Format

The 16 teams are divided into four groups in the Preliminary Round.

 

Group A:
(Cologne)

 

Group B:
(Mannheim)

 

Group C:
(
Mannheim)

 

Group D:
(
Cologne*)

Russia

Canada

Sweden

Finland

Belarus

Switzerland

Czech Rep.

USA

Slovakia

Latvia

Norway

Germany

Kazakhstan

Italy

France

Denmark

* Opening game USA-Germany in Gelsenkirchen


  • After a single round-robin series in each group, the top three teams from each group advance to the Qualification Round while the fourth-placed team in each group moves to the Relegation Round.

  • The Qualification Round consists of two groups (E=A+D and F=B+C) with six teams each, playing a single round robin. The teams carry the points from the Preliminary Round with the teams that they played and advance with. Teams, which have played in the Preliminary Round, do not meet again in the Qualification Round.
  • The Quarterfinals will be played cross-over. The first-place team in each Qualification Round group plays the fourth-place team from the other group, while the second-place team plays the third-place team from the other Qualification Round group. 1E-4F, 2E-3F, 1F-4E, 2F-3E. The winning teams advance to the semi-finals.

  • Semi-final pairings: Winner 1E-4F vs Winner 2F-3E, Winner 1F-4E vs Winner 2E-3F.

  • The winning teams of the semi-final games advance to the gold medal game while the semi-final losing teams play for Bronze.

Relegation format

  • The four last-placed teams will continue to play in the Relegation Round. The two relegated teams will be determined by round-robin. The best two teams will return to the 2011 World Championship in Slovakia.

  • The teams promoted to the 2011 World Championship will be the the Division I winners, Austria and Slovenia.

Tie breaking formula

The tie-breaking system for two teams with the same number of points in a standing will be the game between the two teams, the winner of the game taking precedence.  

Due to the fact that the three-point system does not allow a game to end in a tie, then the following tie breaking procedure is applicable when three or more teams are tied in points in a Championship standing.

Should three or more teams be tied on points, then a tie breaking formula will be applied as follows, creating a sub-group amongst the tied teams.  This process will continue until only two teams remain tied.  The game between the two remaining tied teams would then be the determining tie-breaker as the game between these two teams could not end as a tie.

Step 1:
Taking into consideration the games between each of the tied teams, a sub-group is created applying the points awarded in the direct games amongst the tied teams from which the teams are then ranked accordingly.

Step 2:
Should the teams still remain tied then the better goal difference in the direct games amongst the tied teams will be decisive.  

Step 3:
Should the teams still remain tied then the highest number of goals scored by these teams in their direct games will be decisive

Step 4:
Should three or more teams still remain tied then the results between each of the three teams and the closest best-ranked team outside the sub-group will be applied.  In this case the tied team with the best result (1. points, 2. goal difference, 3. more goals scored) against the closest best ranked-team will take precedence
 
Step 5:
Should the teams still remain tied, then the results between each of the three teams and the next highest best-ranked team outside the sub-group will be applied.

Step 6:
Should the teams still remain tied after these five steps have been exercised then Sport considerations will be applied and the tied teams will be ranked following their 2009 IIHF World Ranking Positions.

Overtime procedure

  • In case of a tie at the end of regulation in a quarterfinal, semi-final and bronze medal game, there will be a 10-minute, sudden-death overtime period, following a three-minute intermission. The teams will defend the same goals as in the third period. The team, which scores first is the winner.

  • In the gold medal game there will be a 20-minute sudden-death overtime, following a full intermission during which the ice will be resurfaced. The teams will change ends. The team which scores first is the winner.

  • All sudden death overtime periods are played four skaters on four.

  • If no goal is scored during the sudden-death overtime, there will be game winning shot (GWS) competition ’shootout’. Each team must select three shooters to compete in the GWS. If the score is still tied after the teams have had three attempts each, the teams continue to shoot in pairings until the shooter of one team misses and the shooter of the other team scores. See Game Winning Shots Procedure.

Game Winning Shots Procedure

If no goal is scored in overtime then the Game Winning Shots procedure will apply. The following procedure will be utilised:

  • Three different shooters from each team will take alternate shots, until a decisive goal is scored.
  • If the game is still tied after three shots by each team, the GWS will continue with a tie-break shoot out by one player of each team, with a reversed shooting order. The same or new players can take the tie-break shots.


The same player can also be used for each shot by a team in the tie-break. Only the decisive goal will count in the result of the game.

Note: This GWS procedure applies for all games.

Three Point System

For all games in the Preliminary Round, Qualification Round and Relegation Round points shall be awarded as follows:

  • 3 points for the winning team at the conclusion of regulation time
  • 1 point for both teams at the conclusion of regulation time if the game is tied
  • An additional point earned for the team winning the game in a 5-minute overtime period, or the Game Winning Shots Procedure if the teams are still tied following conclusion of the overtime period
  • 0 points for the team losing the game in regulation time

Rulebook

The IIHF and its Rule Committee published the latest version of the official IIHF Rulebook, valid through the 2010 season. Below you can find the complete book in a PDF format.

 

Table of Contents

Sections 1-4

Section 5

Annexes & Signals

 

 

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