The schedule for the 2023 IIHF Women’s World Championship has been released, being hosted in Brampton, Ontario, Canada, with the hosts looking to “three-peat” as champions for the first time in nearly two decades.

Group A will see hosts and defending champions Canada, and their perennial rivals the United States, atop the group, but the makeup of the rest of the group looks quite different from in past. While Switzerland, a typical top-five nation, is part of the group, the more surprising squads joining them are 2022 Bronze medallists Czechia, making the top five for the first time in history, and Japan, returning to Group A for the second straight year with a fifth place finish in Denmark.

At the expense of Japan is Finland, who falls to Group B for the first time in their history, taking on border rivals Sweden, along with Germany, Hungary and France, promoted from Division IA to replace Denmark in 2023. While Finland has to be considered the favourite, whether their fall to Group B was just a one-year fluke or part of a larger problem (similar to Sweden’s shocking demotion to Division IA in 2019) remains to be seen.

The tournament schedule is as follows:

The IHLC is guaranteed to start in Group A, as the title, currently held by Canada, will face the United States on 20 and 22 February in the final two matches of the Rivalry Series, meaning either team, in the group with Switzerland, Czechia and Japan will enter Brampton with the title in tow on 05 April.

Photo Credit: 2022 Women’s World Championship – IIHF – HHOF – IOC