Is the World Juniors canceled for 2022? Updated schedule, COVID-19 rules & more to know

The International Ice Hockey Federation has updated its 2022 World Juniors schedule.

With the rapid spread of COVID-19 in recent weeks, the IIHF announced on Sunday that all 11 pre-tournament games were canceled. The tournament, which will take place in Red Deer and Edmonton in Alberta, Canada, is still scheduled to start on time — with some additional restrictions.

Instead of having pre-tournament games begin on Dec. 19, the IIHF decided to limit all competing teams to one game starting on Thursday. The tournament is still scheduled to officially begin on Sunday, pending any last-minute surprises.

Sporting News has you covered with everything to know on the COVID-19 rules, updated 2022 World Juniors schedule and more.

United States World Juniors roster 2022: Full list of players, NHL prospects announced for Team U.S.A.

Are the World Juniors canceled for 2022?

No, only the 11 pre-tournament matchups were canceled. The IIHF will still host five matchups on Thursday, Dec. 23 before the tournament is set to start on Sunday, Dec. 26.

All players and staff from the 10 competing teams arrived in Edmonton on Dec. 13, and were required to serve a five-day quarantine period. Team Germany will remain under quarantine until Thursday after eight players tested positive for COVID-19, per the NHL. Germany’s only pre-tournament matchup will be against Slovakia, after the United States takes on Finland.

The Alberta government announced on Monday that capacity levels for all sporting venues will be limited to 50 percent. With games scheduled in both Red Deer and Edmonton, the restrictions are also reported to limit how much NHL personnel can attend the tournament.

“The event ticketing team is currently addressing the implementation of this change and will be in contact with all ticket holders by the end of the day on Thursday, Dec. 23,” Hockey Canada said in a statement. “No further ticket information is available at this time.”

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World Juniors 2022 pre-tournament schedule

The World Juniors schedule was updated to have all pre-tournament games scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 23. The United States will kick off the set of games starting with their matchup against Finland at 2 p.m. ET.

Canada World Juniors roster 2022: Full list of players, NHL prospects announced for Team Canada

When do the World Juniors start?

• Start date: Sunday, Dec. 26, 2021
• End date: Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022

While the 2021 tournament was expanded by a day due to games being held on one rink only, the 2021-22 edition is back to the normal dates of Boxing Day to Jan. 5.

The group stage, with two groups of five teams each, will span the first seven days of competition and end on New Year’s Eve. The eight surviving teams will have New Year’s Day off before returning to action for the quarterfinals on Jan. 2. The winners of those games will advance to the semifinals two days later. The bronze-medal and gold-medal games will take place Wednesday, Jan. 5.

How to watch World Juniors hockey games on TV, live stream

• ​TV channel (Canada): TSN
• Live stream (Canada): TSN.ca, TSN app
• TV channel (U.S.): NHL Network
• Live stream (U.S.): fuboTV (7-day free trial)

All 31 games of the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship will be broadcast live on TSN in Canada with French-language coverage on RDS.

NHL Network is the only place to watch the World Juniors in the United States. It will carry live coverage of Team USA along with every other game for the first time ever.

Those without cable can stream the World Juniors on TSN.ca, the TSN app or with fuboTV, which offers a seven-day free trial (U.S. only).

World Juniors schedule 2022

Sunday, Dec. 26

Monday, Dec. 27

Tuesday, Dec. 28

Wednesday, Dec. 29

Thursday, Dec. 30

Friday, Dec. 31

Sunday, Jan. 2

Tuesday, Jan. 4

Wednesday, Jan. 5

Where is the 2022 World Junior Championship?

• Location: Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta

The 2022 World Junior Championship will take place in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alta. USA Hockey will play its round-robin games at WP Centrium in Red Deer while Hockey Canada’s games and the playoffs will be at Rogers Place.

Originally, the 2022 tournament was scheduled to be held in Gothenburg, Sweden. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was shifted back to Canada for the 16th time in its history. After the lost revenue from 2021’s fanless tournament in Edmonton’s bubble, Sweden okayed swapping years with Canada. Gothenburg will now host in 2024. Russia (Omsk and Novosibirsk) is slated to host in 2023.

This year marks the fourth time Edmonton will host World Juniors games. In 1995, Canada topped the podium; in 2012, Sweden won and the Canadians finished third in Alberta’s capital; in 2021, the United States beat Canada for gold.

2022 World Junior Championship groups

Ten teams, divided into two groups of five, are participating in the 2022 World Junior Championship:

Teams will play four preliminary games apiece in a round-robin format within their group, followed by a three-round playoff.

In the group stage, teams earn three points for a regulation win, two points for an overtime win and one point for an overtime loss. The top four teams from each group advance to a cross-over quarterfinal game: 1A vs. 4B, 1B vs. 4A, 2A vs. 3B and 2B vs. 3A. Winning teams are then reseeded for the semifinals.

Teams that advance to the final day of competition (bronze-medal or gold-medal game) will play seven games total.