The Group B tournament began on 2 April 2006 in Riga, Latvia. Japan, Latvia, Poland and Ukraine all returned to compete in this years Division I tournament after missing promotion to the Championship Division at the previous years World Championships. South Korea gained promotion to Division I after finishing first in last years Division II Group A tournament and Denmark was relegated from the Championship Division after failing to survive the relegation round at the 2005 IIHF World U18 Championships.