BRATISLAVA – On the last day of the 2011 IIHF Annual Congress, the members decided about the allocations of the 27 tournaments in the IIHF World Championship Program next year. The events will take place in four continents. The congress also approved the 2014 Olympic format.
The World Championship events of the lower divisions have been formed according to the new structure approved on May 12 and two days later the participants decided about the host organizers.
The two biggest events that had not been previously assigned were the men’s second-tier events.
Slovenia, which was relegated at this year’s World Championship in Slovakia, was elected host of the 2012 IIHF World Championship Division I Group A. Their bid won against Great Britain’s Nottingham proposal.
The event will take place in the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana. The venue will be either Hala Tivoli (same as in 2010) that will be expanded or at the newly built multifunctual Arena Stozice.
The Division I Group B – which is now one tier below the Group A with the new vertical structure – will take place in Krynica, Poland.
The hosts of three Top Division events have been known previously. The 2012 IIHF World Championship will take place in Helsinki, Finland, and Stockholm, Sweden. The U20s go to Calgary and Edmonton in the Canadian province of Alberta while the World Women’s Championship will take place in Burlington in Vermont, Unites States.
The final venues of the men’s and women’s U18 tournaments should be known within the next few weeks.
The 2012 IIHF World U18 Championship was supposed to be in Switzerland, but the Swiss wish to host the event two years later when their new national ice hockey centre opens in Winterthur. The event could potentially be moved to Denmark, which was promoted to the Top Division some weeks ago. The final decision will be announced end of May or in June.
The congress approved that the Czech Republic will organize the 2012 IIHF World Women’s U18 Championship. The city and dates will be announced at a later date.
Groups, venues and dates are listed below.
Olympic format and qualification approved
The congress approved the format of the Olympic ice hockey tournaments of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, and the qualification structure.
For the men’s events the format stays the same. The best nine teams of the 2012 IIHF Men’s World Ranking (determined after the 2012 IIHF World Championship) will be qualified directly. The remaining candidates will have to go through qualification tournaments.
Olympic men’s ice hockey tournament: Nations ranked 1-9 plus three qualifiers.
Seeding:
Group A: 1, 6, 7, 12
Group B: 2, 5, 8, 11
Group C: 3, 4, 9, 10
The eight teams with the best records (the best two teams of each group and the two teams ranked third with the best record) advance to the quarter-finals.
Final Olympic Qualification (3 tournaments, 7-10 February 2013): Nations ranked 10-18 plus the three winners from the Olympic Pre-Qualification.
Olympic Pre-Qualification (3 tournaments, 8-11 November 2012): Nations ranked 19-27 plus qualifiers from any preliminary qualification required or ranked nations 28 and higher.
Olympic women’s ice hockey tournament: Russia and the top-five other nations according to the 2012 IIHF Women’s World Ranking plus two qualifiers.
Seeding:
Group A: 1, 2, 3, 4
Group B: 5, 6, 7, 8
Note: This is the only major change as the preliminary round will take place in two tiers, as Group A will consist of teams ranked 1-4 while Group B will be comprised of teams ranked 5-8. Quarter-finals: 3A-2B & 4A-1B, semi-finals: 1A vs. winner 4A/1B, 2A vs. winner 3A/2B.
Final Olympic Qualification (2 tournaments, 7-10 February 2013): Nations ranked 7-12 plus the two winners from the Olympic Pre-Qualification.
Olympic Pre-Qualification (2 tournaments, 8-11 November 2012): Nations ranked 13-18 plus qualifiers from any preliminary qualification required or ranked nations 18 and higher.
MARTIN MERK
2012 IIHF World Championship Program
IIHF World Championship (Men)
2012 IIHF World Championship
Venues: Helsinki (Finland) & Stockholm (Sweden)
Dates: 4-20 May 2012
Groups to be determined on May 15 after the gold medal game.
