The full schedule for next year’s World Championship (Division 1B) tournament at the SSE Arena in Belfast has been confirmed.

The tournament, which is the first men’s World Championship to be held in the UK for nearly 25 years, will run from Sunday 23rd to Saturday 29th April 2017.

The opening game sees Netherlands face-off against Japan at 12.30pm, with Great Britain meeting Croatia at 4.00pm.

GB tackle Estonia the following day, before facing Lithuania on the Wednesday. Netherlands are next up on Friday 28th April, with Japan completing GB’s five-game schedule on the final Saturday.

Ice Hockey UK general secretary Andy French said: “This is another exciting moment in the build-up to the tournament with the announcement of the schedule.

“A lot of hard work is already going on behind the scenes to make sure this event is a great success.

“This is going to be a massive event for ice hockey in the UK and there is already so much interest in the tournament.”

Please click here for the full tournament schedule – tickets will be available shortly.

(Image permission: IceHockeyMedia)