| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host countries |  Czech Republic Latvia Italy Iceland Mexico |
| Venue(s) | 5 (in 5 host cities) |
| Teams | 28 |
The 2014 Women's World Ice Hockey Championships were the 16th such event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). This was the first time that the women's tournaments were played in an Olympic year. The IIHF determined that the best way to continue advancing the competitive level of nations not invited to the Olympic tournament was to fund participation every year.[1] No Top Division tournament was played, and initially the IIHF stated that the last-placed Olympic participant would be relegated to be replaced by the Division I Group A winner.[2] However after discussion it was changed so that the two teams in question played best of three series instead of simply swapping places.[3]
- ^ New era of women's hockey Archived 2013-09-21 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Fasel opens 137th IIHF congress Archived 2013-09-21 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Promotion format defined Archived 2014-02-24 at the Wayback Machine