Participants: Russia, Canada, Sweden, Czech Republic, Finland, USA, Switzerland, Slovakia, Germany, Belarus, Norway, Latvia, Denmark, France, Italy, Kazakhstan.
2012 IIHF World Championship Division I Group A
Venue: Ljubljana, Slovenia
Dates: 15-21 April 2012
Participants: Austria, Slovenia, Hungary, Great Britain, Japan, Ukraine
2012 IIHF World Championship Division I Group B
Venue: Krynica, Poland
Dates: 15-21 April 2012
Participants: Korea, Poland, Netherlands, Lithuania, Romania, Australia
2012 IIHF World Championship Division II Group A
Venue: Reykjavik, Iceland
Dates: 12-18 April 2012
Participants: Spain, Estonia, Croatia, New Zealand, Serbia, Iceland
2012 IIHF World Championship Division II Group B
Venue: Sofia, Bulgaria
Dates: 2-8 April 2012
Participants: Belgium, China, Mexico, Bulgaria, Israel, South Africa
2012 IIHF World Championship Division III
Venue: Erzurum, Turkey
Dates: 15-21 April 2012
Participants: DPR Korea, Ireland, Turkey, Luxembourg, Greece*, Mongolia*
* Note: Bosnia & Herzegovina and Chinese Taipei applied to enter the Division III. The fulfillment of the minimum standards for participation will be reviewed until the IIHF Semi-Annual Congress, 22-24 September, in Istanbul, Turkey. The admission of additional teams would make a Division III Qualification tournament with the two last-ranked teams seeded in Division III (Greece, Mongolia) necessary.
IIHF World U20 Championship
2012 IIHF World U20 Championship
Venue: Calgary & Edmonton, Canada
Dates: 26 December 2011 – 5 January 2012
Group A: Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Slovakia, Latvia
Group B: Canada, USA, Finland, Czech Republic, Denmark
2012 IIHF World U20 Championship Division I Group A
Venue: Germany (city TBA)
Dates: 11-17 December 2011
Participants: Norway, Germany, Slovenia, Belarus, Austria, Great Britain
2012 IIHF World U20 Championship Division I Group B
Venue: Tychy, Poland
Dates: 12-18 December 2011
Participants: Italy, Kazakhstan, Croatia, Japan, Poland, France
2012 IIHF World U20 Championship Division II Group A
Venue: Donetsk, Ukraine
Dates: 12-18 December 2011
Participants: Lithuania, Ukraine, Hungary, Netherlands, Korea, Spain
2012 IIHF World U20 Championship Division II Group B
Venue: Tallinn, Estonia
Dates: 10-16 December 2011
Participants: Romania, Belgium, Estonia, Australia, Mexico, Serbia
2012 IIHF World U20 Championship Division III
Venue: Dunedin, New Zealand
Dates: 29 December 2011 – 4 January 2012
Participants: Iceland, China, DPR Korea, Turkey, New Zealand*, Bulgaria*
* Note: Chinese Taipei applied to enter the U20 Division III. The fulfillment of the minimum standards for participation will be reviewed until the IIHF Semi-Annual Congress, 22-24 September, in Istanbul, Turkey. The admission of additional teams would make a Division III Qualification tournament with the two last-ranked teams seeded in Division III (New Zealand, Bulgaria) necessary.
