Jim Aldred received the Johan Bollue Award for 2025 thanks to his years of work developing hockey in Portugal. On the right, Luc Tardif, President of the IIHF.
photo: © International Ice Hockey Federation / Andre Ringuette
Full-sized arenas just the start
If you build it, they will come. That is certainly the hope of Jim Aldred, the IIHF’s 2025 Johan Bollue Award winner and a leading force behind the development of hockey in Portugal, his adopted country.
Aldred moved from Toronto to Portugal many years ago and has been working hard to develop hockey in that country. But his dream is to build a regulation-size arena, a dream that is not far away, he believes.
“It’s in the works now,” he says. “I don’t know exactly when. People are talking about building rinks. I see in the near future there will be a full-size rink in Portugal. There will probably be one just outside of Lisbon, and there will be another one, we’re hoping, in Porto. But the one in Lisbon could be coming in the next eight to nine months. To develop ice hockey, you can do it on the small rink, but the game is played on an Olympic or NHL size rink, so we need one. You can’t develop the game without one.”
In the meantime, Aldred is doing what he can to promote the sport and get kids interested. He and his wife, Cristina, however, are an army of two, and it’s not always easy.
“We use word of mouth, social media, schools, show them the game, get them on the ice, and then they talk to their friends who come out. We go out to a lot of schools,” Aldred explained of his recruiting. “We have a lot more kids playing now than used to be the case. We need them to try it. It makes a big difference.”
Aldred was drafted 59th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in 1981 during the middle of a three-year career in the OHL with Kingston and Sault Ste. Marie. He played three years in the AHL and IHL and finished his career in the Netherlands, helping the Nijmegen Tigers with the championship. But he battled injuries and decided to retire in 1988 after this season in the Dutch league. After getting married, he moved to Portugal so that his wife could be closer to her aging parents.
If you build it, they will come. That is certainly the hope of Jim Aldred, the IIHF’s 2025 Johan Bollue Award winner and a leading force behind the development of hockey in Portugal, his adopted country.
Aldred moved from Toronto to Portugal many years ago and has been working hard to develop hockey in that country. But his dream is to build a regulation-size arena, a dream that is not far away, he believes.
“It’s in the works now,” he says. “I don’t know exactly when. People are talking about building rinks. I see in the near future there will be a full-size rink in Portugal. There will probably be one just outside of Lisbon, and there will be another one, we’re hoping, in Porto. But the one in Lisbon could be coming in the next eight to nine months. To develop ice hockey, you can do it on the small rink, but the game is played on an Olympic or NHL size rink, so we need one. You can’t develop the game without one.”
In the meantime, Aldred is doing what he can to promote the sport and get kids interested. He and his wife, Cristina, however, are an army of two, and it’s not always easy.
“We use word of mouth, social media, schools, show them the game, get them on the ice, and then they talk to their friends who come out. We go out to a lot of schools,” Aldred explained of his recruiting. “We have a lot more kids playing now than used to be the case. We need them to try it. It makes a big difference.”
Aldred was drafted 59th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in 1981 during the middle of a three-year career in the OHL with Kingston and Sault Ste. Marie. He played three years in the AHL and IHL and finished his career in the Netherlands, helping the Nijmegen Tigers with the championship. But he battled injuries and decided to retire in 1988 after this season in the Dutch league. After getting married, he moved to Portugal so that his wife could be closer to her aging parents.
photo: © International Ice Hockey Federation / Andre Ringuette
But Aldred was a hockey guy, and soon enough he found his way working with the Portuguese Federation to develop more players and participate in more tournaments. The national team has played in the Development Cup every year, but Aldred wants more.
“The Development Cup is great,” he continued, “but once we get a full-size rink and get more people involved, my goal is to get Portugal into the lower divisions of the IIHF tournament structure and World Championship. That’s the goal. But the only way to do that is to have a full-size ice rink.”
But it’s difficult. Without much funding, developing is hard, and without developing, well, the money doesn’t come in.
“It’s just me and my wife. She does a lot of the off-ice arranging,” he enthused. “Now we work with the Federation of Winter Sports. They help us a bit as well. And then we have other people starting to get more involved, volunteers, because the more we grow, my wife and I can’t do it all by ourselves. As soon as that first rink opens, even more people will get involved. We’ll get more coaches and referees. Right now, I also do the referees and the 3-on-3 myself. It’s coming along.”
For Aldred and his wife, though, the passion far outweighs the hardships. And it’s hockey, after all!
“I’m from Canada and played professional hockey, but I always wanted to give back to the game,” he said. “And I thought, what a place to do it. Let’s try to bring the game to Portugal.”
“The Development Cup is great,” he continued, “but once we get a full-size rink and get more people involved, my goal is to get Portugal into the lower divisions of the IIHF tournament structure and World Championship. That’s the goal. But the only way to do that is to have a full-size ice rink.”
But it’s difficult. Without much funding, developing is hard, and without developing, well, the money doesn’t come in.
“It’s just me and my wife. She does a lot of the off-ice arranging,” he enthused. “Now we work with the Federation of Winter Sports. They help us a bit as well. And then we have other people starting to get more involved, volunteers, because the more we grow, my wife and I can’t do it all by ourselves. As soon as that first rink opens, even more people will get involved. We’ll get more coaches and referees. Right now, I also do the referees and the 3-on-3 myself. It’s coming along.”
For Aldred and his wife, though, the passion far outweighs the hardships. And it’s hockey, after all!
“I’m from Canada and played professional hockey, but I always wanted to give back to the game,” he said. “And I thought, what a place to do it. Let’s try to bring the game to Portugal.”