Game schedule, livestream announced for Gangneung 2017

The final game schedule for the 2017 World Para Ice Hockey Championships A-Pool taking place in Gangneung, South Korea, between 11-20 April has been announced alongside full live coverage.

All games from the Gangneung Hockey Centre will be shown live at Gangneung2017.com.

The full competition schedule is available at Gangneung2017.com/schedule-results.

World and Paralympic champions the USA, world silver medallists Canada, Norway, Italy, Germany, South Korea and Sweden will compete.

As well as the coveted world title, the World Championships are a crucial stop on the road to the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games.

The top five teams will advance directly to next year’s Winter Paralympics. The competition also doubles as the Test Event for PyeongChang 2018, meaning those teams will return to the same venue in their quest for Paralympic gold in under one year’s time.

Following the Opening Ceremony on 11 April, Gangneung 2017 will feature seven days of round-robin play.

Canada will get their campaign underway against European bronze medallists Norway on 12 April. On the same day, European silver medallists Italy will start their quest to improve on their best ever fifth place finish from the 2015 Worlds with a match against Sweden.

Hosts South Korea will take on Germany in the day’s late fixture.

The USA will begin their attempt to retain the world title on 13 April against Sweden. They will then play Canada on 17 April in a replay of the 2015 gold medal game in Buffalo, USA, where they beat their North American rivals 3-0.

The medal games will be contested on 20 April.

The livestream may be blocked in some territories. More information will be available at Gangneung2017.com.