There´s more than a month to go before the opening puck-drop of this year´s Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup, but now we all know the schedule of the preliminary round. Group A in Břeclav consists of the Czechs, Finns, Russia and Team USA and the Piešťany-based Group B will see Slovakia, Canada, Switzerland and the Swedes square off with each other.
Preliminary round itself will start on August 10, but fans can head to the arenas two days before that with exhibition games held on August 8. Břeclav will see the Czechs face off against Canada at 8 pm and at the same time, USA-Slovakia game begins in Piešťany.
The preliminary round will be held from Monday to Wednesday and each of the national teams will play three games. Followed by that are either semifinals or fifth-, respectively seventh-place games. Saturday will be the pinnacle of the event with a bronze medal game and the final taking place.
The complete schedule of the tournament is available here.