New Cities Emerge

You may be aware that the IIHF Men's World Hockey Championship is played in Europe. It makes sense for this as most of the teams are from Europe, but also because most NHL rinks are in use during the month of May for a variety of things including the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Since the IIHF likes to announce host cities well ahead of their time of hosting the event, having question marks about where teams will play wouldn't work well when it comes to rinks and hotels. Because of these reasons, having the tournament in Europe works best, and it seems to do very well in traditional hockey markets like Stockholm, Berlin, Prague, and Helsinki. The only problem with those cities is that they have a deeper history with hockey whereas the IIHF should be looking elsewhere to continue to grow and strengthen the game in countries who are emerging on the international stage.

The 2027 IIHF Men's World Hockey Championship doesn't have a host city yet, but there are three countries who have applied to host the tournament in Germany, Kazakhstan, and Norway. Each of the countries who has applied has its strengths and drawbacks when one considers the applications, but let's take a look at which country may have the best shot at hosting from this writer's perspective.

As per the IIHF's release, it would seem that Germany is applying without releasing which cities would actually host the event. The IIHF's Martin Merk writes,

"Germany applies for the 2027 edition with venues to be announced later following the end of the national bidding process. Germany hosted the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship eight times since 1930. Most recently Germany hosted in 2017 in Cologne together with the French capital of Paris. The last time Germany hosted the event alone was in 2010 when games took place in Cologne and Mannheim, with the opening game in the football stadium of Gelsenkirchen that at that time set a world-record attendance for an ice hockey game."

Ok, so Deutschland has held the event twice in the last fifteen years which is more than both Kazakhstan and Norway combined. I'll give Germany credit in that they have amazing venues - Berlin's Mercedes-Benz Arena was built in 2008 and seats 17,000 people while Hamburg's Barclays Arena was built in 2002 and holds 16,000 people - and Germany is central for a number of nations who may be playing in the 2027 World Championship. Certainly, this application should be considered, but I'm not sure it's the best place for the 2027 edition of the tournament.

Merk chimes in on Kazakhstan's application, writing,

"Kazakhstan has never hosted a top-level IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship before but has two large facilities in its bid with the 11,400-seat Barys Arena in Astana and the 12,500-seat Almaty Arena in Almaty. The Barys Arena is home to KHL team Barys Astana and hosted the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division I Group A. At that event, the Kazakh team earned promotion to the top division and has stayed there ever since. The Almaty Arena was opened for the 2017 Winter Universiade, where they hosted the ice hockey tournaments."

The Kazakhstan application is an interesting one considering they have a brand-new facility in Almaty, they have hosted a couple of major tournaments successfully, and they have a team that is showing some mettle on the international stage. The venues aren't as large as those in Germany, but that shouldn't sway the IIHF. What may sway them, though, is that Kazakhstan isn't exactly the easiest country to visit at the moments thanks to Russia's stupidity in Ukraine. That might be the biggest drawback for Kazakhstan in hosting the 2027 version of the annual tournament.

Perhaps the most interesting of the three applicants is the one from Norway as the Norwegians seem to love their hockey despite never being seen as a hockey nation. Merk writes,

"Norway is aiming for its third top-level IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship on home ice after hosting in Oslo in 1958 and in Lillehammer, Oslo and Hamar in 1999. The 2027 bid is planned in new locations and facilities. The Norwegian Ice Hockey Association is working on the details of the bid with Baerum and Trondheim as cities. In Baerum outside of Oslo, the Telenor Arena, an indoor football stadium, could be converted into a 14,000-seat ice arena. In Trondheim, the 8,600-seat Trondheim Spektrum was built in 2019 on the site of an old sports hall."

I find Norway's application to be the one that appeals the most due to a couple of factors: time since last hosting an IIHF event and the introduction of the game into new locations that will have new facilities. Beyond that, Norway is a country whose women's team is starting to make moves in the international scene, but they need some reinforcements. While the men have made appearances at both the Olympics and the World Championships, the Norwegians need a push for both programs.

Norway, as per the IIHF, has 10,270 players registered for hockey with just 1360 of those players being women. Take nothing away from the players who are already enrolled and playing because they're doing their best, but it's hard to compete when places like Japan, Switzerland, France, and Germany have a bigger pool from whom they can choose. Great Britain's female enrolment isn't as high as Norway's is, but their total registration is higher which may explain why their men's team has seen more success recently than the Norwegians have. If the IIHF is going to gorw the game, this would be a good start.

You may see that Norway had better registration numbers overall and, specifically, in the women's game than Kazakhstan, but there a likely a number of other factors that contribute to those numbers - socioeconomics, culture, and weather, for example - that the IIHF nor the local hockey governing bodies can control. For a nothern country like Norway to be comparative in its numbers to that of neighbouring Sweden and Finland or similarly-populated Denmark, it needs to really grow its game. The IIHF exposing the game to more people there may help.

Oslo, Norway sits at or about the same line of latitude as Stockholm, Sweden, yet Norway has 49 outdoor rinks and just three indoor rinks to Sweden's 363 outdoor rinks and 34 indoor rinks. Again, Sweden is a hockey nation which no one is denying, but Norway could easily be one as well if they simply had the facilities to teach and play the game. Exposure to the game at a high level will help, but the IIHF could wield its power in bringing its resources to the Norwegian people and the Norwegian Ice Hockey Association at the same. This attacks the problem from both ends of the spectrum as it may increase enrolment, but also gives the Norwegian Ice Hockey Association additional tools to attract people to the sport.

You may disagree with me on this one, but I really hope the IIHF chooses Norway's application to host the 2027 IIHF Men's World Hockey Championship. There's a chance to really improve the game within Norway's borders both in numbers and level of play, but the IIHF has to show that it's willing to make that effort. We know the Kazakhstan team and the German team are flirting with being regulars on the top international stages in both the men's and women's game, so the IIHF should be looking to make that push with new countries now.

If you're asking, the 2023 tournament will be split between Tampere, Finland and Riga, Latvia from May 12-28, 2023. Following that, the IIHF makes stops with the Men's World Hockey Championship in Prague and Ostrava, Czechia in 2024, Stockholm, Sweden and Herning, Denmark in 2025, and Zurich and Fribourg, Switzerland in 2026. They'll likely see good crowds in those cities and venues for the action, but the game needs to reach further than the same six countries who always seem to host the tournament.

Do the right thing and invest in Norway, IIHF. You have a heckuvan opportunity with this application to make real inroads with the Norwegian people, so take the first step and award Norway the 2027 IIHF Men's World Hockey Championship. If you plant the seed today, you may be amazed with how quickly it grows into something incredible.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!