We’re only a matter of days away from the start of the 2023 IIHF World Hockey Championship, which is set to be co-hosted by Tampere, Finland, and Riga, Latvia, from May 12th to May 28th.
The World Championship every May is my favourite tournament on the international calendar for several reasons, including the fact I am able to watch European players that aren’t on TV here in North America very often. I also look forward to seeing the lower ranked nations including Slovenia, Hungary, etc., and seeing how they adapt to playing at the top division of the World Championship.
Last year’s tournament provided us with some incredible hockey and it ended with another gold medal game between Canada and the hosts, Finland, who captured the title following a 4-3 overtime win, with the game winning goal coming off the stick of Henderson Silver Knights forward Sakari Manninen.
Let’s take a look at the 16 nations and the two groups they’ll be participating in for the preliminary round. Note: their IIHF ranking is in brackets.
Group A (Tampere): Finland (1), United States (4), Sweden (5), Germany (9), Denmark (10), France (13), Austria (15), Hungary (20).
Group B (Riga): Canada (2), Czechia (6), Switzerland (7), Slovakia (8), Latvia (11), Norway (12), Kazakhstan (16), Slovenia (19).
The 2023 World Championship marks the first time Hungary and Slovenia have played in the top division since 2016 and 2017, respectively. Both nations won promotion through the Division 1A tournament in May 2022.
Game times for fans here in North America will be 5:20 a.m. ET, 9:20 a.m. ET and 1:20 p.m. ET. The early 5:20 a.m. games will only occur on four of the 12 days during preliminary round. As is the case every year, all 64 games during the tournament can be viewed on TSN.
For those who aren’t familiar with the tournament structure, let me explain. As mentioned above, there are 16 teams in total split into two groups of eight. Each of the 16 teams will play a single round robin in their group (seven games), with the top four in each group advancing to the playoff round. The eighth place team in each group will be relegated to Division 1A for 2024, with Great Britain and Poland coming up for next year’s tournament.
Here is the day-by-day schedule for the 2023 IIHF World Hockey Championship:
Day-By-Day Schedule
| Date | Matchup | Time (ET) |
| May 12th (Day 1) – Group A | Finland vs United States | 9:20 a.m. |
| May 12th (Day 1) – Group B | Slovakia vs Czechia | 9:20 a.m. |
| May 12th (Day 1) – Group A | Sweden vs Germany | 1:20 p.m. |
| May 12th (Day 1) – Group B | Latvia vs Canada | 1:20 p.m. |
| May 13th (Day 2) – Group A | France vs Austria | 5:20 a.m. |
| May 13th (Day 2) – Group B | Switzerland vs Slovenia | 5:20 a.m. |
| May 13th (Day 2) – Group A | Hungary vs Denmark | 9:20 a.m. |
| May 13th (Day 2) – Group B | Norway vs Kazkhstan | 9:20 a.m. |
| May 13th (Day 2) – Group A | Germany vs Finland | 1:20 p.m. |
| May 13th (Day 2) – Group B | Slovakia vs Latvia | 1:20 p.m. |
| May 14th (Day 3) – Group A | United States vs Hungary | 5:20 a.m. |
| May 14th (Day 3) – Group B | Slovenia vs Canada | 5:20 a.m. |
| May 14th (Day 3) – Group A | France vs Denmark | 9:20 a.m. |
| May 14th (Day 3) – Group B | Norway vs Switzerland | 9:20 a.m. |
| May 14th (Day 3) – Group A | Sweden vs Austria | 1:20 p.m. |
| May 14th (Day 3) – Group B | Czechia vs Kazakhstan | 1:20 p.m. |
| May 15th (Day 4) – Group A | Germany vs United States | 9:20 a.m. |
| May 15th (Day 4) – Group B | Slovakia vs Canada | 9:20 a.m. |
| May 15th (Day 4) – Group A | Finland vs Sweden | 1:20 p.m. |
| May 15th (Day 4) – Group B | Czechia vs Latvia | 1:20 p.m. |
| May 16th (Day 5) – Group A | Denmark vs Austria | 9:20 a.m. |
| May 16th (Day 5) – Group B | Slovenia vs Norway | 9:20 a.m. |
| May 16th (Day 5) – Group A | France vs Hungary | 1:20 p.m. |
| May 16th (Day 5) – Group B | Switzerland vs Kazkhstan | 1:20 p.m. |
| May 17th (Day 6) – Group A | United States vs Austria | 9:20 a.m. |
| May 17th (Day 6) – Group B | Latvia vs Norway | 9:20 a.m. |
| May 17th (Day 6) – Group A | Finland vs France | 1:20 p.m. |
