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2023 IIHF World Junior Championship begins Dec. 26 in Moncton, Halifax

The 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship is scheduled to begin Dec. 26 with four games split between Moncton, New Brunswick and Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The tournament will run until Jan. 5, 2023.

The United States begins play against Latvia on Dec. 26, while Canada, which won the 2022 WJC, will face Czechia. Canada defeated Finland 3-2 in overtime in the championship game at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Aug. 20. No team has won consecutive tournaments since Canada won five straight from 2005-09.

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Ten teams will play in the WJC. The U.S. will be in Group B for the preliminary round at Avenir Centre in Moncton, along with Finland, Switzerland, Slovakia and Latvia. Group A consists of Canada, Sweden, Czechia, Germany and Austria at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax.

Russia remains banned from international play because of its invasion of Ukraine.

The top four teams in each group advance to the quarterfinals, which will be held Jan. 2. The semifinals are Jan. 4 in Halifax, and the championship and third-place games will be Jan. 5 in Halifax. A best-of-3 relegation round will also be held during the WJC playoff rounds.

IIHF 2023 STREAMING CHANNELS

In 2020, the IIHF Ice Hockey Championship was supposed to be hosted from 8 to 24 May 2020 by Switzerland, but the event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last year, a lot of fans around the world were excited to see the return of the historic championship. The tournament is quite popular and has reached a global state ever since its inception in 1930 as an individual championship.

In fact, the 2019 tournament that was hosted in Slovakia reached a cumulative audience of over 1.6 billion, which shows how big the championship is across the globe.

This popularity is all thanks to the dozens of official broadcasters the sport has. However, each and every single channel is restricted to its own region.

Streaming services/websites apply geo-blocking to protect their content. That’s mainly for copyright reasons.

When the U.S. National Junior Team’s preliminary roster was announced, 10 of the 32 players selected are defenseman, while four were goaltenders. USA Hockey’s decision makers will have to cut one goaltender and three defensemen from their invite list to get down to the numbers required for the tournament. The expectation is USA will have 13 forwards, seven defensemen and three goaltenders on its roster.

The decisions for the U.S. will be challenging as there are a lot of similarities among the group. Only three of the 10 defensemen right shots and three that are 6-feet or taller. This might be the smallest defense corps the U.S. has brought to a World Junior Championship. Size certainly isn’t everything, but it is a notable factor in this team’s roster construction and could come into play against bigger teams like Canada in the latter stages of the tournament.

Beyond the size, however, a lot of these defensemen play very similarly. This is a very skilled, puck-moving group with a lot of guys that want to have the puck a lot. There might be a few redundancies on the roster, but this is the group that the player pool dictated. There aren’t a lot of strong arguments you can make for anyone else beyond that they might be bigger. The U.S. didn’t leave skill on the table here, which is a good thing.

The goaltending position is one that might have kept the decisionmakers up at night. They have guys that can do the job, but it’s not going to be considered a team strength. Kaidan Mbereko looks poised to be the starter again, while Trey Augustine looks like a good bet to get some games and be the No. 2. After that, Tyler Muszelik and Andrew Oke will have to battle it out for the No. 3 spot.

Read More >> 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship – Team USA World Juniors Live

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IIHF World Junior Championship 2022 Schedule Announced

Hockey Canada and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) have released the schedule for the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship, which is set to take place Dec. 26, 2022-Jan. 5, 2023 in Moncton and Halifax.

Last month, it was announced that Scotiabank Centre in Halifax will host Group A, featuring Canada, Sweden, Czechia, Germany and Austria. Avenir Centre in Moncton will see the United States, Finland, Switzerland, Slovakia and Latvia compete in Group B.

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How to watch 2022 World Juniors on TV, live-stream

​TV channel (Canada): TSN

Live stream : TSN.ca, TSN app

TV channel: NHL Network

Live stream: https://u20icehockeylive.com/

The 2023 World Juniors will be an unforgettable celebration of hockey across the Maritimes, and we cannot wait to drop the puck on Boxing Day,” said Dean McIntosh, vice-president of events and properties with Hockey Canada. “From the opening-day matchups to the rivalry games on New Year’s Eve, this year’s schedule is extremely competitive and will showcase the best under-20 hockey players in the world in a return to the tournament’s traditional holiday format.

After winning a silver medal at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship, Finland will open the 2023 event against Switzerland in Moncton at 11 a.m. ET/12 p.m. AT on Dec. 26, the first of 20 preliminary-round games split between the two host cities.

