User:Kedarus/sandbox2

The 2008 IIHF World Championship will be held between May 2, 2008 and May 18, 2008 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The two venues will be the Halifax Metro Centre (10,595 seats) and the Colisée Pepsi (15,750 seats). It will be the 72nd annual event, and will be run by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). This will be the first time the final tournament is held in a non-European country since 1962, when it was held in Colorado, USA. The IIHF wants to celebrate the federation's 100th anniversary by holding the tournament in the country where organized ice hockey was born.

The tournament will serve as the qualifying round for the men's hockey competition at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The top nine teams in the IIHF World Rankings after Canada 2008 will be automatically qualified to Vancouver 2010.

On May 8, 2007, the IIHF announced it "will also formalize the Triple Gold Club by awarding commemorative medals to the 19 players who have won the three most prestigious championships in world hockey: Olympic gold, Stanley Cup, and World Championship gold. The ceremony will take place in Canada during the 2008 World Championship."

Preliminary Round
Sixteen participating teams have been places in the following four groups. . Top three teams in each group to advance to the Qualifying Round while the last team to compete in the relegation round.

Results
All times are local (UTC-4).

Results
All times are local (UTC-3).

Results
All times are local (UTC-3).

Results
All times are local (UTC-4).

Qualification Round
First three teams in the standings of each group of the Preliminary round advance to the Qualification round and are placed in two groups: Teams from Groups A and D to compete in Group E. Teams from Groups B and C to compete in Group F.

Each team is to play three games (one against the three teams of the other group which have been pair with their. These three games and the two games played in the Preliminary round against the two teams from the same group who had advance will count in the Qualification Round Standings.

Four first teams in both groups E and F to advance in Quarter-finals.

Results
All times are local (UTC-4).

Results
All times are local (UTC-3).

Relegation Round
Teams finishing last in all four Preliminary Round groups compete in the Relegation Round in order to determine which country will be relegated in the IIHF division I next year.

The four teams are paired in the two best-of-three series.

Series G1 - A4 vs D4
All times are local (UTC-4).

Series G2 - B4 vs C4
All times are local (UTC-3).

Quarter-finals
All times are local (Quebec: UTC-4, Halifax: UTC-3).

Semi-finals
All times local(UTC-4)

Bronze Medal Game
All times local(UTC-4)

Gold Medal Game
All times local(UTC-4)

Rules
For standing purposes, points shall be awarded as follows:
 * 3 points for a win in regulation time
 * 2 points for a win in overtime or in shootout
 * 1 point for a loss in overtime or in shootout
 * No points for a loss in regulation tme

If a game is tied after regulation time, a five-minute four-on-four sudden-death overtime session is played followed by a three-player shootout if necessary. Exceptions: Quarter finals, Semi final and Bronze Medal overtime session are 10 minutes and Gold Medal game overtime session is 20 minutes.

If teams are tied in a standing based on points, the following tie-breakers are applied: 1) The most points earned in direct games involving tied teams. 2) The best goal differential in direct games involving tied teams. 3) The most goal scored in direct games involving tied teams. 4) Follow steps 1, 2 and 3 with games involving the highest non-tied team in the same group. 5) Repeat step 4 with games involving the second highest non-tied team in the same group. 6) Continue this process with all non-tied team games.