The main IIHF ice hockey tournament is the World Championship. The championships of the planet are held annually. Each national team strives to hold the tournament with dignity and invites, if possible, all of its domestic stars, and the audience is eagerly awaiting the starting whistle of the World Cup.
The traditional Ice Hockey World Championship will take place in 2019. The upcoming world championship will be 83 in a row. The hockey country of Slovakia was chosen as the venue for the championship of the planet. Traditionally, in recent years, the matches of the world championship have been held in two cities of the host country of the tournament. This is done for the convenience of the participating teams, which are divided into two groups, each of which plays in its own city. In 2019, the hockey world championship matches will take place in the capital of Slovakia, Bratislava, and in the city of Kosice.
Ice Hockey World Championship 2019 dates
The 2019 Ice Hockey World Championship will start somewhat later than usual. In previous years, the tournament started at the beginning of May. The first matches of the upcoming championship in 2019 are scheduled for May 10. Such a late start of the World Cup will allow many teams to bring star squads to the tournament, because by the tenth, not only will the regular NHL Championship end, but also the first playoff round in the best league in the world will come to an end. And after the second round, other world hockey stars from the NHL will be able to free themselves to participate in the 2019 World Cup.
The elimination phase of the World Championship will begin on 23 May 2019. The semi-finals are scheduled for May 25, and the medal games on the 26th.
List of participants for the Ice Hockey World Championship - 2019
Sixteen teams take part in the Ice Hockey World Championship in the elite division, which are divided into two groups of eight national teams. The matches of the first stage of the tournament in Group A will be held in Kosice in the arena with a capacity of more than 8 thousand spectators. The composition of the subgroup looks very strong. First of all, the North American teams of the USA and Canada will play in Kosice. The top 6 team from Finland will be added to the leaders. In addition to these teams, the Germans will play in Group A (which will bring to the tournament a very combat-ready squad headed by the main star - Leon Dreiseitl), the hosts of the tournament are Slovaks, as well as the national teams of Denmark, France and Great Britain.
Teams from Group B will play their first seven matches in Bratislava on the main arena of the tournament, which can accommodate more than 10 thousand spectators. Among the participants in this subgroup, the national team of Russia stands out, which, according to available information, has already been strengthened by stars from the NHL, the victors of the two previous championships are the Swedes, as well as the national team of the Czech Republic. These top European teams will be accompanied by teams from Switzerland (the Swiss are expected to have a strong line-up at the upcoming world championship), Latvia, Italy and Austria.
The Ice Hockey World Championship - 2019 is expected to become the most interesting in recent years, because it is already known that many world-famous stars will come to the tournament. The teams of the USA and Canada stand out especially. The Europeans will have an impressive number of NHL players, the national teams of Sweden and Russia. The teams of Finland, Czech Republic, Germany and Switzerland can present a surprise at the tournament, if all their leaders come to these teams.
