We will try to find out what the 2019 World Hockey Championship will be like and whether we should expect surprises and loud sensations from it in a review prepared by our sports experts.
When and where will the tournament take place?
The matches of the 83rd World Hockey Championship will take place from May 10 to May 26, 2019 in two cities of Slovakia - Bratislava and Kosice.
The Slovaks' main competitor in the competition for the right to host the championship was Switzerland, however, at the last moment, the sports officials of this country withdrew their application, deciding to postpone it to 2020.
As for the venue for the World Hockey Championship games, two ice rinks were chosen: the capital's Slovnaft Arena and the Steel Arena in Kosice. Both sports complexes are quite spacious. The first can accommodate more than 10,000 spectators, the second is designed for 8,500 fans.
Fights for bronze awards, as well as the final meeting of the two strongest teams of the tournament will take place at the Slovnaft Arena, which has repeatedly become the central venue for world-class competitions. The 2011 World Hockey Championship and the 2014 KHL All-Star Game took place within its walls.
Participants of the upcoming championship
Currently, 16 teams are guaranteed participation in the 2019 World Cup. First of all, this is the national team of Slovakia. This privilege was given to her by right of the host party. The list of other teams that will perform at the upcoming tournament was determined based on the results of the 2018 championship. Thus, at the tournament in Slovakia, fans will see: Sweden, Switzerland, USA, Russia, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Latvia, Italy, France, Norway, Austria, Denmark, Germany and the UK.
Ice Hockey World Cup Regulations
According to IIHF officials, the usual format of the World Hockey Championship will remain the same. The tournament will be attended by teams from the first division of the World Hockey Federation. All 16 national teams that will compete at the championship will be divided into two groups, within which they will have one match with each of their opponents. The teams that will take the first four lines in standings will receive the right to participate in the playoffs (1/4 finals).
It is worth paying attention to the fact that in knockout matches there is a 10-minute overtime, which will determine the winner in the event of a draw in regular time of the match. To determine the strongest in the final confrontation, teams are given a 20-minute overtime. If there is a draw in extra time, the winner of the tournament is determined by a series of shootouts.
Championship calendar
The group round games of the 2019 World Hockey Championship will be held daily from May 10 to May 21. The further match schedule will look like this:
- quarter final matches: May 23;
- 1/2 finals: May 25th;
- match for 3rd place and final: May 26th.
In total, 64 matches will be played as part of the championship, the live broadcast of which can be watched on Russian sports channels or on their official websites on the Internet.
Group stage games
Based on the results of the IIHF draw, the participants in both baskets of the upcoming championship became known. Group A will include: Canada, Finland, USA, Slovakia, Germany, Denmark, France and Great Britain. In Group B, spots in the playoffs will be contested by: Russia, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Norway, Austria, Italy, Latvia and the current world hockey champion - the Swedish national team.
Bookmakers' forecasts
According to sports analysts, the traditional favorites of the hockey championships have the highest chances of winning the 2019 world champion title. This list includes teams from Russia, Canada, the Czech Republic, the USA and Sweden. The national teams of Germany and Switzerland have quite good chances of reaching the quarter-finals of the World Cup, having demonstrated simply brilliant results in the three previous tournaments.
It is worth mentioning separately the team from Sweden, who are the current holders of the trophy. At the 2018 championship, which took place in Denmark, Rikard Grönborg's team showed themselves to be a strong and formidable opponent. At the stage of group games, the Scandinavians did not suffer a single defeat from their competitors. Latvia was defeated in the quarter finals, and semi-final match The “yellow-blues” won confident victory over the Americans, defeating them with a score of 6:0. The final match turned out to be the most difficult test of the tournament for the Swedes, however, they did not disappoint their fans here either, beating the Swiss in a shootout (3:2).
As for the Russian national team, the 82nd World Cup season did not turn out very well for our hockey players. Despite the fact that the “red machine” played group matches at its usual highest level, in the quarterfinals the domestic team was unable to overcome the resistance of the Canadians. As a result, the first match of the playoff stage was lost with a score of 4:5.
For millions of Russian fans, the team's elimination at an early stage of the championship was a real tragedy However, they do not stop believing in the success of their heroes at the tournament in Slovakia.
Summing up
Taking into account the mood and readiness of the Russian team to fight for the title of world champion in 2019, we can say with confidence that at the future championship our hockey players will demonstrate their best game and will do everything possible to please their fans with beautiful victories.
