Official Statement from the NZIHF and NZIHL

It is regrettable that our two organisations have elected to discontinue the relationship with Slapshot Productions for 2017.

This decision was not taken lightly and the League and Federation hold a great deal of respect and gratitude to the many hard working volunteers who put in by many many hours of service over the years. We would appreciate to continue to work with these volunteers and urge them to get in contact if they would like to stay involved in presenting the great sport of Ice Hockey in NZ.

The Federation and National League would like to particularly acknowledge and thank Jez for his passion, vision, enthusiasm and countless hours he has devoted to the Livestream. Not only devoting his time but to Jez and the Slapshot family for producing a quality product across multiple platforms.

The rationale for this decision was simply that at a collective cost of nearly $50,000 to the NZIHL alone it became unviable for many of our teams to sustain. We currently have five NZIHL teams backed by hundreds of volunteers striving every year to compete due to financial limitations. Therefore, regretfully this year the arduous decision was made that in its current state it was unviable for our teams and more importantly the players to continue. This had been an ongoing discussion with Slapshot Productions, the league and the teams for a number of years and annually Jez was invited to the end of year NZIHL league meetings and federation AGM’s where this was a key discussion topic.

In 2017 we are exploring other avenues as an alternative product as we too value the power of this product and potential of the stream in this digital age.

We are excited for this challenge and are looking forward to a successful IIHF World Championship in Auckland and a successful 2017 National League season.

Thank You

Gunther Birgel

NZIHL President

Paul Scott

NZIHL General Manager