IIHF reschedules Women’s World U18 Hockey Championship for June

The IIHF announced Thursday that it would be rescheduling the 2022 IIHF Women’s World U18 Hockey Championship. The tournament, which was canceled at the end of 2021 due to concerns over COVID-19, will now take place in June in the “north of the USA.”

Discussions with potential hosts are ongoing and cities and dates will be announced once they are confirmed.

The tournament, which was previously supposed to be held in January in Sweden, was canceled for the second consecutive year in December 2021. The decision was met with outrage, as many pointed out that while the IIHF had canceled the event two years in a row over COVID concerns, Men’s World Juniors was still taking place. Many women’s players critiqued the decision, including Kendall Coyne Schofield, who called it “unacceptable.”

The men’s tournament was later called off mid-tournament after several teams had to cancel games due to COVID-19 issues. Men’s World Juniors has since been rescheduled for August in Alberta, with a complete tournament restart.

In the announcement, IIHF president Luc Tardif said that while Swedish organizers were unable to make the 2022 championship work, they hope to host the U18 women’s worlds in 2023.