NHL Network Gets World Championships Rights

The NHL Network has gained exclusive U.S. television rights to broadcast the International Ice Hockey Federation world championships from 2018 through 2020.

The IIHF world championships are an annual international tournament featuring 16 teams. NHL Network currently is airing the 2017 IIHF world championships in France and Germany, including the Russia-Czech Republic and Canada-Germany quarterfinal matchups Thursday.

Next year’s world championships take place May 4-20 in Denmark. Qualified teams for next year’s event include Austria, Belarus, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, Norway, Russia, Slovakia, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States.