2009 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships

The 2009 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships will be held in Switzerland between April 24th and May 10th, 2009. Events will be held in both Bern and Kloten. The PostFinance Arena in Bern will be renovated starting August 2007 and will accommodate an attendance of 17,000. The Eishalle Schluefweg in Kloten is going to be expanded for the 2008/09 season to a capacity of 9,000.

Switzerland gained the right to host the World Championship for the 10th time. (1928, 1935, 1939, 1948, 1953, 1961, 1971, 1990 and 1998).

Championship

The Championship comprises the top sixteen hockey nations in the world.
For the 2009 tournament, the competitors and groups are:

Group A
*ih|CAN
*ih|SVK
*ih|BLR
*ih|HUN--Promoted (after 70 years) to the Championship for the 2009 Tournament

Group B
*ih|RUS
*ih|SUI
*ih|GER
*ih|FRA

Group C
*ih|SWE
*ih|USA
*ih|LAT
*ih|AUT--Promoted (after 1 year) to the Championship for the 2009 Tournament

Group D
*ih|FIN
*ih|CZE
*ih|NOR
*ih|DEN

Division I

Twelve teams comprise Division I. They are broken into two groups, with the winner of each group gaining promotion to the World Championship pool for the following year.

2009 IIHF Division I, Group A: Host will be Vilnius, Lithuania, April 11-17, 2009

*ih|SLO--Relegated from Championship Division for the 2009 Tourney
*ih|KAZ
*ih|JPN
*ih|LTU
*ih|CRO
*ih|AUS--Promoted to Division I for the 2009 Tournament

2009 IIHF Division I, Group B: Host will be Torun, Poland, April 11-17, 2009

*ih|ITA--Relegated from Championship Division for the 2009 Tourney
*ih|UKR
*ih|POL
*ih|GBR
*ih|NED
*ih|ROM--Promoted to Division I for the 2009 Tourney

Division II

Twelve teams comprise Division II. They are also broken into two groups competing to advance into Division I.

2009 IIHF Division II, Group A: Host will be Novi Sad, Serbia, April 9-15, 2009

*ih|EST--Relegated to Division II for the 2009 Tournament
*ih|PRC
*ih|SRB
*ih|ISR
*ih|ISL
*ih|PRK--Promoted to Division II for the 2009 Tourney

2009 IIHF Division II, Group B: Host will be Sofia, Bulgaria, April 6-12, 2009

*ih|KOR--Relegated to Division II for the 2009 Tournament
*ih|BEL
*ih|Spain
*ih|MEX
*ih|BUL
*ih|RSA--Promoted to Division II for the 2009 Tourney

Division III

Division III is made up of six teams. The top two in each year’s tournament are promoted to Division II.

2009 IIHF Division II, Group B: Host will be Dunedin, New Zealand, April 10-16, 2009

*ih|NZL--Relegated to Division III for the 2009 Tourney
*ih|IRL--Relegated to Division III for the 2009 Tourney
*ih|LUX
*ih|TUR
*ih|GRE
*ih|MGL

*ih|ARM--Armenia was suspended from IIHF competitions for one year and put on a three-year probation after entering numerous ineligible players at this year’s U20 and men’s World Championship events. Armenia may not play in any of the 2008-09 season IIHF events.
*ih|BIH--According to the IIHF website, Bosnia and Herzegovina are not participating in the 2009 Division III tournament.

ee also

* The 32nd World Junior Ice Hockey Championships will be held in 2009 in Ottawa, Canada.
* The 11th World U18 Championships will be held in Fargo and Moorhead, United States.
* The 12th Women's World Ice Hockey Championships will be held in Hämeenlinna, Finland.
* The 2nd World Women's U18 Championship will be held in Füssen, Germany.

External links

* [http://www.iihfworlds2009.com/ Ice Hockey World Championships 2009 official website]