# 2023 IIHF World Championship Division II

The 2023 IIHF World Championship Division II were two international ice hockey tournaments run by the International Ice Hockey Federation.
The Group A tournament was held in Madrid, Spain from 16 to 22 April and the Group B tournament in Istanbul, Turkey from 17 to 23 April 2023.
Spain won the Group A tournament and got promoted, while Iceland finished last, but Georgia was later disqualified by the IIHF and relegated. The United Arab Emirates won Group B and got promoted and Mexico was relegated.

## Group A tournament
### Participants

| Team | Qualification |
| Australia | Placed 3rd in Division II A in 2019. |
| Croatia | Placed 3rd in Division II A in 2022. |
| Spain | Host, placed 4th in Division II A in 2022. |
| Israel | Placed 5th in Division II A in 2022. |
| Iceland | Placed 1st in Division II B in 2022 and was promoted. |
| Georgia | Placed 2nd in Division II B in 2022 and was promoted. |

### Match officials

Four referees and seven linesmen were selected for the tournament.
| Referees | Linesmen |
| Goro Terakado Ramon Sterkens Štefan Požar Alexei Roshchyn | Cyril Debuche Masa Hashimoto Niklas Wilhelmsen Michał Gerne Sergio Biec Carlos Trobajo Dario Fuchs |

### Standings

After the tournament was completed, the IIHF invalidated the results of Georgia and assigned it zero points in the IIHF World Ranking. Georgia was relegated to Division II B for 2024, while Iceland, the last-placed team, retained its place in this division.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Spain (H) | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 9 | +21 | 15 | Promoted to the 2024 Division I B |
| 2 | Georgia | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 8 | +12 | 12 | Relegated to the 2024 Division II B |
| 3 | Croatia | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 26 | 18 | +8 | 9 | |
| 4 | Australia | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 16 | 22 | −6 | 3 | |
| 5 | Israel | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 14 | 37 | −23 | 3 | |
| 6 | Iceland | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 14 | 26 | −12 | 3 | |
* 1 2 3 Australia 3 points, +4 GD; Israel 3 points, −2 GD; Iceland 3 points, −2 GD; Israel 7–3 Iceland

### Results

All times are local (UTC+2)

### Statistics
#### Scoring leaders

List shows the top skaters sorted by points, then goals.
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM | POS |
| Borna Rendulić | 5 | 4 | 7 | 11 | +2 | 4 | F |
| Ivan Karelin | 5 | 6 | 3 | 9 | +6 | 8 | F |
| David Levin | 5 | 2 | 7 | 9 | −3 | 0 | F |
| Dorian Donath | 5 | 5 | 3 | 8 | +6 | 0 | F |
| Aviv Milner | 5 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 8 | F |
| Alejandro Carbonell | 5 | 3 | 5 | 8 | +6 | 2 | F |
| Gastón González | 5 | 4 | 3 | 7 | +8 | 4 | F |
| Andri Mikaelsson | 5 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −1 | 0 | F |
| Ilya Spektor | 5 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −4 | 8 | F |
| Casey Kubara | 5 | 1 | 6 | 7 | −1 | 0 | F |
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalties in Minutes; POS = Position Source: IIHF.com

#### Goaltending leaders

Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage, who have played at least 40% of their team's minutes, are included in this list.
| Player | TOI | GA | GAA | SA | Sv% | SO |
| Ivan Starostin | 180:00 | 4 | 1.33 | 75 | 94.67 | 1 |
| Raul Barbo | 300:00 | 9 | 1.80 | 103 | 91.26 | 1 |
| Anthony Kimlin | 238:28 | 17 | 4.28 | 131 | 87.02 | 0 |
| Maksim Kaliaev | 170:03 | 19 | 6.70 | 142 | 86.62 | 0 |
| Vilim Rosandić | 225:50 | 16 | 4.25 | 114 | 85.96 | 0 |
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

| Position | Player |
| Goaltender | Raul Barbo |
| Defenceman | Bruno Baldris |
| Forward | Borna Rendulić |

## Group B tournament
### Participants

| Team | Qualification |
| New Zealand | Placed 3rd in Division II B in 2019. |
| Belgium | Placed 3rd in Division II B last year. |
| Bulgaria | Placed 4th in Division II B last year. |
| Mexico | Placed 5th in Division II B last year. |
| United Arab Emirates | Placed 1st in Division III A last year and was promoted. |
| Turkey | Host, placed 2nd in Division III A last year and was promoted. |

### Match officials

Four referees and seven linesmen were selected for the tournament.
| Referees | Linesmen |
| Robert Love-Dekazos Trpimir Piragić Bastian Steingross Konstantin Chubenko | Chi Hongda Tomislav Grozaj Wayne Gerth Nathan Carmichael Lodewijk Beelen Berkay Aslanbey Taha Kavlakoğlu |

### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | United Arab Emirates | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 10 | +25 | 15 | Promoted to the 2024 Division II A |
| 2 | Belgium | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 33 | 10 | +23 | 12 | |
| 3 | Bulgaria | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 19 | 20 | −1 | 9 | |
| 4 | New Zealand | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 15 | 22 | −7 | 6 | |
| 5 | Turkey (H) | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 26 | −14 | 3 | |
| 6 | Mexico | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 36 | −26 | 0 | Relegated to the 2024 Division III A |

### Results

All times are local (UTC+3).

### Statistics
#### Scoring leaders

List shows the top skaters sorted by points, then goals.
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM | POS |
| Sergei Kuznetsov | 5 | 8 | 9 | 17 | +14 | 4 | D |
| Maxim Zakharau | 5 | 6 | 8 | 14 | +9 | 0 | F |
| Sam Verelst | 5 | 6 | 7 | 13 | +8 | 4 | F |
| Vadim Gyesbreghs | 5 | 5 | 8 | 13 | +10 | 0 | D |
| Artem Klavdiev | 5 | 6 | 5 | 11 | +6 | 6 | F |
| Ilia Chuikov | 5 | 5 | 5 | 10 | +8 | 4 | F |
| Alec James | 5 | 4 | 6 | 10 | +8 | 0 | F |
| Dries Blockx | 5 | 4 | 5 | 9 | +6 | 0 | F |
| Ben Coolen | 5 | 4 | 4 | 8 | +7 | 0 | F |
| Juma Al-Dhaheri | 5 | 2 | 5 | 7 | +7 | 4 | F |
| Iniaz Steyaert | 5 | 2 | 5 | 7 | +8 | 4 | F |
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalties in Minutes; POS = Position Source: IIHF.com

#### Goaltending leaders

Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage, who have played at least 40% of their team's minutes, are included in this list.
| Player | TOI | GA | GAA | SA | Sv% | SO |
| Mate Tomljenović | 240:00 | 6 | 1.50 | 117 | 95.12 | 1 |
| Joel Hasselman | 221:29 | 11 | 2.98 | 120 | 91.60 | 0 |
| Arne Waumans | 200:20 | 5 | 1.50 | 52 | 91.23 | 0 |
| Tolga Bozacı | 239:34 | 15 | 3.76 | 138 | 90.20 | 1 |
| Dimitar Dimitrov | 269:32 | 19 | 4.23 | 164 | 89.62 | 0 |
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

| Position | Player |
| Goaltender | Mate Tomljenović |
| Defenceman | Vadim Gyesbreghs |
| Forward | Maxim Zakharau |