# 2022 IIHF World Championship Division I

The 2022 IIHF World Championship Division I was an international ice hockey tournament run by the International Ice Hockey Federation.
The Group A tournament was held in Ljubljana, Slovenia from 3 to 8 May and the Group B tournament in Tychy, Poland from 26 April to 1 May 2022.
After the tournament was cancelled the two previous years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all teams were set to remain in their groups for the 2022 edition. However, France and Austria, who were relegated to Division IA in 2019, were called back up to the top division to replace Russia and Belarus, who were suspended by the IIHF. Lithuania, who were relegated to Division IB in 2019, were called back up to Division IA so that there would be an equal number of teams in each group.
Slovenia got promoted to the Top Division by winning the Group A tournament alongside Hungary. Poland won the Group B tournament and got promoted. Following the tournament, the IIHF decided not to relegate Romania or Serbia, who finished last in groups A and B respectively, in order for the division to fill up to its normal amount of twelve teams (six in each group).

## Group A tournament
### Participants

| Team | Qualification |
| South Korea | Placed 3rd in Division I A in 2019. |
| Slovenia | Host, placed 4th in Division I A in 2019. |
| Hungary | Placed 5th in Division I A in 2019. |
| Lithuania | Placed 6th in Division I A in 2019. |
| Romania | Placed 1st in Division I B in 2019 and was promoted. |

### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion |
| 1 | Slovenia (H, P) | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 5 | +17 | 12 | Promoted to the 2023 Top Division |
| 2 | Hungary (P) | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 9 | +3 | 9 | Promoted to the 2023 Top Division |
| 3 | Lithuania | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 6 | |
| 4 | South Korea | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 15 | −6 | 3 | |
| 5 | Romania | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 22 | −14 | 0 | |

### Results

All times are local (UTC+2)

### Statistics
#### Scoring leaders

List shows the top skaters sorted by points, then goals.
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM | POS |
| Žiga Jeglič | 4 | 3 | 4 | 7 | +5 | 2 | F |
| Jan Urbas | 4 | 0 | 7 | 7 | +5 | 0 | F |
| Emilijus Krakauskas | 4 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | F |
| Rok Tičar | 4 | 2 | 4 | 6 | +5 | 0 | F |
| Csanád Erdély | 4 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 6 | F |
| Robert Sabolič | 4 | 4 | 1 | 5 | +4 | 2 | F |
| Miha Verlič | 4 | 4 | 1 | 5 | +6 | 0 | F |
| Jeon Jung-woo | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 | +1 | 0 | F |
| Evgeny Skachkov | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −3 | 6 | F |
| Kim Won-jun | 4 | 1 | 4 | 5 | +3 | 6 | D |
| Luka Maver | 4 | 1 | 4 | 5 | +1 | 0 | F |
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalties in Minutes; POS = Position Source: IIHF.com

#### Goaltending leaders

Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage, who have played at least 40% of their team's minutes, are included in this list.
| Player | TOI | GA | GAA | SA | Sv% | SO |
| Gašper Krošelj | 160:00 | 3 | 1.13 | 43 | 93.02 | 0 |
| Miklós Rajna | 240:00 | 9 | 2.25 | 113 | 92.04 | 0 |
| Mantas Armalis | 239:09 | 13 | 3.26 | 140 | 90.71 | 0 |
| Matt Dalton | 239:38 | 14 | 3.51 | 120 | 88.33 | 0 |
| Zoltán Tőke | 139:49 | 9 | 3.86 | 70 | 87.14 | 0 |
TOI = time on ice (minutes:seconds); SA = shots against; GA = goals against; GAA = goals against average; Sv% = save percentage; SO = shutouts Source: IIHF.com

### Awards

Media All-stars
| Position | Player |
| Goaltender | Gašper Krošelj |
| Defenceman | Nerijus Ališauskas Kim Won-jun |
| Forward | Žiga Jeglič Csanád Erdély Miha Verlič |
Best Players Selected by the Directorate
| Position | Player |
| Goaltender | Mantas Armalis |
| Defenceman | Nándor Fejes |
| Forward | Žiga Jeglič |

## Group B tournament
### Participants

| Team | Qualification |
| Poland | Host, placed 2nd in Division I B in 2019. |
| Japan | Placed 3rd in Division I B in 2019. |
| Estonia | Placed 4th in Division I B in 2019. |
| Ukraine | Placed 5th in Division I B in 2019. |
| Serbia | Placed 1st in Division II A in 2019 and was promoted. |

### Match officials

Six referees and six linesmen were selected for the tournament.
| Referees | Linesmen |
| Geoffrey Barcelo Daniel Rencz Turo Virta Michał Baca Stefan Hurlimann Andrii Kicha | Agris Ozoliņš Mateusz Bucki Rafał Noworyta Daniel Konc Gregor Miklič Serhii Kharaberyush |

### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion |
| 1 | Poland (H, P) | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 4 | +14 | 11 | Promoted to the 2023 Division I A |
| 2 | Japan | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 23 | 9 | +14 | 9 | |
| 3 | Ukraine | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 11 | +8 | 7 | |
| 4 | Estonia | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 20 | −11 | 3 | |
| 5 | Serbia | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 29 | −25 | 0 | |

### Results

All times are local (UTC+2)

### Statistics
#### Scoring leaders

List shows the top skaters sorted by points, then goals.
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM | POS |
| Yushiroh Hirano | 4 | 6 | 4 | 10 | +8 | 0 | F |
| Alan Łyszczarczyk | 4 | 2 | 7 | 9 | +9 | 2 | F |
| Shigeki Hitosato | 4 | 3 | 4 | 7 | +8 | 2 | F |
| Makuru Furuhashi | 4 | 4 | 2 | 6 | +4 | 2 | F |
| Filip Komorski | 4 | 4 | 2 | 6 | +7 | 0 | F |
| Andriy Mikhnov | 4 | 0 | 6 | 6 | +1 | 0 | F |
| Shogo Nakajima | 4 | 0 | 6 | 6 | +7 | 2 | F |
| Oleksandr Peresunko | 4 | 4 | 1 | 5 | +3 | 4 | F |
| Vitalii Lialka | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 | +3 | 4 | F |
| Ihor Merezhko | 4 | 1 | 4 | 5 | +2 | 2 | D |
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalties in Minutes; POS = Position Source: IIHF.com

#### Goaltending leaders

Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage, who have played at least 40% of their team's minutes, are included in this list.
| Player | TOI | GA | GAA | SA | Sv% | SO |
| Dmytro Kubrytskyi | 121:54 | 0 | 0.00 | 34 | 100.00 | 2 |
| John Murray | 185:00 | 2 | 0.65 | 90 | 97.78 | 2 |
| Yuta Narisawa | 238:39 | 9 | 2.26 | 99 | 90.91 | 1 |
| Arsenije Ranković | 235:04 | 29 | 7.40 | 195 | 85.13 | 0 |
| Villem-Henrik Koitmaa | 220:00 | 17 | 4.64 | 104 | 83.65 | 0 |
TOI = time on ice (minutes:seconds); SA = shots against; GA = goals against; GAA = goals against average; Sv% = save percentage; SO = shutouts Source: IIHF.com

### Awards

| Position | Player |
| Goaltender | John Murray |
| Defenceman | Ihor Merezhko |
| Forward | Yushiroh Hirano |