The IIHF wanted to celebrate the federation's 100th anniversary by holding the tournament in the country where ice hockey was born.

The tournament was also included as part of the celebrations of Quebec City's 400th anniversary.

The tournament featured many countries' elite stars, as it served as the last and most important stage in selecting nine automatic qualifiers for the men's hockey competition at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, a process that uses the IIHF World Ranking standings after the tournament.

Because of the distance between Halifax and Quebec City, the quarter-finals were played within the group, instead of crossing over which has happened since 2000.

For standing purposes, points shall be awarded as follows: If a game is tied after regulation time, a five-minute four-on-four sudden-death overtime session is played followed by a three-player shootout if necessary.

4) Follow steps 1, 2 and 3 with games involving the highest non-tied team in the same group.

5) Repeat step 4 with games involving the second highest non-tied team in the same group.

The final standings of the tournament according to IIHF: List shows the top 10 skaters sorted by points, then goals.

[10] GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalties in minutes; POS = Position Only the top 5 goaltenders, based on save percentage, who have played over 40% of their team's minutes are included in this list.