The schedule for the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship has been released, returning to the originally planned hosts of Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, which was set for the 2021 tournament but instead played in a quarantine bubble only in Edmonton, in front of no fans.
The tournament will return to a Boxing Day kickoff, rather than last year’s Christmas Day start, with Finland and Germany opening the tournament, while hosts Canada will face off against Czechia and defending champions Team USA will open their title defence against Slovakia.
With relegation and promotion back on the table (as of this writing) for the 2023 tournament, it would appear that while Austria is likely to finish last in Group B, Group A will be more of a toss-up, with Switzerland’s surprising ninth-place finish last year; they will be fighting with the likes of Slovakia most likely to avoid a similar fate in 2022. Red Deer will see the usual troika of Team USA, Russia and Sweden fighting for top billing, while Group B in Edmonton will likely see Canada and Finland finish in the top two, while Germany and Czechia fight for third place to avoid Group A’s top squad in the elimination round.
The tournament schedule is as follows:
GROUP A – Red Deer ๐บ๐ธย ๐ท๐บ ๐จ๐ญ ๐ธ๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ช |
GROUP B – Edmonton ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ซ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐น ๐จ๐ฟ ๐ฉ๐ช |
Sunday, 26 December |
|
๐ท๐บ Russia vs. Sweden ๐ธ๐ช ๐ธ๐ฐ Slovakia vs. United States ๐บ๐ธ |
๐ซ๐ฎ Finland vs. Germany ๐ฉ๐ช ๐จ๐ฆ Canada vs. Czechia ๐จ๐ฟ |
Monday, 27 December |
|
๐ท๐บ Russia vs. Switzerland ๐จ๐ญ ๐ธ๐ฐ Slovakia vs. Sweden ๐ธ๐ช |
๐ฆ๐น Austria vs. Finland ๐ซ๐ฎ ๐จ๐ฟ Czechia vs. Germany ๐ฉ๐ช |
Tuesday, 28 December | |
๐จ๐ญ Switzerland vs. United States ๐บ๐ธ | ๐ฆ๐น Austria vs. Canada ๐จ๐ฆ |
Wednesday, 29 December | |
๐ท๐บ Russia vs. Slovakia ๐ธ๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ช Sweden vs. United States ๐บ๐ธ |
๐จ๐ฟ Czechia vs. Finland ๐ซ๐ฎ ๐จ๐ฆ Canada vs. Germany ๐ฉ๐ช |
Thursday, 30 December | |
๐จ๐ญ Switzerland vs. Slovakia ๐ธ๐ฐ | ๐ฆ๐น Austria vs. Czechia ๐จ๐ฟ |
Friday, 31 December | |
๐จ๐ญ Switzerland vs. Sweden ๐ธ๐ช ๐ท๐บ Russia vs. United States ๐บ๐ธ |
๐ฆ๐น Austria vs. Germany ๐ฉ๐ช ๐จ๐ฆ Canada vs. Finland ๐ซ๐ฎ |
Sunday, 02 January | |
Quarterfinal: A1 vs. B4 Quarterfinal: B1 vs. A4 |
Quarterfinal: A2 vs. B3 Quarterfinal: B2 vs. A3 |
Tuesday, 04 January | |
Semifinal #1 | Semifinal #2 |
Wednesday, 05 January | |
Gold Medal Game | Bronze Medal Game |
The IHLC will be brought to Alberta by the current defending champions the United States, who before opening their tournament against Slovakia on 26 December will likely play in one or two exhibition games, likely in Edmonton, before the Christmas holiday.ย This will determine whether the title enters through Group A or B, whether through Red Deer or Edmonton, and if it will be unified with the Gold Medal, or take a more unlikely path of being relegated to Division IA.
Photo Credit: 2021 World Junior Championshipย – IIHF – HHOF – IOC