INTERNATIONAL HOCKEY 101 2026
INTERNATIONAL HOCKEY 101 2026
We are steadily approaching the beginning of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina, Italy! Now I think it is a great time to let all of you readers in on what this international hockey window has to offer.
I started becoming a hockey fan in 2023, my roommates were all very invested in the NHL, all growing up and living in the same county as an NHL team. I watched more and more games and got myself enthralled by the sport. I also think becoming a fan of a team that wins back-to-back Stanley Cups bolsters a big help in me keeping hockey among my most watched sports.
I have always treated international sports of higher importance than club or team level. There is a level of pride that I think does not ever come through when players are trying to win league championship. Sure, some players might play with loyalty to their team, but all of them have pride in where they came from, the love for the country they call home.
In hockey, there is the International Ice Hockey Federation, or IIHF. They are your typical organization, run like FIFA or FIBA, that coordinate international tournaments and competitions. The IIHF and International Olympic Committee (IOC) have battled in the past on whether the space for a Hockey World Cup organized by the IIHF or the Winter Olympics events. Both would be slated to happen every four years. Both have their arguments, look at FIFA for example, they were able to control their own quad-annual competition meanwhile the Olympics would be for soccer’s junior scene. The result for 2026 sees the IOC take importance over the emergence of a IIHF World Cup.
2026 WINTER OLYMPICS IN MILANO CORTINA
Timeline: W: February 5-19, 2026 | M: February 11-22, 2026
I have always enjoyed watching the Olympics and rooting for Team USA. This Winter Olympics, however, will offer something that the IOC has not been able to have in quite some time. That is, the National Hockey League will terminate its all-star break and allow its players to compete for Olympic Gold. Now, one might ask why the league was not already doing so in the first place. The league had sited injury risks and overall player safety as the reasons the NHL players could not compete at the Olympics. But prior to the 2018 Winter Olympics in Sochi, NHL players were playing for Gold. In my opinion, the NHL had seen in Tokyo what having NBA talents sign on to play at the Summer Olympics means for the growth of the sport. Also worthy to mention, the NHL experimented with their ‘4 Nations’ international tournament replacing the traditional all-star festivities in 2025 and it was a MAJOR success. The IOC has global reach to broadcast their games, and I think more of those eyes would be willing to skimp out on hockey if their favorite players were absent.
We are going to have an exciting line-up of countries vying for medals! Those countries competing in the men’s tournament include gold medal favorites like Canada, the United States, Sweden and Finland, sneaky quality teams like Germany, Czechia, Slovakia, Switzerland and Denmark, and teams looking to pull off upsets like Latvia, France, and the hosts, Italy.
HOW IT WORKS:
MENS
The twelve participating nations in the men’s tournament were drawn into 3 groups of 4. Each country will get three group stage matches versus those in their drawn group.
At the end of the group stage, all teams will be ranked from 1 to 12. These ranking criteria will be based on standing in the group, number of points totals, goal difference, etc.
The knockout round is VERY similar to the modern CFP bracket. Which makes things easier for the American audience to follow. The top 4 countries will get a bye week. The knockout round will start with countries ranked 5th through 12th playing each other. The second round follows the CFP bracket formula to a tee. The best team plays the winner of the 8seed vs. 9seed game, and so on. The only difference between playoff formats is that the losers of the semifinals will play in a bronze medal game.
WOMENS
The women’s tournament is a tad different. The tournament includes ten countries instead of twelve. And it follows the traditional IIHF 10-team tournament format. That format splits the ten countries into two groups of five based on IIHF ranking.
So, the groups would look like this: Group A: Rank 1, 4, 5, 8, 9. Group B: Rank 2, 3, 6, 7, 10.
Each country will play in a similar group stage round-robin. And unlike the men’s tournament where every country plays in the knockout round. The bottom team from each group at the end of group stage play will be eliminated.
The knockout round works as follows: The quarterfinals are selected based on group seeding. So the best team in Group A, would play the fourth-place team in Group B, and so on. For example, 1A vs. 4B, 3A vs. 2B, 2A vs. 3B, 4A vs. 1B.