| May 17th (Day 6) – Group B | Canada vs Kazkhstan | 1:20 p.m. |
| May 18th (Day 7) – Group A | Hungary vs Sweden | 9:20 a.m. |
| May 18th (Day 7) – Group B | Czechia vs Slovenia | 9:20 a.m. |
| May 18th (Day 7) – Group A | Denmark vs Germany | 1:20 p.m. |
| May 18th (Day 7) – Group B | Switzerland vs Slovakia | 1:20 p.m. |
| May 19th (Day 8) – Group A | Hungary vs Finland | 9:20 a.m. |
| May 19th (Day 8) – Group B | Latvia vs Slovenia | 9:20 a.m. |
| May 19th (Day 8) – Group A | Austria vs Germany | 1:20 p.m. |
| May 19th (Day 8) – Group B | Kazakhstan vs Slovakia | 1:20 p.m. |
| May 20th (Day 9) – Group A | United States vs Denmark | 5:20 a.m. |
| May 20th (Day 9) – Group B | Norway vs Czechia | 5:20 a.m. |
| May 20th (Day 9) – Group A | Austria vs Finland | 9:20 a.m. |
| May 20th (Day 9) – Group B | Canada vs Switzerland | 9:20 a.m. |
| May 20th (Day 9) – Group A | Sweden vs France | 1:20 p.m. |
| May 20th (Day 9) – Group B | Kazakhstan vs Latvia | 1:20 p.m. |
| May 21st (Day 10) – Group A | Germany vs Hungary | 9:20 a.m. |
| May 21st (Day 10) – Group B | Slovenia vs Slovakia | 9:20 a.m. |
| May 21st (Day 10) – Group A | United States vs France | 1:20 p.m. |
| May 21st (Day 10) – Group B | Czechia vs Switzerland | 1:20 p.m. |
| May 22nd (Day 11) – Group A | Denmark vs Sweden | 9:20 a.m. |
| May 22nd (Day 11) – Group B | Canada vs Norway | 9:20 a.m. |
| May 22nd (Day 11) – Group A | Austria vs Hungary | 1:20 p.m. |
| May 22nd (Day 11) – Group B | Kazakhstan vs Slovenia | 1:20 p.m. |
| May 23rd (Day 12) – Group A | Germany vs France | 5:20 a.m. |
| May 23rd (Day 12) – Group B | Slovakia vs Norway | 5:20 a.m. |
| May 23rd (Day 12) – Group A | Sweden vs United States | 9:20 a.m. |
| May 23rd (Day 12) – Group B | Canada vs Czechia | 9:20 a.m. |
| May 23rd (Day 12) – Group A | Finland vs Denmark | 1:20 p.m. |
| May 23rd (Day 12) – Group B | Switzerland vs Latvia | 1:20 p.m. |
| May 25th (Day 13) – QF1 | TBD vs TBD | 9:20 a.m. |
| May 25th (Day 13) – QF2 | TBD vs TBD | 9:20 a.m. |
| May 25th (Day 13) – QF3 | TBD vs TBD | 1:20 p.m. |
| May 25th (Day 13) – QF4 | TBD vs TBD | 1:20 p.m. |
| May 27th (Day 14) – SF1 | TBD vs TBD | 7:20 a.m. |
| May 27th (Day 14) – SF2 | TBD vs TBD | 11:20 a.m. |
| May 28th (Day 15) – Bronze Medal Game | TBD vs TBD | 8:20 a.m. |
| May 28th (Day 15) – Gold Medal Game | TBD vs TBD | 1:20 p.m. |
Before I give my predictions for the tournament, let’s take a look at one player on each of the 16 nations you should keep your eye on throughout the duration of the World Championship. Rather than choosing NHL players, these 16 players are players that I’ve watched a bit of before in their respective European leagues or international events in years past.
Players To Watch
Group A
- Finland: Antti Suomela (IK Oskarshamn – Swedish Hockey League)
- United States: Lane Hutson (Boston University – NCAA)
- Sweden: Leo Carlsson (Orebro HK – Swedish Hockey League)*
- Germany: Marcel Noebels (Berlin – DEL)
- Denmark: Frederik Dichow (Frolunda – Swedish Hockey League)
- France: Sacha Treille (Grenoble – Ligue Magnus)
- Austria: David Reinbacher (EHC Kloten – National League)*
- Hungary: Janos Hari (Fehervar AV19 – ICE Hockey League)
Group B
- Canada: Adam Fantilli (University of Michigan – NCAA)*
- Czechia: Roman Cervenka (Rapperswil-Jona – National League)
- Switzerland: Andres Ambuhl (HC Davos – National League)
- Slovakia: Pavol Regenda (San Diego – AHL)
- Latvia: Dans Locmelis (Lulea HF Jr. – Sweden-Jr.)
- Norway: Ken Andre Olimb (Schwenninger – DEL)
- Kazakhstan: Nikita Mikhailis (Barys Astana – KHL)
- Slovenia: Jan Urbas (Bremerhaven – DEL)
*- 2023 Draft eligible.
Final Standings Prediction
- Gold: Finland
- Silver: Canada
- Bronze: Sweden
- 4th: Czechia
- 5th: Switzerland
- 6th: United States
- 7th: Germany
- 8th: Latvia
- 9th: Slovakia
- 10th: Denmark
- 11th: France
- 12th: Norway
- 13th: Austria
- 14th: Slovenia
- 15th (Relegated): Kazakhstan
- 16th (Relegated): Hungary
Thanks for reading and don’t forget to tune into the 2023 IIHF World Hockey Championship on TSN from May 12th to 28th!