HELSINKI – The IIHF announced the groups of the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Stockholm and Helsinki.

The groups are based on the 2012 IIHF Men’s World Ranking with one minor change. Russia and the Czech Republic swap their slots between their groups to optimize the seeding for the Finnish-Swedish organizers.

According to the IIHF Bylaw 710, Article 3, “the IIHF Council shall have the option to amend the pre-tournament seeding to accommodate special requirements if a championship is organized in two countries.”

The IIHF Council decided in favour of the proposal on Sunday morning so the Preliminary Round will played in the following groups:
  <table> <tbody> <tr><td>Group STO:</td><td>Group HEL:</td></tr> <tr><td>Czech Rep. (3)</td><td>Russia (1)</td></tr> <tr><td>Sweden (4)</td><td>Finland (2)</td></tr> <tr><td>Canada (5)</td><td>Slovakia (6)</td></tr> <tr><td>Norway (8)</td><td>USA (7)</td></tr> <tr><td>Switzerland (9)</td><td>Germany (10)</td></tr> <tr><td>Denmark (12)</td><td>Latvia (11)</td></tr> <tr><td>Belarus (13)</td><td>France (14)</td></tr> <tr><td>Slovenia (18)</td><td>Austria (15)</td></tr> </tbody></table>
As part of the two-year co-hosting agreement, the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship will be held in Stockholm (Sweden) and Helsinki (Finland), 3-19 May 2013, with the semi-finals and medal games staged in Stockholm.