The Group A tournament was held in Kockelscheuer, Luxembourg from 3 to 8 April and the Group B tournament in Cape Town, South Africa from 13 to 18 March 2022.[1][2]
After the tournament was cancelled the two previous years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all teams stayed put in their divisions.[3]
The United Arab Emirates secured the top spot in Group A and were promoted to Division II, while South Africa won the Group B tournament and were promoted to Group A.[4][5]
During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus were suspended from the 2022 and 2023 editions of the World Championship. In order to fill each group of the World Championships back to their normal amount of teams, the IIHF made the decision following the tournament not to relegate Luxembourg or Bosnia and Herzegovina, who finished last in Groups A and B respectively, but instead to promote Turkey and Thailand, the runners-up of each group.[6]
Source: IIHF Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament. (H) Host; (P) Promoted Notes:
^North Korea withdrew their team on 3 February 2022 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the travel restrictions.[8]
TOI = time on ice (minutes:seconds); SA = shots against; GA = goals against; GAA = goals against average; Sv% = save percentage; SO = shutouts
Source: IIHF.com
Source: IIHF Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament. (H) Host; (P) Promoted Notes:
^Hong Kong withdrew their team on 14 February 2022 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[11]
TOI = time on ice (minutes:seconds); SA = shots against; GA = goals against; GAA = goals against average; Sv% = save percentage; SO = shutouts
Source: IIHF.com