IIHF

The International Ice Hockey Federation have announced their 2026 inductions into the IIHF Hall of Fame. The class includes six players – Austria’s Thomas Vanek, Switzerland’s Florence Schelling and Andres Ambuhl, Sweden’s Niklas Kronwall, and Canada’s Patrice Bergeron and Cassie Campbell-Pascall. The IIHF will also induct Ralph Krueger, once a longtime coach for Switzerland, as a builder.

This class is undoubtedly headlined by Bergeron and Kronwall, who each earned entry into the coveted Triple Gold Club, having won Gold Medals at the Olympic Games and World Championships, and a Stanley Cup. Bergeron achieved entry at the young age of 26. He won Gold at the 2004 World Championship, at the age of 19, then joined Team Canada for a historic Gold at the 2010 Winter Olympics. He capped off the feat by leading the Boston Bruins to the 2011 Stanley Cup.

Kronwall won Gold in both the Olympics and World Championship in the same year – 2006, when he was 25. It took him two more years to earn a Stanley Cup, as part of a 2008 Detroit Red Wings club that was laden with Hall-of-Fame talent. Both Bergeron and Kronwall were revered NHL skaters – with Bergeron reaching the pinnacle of defensive-forwards while Kronwall was known as one of the hardest-hitting defenders of the 2000’s.

Vanek never won a Gold Medal or Stanley Cup – but his international track record still became revered. He is among Austria’s greats, earning a top-five selection in the 2003 NHL Draft and seeing the country through multiple climbs in the international standings over the course of a 14-year pro career. He helped earn Austria a promotion to the top flight of the World Junior Championships in 2003, after scoring 13 goals and 24 points across just 10 games at the Division-1 level, at the ages of 16 and 17. That scoring earned him the captaincy when Austria returned to the World Juniors in 2003, where Vanek put up four points and 37 penalty minutes in six games. He made his debut at the World Championship in 2004 and the Olympic Game Qualifiers in 2005, though he wouldn’t officially go to the Olympics until 2014. All throughout, Vanek managed 17 points in 19 games at the World Championship and two points in seven games in Olympic events.

Campbell-Pascall was also a routine captain during her international career, though she managed to stock her trophy cabinet quite a bit more. By the end of her career, Campbell-Pascall had earned six Gold Medals and one Silver Medal at the World Championship, as well as two Gold Medals and one Silver Medal at the Olympics. She was a core piece of Canada’s women’s team through the turn of the centruy, offering enough dynamic speed and heads-up instinct to make plays at either the forward or defense positions. Campbell-Pascal captained Canada at two World Championships and two Olympic Games. She scored five points in five games during three of those tournaments – en route to 11 total points in 16 games at the Olympic Games and 31 points in 35 games at the World Championship.

The class closes with a trio of popular names in Switzerland. Ambuhl has long been a cornerstone of Swiss pros, in addition to his international impact. He captained Switzerland’s HC Davos from 2014 to 2024 – and led the club through appearances at the Spengler Cup in every season, as well as routine trips to the Deutschland Cup and Champions Hockey League. Ambuhl also joined Switzerland at the World Championship and Olympics in every year the country attended during his career. He scored 70 points in 151 games, and 20 appearances, at the World Championships; and eight points in 22 games during Olympic events.

Krueger oversaw many of Ambuhl’s first international tournaments. The Canadian-born head coach began his coaching career in Germany’s second league, after a long career in German pros. He then moved to a highly-successful career in Austria that earned him Switzerland’s head coaching role in 1998. Krueger stuck with Switzerland through their next 12 appearances at the World Championshpis and four appearances at the Olympic Games. He never medaled with Switzerland, but did earn a Gold Medal as a team consultant for Team Canada at the 2014 Winter Olympics. Krueger became a naturalized Swiss citizen in 2019. He was often a vocal advocate for growing relationships between the IIHF and NHL, and helped reshape international tournaments like the Champions Hockey League.

Finally, Schelling was among the most prolific goaltenders in hockey during her 13-year international career that began with an appearance at the World Championship in 2004, when Schelling was only 15. She excelled despite playing older competition, posting a .955 save percentage in four games. Schelling quickly became a fixture of Switzerland’s international lineup after that. She attended Northeastern University in 2008 – with four appearances at the World Championship and two appearances in Olympic Game events already behind her.

Everywhere she went, Schelling challenged lofty save percentages. She posted a .926, .932, and .918 Sv% at the World Championships in 2011, 2012, and 2013 respectively. Those numbers were quickly muted by the .941, .932, .941, and .931 Sv% she managed between appearances at the World Championships and Olympics in 2015, 2016, and 2017. She was a great goalie all the way down to the fundamentals, and was often used as a great example for developing goaltenders around the world. Schelling briefly served as a head coach for Switzerland’s U18 National Team, and served as general manager of SC Bern in 2020.

Photo courtesy of Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports.