Hockey Canada today announced that Kamloops, British Columbia would host the 2016 IIHF Women’s World Championship in April 2016, after the IIHF had awarded Canada with the tournament previously. All games will take place at the Interior Savings Centre (host of the 2014 Four Nations Cup) and the McArthur Island Sports And Event Centre, with specific dates and schedule to follow at a later date.
Kamloops, who lost the bid to host the 2013 Worlds to Canada’s capital, Ottawa, will become the seventh Canadian city to host the World Championship since its inception in 1990, and the first west-coast city to do so:
– 1990: Ottawa, Ontario
– 1997: Kitchener, Ontario
– 2000: Mississauga, Ontario
– 2004: Halifax, Nova Scotia
– 2007: Winnipeg, Manitoba
– 2013: Ottawa, Ontario
As previously mentioned, Kamloops will play host to the Four Nations Cup this coming November, to act as a good litmus test in advance of hosting the Worlds eighteen months later. It remains to be seen if either tournament will have the usual Canada-USA Gold Medal Games, or if a new contender will emerge to challenge these powerhouses for women’s hockey glory.