For those fans who still don’t know in which country, when and in which cities the 83rd World Hockey Championship will take place, we remind you that the championship matches will take place in Kosice and the capital of Slovakia, Bratislava, from May 10 to May 26, 2019- year
The 2019 World Hockey Championship will be the 83rd tournament, which will bring together the world's leading teams in the fight for the prestigious trophy. Recently, the competition presented has become extremely unpredictable, since the level of play of many squads is approximately the same. This means that the outcome of the confrontation is impossible to predict, and fans are in for exciting ice battles.
Where will it take place?
World Cup 2019 hockey will take place in Slovakia (the cities of Bratislava and Kosice). The date of the tournament is from May 3 to May 19. Initially, Switzerland also applied to host the championship, but sports officials from this country withdrew their application and decided to bid to host the 2020 World Championship. As a result, Slovakia was chosen as the host of the competition on an uncontested basis.
All matches of the Men's World Hockey Championship will take place at the following arenas:
- Slovnaft Arena (capacity 10,055);
- Steel Arena (8,045).
Meetings for bronze medals, as well as the final game, will take place at the Slovnaft Arena in Bratislava. Now the local Slovan, which plays in the KHL, plays home games here. The stadium has all the necessary infrastructure to host large-scale hockey events, so spectators who came to the 2019 World Championship to cheer on their favorites will certainly be satisfied.
Tournament participants
On at the moment Only the Slovak team guaranteed itself the right to take part in the competition. The final list of lucky winners who will compete for the trophy in Kosice and Bratislava will be determined at the 2018 championship. Considering high level certain teams, let’s assume that the following will perform at the tournament:
- Canada;
- Russia;
- Czech Republic;
- Sweden;
- Finland;
- Switzerland.
The rest of the hockey teams that are now part of the world elite are unlikely to seriously lay claim to victory in the competition. The main task for them will be not to be relegated to the lower division, and for this it is necessary not to fall to the last line in the standings.
World Cup regulations
The format of the 2019 World Hockey Championship, which will be held in Slovakia, will not change. All 16 teams will be divided into two subgroups, after which each team will play one game with the opponent. The first four teams advance to the playoff stage (1/4 finals). The distribution of teams occurs crosswise, that is, the first team of subgroup “A” will meet with the fourth team of subgroup “B”, the second – with the third, etc.
It is noteworthy that in knockout matches there is a 10-minute overtime (instead of 5 minutes as in group stage). In the final match, if there is a draw, there will be a 20-minute overtime. A shootout to determine the winner is only scheduled if the score is tied after extra time has elapsed.
Interesting fact: the Swiss team will not be relegated from the elite, even if it ends up in 8th place in its subgroup. It is this country that will host the 2020 World Cup, so it automatically remains in the main division for another year. In case of unsuccessful performance of the Swiss, the seventh team of the subgroup will drop to the lower division.
For many fans the question is where the Championship will be held World Hockey 2019 is no longer relevant. The only thing that occupies fans of the game on ice is determining the participants in the championship. There is not much time left until the tournament schedule and the final list of subgroups appear.
See the best goals of the Russian national team in the following video:
Particular attention is focused on the champion Olympic Games V South Korea- Russian team. Our athletes will have their first fight today. The opponent will be the French team.
Almost all tickets for the World Cup have been sold out, so the Danish capital will soon be flooded with thousands of fans. And there will probably be many of us among them; after the Olympic gold of the Russian team, many fell in love with hockey even more. Russian hockey players arrived in Copenhagen on Wednesday, two days before the start of the tournament. The team, under the leadership of new coach Ilya Vorobyov, almost immediately after arriving from Moscow, went to the ice to practice interaction between newcomers and get used to unusual conditions.
Copenhagen's Royal Arena is a huge concert hall that seats 12.5 thousand spectators. Most recently, in December, it was turned into a pool for the European Swimming Championships. But in the next three weeks, hockey will reign here - the World Championship starts today.
To say that the hall is completely ready for big hockey would be wrong. Surely the organizers will correct some specific issues as the tournament progresses. For example, many players of the Russian national team complain about the ice being too soft and stuffy - I wonder what will happen when the arena is filled with fans. However, the training conditions do not affect the team’s mood in any way.
“We tried the ice, the arena. It seems like yesterday was a little worse than today. In principle, the ice is much better today, but it still feels stuffy. But everyone will be in the same conditions, so we will prepare,” says Russian national team coach Alexey Zhamnov.
“There is always excitement, before any tournament, even before every game. We need to tune in, fight this anxiety and go out and do our job,” says Artem Anisimov.
