The “white-red” first got acquainted with their opponents, with whom they will face next year the elite world championships, which will be held in the Czech Republic. It is possible that Robert Kalaber’s players will face all the medalists of this year’s tournament held in Tampere and Riga in the group stage.

The World Hockey Championships, which are taking place in Finland and Latvia, have just entered the decisive phase. The semi-finals, the match for third place and the final remain to be played. Canada will face Latvia in the semi-finals on Saturday, while the United States will face Germany. After these meetings, we will know the couples who will play for the bronze medal and will face each other in the grand final.

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Next year’s elite ice hockey world championships will be held in Prague and Ostrava. Among the sixteen participants will be the Polish national team, which last competed at this level in 2002. Unofficially, it is known that “Biało-Czerwoni” will play its group matches in Ostrava.

The division into two groups results from the current classification of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). Our adversaries will be the representations of Canada or Finland as well as Sweden, Germany, Slovakia, Latvia, France and Kazakhstan.

In the second group, which will play its matches in Prague, teams from Canada or Finland and the United States, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Denmark, Norway, Austria and Great Britain will play.

The host has the right to change teams that are ranked at the same level in both groups. This is mainly related to logistical issues. And so – for example – it is possible that Kazakhstan will play in Prague, because there is a better air connection, and Austria will move to Ostrava. The Germans would also do better to play in Prague, but the Swiss are also in this situation, so here such a change is not so obvious.

– It doesn’t matter who we play against, they will be very good rivals for us anyway – Polish national team coach Robert Kalaber assessed his potential opponents.

– It would be nice to meet someone from overseas, because it would be a great opportunity for us to face a team based on players playing in the NHL league. We are going to this championship to gain valuable experience and our main objective will be to stay in the Elite. We would like to play our matches in Ostrava, because the Polish fans would be very close here, and their support during these matches will be very important for us.

The Elite Ice Hockey World Championships will be held in the Czech Republic from May 10 to 26, 2024. Live broadcasts on Telewizja Polsat sports channels.