Groups, Storylines, and What to Watch on Opening Day

Opening day delivers two doubleheaders. In Zürich, Finland faces Germany at 16:20, before the United States takes on hosts Switzerland in primetime. Fribourg sees defending bronze medalists Sweden open against Canada, followed by Czechia versus Denmark.

Group A may be the deeper of the two, with five top-ten ranked nations: Finland, USA, Switzerland, Germany, and Latvia. Hungary, Austria, and Great Britain will be fighting to avoid relegation, with Great Britain returning to the top division after promotion.

Group B is led by Canada and Sweden but contains potential bracket-busters in Slovakia and Czechia. Italy's return to the top tier after three years in Division I is one of the feel-good stories of the tournament.