The game between the United States and Switzerland at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship on Tuesday has been canceled after two United States players tested positive for COVID-19.
The game in Group B in the preliminary round was to be played at WP Centrium in Red Deer, Alberta.
“We’re extremely disappointed, especially for our players,” United States general manager John Vanbiesbrouck said. “We’re operating in an ever-changing landscape and that’s very challenging. We’ve followed the tournament protocol from the outset and will continue to do everything we can to ensure our players have the opportunity to compete at the World Junior Championship.”
The result of the game will be recorded as a 1-0 victory for Switzerland (1-0-0-1) by forfeit, according to IIHF rules.
The United States (1-0-0-1), the defending WJC champion, is next scheduled to play Sweden (2-0-0-0) on Wednesday (9:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN, RDS). The United States has entered quarantine and a determination on the status of that game will be made at a later time, according to the IIHF.
The United States won 3-2 against Slovakia in its tournament opener Sunday.
Canada plays Austria in a Group A game at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN, RDS).