IIHF determines groups for 2023 World Junior Championship

While the quarterfinals in the delayed 2022 World Juniors rage on with Finland and Sweden already moving on to the semifinals, there’s some significant news regarding next year’s tournament, set to start in just a few months. On Wednesday, the IIHF and Hockey Canada jointly released the groupings for the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship. The groupings are as follows:

Group A (Halifax): Canada, Sweden, Czechia, Germany, Austria
Group B (Moncton): United States, Finland, Switzerland, Slovakia, Latvia

As the IIHF maintains its no-relegation policy due to COVID, the groups were able to be determined on short notice prior to the conclusion of the delayed 2022 tournament. The 2023 tournament, awarded to Atlantic Canada, will see Group A play at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, NS, and Group B play at the Avenir Centre in Moncton, NB.

The federation also said that a minimum of 10 pre-tournament games will be played in various communities throughout the two provinces. The full game schedule for the tournament will be available in the coming weeks, per the release.