The Czech organizers had the right to swap places between two adjacent teams in the standings. Petr Bříza, chairman of the organizing committee, announced that an important meeting would take place on Monday. It is after this that the composition of the groups will finally be specified.
He proposed exchanging Canada with Finland or the United States. The organizers want to attract both Canadian fans and NHL stars to Prague, which is teeming with tourist life. Let’s also add that eight years ago, players like Sidney Crosby, Claude Giroux, Taylor Hall, Brent Burns, Tyler Seguin, Nathan MacKinnon and Jason Spezza were playing in Prague. They won the championship title.
Eventually, the organizers requested that Canada be replaced by the United States. Now all interested parties must agree.
– The priority for us was to place the Czech team in Prague and the Slovak team in Ostrava. We were lucky in this regard, and we did not have to deal with such an exchange he said in a special press release Jean Cernygeneral secretary of the Czech Ice Hockey Federation.
“That’s why we were able to focus on our second priority – the participation of the Canadian team in Prague. Now we will wait 14 days for approval – added.
Czech activists also hope Poland’s return to the elite group can, among other things, help break its own World Cup attendance record. Remember that in 2015, the stands brought together a total of 741,000 fans.
Participation in Prague must be ensured not only by the hosts of the entire competition, but also by the Canadians. The Czech Ice Hockey Association is in talks with the Canadian federation.
– Our initial discussions are that if the Canadians play in our capital, we can expect the arrival of hockey stars and thus use the potential of the current world champions in the arena of Prague. he explained Jan Cerny.
2024 Elite World Championship Group Breakdown
Group A (Ostrava): United States, Germany, Sweden, Slovakia, Latvia, France, Kazakhstan, Poland.
Group B (Prague): Canada, Finland, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Denmark, Norway, Austria, Great Britain.