2023 WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE

Dec. 26

Finland vs. Switzerland, Avenir Centre, 11 a.m. ET

Sweden vs. Austria, Scotiabank Centre, 1:30 p.m. ET

Latvia vs. United States, Avenir Centre, 4 p.m. ET

Czechia vs. Canada, Scotiabank Centre, 6:30 p.m. ET

Dec. 27

Finland vs. Slovakia, Avenir Centre, 11 a.m. ET

Germany vs. Sweden, Scotiabank Centre, 1:30 p.m. ET

Switzerland vs. Latvia, Avenir Centre, 4 p.m. ET

Austria vs. Czechia, Scotiabank Centre, 6:30 p.m. ET

Dec. 28

Slovakia vs. United States, Avenir Centre, 4 p.m. ET

Canada vs. Germany, Scotiabank Centre, 6:30 p.m. ET

Dec. 29

Latvia vs. Finland, Avenir Centre, 11 a.m. ET

Sweden vs. Czechia, Scotiabank Centre, 1:30 p.m. ET

United States vs. Switzerland, Avenir Centre, 4 p.m. ET

Austria vs. Canada, Scotiabank Centre, 6:30 p.m. ET

Dec. 30

Slovakia vs. Latvia, Avenir Centre, 1:30 p.m. ET

Germany vs. Austria, Scotiabank Centre, 4 p.m. ET

Dec. 31

Switzerland vs. Slovakia, Avenir Centre, 11 a.m. ET

Czechia vs. Germany, Scotiabank Centre, 1:30 p.m. ET

United States vs. Finland, Avenir Centre, 4 p.m. ET

Canada vs. Sweden, Scotiabank Centre, 6:30 p.m. ET

Jan. 2

Relegation Round (Game 1), Scotiabank Centre, 9:30 a.m. ET

Quarterfinal 1, Avenir Centre, 11 a.m. ET

Quarterfinal 2, Scotiabank Centre, 1:30 p.m. ET

Quarterfinal 3, Avenir Centre, 4 p.m. ET

Quarterfinal 4, Scotiabank Centre, 6:30 p.m. ET

Jan. 4 (Scotiabank Centre)

Relegation Round (Game 2), 11 a.m. ET

Semifinal 1, 2:30 p.m. ET

Semifinal 2, 6:30 p.m. ET

Jan. 5 (Scotiabank Centre)

Relegation Round (Game 3, if necessary), 11 a.m. ET

Third-place game, 2:30 p.m. ET

Championship game, 6:30 p.m. ET

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IIHF bans Russia and Belarus tournaments 'until further notice'; Russia dropped as 2023 world junior hosts

The International Ice Hockey Federation banned Russia and Belarus from tournaments "until further notice" on Monday in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Russia will also no longer host the 2023 World Junior Championship, set to begin in December. A new host will be determined in the coming months.

The suspension applies to Russian and Belarusian national teams and clubs in every age category at IIHF competitions, the federation said. The IIHF noted six competitions between March and September in which the moratorium will apply:

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2022 Men's World Championship (May): ROC and Belarus would not participate

2022 Women's World Championship (August-September): ROC would not participate

2022 World Junior Championship (dates TBA): Russia's U20 team would not participate

2022 Men's U18 World Championship (April-May): Russia and Belarus' U18 teams would not participate

2022 Women's U18 World Championship (dates TBA): Russia's U18 team would not participate

2022 Continental Cup (March): Belarus club team HK Gomel would not participate

The IIHF did not announce a cutoff date for the countries to be reinstated. Russia is slated to host the 2023 Men's World Championship, which begins May 5, 2023, in St. Petersburg. The IIHF did not announce a change to that tournament on Monday. SKA St. Petersburg is building a 21,500-capacity arena with a planned opening in time for the tournament.

“The IIHF is not a political entity and cannot influence the decisions being taken over the war in Ukraine,” IIHF president Luc Tardif said in a statement. “We nevertheless have a duty of care to all of our members and participants and must therefore do all we can to ensure that we are able to operate our events in a safe environment for all teams taking part in the IIHF World Championship program.”

“We were incredibly shocked to see the images that have come out of Ukraine. I have been in close contact with members of the Ice Hockey Federation of Ukraine and we hope for all Ukrainians that this conflict can be resolved in a peaceful way and without the need for further violence.”

The invasion has led to reactions from members of the hockey community, including Wayne Gretzky, who called for Russia to be removed from this summer's rescheduled World Junior Championship tournament in Alberta while on-air with TNT.

"I think international hockey should say we’re not going to let them play in the world junior hockey tournament," Gretzky said. "I think we got to, as Canadians, take that stance since the games are going to be played in Edmonton."

USA Hockey released a statement in support of the IIHF's decision. "The actions of Vladimir Putin and the support from Belarusian government officials, are beyond reprehensible," the federation said.

Hockey Canada released a statement supporting the IIHF's decision. It also is prohibiting Russia's participation in events held in Canada that do not fall under the IIHF's jurisdiction, including the Hlinka Gretzky Cup scheduled for Alberta this upcoming summer. “While this is a humanitarian crisis that goes beyond sports, we also stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian hockey family and all those impacted around the world,” the federation said.

Other sporting federations have already imposed sanctions on Russian teams. FIFA suspended Russia from competing in international games until further notice. UEFA also moved the Champions League final from St. Petersburg to Paris and suspended Russian club Spartak Moscow from European competition. The governing bodies of skiing and Formula One pulled upcoming races from Russia.

The International Olympic Committee requested sports federations not invite Russian or Belarusian athletes and officials to participate in international competition, and to cancel or move all events planned to take place in Russia or Belarus.

Read More>> Pre-tournament schedule announced for 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship