Teams from five national hockey associations competed, in one single preliminary round group. The tournament consisted of 14 games: 10 in the preliminary round (teams played all other teams); 2 semifinal games; 1 bronze medal game; and 1 gold medal game.[1]
All games were played in three 15-minute periods, as opposed to the traditional 20-minute periods.[2]
Qualification
The top eight teams in the 2011 IIHF World Ranking will choose which tournament (either boys' or girls') they want to compete in. First priority is given to higher ranked nations.[3]
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. (H) Host