The opponents of Ukraine in the 2026 World Ice Hockey Championship have been determined.

The Ukrainian national ice hockey team has learned the names of all its opponents in Division IA for the upcoming season. This is reported by Glavcom.

The last opponents of our team were determined based on the results of the seventh round of the World Championship in the elite division.

In the last round of Group A, France lost to Slovenia - 1:3. Having not won any matches in the tournament, France left the elite division and joined Ukraine in Division IA in 2026.

Another opponent of our team is Kazakhstan.

The Kazakhstan national team lost to Switzerland today, May 20, in a Group B match - 1:4.

As a result of this defeat, Kazakhstan finished last in Group B and also went down from the elite division.

Participants of the 2026 World Championship in Division IA

• Ukraine
• Japan
• Poland
• Lithuania
• France
• Kazakhstan

As reported, all participants of the Stanley Cup semifinals have been determined.

The Florida Panthers became the last semifinalist of the 2025 Stanley Cup.

On the night of May 19, the 'Panthers' defeated the 'Toronto Maple Leafs' (6:1) in the seventh decisive match of the series.

In the Eastern Conference final, 'Florida' will play against 'Carolina Hurricanes'. In the Western final, 'Dallas Stars' will meet 'Edmonton Oilers'.

It is worth noting that American hockey player Lisa Brown-Miller passed away at the age of 58.

During the historic Olympics in Nagano 1998, where women's hockey was included in the Games for the first Time, Lisa played for the American team while already pregnant. However, the athlete did not know at the time that she would soon become a mother. She gave birth to her first child (son Alex) in August 1998.

As a result, it was the USA team that won the first historical gold medal at the Olympics.

Brown-Miller was one of three Americans who played in both the first women's world hockey championship in 1990 and the first women's Olympic hockey tournament in 1998.

'We (the gold medalists of 1998) were pioneers, but we didn't really realize it,' said Brown-Miller in 2010 about that historic success.

In addition to the Olympic gold, Brown-Miller won silver four times at the World Championships.

In total, she played 30 official matches for the USA national team, scoring 13 goals and providing 25 assists.

After her playing career, Lisa worked as a hockey commentator and coach, leading the women's team at Princeton University.

Analysis

New information about the participants of the Stanley Cup and teams in ice hockey provided important context for the international hockey community. It is also important to mention Lisa Brown-Miller's contribution to women's hockey and her successful career after finishing on ice.