Official game plan announced – Germany kicks off against the USA
Zurich/Munich, August 09, 2016. It's all set for the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. The official schedule was announced today by the IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) and the World Cup Organizing Committee.
Here go to the official game plan.
The 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship will take place from May 5 to May 21, 2017. The tournament begins in the main venue of Cologne with Sweden against Russia, the 2016 World Championship third-place team, followed by the first game of the hosts Germany against the USA. Finland and Belarus will start the World Championship in Paris before defending champions Canada face the Czech Republic in the evening game. Team France will start the tournament on the second day with an evening game against Norway. The preliminary round ends on May 16. The bronze and gold medals will be played on Sunday, May 21 in Cologne.
World Cup Group A in Cologne consists of the team of world number two Russia, the USA, Sweden, Slovakia, Germany, Latvia, Denmark and Italy. Group B in Paris includes the current world champion Canada as well as Finland, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Belarus, Norway, France and Slovenia.
The LANXESS arena in Cologne, the main venue of the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, will host 34 matches, including Group A, two quarterfinals, two semifinals, the match for third place and the final. The AccorHotels Arena in Paris will host 30 matches, namely all Group B matches and two quarterfinals. The cities of Cologne and Paris are connected by the Thalys high-speed train, which covers the distance between the two city centers in just over three hours.
Important: The quarterfinalists from Groups A and B cross to determine the semifinalists. However, should the German team qualify for the quarter-finals, they will definitely play the evening game in Cologne. In the same way, team France will definitely play the evening game in Paris if they reach the quarter-finals. If the quarter-final pairing between Germany and France emerges from the final table of both groups, the quarter-finalists would not cross paths, but the semi-finalists would be played within the four best teams in the respective groups.
Tickets already available
Various ticket packages are currently on sale in advance, such as for the entire preliminary rounds (Group Round Package), for all games in Cologne and Paris (Venue Package), the quarter-final day package for Paris as well as final round and final weekend packages for Cologne. Day tickets will be available in the third sales phase. The start of this will be announced in the coming weeks.
World Cup tickets can be purchased online via www.iihfworlds2017.com, on www.facebook.com/iihfhockey as well as by telephone +49 (0)1806 2017 01 (0,20 €/call incl. VAT from landline networks, max. 0,60 €/call incl. VAT from mobile networks // Monday-Friday 10.00 a.m. to 19.00 p.m. and Saturday from 12.00 p.m. to 19.00 p.m.).