules impact the game, those in the grassroots, provincial and major junior levels will work on developing their officials on the ice and providing them concrete examples of how officials can continue their growth up the officiating chain, whether that be in their local organizations or moving into bigger leagues such as the WHL, Hockey Canada and international events. On and off-ice sessions will be led by the heads of officiating from the NHL, International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

In addition to these sessions, there will be a Keynote Luncheon on Friday, August 10, which will feature some outstanding individuals in the hockey world. Hosted by Gord Miller, Play-by-play Announcer for Hockey on TSN, NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Colin Campbell, Commissioner of the WHL Ron Robison, Edmonton Oilers Assistant Coach Glen Gulutzan and Oilers Alumni Jason Strudwick will be discussing the state of the game and rule changes, followed by a keynote hot stove with IIHF President, René Fasel.

Centre ICE Summit will truly be a gathering of the great hockey minds. For more information on Centre ICE Summit please visit CentreIceSummit.Com.