The 2017 Women’s World Hockey Championships will take place, for the first time ever, at the USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Michigan. The tournament takes place annually in non-Olympic years to determine the world champion in senior women's hockey. It will begin with pool play consisting of two pools with four teams each. The four teams from Pool A advance to the playoff round and the top two teams from Pool B join them in the standard championship bracket format. The teams competing in Plymouth, in ranking order, include USA, Canada, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Czech Republic, Switzerland and Germany. Team USA won gold in the 2016 tournament, held in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada.