IIHF President Luc Tardif confirms 2022 World Juniors will take place in the summer

IIHF president Luc Tardif told The Athletic on Tuesday that they are going to be rescheduling the 2022 World Juniors likely to August.

Tardif added that the tournament will remain in Alberta and that dates and venues will be confirmed following the 2022 Winter Olympics.

The 2022 World Juniors were cancelled on December 29th by the IIHF after multiple positive COVID-19 tests caused three games to be forfeited.

Issues surrounding the "bubble" tournament organizers put in place were revealed by several players and staff, particularly with the teams based in Red Deer. One of the hotels that hosted a few teams reportedly held a wedding reception when players and staff were told they would not have any interactions with the general public.

As for why the IIHF is rescheduling the tournament to August, it has to do with arena and player availability. Having the World Juniors in the month of August would avoid the conclusion of the CHL season, 2022 World Championship, NHL playoffs and the NHL draft.

Tardif also confirmed that player eligibility for the rescheduled tournament will remain the same as it was in December. If a player turned 20 on or after January 1st, they would still be allowed to play in August. Some of those players include Cole Perfetti, Topi Niemela, Kaiden Guhle and Alexander Holtz, although it's unclear if any of those players would be available.

The 2022 World Junior Championship will "most likely" be moved to August," IIHF president Luc Tardif said today, after it was postponed in late December due to the mounting Omicron variant COVID-19 wave.

More ⬇️https://t.co/cGPDBPrE7h— The Athletic NHL (@TheAthleticNHL) February 1, 2022

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