The championships will be held between May 10th and 26th with games in Prague and Ostrava.
Group A:
Canada
Finland
Czechia
Switzerland
Norway
Denmark
Austria
Great Britain
Group B:
Sweden
USA
Slovakia
Germany
Latvia
Poland
Kazakhstan
France
Yeah, at least six nations hardly belong at this level, but it's a way to popularize the sport and spread the gospel in new markets.
Also, in the world championships these nations (in Swedish we refer to them as blueberry nations) have a better shot to challenge the better teams than in the Olympics, when all the best players are able to participate.
I think this year could be a good one though, as it seems there will be quite a few stars attending.
Rick Nash has been named GM and Kyle Dubas assistant GM for Team Canada.
Bedard has already expressed interest in going.
Sweden will have Erik Karlsson, Rasmus Dahlin and Joel Eriksson Ek. Among others.
Hopefully Lekkerimäki can sneak into the roster, but it will probably be mostly NHLers. We'll see.
Canada's first game is against Great Britain!
Sweden has a tougher start and faces the USA right away on opening night.
https://www.iihf.com/en/events/2024/wm
