IIHF President Luc Tardif (centre) is flanked by Pavel Barta (far left), Zuzana Tomcikova (second from left), Aleksandrs Cicurskis (second from right), and Pat Cortina (far right) at the 2026 IIHF Contributors' Ceremony.
photo: © INTERNATIONAL ICE HOCKEY FEDERATION / ANDRE RINGUETTE
During the final weekend at the 2026 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, the IIHF honoured the recipients of its annual Contributors’ Awards at a ceremony in downtown Zurich.
Veteran coach Pat Cortina was given the Paul Loicq Award for his outstanding contributions to the IIHF and international ice hockey. Slovak netminder Zuzana Tomcikova became the first woman ever to claim the Richard “Bibi” Torriani Award, which recognizes an outstanding career with an up-and-coming hockey nation. Veteran Czech hockey writer Pavel Barta received the IIHF Media Award. Latvia’s Aleksandrs Cicurskis got the Johan Bollue Award for his contributions to the development and growth of youth hockey.
Born in Montreal, Canada, Cortina has made an indelible impact on coaching in Italy, Hungary, and Germany. That encompasses men’s and women’s hockey in IIHF competition, as well as professional clubs in the Alpenliga, the DEL, and elsewhere. It’s a career that the 61-year-old has relished for more than 35 years. From serving as an assistant coach for the Italian men at the 1992 Albertville Olympics to working as the head coach for Hungary’s women at the 2025 IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship in Ceske Budejovice, Cortina has done it all with humility, hard work, and a player-first approach.
“Probably the biggest lesson I’ve come to understand that real winning is more than the scoreboard,” Cortina said in his acceptance speech. “Of course, winning the next game is what we all want, but real winning is helping people grow, building trust, creating relationships, and bringing out the best of one another. When you do that, sometimes the scoreboard goes in your favour. Often it does not, but in the big picture, you never really lose. If we make this game about people, we all win.”
Tomcikova helped to put Slovak women’s hockey on the map with her spectacular goaltending, particularly in the window of 2009 to 2011. After helping the Central European nation achieve promotion to the top division, she suited up as the starter at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. En route to MVP honours at the 2011 Women’s Worlds, she recorded an extraordinary 94.8 save percentage and a 2.56 GAA to keep Slovakia among the world’s elite.
Tomcikova spoke with passion about the opportunity and acceptance she got from her male coaches and teammates as a youngster, as she clearly proved she was good enough to compete alongside them. She fondly recalled playing with her older brother in Bratislava as his designated goalie. “Getting the phone call from the IIHF that I had been selected was very surprising to me,” she said. “I am very happy and proud to have received this award.”
As an internationally known journalist, Barta has documented our game since the mid-1980’s for outlets as diverse as Hokej (Czechia), The Hockey News (Canada), and Kiekko-Lehti (Finland). He also served at times as the media manager for the Czech national team. Four Olympics and 25 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships are among the top-level IIHF events he has covered. Barta’s most recent book is Gudy, a biography of longtime Czech national team and NHL star defenceman Radko Gudas. Throughout the years, he has proved both industrious and adaptable.
“Journalism changes, just like hockey itself,” Barta said. “Over the past 40 years, I have come from the heavy typewriters to PCs and smartphones, from news dictated over the phone to podcasts. But what hasn't changed is that you need enthusiasm as well as the ability to remain level-headed, responsible, and humble. You also need teammates and a little luck too. But the most important thing is to be dedicated to your work and you will do it with joy. I was very lucky to be able to turn my biggest hobby into my profession and lifelong mission.”
Coaching youth players – including the Latvian U18 and U20 national teams – was the lifelong mission of Cicurskis. The Riga native was a cornerstone of the influential hockey school in Liepaja from 1998 and 2021. Just a few of the notable players Cicurskis shepherded along the way were Sandis Ozolins, the late Sergejs Zoltoks, Aigars Cipruss, and Rudolfs Balcers, who captained Latvia’s 2026 IIHF WM team and set a new Latvian single-tournament record with seven goals.
