The IIHF has released the full schedule for the 2016 World Championship in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, Russia, with defending champs Canada opening the tournament against their cross-border rivals the United States, while Russia aims to avenge its Silver medal finish by opening against their historical rivals Czechia.
With Canada not playing in this year’s Deutschland Cup in November, it is a strong possibility that the men’s International Hockey Lineal Championship will not be defended until this tournament (or likely in a pre-tournament exhibition game in early May), meaning the likelihood of the IHLC staying in Saint Petersburg is quite strong.
The tournament schedule is as follows:
| GROUP A (Saint Petersburg) ๐ง๐พ ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ซ๐ฎ ๐ซ๐ทย ๐ฉ๐ชย ๐ญ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฐ ๐บ๐ธ |
GROUP B (Moscow) ๐จ๐ฟ ๐ฉ๐ฐย ๐ฐ๐ฟ ๐ฑ๐ป ๐ณ๐ดย ๐ท๐บย ๐ธ๐ช ๐จ๐ญ |
| Friday, 06 May |
|
| ๐จ๐ฆ CAN vs. USA ๐บ๐ธ ๐ซ๐ฎ FIN vs. BLR ๐ง๐พ |
๐ธ๐ช SWE vs. LAT ๐ฑ๐ป ๐ท๐บ RUS vs. CZE ๐จ๐ฟ |
| Saturday, 07 May |
|
| ๐ธ๐ฐ SVK vs. HUN ๐ญ๐บ ๐ซ๐ท FRA vs. GER ๐ฉ๐ช ๐บ๐ธ USA vs. BLR ๐ง๐พ |
๐จ๐ญ SUI vs. KAZ ๐ฐ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ด NOR vs. DEN ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐จ๐ฟ CZE vs. LAT ๐ฑ๐ป |
| Sunday, 08 May |
|
| ๐จ๐ฆ CAN vs. HUN ๐ญ๐บ ๐ซ๐ฎ FINย vs. GER ๐ฉ๐ช ๐ซ๐ท FRA vs. SVK ๐ธ๐ฐ |
๐ท๐บ RUSย vs. KAZ ๐ฐ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ด NOR vs. SUI ๐จ๐ญ ๐ธ๐ช SWE vs. DEN ๐ฉ๐ฐ |
| Monday, 09 May |
|
| ๐จ๐ฆ CAN vs. BLR ๐ง๐พ ๐บ๐ธ USA vs. FIN ๐ซ๐ฎ |
๐ท๐บ RUS vs. LAT ๐ฑ๐ป ๐ธ๐ช SWE vs. CZE ๐จ๐ฟ |
| Tuesday, 10 May |
|
| ๐ธ๐ฐ SVK vs. GER ๐ฉ๐ช ๐ซ๐ท FRA vs. HUN ๐ญ๐บ |
๐จ๐ญ SUI vs. DEN ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ฟ KAZ vs. NOR ๐ณ๐ด |
| Wednesday, 11 May |
|
| ๐ธ๐ฐ SVK vs. BLR ๐ง๐พ ๐ซ๐ฎ FIN vs. HUN ๐ญ๐บ |
๐จ๐ญ SUI vs. LAT ๐ฑ๐ป ๐ธ๐ช SWE vs. KAZ ๐ฐ๐ฟ |
| Thursday, 12 May | |
| ๐บ๐ธ USA vs. FRA ๐ซ๐ท ๐จ๐ฆ CAN vs. GER ๐ฉ๐ช |
๐จ๐ฟ CZE vs. NOR ๐ณ๐ด ๐ท๐บ RUS vs. DEN ๐ฉ๐ฐ |
| Friday, 13 May | |
| ๐บ๐ธ USA vs. HUN ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ช GER vs. BLR ๐ง๐พ |
๐จ๐ฟ CZE vs. KAZ ๐ฐ๐ฟ ๐ฉ๐ฐ DEN vs. LAT ๐ฑ๐ป |
| Saturday, 14 May | |
| ๐ซ๐ฎ FIN vs. FRA ๐ซ๐ท ๐ง๐พ BLR vs. HUN ๐ญ๐บ ๐จ๐ฆ CAN vs. SVK ๐ธ๐ฐ |
๐ธ๐ช SWE vs. NOR ๐ณ๐ด ๐ท๐บ RUS vs. SUI ๐จ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ฟ KAZ vs. LAT ๐ฑ๐ป |
| Sunday, 15 May | |
| ๐บ๐ธ USA vs. GER ๐ฉ๐ช ๐ซ๐ฎ FIN vs. SVK ๐ธ๐ฐ |
๐จ๐ฟ CZE vs. DEN ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ช SWE vs. SUI ๐จ๐ญ |
| Monday, 16 May | |
| ๐จ๐ฆย CAN vs. FRA ๐ซ๐ท ๐ฉ๐ช GER vs. HUN ๐ญ๐บ |
๐ท๐บ RUS vs. NOR ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฐ DEN vs. KAZ ๐ฐ๐ฟ |
| Tuesday, 17 May | |
| ๐บ๐ธ USA vs. SVK ๐ธ๐ฐ ๐ง๐พ BLRย vs. FRA ๐ซ๐ท ๐จ๐ฆ CAN vs. FIN ๐ซ๐ฎ |
๐จ๐ฟ CZEย vs. SUI ๐จ๐ญ ๐ฑ๐ป LATย vs. NOR ๐ณ๐ด ๐ท๐บ RUS vs. SWE ๐ธ๐ช |
| Thursday, 19 May | |
| Quarterfinal: A1 vs. B4 Quarterfinal: B1ย vs.ย A4 |
Quarterfinal: A2ย vs. B3 Quarterfinal: B2ย vs.ย A3 |
| Saturday, 21 May | |
| Semifinal #1 (Moscow) | Semifinal #2 |
| Sunday, 22 May | |
| Goldย Medal Game (Moscow) | Bronze Medal Game |
Will the IHLC start the World Championship in the hands of Team Canada? Will the IHLC make it to the medal rounds and unify with the Gold Medal, or see its first Preliminary Round exit since 2010? We cannot wait to have all these answers in Russia next spring!
Photo Credit: Park Legends – IIHF – HHOF – IOC