The Russian team is not yet working in in full force- one of the heroes of the Olympics, Nikita Gusev, who had minor health problems, will fly to Copenhagen only this evening. In addition, the application will traditionally include places for NHL representatives. Alexander Ovechkin is especially welcome here. In the meantime, the fairly young team will be led by the legendary Pavel Datsyuk.
“It’s good that there are a lot of young people. Many went for the first time, and playing at this level is always a tremendous experience,” admits Vladislav Gavrikov.
The World Cup circuit is quite simple. Two groups of eight teams, four teams from each eight qualify for the playoffs based on the results of the group tournament. Our main rivals in the group: the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Sweden. Well, the Russian team opens the tournament with a match against the French. The live broadcast of this meeting will begin on Channel One today at 17:10 Moscow time.
The 2018 IIHF World Championship will be the 82nd tournament held under the auspices of the IHF. The upcoming competition will bring together the best teams on the planet, in whose ranks there are outstanding puck masters. An uncompromising fight awaits on every centimeter of the ice, spectacular goals and exciting confrontations between world hockey stars.
The 2018 Ice Hockey World Championship will be held for the first time in its history will pass in Denmark. Initially, Latvia also applied for the right to host the prestigious competition, but the IHF leadership took into account that the Baltic republic hosted this championship in 2005. According to the voting results, an overwhelming number of sports officials (95 versus 12) spoke in favor of Denmark.
All matches of the tournament will take place in two Danish cities:
- Copenhagen;
- Herning.
In the capital Copenhagen, all matches, including the final, will take place at the Royal Arena. In Herning, matches can be watched from the stands of the Boxen Arena. The maximum capacity of both stadiums is 12 thousand spectators. The start date of the 2018 World Hockey Championship was chosen as May 4. The match for 3rd place and the final will take place on May 20.
Tournament regulations
The regulations for the 2018 Ice Hockey World Championship have not changed. As before, 16 people will take part in the main hockey event on the planet best teams, which will be divided into two subgroups. The following teams will compete in subgroup “A”:
- Switzerland;
- Belarus;
- Slovakia;
- France;
- Austria;
- Sweden;
- Russia;
- Czech Republic.
The following teams were included in subgroup “B”:
- Denmark;
- Canada;
- Latvia;
- Germany;
- Norway;
- Finland;
- South Korea.
Within the subgroup, the teams will play one match against each other. For a victory in regular time, that is, in the first 60 minutes of the game, the team receives three points; the losing team does not receive any points. In the event of a draw after three periods, overtime is assigned for 5 minutes (4x4 format), and if this does not help determine the winner, then the teams will conduct a series of shootouts. The team that defeats the opponent in overtime or in shootouts gets 2 points, while the losing side gets 1 point.
Based on the results of the past matches, the four best teams advance to the playoff stage, where they will play in a criss-cross system. In other words, the first team from subgroup “A” will fight with the squad that is in fourth place in subgroup “B,” etc. The last team from each subgroup leaves the elite of world hockey and goes to the first division. In the elimination stage, if there is a draw, teams play in a 4x4 format in an additional overtime of 10 minutes (for the ¼ and ½ finals), and in the final match the overtime increases to 20 minutes. When during this time it was not possible to identify a winner, a series of shootouts is held.
Title Contenders
The World Hockey Championship, like any other competition, has its favorites and outsiders. Since the collapse of the USSR and the acquisition of sovereignty Russian Federation only four teams have won the world trophy, not counting 2002, when Slovakia broke the hegemony of the favorites. Today, the Slovaks do not have enough stars in the sky and are considered to be in the middle of the championship, and the following teams will be vying for the title in 2018:
- Russia;
- Canada;
- Sweden;
- Finland.
For the Russians, who won the trophy back in 2014, winning the championship in Denmark will be a matter of honor. At the competition that took place in 2017, the path to the title was blocked by eternal rivals - the Canadians, and in the semi-final match, after two periods, Oleg Znarok's team led with a score of 2:0, but in the end lost 2:4. Certainly the most ardent fans They regarded the third place achieved in the fight against the Finns as a failure, but experts noticed a number of positive changes. For example, the rejuvenation of the roster is carried out almost painlessly, and the players from the National Hockey League interact well with the stars. As a result, in 2018 the Russians will become one of the main contenders for the trophy.
The obvious contender for gold is Team Canada. Over the past three years, the Maple Leaves have won the trophy twice, and in the last year they were content with silver, losing in the main match of the championship to Sweden in a shootout. We can talk endlessly about the skill of the Canadian stars, but it’s better to see the game once and enjoy this amazing spectacle. When hockey players from Canada are on a roll, it is impossible to stop them, which is why they are on the list of possible winners at the upcoming championship.
