Sixteen participating teams were placed in the following four groups. After playing a round-robin, the top three teams in each group advanced to the qualifying round while the last team competed in the relegation round.
The top three teams in the standings of each group of the preliminary round advance to the qualifying round, and are placed in two groups: teams from Groups A and D compete in Group E, while teams from Groups B and C compete in Group F.
Each team is to play three games in this round, one against each of the three teams from the other group with which they have been paired. These three games, along with the two games already played against the other two advancing teams from the same group in the preliminary round, will count in the qualifying round standings.
The top four teams in both groups E and F advanced to the Playoff round.
List shows the top skaters sorted by points, then goals. If the list exceeds 10 skaters because of a tie in points, all of the tied skaters are left out.