“Being here...feels like a miracle,” Circurskis said of his induction. “But hockey creates a miracle. Hockey was my dream and it became my life.”
The next IIHF Contributors’ Ceremony will be held at the 2027 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Germany.
Veteran coach Pat Cortina was given the Paul Loicq Award for his outstanding contributions to the IIHF and international ice hockey. Slovak netminder Zuzana Tomcikova became the first woman ever to claim the Richard “Bibi” Torriani Award, which recognizes an outstanding career with an up-and-coming hockey nation. Veteran Czech hockey writer Pavel Barta received the IIHF Media Award. Latvia’s Aleksandrs Cicurskis got the Johan Bollue Award for his contributions to the development and growth of youth hockey.
Born in Montreal, Canada, Cortina has made an indelible impact on coaching in Italy, Hungary, and Germany. That encompasses men’s and women’s hockey in IIHF competition, as well as professional clubs in the Alpenliga, the DEL, and elsewhere. It’s a career that the 61-year-old has relished for more than 35 years. From serving as an assistant coach for the Italian men at the 1992 Albertville Olympics to working as the head coach for Hungary’s women at the 2025 IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship in Ceske Budejovice, Cortina has done it all with humility, hard work, and a player-first approach.
“Probably the biggest lesson I’ve come to understand that real winning is more than the scoreboard,” Cortina said in his acceptance speech. “Of course, winning the next game is what we all want, but real winning is helping people grow, building trust, creating relationships, and bringing out the best of one another. When you do that, sometimes the scoreboard goes in your favour. Often it does not, but in the big picture, you never really lose. If we make this game about people, we all win.”
Tomcikova helped to put Slovak women’s hockey on the map with her spectacular goaltending, particularly in the window of 2009 to 2011. After helping the Central European nation achieve promotion to the top division, she suited up as the starter at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. En route to MVP honours at the 2011 Women’s Worlds, she recorded an extraordinary 94.8 save percentage and a 2.56 GAA to keep Slovakia among the world’s elite.
Tomcikova spoke with passion about the opportunity and acceptance she got from her male coaches and teammates as a youngster, as she clearly proved she was good enough to compete alongside them. She fondly recalled playing with her older brother in Bratislava as his designated goalie. “Getting the phone call from the IIHF that I had been selected was very surprising to me,” she said. “I am very happy and proud to have received this award.”
As an internationally known journalist, Barta has documented our game since the mid-1980’s for outlets as diverse as Hokej (Czechia), The Hockey News (Canada), and Kiekko-Lehti (Finland). He also served at times as the media manager for the Czech national team. Four Olympics and 25 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships are among the top-level IIHF events he has covered. Barta’s most recent book is Gudy, a biography of longtime Czech national team and NHL star defenceman Radko Gudas. Throughout the years, he has proved both industrious and adaptable.
“Journalism changes, just like hockey itself,” Barta said. “Over the past 40 years, I have come from the heavy typewriters to PCs and smartphones, from news dictated over the phone to podcasts. But what hasn't changed is that you need enthusiasm as well as the ability to remain level-headed, responsible, and humble. You also need teammates and a little luck too. But the most important thing is to be dedicated to your work and you will do it with joy. I was very lucky to be able to turn my biggest hobby into my profession and lifelong mission.”
Coaching youth players – including the Latvian U18 and U20 national teams – was the lifelong mission of Cicurskis. The Riga native was a cornerstone of the influential hockey school in Liepaja from 1998 and 2021. Just a few of the notable players Cicurskis shepherded along the way were Sandis Ozolins, the late Sergejs Zoltoks, Aigars Cipruss, and Rudolfs Balcers, who captained Latvia’s 2026 IIHF WM team and set a new Latvian single-tournament record with seven goals.
“Being here...feels like a miracle,” Circurskis said of his induction. “But hockey creates a miracle. Hockey was my dream and it became my life.”
The next IIHF Contributors’ Ceremony will be held at the 2027 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Germany.