Ostrava to host festival of ice hockey
After a gap of 11 years, the Czech Republic is once again proud to host the Ice Hockey World Championship. The 79th championship will take place from 1 May to 17 May in two host cities – Prague and Ostrava. All venues and facilities for players, fans and other participants meet the highly demanding requirements set by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).
Czech cartoon characters – the rabbits Bob and Bobek.
For Ostrava – the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region – this is undoubtedly the sporting highlight of the decade. The city is hosting the Ice Hockey World Championship for the third time in its history. In 1959 the old “Kotas” ice stadium was the venue for group stage matches, while in 2004 the world’s hockey elite competed on the ice of the ČEZ Arena.
Ostrava’s ice hockey fans can look forward to a real feast of top-quality action, as the reigning world champions from Russia will play their group games at the city’s ČEZ Arena. Their opponents in Group B will be last year’s losing finalists from Finland, plus the teams from the USA, Slovakia, Norway, Belarus, Slovenia and Denmark. Group A matches will be played at the O2 Arena in Prague. Group A features the Czech Republic team, plus Sweden (last year’s bronze medallists), Canada, Switzerland, Latvia, France, Germany and Austria. The symbol of this year’s event is the ice hockey “smiley”, and the mascots are two much-loved Czech cartoon characters – the rabbits Bob and Bobek.