The IIHF World Hockey Championship begins on Friday in scenic Slovakia. The annual event pits the 16 best men’s national teams against each other for world domination – and impacts seeding for the 2022 Olympics.
Here’s a quick primer for the next few weeks of international hockey.
The teams
16 countries are participating in the Worlds, split into two groups of eight apiece:
- Group A: Canada, the United States, Finland, Germany, Slovakia, Denmark, France and Great Britain
- Group B: Sweden, Russia, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Norway, Latvia, Austria and Italy
Great Britain and Italy were promoted into this tournament after winning the Division 1 World Championship last year.