Dmitry Chernyshenko, President and CEO of Sochi 2014 and Vyacheslav Fetisov, Chairman of the Russian Federal Agency for Physical Culture and Sport, have travelled to Canada for the 2008 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championships and to participate in the IIHF 100th anniversary festivities.

While in Canada Sochi 2014 will use the opportunity to learn about winter sports best practice from IIHF and Vancouver 2010 officials. They will also attend the IIHF semi-final between Russia and Finland.

Dmitry Chernyshenko and Vyacheslav Fetisov will use the opportunity to continue Sochi 2014's dialogue with the President and Secretary-General of the IIHF to ensure that Russia's first Winter Games will exceed all the international federation's requirements. Sochi 2014 already has impressive plans to host Ice Hockey in two brand new, state-of-the-art Ice Hockey stadiums, the Bolshoi Ice Palace and the Maly Ice Palace, which will be ready for test events at least two years prior to the 2014 Winter Games.

The Sochi 2014 delegation's meeting with the Director of Ice Sports from the Vancouver 2010 Organising Committee will also help strengthen cooperation between the two Winter Games OCOGs and ensure an effective knowledge transfer processes with on-site case studies and objective analysis is in place. Dmitry Chernyshenko said: "I am very excited about celebrating the centenary of the IIHF. While in Canada, the country hosting the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, we are certainly using the opportunity to learn from their experiences of preparing for the Games. I am determined that this knowledge will assist Sochi 2014 in delivering what will be a truly innovative and inspirational Games in less than six years. On top of the festivities, this presents a fantastic opportunity to discuss Sochi 2014's preparations with the Olympic family and Ice Hockey administrators."

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