How do you know a hockey profile is real?

Hockey players have their stats out there, and they are pretty easy for anyone to find. But think about it, that information is never written by the players themselves. When it comes to coaches, there is no public record whatsoever out there. That puts a lot of weight on the CV.

So what if players and coaches had one place where they filled out their own profiles, with the correct and relevant information they would want clubs to see? That leads us to another question, though: how can anyone know the profile is real and the information trustworthy?

Let me explain.

What it takes to know a profile is real

To actually know a hockey profile is real, two checks are needed. To be sure that the person really is who they say they are, and that the career is what it says it is, both the identity and the career have to be properly checked.

Databases and the records out there show the numbers: what has happened. What they don't tell you is what the job really was, and what that particular person actually brought, or didn't bring, to the table. They don't tell you what the ambitions and hopes are for the next career move, either. These are things that can only come from the person themselves, and that's where the self-written profile brings value. Checking the profiles is what makes them safe to trust.

What anyone can check

There are a few things anyone can check for free and with very low effort. It's so easy to find information about someone's playing record that it would be stupid to lie about it. Leagues usually publish their rosters and results, federations keep their own records, and the big stats databases cover basically every professional league in Europe.

Coaches have their CVs and references. A CV is not an easy thing to write, and it's hard to know what to emphasize to really stand out. References can be great, but word of mouth works both ways. A club doesn't necessarily call the person you'd want them to call, and one bad word from the wrong guy can be enough.

But is any of that really a check?

What actually counts, and how RINKADIA does it

On RINKADIA, it is crucial that clubs, players, coaches and agents can trust each other from the very start. To make sure we keep this promise, everyone is checked twice: first the identity, then the career. No exceptions. Verified or nothing.

Identities are verified by a third party provider against an official identity document. Clubs and agencies sign up as companies and are checked by their official registration or VAT number. After that, someone from the RINKADIA team goes through the career, and anything that doesn't add up gets questioned before the profile goes live.

The whole thing usually takes one to three business days, and until then the profile is in pending mode: no club can see it and it won't come up in any searches.

Lastly, verification doesn't have anything to do with how good someone is. It just says the person is who they say they are, and that the career is what it's claimed to be. What a club does with that is up to the club.

Registration for players and coaches opens in October 2026. The platform launches in November 2026.