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IIHF planning Women’s U18s in June, World Junior Championship in August

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BUFFALO, NY - DECEMBER 31: The IIHF logo on the corner boards before the 2011 IIHF World U20 Championship game between Slovakia and Finland on December 31, 2010 at HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)

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The IIHF has announced that the Women’s World U18 Championship and men’s World Junior Championship have been rescheduled for this coming summer. Both events will take place in North America

The WWU18s was set to take place in January in Sweden but was canceled for a second consecutive year due to COVID-19 concerns. While Swedish hockey officials hope to host the event in 2023, this summer’s tournament will be played “in June in the north of the USA,” according to IIHF president Luc Tardif.

Dates and a location is still being worked on.

2022 WJC back to Alberta

The IIHF started the 2022 World Junior Championship, but after 12 games the tournament was postponed due to COVID-19 affecting teams and the schedule.

When the tournament takes place in August back in Edmonton and Red Deer, it will be restarted and not resumed from where things left off. That means new rosters, which makes things interesting for players like Owen Power, Mason McTavish, Cole Perfetti, and Jake Sanderson, among others. Would their NHL teams release them to play or prefer they continue preparing for the 2022-23 season?

“We are talking with all participants and are negotiating on details. It will be after the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. It will be a hockey festival and the teams are excited to do it,” said Tardif.

One other detail is that relegation will possibly be back after not originally being part of the format for the tournament back in December.

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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.