2023 IIHF World Championship

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 their 28th title by beating Germany in the final.
==Overview==
As in the 2022 edition, the tournament saw several major upsets: Kazakhstan's win over Norway, Hungary's win over France, Latvia's first-ever victory over Czechia, Norway’s second-ever win over Canada, as well as Kazakhstan's first ever victory over Slovakia. The playoffs also saw major upsets, as Latvia reached the semi-finals for the first time after defeating favourites Sweden 3–1 in their quarter-final, Germany upset Switzerland 3–1 and the reigning Olympic and world champions hosts Finland lost to Canada 4–1. Czechia finished in 8th place after losing to the United States 3–0 in the quarter-finals, which is their worst placement to date in the history of the World Championship. Germany reached the final for the first time after upsetting top-seeded United States 4–3 in overtime.
Latvia claimed their first ever ice hockey medal at the World Championship after defeating the United States 4–3 in overtime and finishing third.
==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. On 26 April 2022, Russia lost their rights to host the World Championship.
After being promoted to the top division, Slovenia and Hungary both bid to co-host the event in Ljubljana and Budapest. The bid was withdrawn due to Hungarian Ice Hockey Federation informing the IIHF that it did not receive the governmental guarantees to host.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. 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).
==Venues==
Finland 		Latvia
Tampere 		Riga
Nokia ArenaCapacity: 13,455		Arena RigaCapacity: 10,300
 		
==Participants==
; Qualified as hosts
*
*
; Automatic qualifier after a top 14 placement at the 2022 IIHF World Championship:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
; Qualified through winning promotion at the 2022 IIHF World Championship Division I:
*
*
==Seeding==
The seedings in the preliminary round are based on the 2022 IIHF World Ranking, as of the end of the 2022 IIHF World Championship, using the serpentine system while allowing the organizer, "to allocate a maximum of two teams to separate groups."
;Group A (Tampere)
* (1)
* (4)
* (5)
* (9)
* (10)
* (13)
* (15)
* (20)
;Group B (Riga)
* (2)
* (6)
* (7)
* (8)
* (11)
* (12)
* (16)
* (19)
==Rosters==
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.
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, with the schedule being revealed on 8 September 2022.
===Group A===
 		 			
12 May 2023		 			
align=right		1–4 			
align=right		1–0 			
13 May 2023		 			
align=right		2–1 (OT) 			
align=right		1–3 			
align=right		3–4 			
14 May 2023		 			
align=right		7–1 			
align=right		3–4 (OT) 			
align=right		5–0 			
15 May 2023		 			
align=right		2–3 			
align=right		1–2 (GWS)			
16 May 2023		 			
align=right		6–2 			
align=right		2–3 (OT) 			
17 May 2023		 			
align=right		4–1 			
align=right		5–3 			
18 May 2023		 			
align=right		1–7 			
align=right		4–6 			
19 May 2023		 			
align=right		1–7 			
align=right		2–4 			
20 May 2023		 			
align=right		3–0 			
align=right		1–3 			
align=right		4–0 			
21 May 2023		 			
align=right		7–2 			
align=right		9–0 			
22 May 2023		 			
align=right		1–4 			
align=right		4–3 (GWS)			
23 May 2023		 			
align=right		5–0 			
align=right		3–4 (OT) 			
align=right		7–1 			
===Group B===
 		 			
12 May 2023		 			
align=right		2–3 			
align=right		0–6 			
13 May 2023		 			
align=right		7–0 			
align=right		3–4 (GWS)			
align=right		2–1 			
14 May 2023		 			
align=right		2–5 			
align=right		0–3 			
align=right		5–1 			
15 May 2023		 			
align=right		1–2 (GWS)			
align=right		3–4 (OT) 			
16 May 2023		 			
align=right		0–1 			
align=right		5–0 			
17 May 2023		 			
align=right		2–1 			
align=right		5–1 			
18 May 2023		 			
align=right		6–2 			
align=right		4–2 			
19 May 2023		 			
align=right		3–2 			
align=right		4–3 (GWS)			
20 May 2023		 			
align=right		0–2 			
align=right		2–3 			
align=right		0–7 			
21 May 2023		 			
align=right		0–1 			
align=right		2–4 			
22 May 2023		 			
align=right		2–3 (GWS)			
align=right		4–3 			
23 May 2023		 			
align=right		4–1 			
align=right		3–1 			
align=right		3–4 (OT) 			
==Playoff round==
==Final standings==
Teams finishing fifth in the preliminary round were ranked ninth and tenth, teams finishing sixth are ranked 11th and 12th, and so on.
==Statistics==
===Scoring leaders===
List shows the top skaters sorted by points, then goals.
Player 	GP	G	A 	Pts	+/−	PIM	POS
Rocco Grimaldi 	10	7	7 	14 	+8 	6 	F
Dominik Kubalík 	8 	8	4 	12 	+3 	0 	F
JJ Peterka 	10	6	6 	12 	+8 	0 	F
Rihards Bukarts 	10	3	8 	11 	+3 	8 	F
MacKenzie Weegar	10	3	8 	11 	+10	6 	D
T. J. Tynan 	10	1	10	11 	+10	0 	F
Henrik Tömmernes	8 	0	10	10 	+5 	2 	D
Cutter Gauthier 	10	7	2 	9 	+9 	2 	F
Lawson Crouse 	10	6	3 	9 	+9 	4 	F
Nikolaj Ehlers 	7 	5	4 	9 	−3 	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
Stanislav Škorvánek	238:39	5 	1.26	108	95.37	1
Karel Vejmelka 	236:26	7 	1.78	124	94.35	1
Sam Montembeault 	423:07	10	1.42	163	93.87	1
Lars Johansson 	303:42	8 	1.58	120	93.33	2
Samuel Hlavaj 	189:05	7 	2.22	103	93.20	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==
The awards were announced on 28 May 2023.
===Individual awards===
Position 	Player
Goaltender	Artūrs Šilovs
Defenceman	MacKenzie Weegar
Forward 	JJ Peterka
===Media All Stars===
Position 	Player
Goaltender	Artūrs Šilovs
Defenceman	MacKenzie Weegar
Defenceman	Moritz Seider
Forward 	JJ Peterka
Forward 	Rocco Grimaldi
Forward 	Dominik Kubalík
MVP 	Artūrs Šilovs
==Broadcasting rights==
These are the broadcasters for the tournament.
Country 	Broadcaster
Austria 	ORF
Canada 	TSN
Canada 	RDS
Czech Republic	ČT
Denmark 	TV 2 Sport
Estonia 	ERR
Finland 	MTV
France 	Fanseat
Germany 	Sport1
Germany 	Magenta Sport
Hungary 	Sport 1
Kazakhstan 	Qazsport
Latvia 	LTV
Latvia 	Tet
Lithuania 	LRT
Norway 	Viaplay
Poland 	TVP
Russia 	Match TV
Slovakia 	RTVS
Slovenia 	RTV
Slovenia 	Šport TV
Sweden 	SVT
Switzerland 	SRG SSR
Ukraine 	XSPORT
United Kingdom	Viaplay Sports
United States 	NHL Network
United States 	ESPN+
==References==
==External links==
*Official website
 
2023 Men
Category:2023 IIHF Men's World Ice Hockey Championships
Category:2023 in ice hockey
Category:International ice hockey competitions hosted by Finland
Category:International ice hockey competitions hosted by Latvia