WELCOME
DEAR ALL
A warm welcome to a city that loves ice hockey and that loves to be good hosts.
A fast-paced sport like ice hockey calls for emotions such as laughter, joy, applause, frustration, disappointment, whether as a player, coach, helper, or spectator. That’s what sports can do - get us off our seats and find community in an arena.
I am pleased to welcome you to our ice stadium, but I am also happy to welcome you to Frederikshavn Municipality. I hope you can find time to visit our hotels, shops and beautiful nature between the matches and the time in the ice stadium.
I know the good people involved in the championship are doing their best to organize the U18 World Championship in the finest way.
Thank you for that. Have a great championship.
May the best team win.
Birgit Stenbak Hansen
Mayor of Frederikshavn
DEAR HOCKEY FRIENDS
Once again, we are gathering for a World Championship tournament on Danish soil. It's becoming a good tradition. The most recent tournament we hosted was the Women's Top Division World Championship, where Frederikshavn played a significant role as Denmark's home ground in the preliminary round.
Frederikshavn's strong performance at the Women's World Championship is one of the reasons why we have chosen the city again as the host for a World Championship tournament. The collaboration with the municipality, the club, and the large volunteer base worked perfectly.
Frederikshavn is also a city where international excitement and a good atmosphere quickly emerge around the matches. We know this from hockey and other sports, where Frederikshavn has hosted major tournaments.
This time, it's the Division IA for the U18 players, a tournament where Danish ice hockey will once again witness top-class sports. We are in the tier just below the best, welcoming skilled hockey nations: Germany, Japan, Hungary, Austria, and Ukraine.
The winner of the tournament earns a ticket to next season's Top Division and the encounter with the biggest nations, while the sixth-placed team is relegated to Division IB, the third-best division in the World Championship.
You have something to look forward to, as these tournaments tend to be dramatic from start to finish, and we expect Denmark to compete at the fun end of the table. So, there are plenty of reasons to visit the Nordjyske Bank Arena in the coming days.
Not just for Denmark's matches, but also for the matches between the other nations: It's always an experience to see different styles of hockey play against each other.
The Danish Ice Hockey Union would like to thank Frederikshavn Ice Hockey Club and Frederikshavn Municipality for their strong collaboration leading up to the tournament. We are confident that it will continue during this tournament week. Also, a big thank you to Sport Event Denmark, who has also been instrumental in allowing our boys to play the World Championship on home soil.
We look forward to seeing you all and promise 15 exciting and action-packed matches. Welcome to the Division IA World Championship for U18 national teams.
Sporting regards Henrik Bach Nielsen
Chairman of the Danish Ice Hockey Association