For the tournament's preliminary round, the 10 participating nations have been broken down into two separate groups: The United States, Canada, Finland, Slovakia and Denmark are in Group A, while Sweden, Russia, Czech Republic, Switzerland and Belarus make up Group B.
The preliminary-round will begin on Tuesday and run through Sunday, Dec. 31, with the top-four finishers in each group moving on to the quarterfinals on Jan. 2. The countries that finish last in group play, however, will still compete in a relegation game.
Following the preliminary round, the remaining eight teams will compete in a single-elimination bracket that concludes with the bronze-medal and gold-medal games on Jan. 5.
The Florida Panthers will be represented by one prospect at this year's tournament, as Aleksi Heponiemi, who the team selected with the 40th overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, competes for Team Finland.
A native of Tampere, Finland -- the same town that produced Panthers superstar Aleksander Barkov - Heponiemi is playing in his second season in the Western Hockey League after being selected by the Swift Current Broncos with the 10th overall pick in the 2016 CHL Import Draft.
At 18, Heponiemi leads the league in both assists (52) and points (71) in just 29 games. "He's a real special player, a real special player," Panthers Director of Amateur Scouting Jason Bukala said of Heponiemi after the draft in June. "He makes plays in the tight areas, has a quick stick and an offensive brain… He's fantastic on the power play, sees the ice and makes special, special plays."
While Heponiemi is the only prospect representing the Panthers, he's not the only one representing South Florida.
A self-described "die-hard Panthers fan" while growing up in Parkland, Fla., Andrew Peeke, a defenseman for Team USA, grew up skating at Incredible Ice, now called the Panthers IceDen, and competing for the franchise's youth hockey affiliate, the Jr. Panthers.
"I was always a huge Panther fan,"
Peeke told FloridaPanthers.com in February of 2016
. "I would go to about half the home games every year."
Peeke, 19, was selected by Columbus with the 34th overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft.
2018 IIHF World Junior Championship Schedule (All times Eastern)
Tuesday, Dec. 26
Czech Republic vs. Russia, noon
Belarus vs. Sweden, 2 p.m.
Canada vs. Finland, 4 p.m.
United States vs. Denmark, 8 p.m.
Wednesday, Dec. 27
Switzerland vs. Belarus, 3 p.m.
Slovakia vs. Canada, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 28
Finland vs. Denmark, noon
Russia vs. Switzerland, 2 p.m.
Sweden vs. Czech Republic, 4 p.m.
United States vs. Slovakia, 8 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 29
Belarus vs. Russia, noon
Canada vs. United States, 3 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 30
Czech Republic vs Belarus, noon
Sweden vs. Switzerland, 2 p.m.
Finland vs. Slovakia, 4 p.m.
Denmark vs. Canada, 8 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 31
Switzerland vs. Czech Republic, noon
United States vs. Finland, 4 p.m.
Slovakia vs. Denmark, 6 p.m.
Russia vs. Sweden, 8 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 2
Quarterfinal #1, noon
Relegation, 2 p.m.
Quarterfinal #2, 4 p.m.
Quarterfinal #3, 6 p.m.
Quarterfinal #4, 8 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 4
Relegation, noon
Semifinal #1, 4 p.m.
Semifinal #2, 8 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 5
Relegation, noon
Bronze medal game, 4 p.m.
Gold medal game, 8 p.m.
Stay tuned to FloridaPanthers.com and @FlaPanthers on Twitter for news and updates throughout the tournament.
