According to multiple reports, this season’s IIHF World Junior Championships will take place in the Edmonton bubble currently used by the NHL. The event will take place with no fans in attendance, and the tournament will return to Edmonton and Red Deer the following season with a crowd expected.
According to TSN, charter flights will deliver European teams to the bubble the second week of December. Once players arrive in the hub, they’ll be subject to protocols and daily testing.
The IIHF announced on Thursday that all tournaments below the U20 division will be cancelled for this season, as well as the 2021 Women’s U18 Championships and all tournaments below the U18 level on the women’s side.
“Requiring each tournament hosts to operate a competition “bubble” is not a practical request for our lower-division tournament organizers, many of whom are already stretched financially from the COVID-19 pandemic,” said IIHF President René Fasel in a statement.
“The IIHF does not have the resources necessary to properly supervise the safe operation of these tournaments so that the minimum requirements for COVID-19 health and safety can be met.”
According to the IIHF release, the men’s U18 tournament and senior tournaments are still currently scheduled for the spring of 2021.