The Swedish national team, winner of the last World Hockey Championship, is capable of defeating any opponent, as the Canadians can confirm. Tre Krunur have a collection of experienced players who know when to step up. The ability to vary the pace, play excellent defense and instantly release the counterattack spring is not a complete list of the advantages of the Swedish national team.
Finland on last Championship the world looked rather lackluster, but even with such a game, the “lions” reached the semi-finals. If the Finns manage to establish cooperation and strengthen the goalkeeper position, then they will have every chance of success, especially since the fans have already forgotten about the last triumph (Finland became champions in 2011).
The list of contenders for victory in the tournament will be incomplete without the USA. The American team is considered a mood team that plays attacking hockey, completely forgetting about defense. It is the defensive component that is the main reason for losses in decisive matches. In its history, the United States became the champion only once, back in 1960, so objectively it’s hardly worth expecting a repeat of this success, but the Americans may well compete for third place.
The 2018 Ice Hockey World Championship is amazing sporting event, which attracts millions of fans every year. Russians will once again be able to cheer for their favorites, ready to fight the most formidable opponents and defend the honor of their Motherland. Don't miss the start of the tournament on May 4th.
Top 15 best goals on hockey championships see the world in the following video:
The 2019 IIHF World Championship is the 83rd edition of the world championship among national hockey teams. The upcoming edition will take place from May 3 to May 19, 2019 in Slovakia. Which teams will come to the hockey world championship? What does the match calendar look like? Who is vying for the title? And what can the Russian team hope for? Let's be patient. There is very little left until hour X!
Where and when will the 2019 Ice Hockey World Championship take place?
The hockey tournament will traditionally take place in last month spring. Hockey players will challenge the awards of the 83rd edition of the World Cup from May 3 to May 19, 2019.
The host country of the 2019 Ice Hockey World Cup will be Slovakia. Ice battles will take place in Bratislava and Kosice. This is only the second World Cup for the tiny Eastern European nation. Slovakia hosted the tournament in 2011.
Elections for the host country took place in 2015. Switzerland also claimed to be the host country. But in the end, representatives of the Alpine country withdrew their application. The Swiss will get the right to host the 2020 World Cup.
Spectators will be able to watch matches of the 2019 IIHF World Championship in sports complexes Slonaft Arena and Steele Arena.
Slovnaft Arena (Bratislava)
One of the oldest sports complexes in Slovenia. It was opened back in 1940. Since then, the arena has been reconstructed more than once. The latest of these allowed the capacity to be increased to almost 14,000 seats.
This is the central SC of the championship. The final of the 2019 Ice Hockey World Championship will be held within its walls.
Steel Arena (Kosice)
A multifunctional sports and entertainment complex that can accommodate up to 9,000 spectators. Unlike the Bratislava arena, the Steel Aréna is relatively new. It was opened in 2006.
2019 IIHF World Championship game schedule
- 3 – 05.14.2019 – group stage;
- 05/16/2019 – quarterfinals;
- 05/18/2019 – semi-final;
- 05/19/2019 – final and match for 3rd place.
Participating teams
16 teams will compete for the title. Full list participants are not yet known. But with almost 100% probability, World Cup fans will see hockey players from the following countries:
- Slovakia;
- Russia;
- Sweden;
- Czech Republic;
- Switzerland;
- Canada;
- Finland;
- Germany;
- Norway.
They will be divided into groups A and B. It is likely that teams from octet A will play in Bratislava and B in Kosice.
Standings for the 2019 Ice Hockey World Cup
From year to year, hockey players from Canada, Russia, Sweden, the Czech Republic, and Finland claim first place in the final standings. The highest chances are for Russians, Canadians and Swedes. In recent years, the Czech Republic has been bringing rather weak teams to the World Championship, and the Finns are simply pathologically unlucky.
Special mention must be made about the Slovaks. The World Cup will take place in their own walls. Therefore, Slovak hockey players will be super motivated. In 2011, the Slovaks already played at the home World Cup. However, despite the rabid support of their home crowd, they could not even qualify for the playoffs. But the “Knights of Tatra” were remembered for their victory at the 2002 World Cup, silver at the World Championship in 2000 and 2012.
Our fans, of course, will watch the performance of the national team.
The Russian national team at the 2019 Hockey World Cup will be one of the leaders. The strength of the squad and the results of performances in past editions of the World Championship speak in favor of the Russians. Will the national squad live up to the hopes placed on it?!