The 2023 IIHF World Championship was co-hosted by Tampere, Finland, and Riga, Latvia. The tournament was held from 12 to 28 May 2023, organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).
Canada won its 28th title by beating Germany 5–2 in the final.[1] The silver was Germany's first medal since 1953. Latvia claimed its first IIHF medal after defeating the USA 4–3 in overtime and finishing third.[2]
As in the 2022 edition, the tournament saw several upsets: Kazakhstan's win over Norway, Hungary's win over France, Latvia's first victory over Czechia, Norway’s second win over Canada, as well as Kazakhstan's first victory over Slovakia.[3][4] The playoffs also saw major upsets, as Latvia reached the semi-finals for the first time after defeating favourite Sweden 3–1 in the quarter-finals,[5] Germany upset Switzerland 3–1 and the reigning Olympic and World Champion Finland lost to Canada 4–1. Czechia finished in 8th place after losing to the United States (USA) 3–0 in the quarter-finals, which is that nation's worst placement to date in the history of the World Championship. Germany reached the final for the first time since 1930 after upsetting the fourth-seeded USA 4–3 in overtime.
Host nation bid
The event was originally planned to be held in Saint Petersburg, Russia, but, in February 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) called for Russia and Belarus to be stripped of hosting rights to all international sporting events due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[6] On 26 April 2022, Russia lost their rights to host the World Championship.[7]
After being promoted to the top division, Slovenia and Hungary bid to co-host the event in Ljubljana and Budapest.[8] The bid was withdrawn due to Hungarian Ice Hockey Federation informing the IIHF that it did not receive the governmental guarantees to host. Finland and Latvia submitted a joint bid, with Nokia Arena in Tampere and Arena Riga in Riga as potential host venues.[9] On 27 May 2022, the IIHF confirmed that Finland and Latvia would host the tournament, with Finland having also hosted the 2022 IIHF World Championship in Tampere (Nokia Arena) and Helsinki (Helsinki Ice Hall).[10]
Each team's roster consists of at least 15 skaters (forwards, and defencemen) and 2 goaltenders, and at most 22 skaters and 3 goaltenders. All 16 participating nations, through the confirmation of their respective national associations, have to submit a "Long List" no later than two weeks before the tournament, and a final roster by the Passport Control meeting prior to the start of the tournament.
Match officials
16 referees and linesmen were announced on 6 April 2023.[13][14]
Referees
Linesmen
Adam Bloski
Mike Langin
Jan Hribik
Mads Frandsen
Lassi Heikkinen
Mikko Kaukokari
Liam Sewell
Sirko Hunnius
André Schrader
Andris Ansons
Tobias Björk
Christoffer Holm
Stefan Hürlimann
Miroslav Štolc
Sean Fernandez
Sean MacFarlane
David Nothegger
Brett Mackey
Tarrington Wyonzek
Daniel Hynek
Jiří Ondráček
Andreas Krøyer
Onni Hautamäki
Tommi Niittylä
Nicolas Constantineau
Andreas Hofer
Dāvis Zunde
Šimon Synek
Emil Yletyinen
Eric Cattaneo
Nick Briganti
Jake Davis
Preliminary round
The groups were announced on 29 May 2022,[15] with the schedule being revealed on 8 September 2022.[16]
Source: IIHF Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best-ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament (H) Host Notes:
Source: IIHF Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best-ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament (H) Host Notes:
There was a re-seeding after the quarter-finals.[17] If Finland and Latvia were to play in the quarter-finals, there would have been no cross-over for the quarter-finals.
Source: IIHF Rules for classification: 1) position in the group; 2) number of points; 3) goal difference; 4) goals scored; 5) seeding before tournament. (H) Host
Statistics
Scoring leaders
Rocco Grimaldi of the United States led the tournament in scoring with 14 points
List shows the top skaters sorted by points, then goals.
TOI = time on ice (minutes:seconds); SA = shots against; GA = goals against; GAA = goals against average; Sv% = save percentage; SO = shutouts
Source: IIHF.com
Awards
Bronze medal celebration at the foot of the Freedom Monument in RigaArtūrs Šilovs was named the tournament MVP, best goaltender, and was selected to the tournament all-star team
TV studios in Nokia Arena: the Finnish C More (left) and the Swedish SVT (right)Broadcasting cameras and positions for the commentators in Nokia Arena, Tampere
These are the broadcasters for the tournament.[20]
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