2026 IIHF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (SENIOR)
TIMELINE:
MENS
Top Division – May 15-31
Division 1-A – May 2-8
Division 1-B – Apr 29-May 5
Division 2-A – Apr 20-26
Division 2-B – Apr 6-12
Division 3-A&B – Apr 13-19
Division 4 – Apr 12-18
WOMENS
Top Division – Nov 6-16
Division 1-A&B – Apr 12-18
Division 2-A – Apr 13-19
Division 2-B – Mar 30-Apr 5
Division 3-A – Feb 23-Mar 1
Division 3-B – Feb 28-Mar 6
The IIHF World Championships are the premier international hockey tournament barring the Winter Olympics. The rosters for World Championships are dynamic, meaning that for the Top Division specifically, many NHL players who are eliminated from playoff contention and want to pursue a World Championship for their country at any point, can join the roster. But rosters at the top division mainly consist of the premier European professional hockey league stars, these leagues being the SHL (Sweden), the KHL (Russia), Liiga (Finland), National League (Swiss), and ELH (Czech).
Format:
The Top Division consists of 16 teams split into 2 groups of 8. The teams play 7 group stage round robin games. The top-four ranked teams of each group advance to the quarterfinals that will be played cross-over. The first-place team in each preliminary-round group plays the fourth-place team of the other group, while the second-place team plays the third-place team of the other group. 1A-4B, 2A-3B, 1B-4A, 2B-3A.
Note: The Women’s Top Division is the same 10 country group invited to the Winter Olympics. Instead of cancelling this year’s Women’s Worlds, the tournament is pushed back to November.
The top division relegation takes the overall bottom ranked two teams. The loser of the relegation game will be dropped down to the 2027 Division 1- Group A level.
Promotion and Relegation:
In Divisions 1 through 4, consists of 6 countries per group, each playing the rest of the teams. The overall points leader of the group by the end of the 5 games is crowned the winner and is promoted to the tournament above.
2026 IIHF WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS (UNDER-20)
TIMELINE:
MENS
Top Division – Dec 26, 2025-Jan 5, 2026. Sweden wins Gold Medal. Denmark relegated.
Division 1-A – Dec 7-13, 2025. Norway promoted. France relegated.
Division 1-B – Dec 8-14, 2025. Hungary promoted. Italy relegated.
Division 2-A – Jan 4-10. [South] Korea promoted. Spain relegated.
Division 2-B – Jan 18-24. Netherlands promoted. Iceland relegated.
Division 3-A – Jan 19-25. Chinese Taipei promoted. Bosnia & Herzegovina relegated.
Division 3-B – Jan 18-24. Kyrgyzstan promoted.
The IIHF World Junior Championships are the premier junior international hockey tournament. The rosters are made up of talent from the ages of 20 and under. This tournament is of significance amongst hockey fans and followers because this is seen as our first looks at NHL prospects and players not drafted battling against each other. The top performers that come out of this tournament see their draft stocks rise or show that prospects are confidently performing.
There is an added element to the world junior tournament that makes the performance in this tournament critical for all involved in the top division. The players that play on the team that gets relegated from the top division… most will age out and make their final appearances for the U20 squad; however, it leaves the next age group at a disadvantage in not being able to perform against the best of the best. You must place first out of six now playing in Division 1, Group A, and in five games, crazier things happen.
2026 IIHF U18 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
TIMELINE:
MENS
Top Division – Apr 22-May 2
Division 1-A – Apr 18-24
Division 1-B – Apr 25-May 1
Division 2-A – Apr 12-18
Division 2-B – Apr 5-11
Division 3-A – Mar 2-8
Division 3-B – Feb 13-19
WOMENS
Top Division – Jan 10-18. United States wins Gold Medal. Finland relegated.
Division 1-A – Jan 12-18. Germany promoted. Italy relegated.
Division 1-B – Jan 5-11. China promoted, Australia relegated.
Division 2-A – Jan 19-25. [South] Korea promoted. New Zealand relegated.
Division 2-B – Jan 26-Feb 1
Division 3 – Jan 29-Feb 4