Calgary 2024: All you need to know as puck drops at A-Pool Worlds in Canada

For the second consecutive year, Canada will host the World Para Ice Hockey Championships A-Pool when the puck drops on Saturday (4 May) in Calgary, the home base to Hockey Canada headquarters.

The event will run through 12 May at WinSport Arenas and will feature the top eight teams in the world: USA, Canada, Czechia, China, South Korea, Italy, Japan, and Slovakia. The tournament will be played in a round-robin format with the teams split into two groups, followed by the playoff round, culminating with the gold-medal game on 12 May.

This will mark the second consecutive and overall time the country has hosted the World Championships A-Pool. The last edition of the event was held in 2023 in Moose Jaw, Canada, where the USA continued its Para ice hockey dominance, becoming the first team to win three consecutive titles. Canada claimed silver, and Czechia took bronze with its first podium finish at the event.

In operation since 2011, WinSport Arenas houses four ice rinks inside Canada Olympic Park, a year-round sport and recreation hub for Calgary residents. The city of Calgary played host to the 1988 Olympics and serves as home to both Hockey Canada’s central office and the NHL’s Calgary Flames.

USA, ranked No. 1, owns a record six world titles and five Paralympic titles, and has not missed a World Championships podium in 24 years. There is arguably no more dominant programme in Paralympic team sports right now.

Canada, playing host to the event for the second year, is looking to end the tournament on top of the podium after three straight runner-up finishers. Canada has finished on the podium in all but one of its 12 World Championship appearances, and 12 of its 17 players return from last season’s silver-medal run.

Czechia won its first A-Pool medal last season after a surprising bronze-medal game win against China by a single goal. Previously, Czechia had four fourth-place finishes to its name. With a mix of youth and veterans Czechia is aiming to stay on the podium now.  

China only started its team in 2017, and already won gold at the World Championships B-Pool in 2021, a bronze medal on its home ice at the Beijing 2022 Paralympics, and finished fourth in its first A-Pool appearance last season. China will now look to make the podium in the A-Pool for the first time after missing out on a medal by a single goal last season.

Korea, which had bronze-medal performances at the World Championships in 2017 an 2019, finished fourth and fifth at the last two editions of the event. Seeded fifth heading into Calgary, Korea is aiming to bounce back and be the top team from Asia. 

Italy, the host of the next Paralympic Winter Games in 2026, has never finished higher than fifth or lower than seventh at the World Championships. Led by a veteran group of stars, Italy will be in search of its first semifinals appearance at a World Championships A-Pool.

Japan is returning to the A-Pool for the first time in five years after winning a gold-medal at last year’s World Championships B-Pool. Japan went undefeated at that event, outscoring its opponents 31-2, with 11 goals and six assists and is now aiming get back to the Paralympic stage after missing out on the Beijing 2022 Games.

Slovakia will make their second appearance in the A-Pool after finishing in eighth place in its debut in 2021 and then a silver medal in the B-Pool in 2023. The team now has Paralympic experience under its belt, having competed at the Beijing 2022 Games, and will be looking to return to the Paralympic stage in 2026.

The tournament will begin with Slovakia taking on USA at 10:00 local time on Saturday, followed by China vs. Korea at 13:30, Canada vs. Japan at 17:00, and Czechia vs. Italy at 20:30.