So what happens now when the World Championships are over? Us Europeans just have next season to look forward to, or look across the Atlantic at North America and the NHL play-offs. Before we do that, there is still some World Championship news to catch up on. One of the most interesting discussions at this year's Worlds was what will be happening at the opening of next year's tournament in Germany. The main arenas will be Cologne's Laxness Arena, which holds 18,500 spectators, and Mannheim's SAP Arena, which holds 13,500. The arena in Cologne is the biggest in Europe and currently holds the indoor record for IIHF World Championships with its 18,500. However, that's not enough for the Germans. The opening game of next year's tournament between Germany and another team in their group will take place at the Veltins Arena football stadium in Gelsenkirchen. Its retractable roof makes it ideal for indoor events and will hold 75,976 spectators for the opening match. This beats the 74,554 spectators that saw a game between two university teams in the USA in 2001.
More news that was revealed in Berne was that the federations in Sweden and Finland had agreed to share the competitions to be held 2012/13. The 2012 IIHF World Championships belong officially to Sweden and the 2013 to Finland. The geographical closeness of the two countries makes it possible to share the arrangements and the financial advantage of both nations playing two World Championships on home ice is obvious. Another advantage is that primary and secondary venues will be just as popular, something which is difficult to achieve in just one country.
In the NHL play-offs, Boston closed the gap on Carolina to 2-3 in matches in a much-needed 4-0 victory on home ice and Detroit are just a single match from victory after a 4-1 win at home to Anaheim. Carolina can now win the series at home and Anaheim must attempt to square it up now it's their turn on home ice. Tonight, Pittsburgh and Chicago can advance to their respective Conference finals with wins on home ice against Washington and Vancouver respectively. Who'll be first?
All the best.
