IIHF World Championship 2022: Dates, times, schedule and how to watch

While the NHL playoffs continue to chug along, some international hockey involving NHL players is going on. 

The 2022 IIHF World Championship is set to start Friday in Finland with 16 countries competing for a gold medal. 

Players on NHL teams that did not make the playoffs or have been knocked out may play in the tournament for their country. While it's not like the Olympics with the best players from every nation, it is still quality hockey that fans can watch when the NHL playoffs aren't on. 

Some notable names in the 2022 tournament are Mat Barzal, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Thomas Chabot, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Rasmus Dahlin and Seth Jones. 

MORE: NHL playoffs schedule 2022: Full bracket, dates, times, TV channels

Here is everything you need to know ahead of the 2022 IIHF World Championship. 

Who is playing in the 2022 IIHF World Championship?

This year, 16 teams are participating in the IIHF World Championship. They are split up into two groups of eight. 

The IIHF has suspended all Russia and Belarus national teams from competing in international tournaments, so they will not be competing in this tournament. France and Austria have taken their place. 

IIHF World Championship standings  GROUP A TEAM W-OTW-OTL-L PTS Canada  0-0-0-0 0 Germany 0-0-0-0 0 Switzerland 0-0-0-0 0 Slovakia 0-0-0-0 0 Denmark 0-0-0-0 0 Kazakhstan 0-0-0-0 0 Italy 0-0-0-0 0 France 0-0-0-0 0 GROUP B TEAM W-OTW-OTL-L PTS Finland 0-0-0-0 0 United States 0-0-0-0 0 Czechia 0-0-0-0 0 Sweden 0-0-0-0 0 Latvia 0-0-0-0 0 Norway 0-0-0-0 0 Great Britain 0-0-0-0 0 Austria 0-0-0-0 0 When is the 2022 IIHF World Championship?

• Start: Friday, May 13
• End: Thursday, May 29

The tournament begins May 13 with the start of group play. 

The playoffs will begin May 26 with the quarterfinals. The semifinals will be held on May 28 and the bronze- and gold-medal games will be played on May 29. 

How to watch the 2022 IIHF World Championship?

The United States will have some of its games broadcast on NHL Network. 

You can stream NHL Network on Sling TV, Fubo TV or DIRECTV Stream. Games will also be streamed on ESPN+. 

• Canada TV: TSN, RDS
• Canada live stream: TSN.ca, TSN app

Canadians can view games on TSN (English-language) or RDS (French-language). 

TSN can be streamed on TSN.ca or through the TSN app. 

Where is the 2022 IIHF World Championship?

This year's IIHF World Championship is taking place in Finland. There are two host cities for the 2022 tournament, Tampere and Helsinki. 

Tampere's new Nokia Arena will serve as the main venue for the event. Games in Helsinki will be played at Helsinki Ice Hall.