World Championships B-Pool goes to Skien, Norway in 2024

World Para Ice Hockey has announced that the 2024 World Para Ice Hockey Championships B-Pool will take place in Skien, Norway from 15-20 April next year. Hosted by the Norwegian Ice Hockey Association, six teams will compete: Norway, Germany, Sweden, Kazakhstan, Great Britain, and France.

“We are looking forward to some thrilling action at the World Championships B-Pool as Skien will host an interesting mix of teams, with emerging nations facing some of the most traditional countries in the sport,” said Michelle Laflamme, World Para Ice Hockey Manager. “It will be the first World Para Ice Hockey event to take place in Norway since the 2012 A-Pool Worlds and these national teams are sure to come out competing hard to earn spots in the A-Pool for next season.”

It will be the 10th edition of World Championships B-Pool and first time Norway will play host. The tournament will consist of round-robin games with the top two finishers advancing to the A-Pool for the following season, while the lowest finisher will be relegated to the C-Pool.

The tournament will take place at Skien Fritidspark, a multi-purpose stadium originally built in 1968 and redone in 2008 with indoor sports halls, an ice hockey rink, a large water park, and several outdoor sports facilities. It is famous for hosting the 1975 European Gymnastics Championships where Romania’s Olympic legend Nadia Comaneci had her international breakthrough.

Norway will be the top seed as the host nation after finishing in seventh place at the last World Championships A-Pool, while Germany will be No. 2 after finishing eighth. It will be the first time Norway competes in the B-Pool, having always played in the A-Pool since World Championship competition first began in 1996.

"We are very excited to host the 2024 B-pool Championships in Skien. This is a great opportunity for us to showcase our amazing sport at home ice and for our athletes to play in front of their friends and families,” said Espen Hegde, Sport Manager for Para Ice Hockey at the Norwegian Ice Hockey Association.

The host nation has a long history in hosting major Para ice hockey events, including the 1994 Paralympic Winter Games in Lillehammer and the 2012 World Championships A-Pool in Hamar.

At the most recent World Para Ice Hockey Championships B-Pool in Astana, Kazakhstan, Japan went undefeated to win gold for the first time, while Slovakia took the silver medal and Sweden claimed the bronze medal.