Luc Tardif

Luc Tardif (born 29 March 1953) is a Canadian-born French ice hockey executive, and former professional ice hockey player. A native of Trois-Rivières, he played junior ice hockey in Quebec, then was an all-star player for the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières. During his professional career, he became a naturalized citizen of France, won two Nationale A League titles, and won the Charles Ramsay Trophy four times with Chamonix HC as the league's top scorer. Later in his career, he was a player-coach for the Dragons de Rouen, then served as the team's vice-president and oversaw the youth hockey program.

Tardif served as head of the hockey for the French Ice Sports Federation from 2000 to 2006, then negotiated to establish the French Ice Hockey Federation (FFHG) as an independent body. As the inaugural president of the FFHG from 2006 to 2021, he imposed a salary cap to prevent teams from filing for bankruptcy; oversaw expansion and upgrades of arenas in the Ligue Magnus, and relocation of the French Cup final to Paris to increase its attendance. He led fundraising to open the Aren'Ice as a national training facility in 2016, and the transition of Ligue Magnus teams from sports associations into teams with a professional structure. He also served with the French National Olympic and Sports Committee as the head of mission for France at the Olympics during the 2014 and 2018 Winter Games, and promoted the 2024 Summer Olympics bid for Paris.

Tardif was elected to the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) council in 2010, appointed its treasurer in 2012, then became its finance committee chairman in 2016. He was elected president of the IIHF in 2021, on a campaign to make it a non-political body, and to fight doping in sport and racism. He stated desires to combine Division 1 at the Ice Hockey World Championships to have a larger event, to encourage top-tier coaches to teach in developing countries, and to expand three-on-three ice hockey targeted at youths. He also sought for the National Hockey League to allow its players to participate in ice hockey at the Olympic Games, and to co-ordinate schedules for the Kontinental Hockey League and other European leagues to benefit players attending the Olympics.

Early life Luc Tardif was born on 29 March 1953, in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada. He began playing ice hockey in Canada at age three. He played junior ice hockey with the Cap-de-la-Madeleine Barons in the Quebec Junior A Hockey League (QJAHL) during the 1971–72 and 1972–73 seasons, and participated in eight games as a guest player with the Trois-Rivières Ducs in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

Tardif declined offers to play NCAA Division I ice hockey, and instead attended the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR) and played two seasons of Canadian Interuniversity Athletics Union hockey for the UQTR Patriotes. He was named a Quebec Universities Athletic Association conference all-star in the 1973–74 and 1974–75 seasons, and led the conference in goals scored during his first season. He also earned an invitation to training camp for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1974. While playing on an all-star team of players from universities in Quebec, he was noticed by a European scout in a game versus the Czechoslovakia national team, and was invited to play professionally.

Professional Tardif moved to Europe to play two seasons in the Belgian Hockey League with the Brussels Royal IHSC, where he led the 1975 Dutch Cup in goals scored. After his Brussels team placed last overall in the 1976 Dutch Cup, it withdrew from the Dutch league.

Tardif had planned on returning to Trois-Rivières after two seasons in Belgium, until a former teammate from UQTR recommended him to Chamonix HC who sought to fill their vacancy for a foreign-born player. In the early 1980s, Tardif became a naturalized citizen of France (a frequent move among foreign players at the time) in order to get around the league's stringent one-import rule, and to improve his post hockey career prospects. He won the first of two Nationale A League titles when he led Chamonix HC to its final championship in 1979.

Tardif later played five seasons with the Dragons de Rouen from 1984–85 to 1987–88, and again for the 1989–90 season. He also played for the Drakkars de Caen in the FFHG Division 1 during the 1988–89 season. He helped Rouen win its first Nationale A League title in 1990, then retired. Tardif served as the head of the hockey department at the FFSG from 2000 to 2006. In 2005, he liaised with Monique Scheier-Schneider of Tornado Luxembourg to allow the team to play in the French Division 3.

Tardif negotiated the separation of French hockey from the FFSG to establish the French Ice Hockey Federation (FFHG), with the support of IIHF president René Fasel. During his tenure with the FFHG, Tardif imposed a salary cap to prevent teams from filing for bankruptcy, and oversaw investments into expansion and upgrades of arenas in the Ligue Magnus. He also implemented a control commission for financial transparency, since multiple teams had filed for bankruptcy during the 1990s. He later led the campaign to raise financing for a national training facility, Aren'Ice. It opened in 2016 in Cergy, and serves as the home ice for the Jokers de Cergy-Pontoise in the Ligue Magnus. During the 2016 French Cup final, Tardif met with Ligue Magnus executives to reduce the number of teams in the league, and to reorganize and transition the teams from a sports association into a professional hockey team structure. He also negotiated a television contract for the league with L'Équipe 21.

French international sports Tardif was the event manager at Club France, the French house of the 2010 Olympic Village in Vancouver. He was subsequently chosen by the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF) as the head of mission for France at the Olympics during the 2014 and 2018 Winter Games. He was also a member of the French International Sports Committee , and charged with promoting Paris' bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics. After four rounds of voting, Tardif received support from the North American delegates, and defeated German Ice Hockey Federation president Franz Reindl, who was considered the favourite and was supported by the Russian federation.