IIHF plans to play 2022 World Juniors in August, Women’s U18 World Championships in June

IIHF President Luc Tardif and IIHF Council members Petr Briza and Zsuzsanna Kolbenheyer met with the media on Thursday morning in Beijing to discuss the 2022 Olympic Winter Games and other international ice hockey-related topics.

Among the key updates from the media availability was the IIHF’s plan to reschedule a pair of events that were canceled earlier due to COVID-19 — the 2022 World Junior Championships and the U18 Women’s World Championship.

The 2022 World Juniors were being held in Edmonton and Red Deer but only three days’ worth of games were played before the tournament was shut down due to multiple positive COVID-19 cases. Tardif said that the World Juniors will start from scratch in August in Alberta, shortly after the Hlinka Gretzky Cup is played.

“We are talking with all participants and are negotiating on details,” Tardif said. “It will be after the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. It will be a hockey festival and the teams are excited to do it.”

Playing the World Juniors in August could present a challenge for some players who are going to be attending NHL training camps in September. It also means that these top prospects won’t have a chance to play the World Juniors before their NHL draft class, which is scheduled for June.

The U18 Women’s World Championships were scheduled for January in Swedish cities Linkoping and Mjolby but will be rescheduled for June in the United States. Tardif said that discussions with potential hosts are ongoing and that Sweden will have a chance to host the tournament in 2023 instead.

The U18 Women’s tournament was canceled in back-to-back years due to COVID-19 and hasn’t been played since January of 2020 in Slovakia.