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OTTAWA, Ontario – Hockey Canada and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) have released the schedule for the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship, which is set to take place Dec. 26, 2024-Jan. 5, 2025, in Ottawa.

“In partnership with the IIHF and our incredible tournament partners, we are so excited to announce the schedule for the upcoming World Juniors in Ottawa,” said Katherine Henderson, president and chief executive officer of Hockey Canada. “It is hard to believe that puck drop is only 100 days away, and we cannot wait to see both venues packed with fans cheering on the best junior hockey players in the world this holiday season.”

In the preliminary round, Canada, the United States, Finland, Latvia and Germany will compete in Group A at Canadian Tire Centre. Sweden, Czechia, Slovakia, Switzerland and Kazakhstan will form Group B and play at TD Place.

The opening day of the tournament will feature Sweden playing Slovakia at 12 p.m. ET, the United States facing Germany at 2:30 p.m. ET, Czechia battling Switzerland at 5 p.m. ET and Canada are taking on Finland at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Following games against Latvia on Dec. 27 and Germany on Dec. 29, Canada will play the United States on Dec. 31, marking the first time that the two teams have faced each other on New Year’s Eve since the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship.

The relegation game and quarterfinals will take place on Jan. 2, before the tournament shifts exclusively to Canadian Tire Centre for the semifinals on Jan. 4 and medal games on Jan. 5.

All 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship games will be broadcast on TSN and RDS, the official broadcast partners of Hockey Canada.

“As a partner with Hockey Canada for the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship, we are thrilled to provide our members with the opportunity to participate in the World Juniors,” said Debbie Rambeau, executive director of Hockey Eastern Ontario. “The announcement of the tournament schedule is an exciting time and we look forward to announcing more community, player, coach and official activities in the coming months.”

More than 155,000 fans signed up for the 2025 World Juniors Priority Draw for a chance to purchase tournament ticket packages and access a pre-sale for single-game tickets that begins on Sept. 18.

Limited single-game ticket inventory will go on sale to the public on HockeyCanada.ca/Tickets at 10 a.m. ET on Sept. 20.

In December 2023, the Province of Ontario announced a $4 million investment for the 2025 World Juniors to benefit the planning and delivery of the event.

“Our government is proud to support the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship, and we look forward to welcoming thousands of visitors to the Ottawa area for this major international event,” said Neil Lumsden, Ontario’s minister of sport. “Fans of all ages will get the chance to watch the hockey stars of tomorrow in action, right here in Ontario – reinforcing our province’s status as a premier sport hosting destination.”

The list of communities that will host pre-tournament games, along with the pre-tournament schedule, will be announced in October.

For more information on Hockey Canada, please visit HockeyCanada.ca, or follow along on Facebook, X, Instagram and TikTok.

Source: Hockey Canada

The National Hockey League (NHL), National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA), and International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) on Friday, February 2, 2024 jointly announced plans for NHL Players to participate in the 2026 and 2030 Olympic Winter Games.

“The international composition of National Hockey League rosters is unparalleled, and NHL Players take great pride in representing their countries. We are pleased that today, after intense collaborative efforts with the NHL Players’ Association and the International Ice Hockey Federation, we can formally announce that NHL Players will participate in both the 2026 and 2030 Olympic hockey tournaments.”
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman

The Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 are scheduled to be held Feb. 6-22, 2026, in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.

It will mark the first time NHL Players compete on the Olympic stage since 2014, and sixth time overall (1998 – Nagano, Japan; 2002 – Salt Lake City, United States; 2006 – Turin, Italy; 2010 – Vancouver, Canada; 2014 – Sochi, Russia).

The host for the 2030 Olympic Winter Games is expected to be chosen later this year by the International Olympic Committee.

“For years, the players have embraced the opportunity to compete for Olympic gold, and we are excited that today’s announcement makes it a certainty for our members in the 2026 and 2030 Olympic Winter Games. We also know that hockey fans worldwide have long been anticipating the next best-on-best international competition, and now they can finally see some of their favourite players represent their countries and line up together.”
NHLPA Executive Director Marty Walsh

The NHL, NHLPA and IIHF have outlined and agreed to the major principles related to the Players’ participation, with details to be finalized over the coming months.

“This decision represents a turning point for Ice Hockey at the global level and marks the great return of the NHL Players to the Olympic Games. The IIHF was able to gather all related stakeholders at the same table to find a long-lasting and sustainable consensus, which is the backbone of what we intend to do as Sports Organizations. As prime hockey fans, the IIHF is obviously thrilled and excited about this unprecedented agreement, we are already looking forward to witnessing the Best of Ice Hockey at these upcoming Winter Olympic Games in Milano and in 2030.”
IIHF President Luc Tardif

Friday’s announcements were made at a news conference from the 2024 NHL All-Star Weekend in Toronto, Canada, attended by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, NHLPA Executive Director Marty Walsh, and IIHF President Luc Tardif.

Source: nhl.com