The Norway women's and men's national ice hockey teams will not play any matches until the end of 2023 due to financial difficulties of the local ice hockey federation.
All the scheduled matches of the Polar Bears have been canceled. Sports Director at Norwegian Ice Hockey Association Tage Pettersen confirmed the information that the restrictions will last at least until the end of the calendar year 2023.
Currently, the budget deficit of the organization is $845 thousand dollars. In case this debt is not paid, the crisis of Norwegian hockey may last for a long time.
At the World Championship 2023, held in Latvia and Finland, the Norwegian men's national team took seventh place in Group B, scoring six points and qualifying for the World Cup 2024. The Scandinavian team did not qualify for the final round of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.