From one World Championship to another. Hot on the heels of the World Juniors comes the IIHF’s next event.
The Under-18 Women’s World Championship is underway in the Czech Republic.
Here are the officials for this year’s event, which runs through January 14.
Referees
- Aberg, Henna (FIN)
- Hiller, Samantha (USA)
- Ruzickova, Radka (CZE)
- Senuk, Lacey (CAN)
- Timglas, Katarina (SWE)
- Zuyeva, Yana (RUS)
Linesmen
- Andersson, Liv (SWE)
- Anex, Magali (SUI)
- Cerhitova, Magdalena (SVK)
- Fenstermacher, Jamie (USA)
- Gagnon, Stephanie (CAN)
- Girard, Charlotte (FRA)
- Heikkinen, Jenni (FIN)
- Lundgren, Jessica (SWE)
- Svobodova, Zuzana (CZE)
More on the tourney from the IIHF:
The U18 Women’s World Championship began in 2008 with eight participants, and that has remained unchanged to this year. But while the number of teams hasn’t changed since the first tournament, the format has. Group A includes the four best teams of last year’s tournament, with the first two qualifying directly to the semi-finals. In Group B, the two weakest teams will go head-to-head to remain in the top division. The four remaining teams will face off in the quarter-finals.
The group that includes the United States, Canada, Sweden and Russia will play in Zlin, while the group with the Czech Republic, Finland, Switzerland and Japan will play in Prerov, in the same arena that hosted the 2014 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship Division I.
This year’s tournament kicks off on Saturday, 7 January with two games in each city. In Zlin, the USA plays Russia, followed by Canada vs. Sweden. In Prerov, the host Czechs take on Japan, with Switzerland will face Finland later.
Each city will host one quarter-final and one semi-final game. The relegation series will take place in Prerov, while the gold medal game will be played in Zlin on Saturday, 14 January, exactly one week after the tournament starts.
