IIHF Worlds guide: format, teams, and schedule

10 teams in two groups of five, each team playing the others in its group once.
A win in regulation earns three points, a win in overtime or a shootout two, and a loss in overtime or a shootout one.
Teams level on points are separated by the games between them.
The top four in each group go to the quarterfinals, and the two fifth-placed teams play a relegation game.
The quarterfinal winners are re-seeded for the semifinals.
Then the bronze medal game and the gold medal game.

The quarterfinals follow the group stage directly, and every knockout game is a single game, no series.

Format