The schedule for the 2020 IIHF World Championship was today announced for the tournament taking place in Lausanne and Zรผrich, Switzerland, returning to the nation for the first time since Bern and Kloten hosted in 2009.
Group A, which will meet in Lausanne, sees last year’s Silver medalists Canada paired up with powerhouses Sweden and Czechia, rounded out by Germany, Slovakia, Denmark, Great Britain and Belarus, promoted from Division IA in 2019. Canada, who finished second, the Czechs, who finished fourth, and the Swedes, whose bid for a three-peat was upended by the eventual champs, will all be looking to make an impact and gain a high medal round seed to redeem themselves, while Germany will look to continue their surprising climb. The likes of the Danes and Slovaks will look to play spoiler, while the Brits will try to spoil another team’s return to Division IA, likely meeting Belarus with Top Division survival on the line.
Group B, which will play in Zรผrich, features the defending champ Finns, bronze medalist Russians and host Swiss, with the United States, Norway, Latvia, Italy and newly-promoted Kazakhstan completing the group. Finland, who has been dominating international hockey on all levels, particularly in 2019, will be the favourites to take the group, even in spite of not having NHL star power in 2019’s iteration, with Russia looking for vengeance for their Semifinal loss to theย Leijonat. The Swiss will look to impress on home ice and capture some of their 2018 Silver magic, and the Americans will look to once and for all end theirย Gold-less streak, which dates back to 1933. Norway and Latvia will look to surprise, while the Division IA elimination game will likely come down to Kazakhstan looking to remain in the Top Division at the expense of Italy.
The tournament schedule is as follows:
GROUP A (Lausanne) ๐ง๐พ ๐จ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฟ ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ช ๐ธ๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ช |
GROUP B (Zรผrich) ๐ซ๐ฎ ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฐ๐ฟ ๐ฑ๐ป ๐ณ๐ด ๐ท๐บ ๐จ๐ญ ๐บ๐ธ |
Friday, 08 May | |
๐จ๐ฆ Canada vs. Germany ๐ฉ๐ช ๐จ๐ฟ Czechia vs. Sweden ๐ธ๐ช |
๐ซ๐ฎ Finland vs. United States ๐บ๐ธ ๐ท๐บ Russia vs. Switzerland ๐จ๐ญ |
Saturday, 09 May |
|
๐ฉ๐ช Germany vs. Great Britain ๐ฌ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ฐ Denmark vs. Slovakia ๐ธ๐ฐ ๐ง๐พ Belarus vs. Czechia ๐จ๐ฟ |
๐ฎ๐น Italy vs. United States ๐บ๐ธ ๐ฑ๐ป Latvia vs. Norway ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฟ Kazakhstan vs. Switzerland ๐จ๐ญ |
Sunday, 10 May | |
๐ฌ๐ง Great Britain vs. Slovakia ๐ธ๐ฐ ๐จ๐ฆ Canada vs. Denmark ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ง๐พ Belarus vs. Sweden ๐ธ๐ช |
๐ณ๐ด Norway vs. Russia ๐ท๐บ ๐ฐ๐ฟ Kazakhstan vs. Latvia ๐ฑ๐ป ๐ซ๐ฎ Finland vs. Italy ๐ฎ๐น |
Monday, 11 May | |
๐จ๐ฆ Canada vs. Czechia ๐จ๐ฟ ๐ฉ๐ช Germany vs. Sweden ๐ธ๐ช |
๐ท๐บ Russia vs. United States ๐บ๐ธ ๐ซ๐ฎ Finland vs. Switzerland ๐จ๐ญ |
Tuesday, 12 May | |
๐ฉ๐ฐ Denmark vs. Great Britain ๐ฌ๐ง ๐ง๐พ Belarus vs. Slovakia ๐ธ๐ฐ |
๐ฐ๐ฟ Kazakhstan vs. Norway ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฎ๐น Italy vs. Latvia ๐ฑ๐ป |
Wednesday, 13 May | |
๐จ๐ฟ Czechia vs. Great Britain ๐ฌ๐ง ๐ง๐พ Belarus vs. Canada ๐จ๐ฆ |
๐ฐ๐ฟ Kazakhstan vs. United States ๐บ๐ธ ๐ฎ๐น Italy vs. Russia ๐ท๐บ |
Thursday, 14 May |
|
๐ฉ๐ฐ Denmark vs. Germany ๐ฉ๐ช ๐ธ๐ฐ Slovakia vs. Sweden ๐ธ๐ช |
๐ณ๐ด Norway vs. Switzerland ๐จ๐ญ ๐ซ๐ฎ Finland vs. Latvia ๐ฑ๐ป |
Friday, 15 May | |
๐ง๐พ Belarus vs. Germany ๐ฉ๐ช ๐จ๐ฆ Canada vs. Great Britain ๐ฌ๐ง |
๐ฐ๐ฟ Kazakhstan vs. Russia ๐ท๐บ ๐ฎ๐น Italy vs. Switzerland ๐จ๐ญ |
Saturday, 16 May | |
๐ง๐พ Belarus vs. Denmark ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐จ๐ฆ Canada vs. Sweden ๐ธ๐ช ๐จ๐ฟ Czechia vs. Slovakia ๐ธ๐ฐ |
๐ฑ๐ป Latvia vs. United States ๐บ๐ธ ๐ฎ๐น Italy vs. Norway ๐ณ๐ด ๐ซ๐ฎ Finland vs. Russia ๐ท๐บ |
Sunday, 17 May | |
๐ฌ๐ง Great Britain vs. Sweden ๐ธ๐ช ๐ฉ๐ช Germany vs. Slovakia ๐ธ๐ฐ |
๐ซ๐ฎ Finland vs. Kazakhstan ๐ฐ๐ฟ ๐ฑ๐ป Latvia vs. Switzerland ๐จ๐ญ |
Monday, 18 May | |
๐ง๐พ Belarus vs. Great Britain ๐ฌ๐ง ๐จ๐ฟ Czechia vs. Denmark ๐ฉ๐ฐ |
๐ฎ๐น Italy vs. Kazakhstan ๐ฐ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ด Norway vs. United States ๐บ๐ธ |
Tuesday, 19 May | |
๐จ๐ฆ Canada vs. Slovakia ๐ธ๐ฐ ๐จ๐ฟ Czechia vs. Germany ๐ฉ๐ช ๐ฉ๐ฐ Denmark vs. Sweden ๐ธ๐ช |
๐ฑ๐ป Latvia vs. Russia ๐ท๐บ ๐ซ๐ฎ Finland vs. Norway ๐ณ๐ด ๐จ๐ญ Switzerland vs. United States ๐บ๐ธ |
Thursday, 21 May | |
Quarterfinal #1 Quarterfinal #3 |
Quarterfinal #2 Quarterfinal #4 |
Saturday, 23 May | |
Semifinal #1 Semifinal #2 |
|
Sunday, 24 May | |
Goldย Medal Game Bronze Medal Game |
The IHLC champion will certainly be established during the 2020 Euro Hockey Challenge, as the title enters the Euro Hockey Tour circuit this November by virtue of Finland winning the 2019 Worlds. Whether it stays with the “core four” of the Tour, or goes to a non-traditional champion to bring the title into Switzerland will be anyone’s guess!
Photo Credit: 2019 World Championship – IIHF – HHOF – IOC