Nadia Zijlstra (#2) of Netherlands in action in the World Women's Ice Hockey Championship Class A Group B game against Latvia at Shougang Ice Hockey Arena in Beijing, China, April 10, 2019. /CFP
The Women's Ice Hockey World Championships, which was announced canceled for the second straight year less than two weeks ago, will take place in late August, confirmed the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).
The specific dates are from August 20 to 31, but the host has not been confirmed yet. The IIHF said it's working with Hockey Canada to look for the host city. Originally Nova Scotia of Canada should be holding the 10-nation event between May 6 and 16, but it called off due to COVID-19 concerns. Nova Scotia has not said if it still can hold the Championships.
Although the participating countries – Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Russia, Switzerland and the USA – preferred to compete in September, according to IIHF president Rene Fasel, the Championships was put in August to allow the bottom, four teams, more time to prepare for the Olympic qualification tournament in November.
The previous cancellation decision was made at the last minute. According to ESPN, some players were only hours from boarding planes to travel to Canada for pre-tournament quarantine. Many were very frustrated at the cancellation.
Kayleigh Ragna Edmee Hamers (#4) of Netherlands in action in the World Women's Ice Hockey Championship Class A Group B game against Latvia at Shougang Ice Hockey Arena in Beijing, China, April 10, 2019. /CFP
"This is our Stanley Cup. Can you imagine getting to the Stanley Cup Final, and before getting on the plane, [someone] saying, 'You know what, it's canceled, and we don't know when or if it can even happen'? It's devastating. ... I almost hope young girls aren't seeing this because I don't want them to feel this," said Kendall Coyne Schofield, captain of USA, to ESPN.
"We all had been training so hard for two years now for this opportunity. We thought there was no chance it could be canceled. We had all done our seven days of isolation before we got to Nova Scotia. Then we were tested every day. For it to be robbed for us, the day before other teams fly in, it was just like, why? There was anger and frustration; why is this happening to us again? And there were no answers for us," said Canadian defenseman Renata Fast to ESPN.
Lots of female ice hockey players have been missing the real game for more than a year because of the pandemic and the transition of the women's league. That only makes this year's Championships more important because the 2022 Winter Olympics is less than one year away.