How the Tournament Works: Format and the Path to Gold

Each team plays the other seven in its group once, for a total of seven games per nation across the round-robin. Points are awarded on the IIHF scale: three for a regulation win, two for an overtime or shootout win, one for an OT/SO loss, and zero for a regulation defeat.

The top four in each group advance to the quarterfinals, which are seeded so that A1 plays B4, A2 plays B3, B1 plays A4, and B2 plays A3. Win and you advance to the semifinals on May 30; lose and your tournament is over.

The two semifinal winners meet in the gold medal game on the evening of May 31. The two losers play earlier that day for bronze. All knockout games are played at Swiss Life Arena in Zürich.