IIHF World U18 Championship
2012 IIHF World U18 Championship
Venue: Switzerland or Denmark (TBC)
Dates: 12-22 April 2012 (if in Switzerland, TBC)
Group A: USA, Canada, Finland, Czech Republic, Denmark
Group B: Sweden, Russia, Germany, Switzerland, Latvia
2012 IIHF World U18 Championship Division I Group A
Venue: Piestany, Slovakia
Dates: 11-17 April 2012
Participants: Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia, Italy, Japan, France
2012 IIHF World U18 Championship Division I Group B
Venue: Hungary (city TBA)
Dates: 15-21 April 2012
Participants: Kazakhstan, Belarus, Hungary, Poland, Austria, Ukraine
2012 IIHF World U18 Championship Division II Group A
Venue: Heerenveen, Netherlands
Dates: 25-31 March 2012
Participants: Great Britain, Korea, Romania, Netherlands, Croatia, Lithuania
2012 IIHF World U18 Championship Division II Group B
Venue: Novi Sad, Serbia
Dates: 17-23 March 2012
Participants: Spain, Estonia, China, Serbia, Australia, Iceland
2012 IIHF World U18 Championship Division III Group A
Venue: Sofia, Bulgaria
Dates: 12-18 March 2012
Participants: Belgium, New Zealand, Mexico, Chinese Taipei, Bulgaria, South Africa
2012 IIHF World U18 Championship Division III Group B
Venue: Erzurum, Turkey
Dates: 11-17 March 2012
Participants: Israel, Turkey, Ireland, Mongolia, Bosnia & Herzegovina*, Hong Kong*
* Note: Bosnia & Herzegovina and Hong Kong applied to enter the U18 Division IIIB. The fulfillment of the minimum standards for participation will be reviewed until the IIHF Semi-Annual Congress, 22-24 September, in Istanbul, Turkey.
IIHF World Women’s Championship
2012 IIHF World Women’s Championship
Venue: Burlington (Vermont), USA
Dates: 7-14 April 2012 (TBC)
Group A: USA, Canada, Finland, Russia
Group B: Sweden, Switzerland, Slovakia, Germany
2012 IIHF World Women’s Championship Division I Group A
Venue: no applicant, TBD at the Semi-Annual Congress
Dates: TBA
Participants: Japan, Kazakhstan, Norway, Latvia, Austria, Czech Republic
2012 IIHF World Women’s Championship Division I Group B
Venue: Great Britain (city TBA)
Dates: TBA
Participants: China, France, Denmark, Italy, Great Britain, Netherlands
2012 IIHF World Women’s Championship Division II Group A
Venue: Slovenia (city TBA)
Dates: 25-31 March 2012
Participants: DPR Korea, Australia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, New Zealand
2012 IIHF World Women’s Championship Division II Group B
Venue: Seoul, Korea
Dates: 10-16 March 2012
Participants: Belgium, Korea, Iceland, Poland, Qualifier 1, Qualifier 2
2012 IIHF World Women’s Championship Division II Group B Qualification
Venue: Spain (city TBA)
Dates: TBA
Participants: South Africa, Spain, Bulgaria, Turkey, Ireland, Mexico*
* Note: Mexico applied to enter the Women’s Division IIB Qualification. The fulfillment of the minimum standards for participation will be reviewed until the IIHF Semi-Annual Congress, 22-24 September, in Istanbul, Turkey.
IIHF World Women’s U18 Championship
2012 IIHF World Women’s U18 Championship
Venue: Czech Republic (city TBA)
Dates: TBA
Group A: USA, Czech Republic, Sweden, Russia
Group B: Canada, Finland, Germany, Switzerland
2012 IIHF World Women’s U18 Championship Division I
Venue: France applied, TBD at the Semi-Annual Congress
Dates: TBA
Participants: Japan, Slovakia, Austria, Norway, France*, Kazakhstan*
2012 IIHF World Women’s U18 Championship Division I Qualification
Venue: no applicant, TBD at the Semi-Annual Congress
Dates: TBA
Participants: Hungary*, China*, Great Britain*, Italy*
* Note: Hungary, China, Great Britain and Italy applied to enter the Women’s U18 Division I Qualification. The fulfillment of the minimum standards for participation will be reviewed until the IIHF Semi-Annual Congress, 22-24 September, in Istanbul, Turkey, and a decision about the qualification tournament will be taken then. The admission of additional teams would make a Women’s U18 Division I Qualification tournament with the two last-ranked teams seeded in Division I (France, Kazakhstan) necessary.
