The 2023 IIHF Women's U18 World Championship kicks off in Sweden on January 8 and goes until January 15. Victory Press' own Nicole Haase is in Östersund to bring you on-the-ground coverage of the tournament. For more photo/video content and more details about Nicole's trip, you can follow nicolehaase14 and thevictorypress on Instagram. We will also be providing exclusive subscriber content for our top 2 subscriber tiers right here on victorypress.org.
But if you, like me, are not in Östersund for the tournament, you'll want to know how and when to watch. That's where things get a bit more complicated, and we will depend on the IIHF and Sweden for what isn't being broadcast. TSN will be showing every Group A game and all playoff games. NHL Network will at least carry the Team USA games (most likely rebroadcasting TSN's feed) but it's unclear if they will show the rest of Group A. Neither network is currently scheduled to show any of Group B. The tournament will be broadcast in Sweden on SVT, who will carry all of Sweden's games in the group stage. The knockout stage will be broadcast in full on TSN, but it's unclear if NHL Network will carry these games. For the full TSN schedule, scroll to the bottom of this page or click here (archived version).
It's disappointing that group stage play is not broadcast more comprehensively since Group B play at the top-level tournament is often very competitive in each age group. Part of what made TSN's 2022 U18 coverage so memorable last year was the completeness of the broadcast which included every game of the group stage and playoffs. Of course, being that it was in Madison, Wisconsin, it was easier and cheaper for TSN to get a broadcast crew in place. But the tournament doesn't become less important when it isn't hosted in North America, and part of the "growing the game" consistency we always hear about should be focused on the success and elevation of international tournaments, regardless of the host site, like the men's World Juniors.
Teams
Group A
- Canada
- USA
- Finland
- Sweden
Group B
- Czechia
- Slovakia
- Switzerland
- Japan
Schedule
Times given in US Eastern Standard Time (GMT-5). Local time in Östersund is GMT+1, so six hours later.
Originally, the tournament was to be a multi-site affair with games being held both in Östersund and Brunflo, a town about 11 miles southeast. But it was changed to be hosted in Östersund only after site visits by the IIHF and the Swedish Ice Hockey Association. There are two ice surfaces being used at Östersund Arena, deemed Arena A and Arena B, in the same building.
All Group A teams automatically qualify for the playoffs, with the top team 2 teams receiving a bye to the semifinals. The quarterfinals are played with the bottom 2 teams in Group A and the top 2 teams in Group B, with the winners of those games moving on to the semifinals against the two top-ranked teams. The bottom two teams in Group B (3B and 4B) play a placement series throughout the remainder of the tournament to determine which team is relegated to the lower division next year. The losers of the quarterfinal games also play a placement game to determine final rankings.
January 8
- 6:00 AM - Czechia vs. Switzerland (Group B) (Arena A)
- 8:00 AM - Slovakia vs. Japan (Group B) (Arena B)
- 10:00 AM - USA vs. Sweden (Group A) (Arena A)
- 2:00 PM - Canada vs. Finland (Group A) (Arena A)
January 9
- 6:00 AM - Japan vs. Czechia (Group B) (Arena A)
- 10:00 AM - USA vs. Finland (Group A) (Arena A)
- 12:00 PM - Slovakia vs. Switzerland (Group B) (Arena B)
- 2:00 PM - Sweden vs. Canada (Group A) (Arena A)
January 11
- 6:00 AM - Czechia vs. Slovakia (Group B) (Arena A)
- 10:00 AM - Finland vs. Sweden (Group A) (Arena A)
- 12:00 PM - Switzerland vs. Japan (Group B) (Arena B)
- 2:00 PM - Canada vs. USA (Group A) (Arena A)
January 12
- 10:00 AM - 3B vs. 4B (Arena B)
- 10:00 AM - Quarterfinal (Arena A)
- 2:00 PM - Quarterfinal (Arena A)
January 14
- 6:00 AM - Placement Game (losers of quarterfinals) (Arena A)
- 10:00 AM - Semifinal (Arena A)
- 12:00 PM - 4B vs. 3B (Arena B)
- 2:00 PM - Semifinal (Arena A)
January 15
- 8:00 AM - 3B vs. 4B (Arena B)
- 10:00 AM - Bronze medal game (Arena A)
- 2:00 PM - Gold medal game (Arena A)
We will provide regular coverage for free throughout the tournament and have some special features from Nicole behind a paywall. If you're interested, subscribe at the Premium or "Generally Doing A Pretty Good Job" level for full access to those posts. (Premium subscribers can get a t-shirt!) You can also subscribe for as little as $1 a month to support us generally. Thank you as always for your ongoing support of this coverage!
