2012 IIHF World Championship groups announced

18 May 2011 | Henrik Lundqvist

IIHF announced the groups for the World Championship in Helsinki (Finland) and Stockholm (Sweden) that will be played May 4-20 2012.

For the first time in modern history the World Championship will be hosted by two countries. One group in Finland and one group in Sweden.

In the new format there are two groups with 8 teams. The 4 best teams in each group qualifies for the quarter finals and both eight-placed teams are relegated to Division I Group A.

Two quarter finals will be played in Helsinki and two in Stockholm. The semi finals, the bronze medal game and the final will all be played in Helsinki.

Helsinki	Stockholm
Finland	Russia
Canada	Sweden
USA	Czech Republic
Switzerland	Germany
Slovakia	Norway
Belarus	Latvia
France	Denmark
Kazakhstan	Italy

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