World Juniors: 7 more positive tests among players, officials at cancelled tournament

Rogers Place arena sits empty after the cancellation of the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship in Edmonton on Wednesday, December 29, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

Six more players from five different countries at the 2022 World Juniors tested positive for COVID-19 in the hours before the tournament was cancelled, according to the International Ice Hockey Federation.

The positive test results were recorded in players from Canada, Russia, Germany, Slovakia, and in two players from Sweden.

The results mean all 10 participating teams returned positive tests in at least one player in either the days before the tournament or during the event itself.

An on-ice game official also tested positive, the third to do so.

The seven players and official to most recently test positive will remain in quarantine for a minimum of 10 days.

The results bring the total number of positive tests linked to the tournament up to 16, including 13 in players.

Three games had to be forfeited due to COVID-19 protocols and the IIHF indicated Wednesday that the Sweden versus United States game set for that night would also have been forfeited.

Nine of what would have been as many as 31 games were actually played at the event which was formally cancelled on Wednesday.