IIHF World Championship 2023

[LTU_btc]

On 12th May in Tampere and Riga Ice Hockey World Championship will begin. 16 teams in 2 groups will play. One of hosts - Finland is reigning Champions. While Slovenia and Hungary got promoted from lower division. Most of teams don't have their birghtest stars because of ongoing NHL playoffs. Here is outright odds for tournament winners. Nothing new, Finland, Sweden and Canada is main favorites to win.

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[TopTort777]

Looks like it has become popular to run tournaments in several countries. IIHF today, FIFA World Cup in Canada, US and Mexico. Amazing that tournament is hosted again in Riga and Tampere, as these two hosted 2021 and 2022 tournaments Lucky locals, they have huge chances to watch IIHF live.

As pictures shows, my predictions are the following, from both groups first 4 teams gonna advance to play-off. It wont be a surprise if teams Canada, USA, Finland and Sweden are the strongest, but I am gonna focus more on Switzerland and Germany. These two happens to surprise me with their games from year to year.

[LTU_btc]

Looks like it has become popular to run tournaments in several countries. IIHF today, FIFA World Cup in Canada, US and Mexico. Amazing that tournament is hosted again in Riga and Tampere, as these two hosted 2021 and 2022 tournaments Lucky locals, they have huge chances to watch IIHF live.

As pictures shows, my predictions are the following, from both groups first 4 teams gonna advance to play-off. It wont be a surprise if teams Canada, USA, Finland and Sweden are the strongest, but I am gonna focus more on Switzerland and Germany. These two happens to surprise me with their games from year to year.

It's already common thing to held IIHF to hold championship in tow different countries, probably it's a bit cheaper for hosts. I read that tickets is quite expensive in Riga, despite that there was many spectators in arena. I agree with your predictions more or less, usually group stage is just warm up for big teams. While teams on two lowest lines is going to fight to avoid relegation.
Opening day was interesting. Sweden had difficult match against Germany and scored their only goal just in 3rd period. Bad day for hosts, Latvia had no chance against Canada, while USA made an upset by beating Finland. In 1st period of Czechia - Slovakia we saw 5 goals, but there was not much action in 2nd and 3rd periods and no goals were scored.
Friday results and schedule for Saturday:

[TopTort777]

I looks like until play-off game starts, there will be low interest to this tournament. So far there were no big news (despite team Hungary managed to make one goal against USA probably their first goal against such strong team in their history) . Only team USA outplayed champions, team Finland 4-1, but these are only preliminary stage, so everything is still in future. Btw, if a team bets strongest team in prelims, they always lose to them in play-off.

[LTU_btc]

I looks like until play-off game starts, there will be low interest to this tournament. So far there were no big news (despite team Hungary managed to make one goal against USA probably their first goal against such strong team in their history) . Only team USA outplayed champions, team Finland 4-1, but these are only preliminary stage, so everything is still in future. Btw, if a team bets strongest team in prelims, they always lose to them in play-off.

Today it was really fun day, Canada won against Slovakia just after penalty shootout, Germany lost to USA 2:3. One of the most awaited game of group stage between Finland and Sweden also ended with penalties were Sweden won. And hosts Latvia achieved their ever win against Czechia in World Championship, they won after OT 4:3.
It's sad to see Germany still with 0 points after 3 games because all their games with favorites wree really good.

[Mate2237]

I looks like until play-off game starts, there will be low interest to this tournament. So far there were no big news (despite team Hungary managed to make one goal against USA probably their first goal against such strong team in their history) . Only team USA outplayed champions, team Finland 4-1, but these are only preliminary stage, so everything is still in future. Btw, if a team bets strongest team in prelims, they always lose to them in play-off.

Exactly, I was not even aware that such tournament is coming or does even exist. The turn up will not be encouraging because most people are not even aware that that this tournament is coming. Well thank you very for bringing it here for us to know that games like this do exist. And the team I am predicting to carry the cup in this tournament is either Germany or France.

[TopTort777]

I looks like until play-off game starts, there will be low interest to this tournament. So far there were no big news (despite team Hungary managed to make one goal against USA probably their first goal against such strong team in their history) . Only team USA outplayed champions, team Finland 4-1, but these are only preliminary stage, so everything is still in future. Btw, if a team bets strongest team in prelims, they always lose to them in play-off.

Exactly, I was not even aware that such tournament is coming or does even exist. The turn up will not be encouraging because most people are not even aware that that this tournament is coming. Well thank you very for bringing it here for us to know that games like this do exist. And the team I am predicting to carry the cup in this tournament is either Germany or France.

However, yesterday team Latvia managed to bring a surprise for their fans by beating team Czechia 4:3 in overtime. I've managed to watch that game and it was worth watching, as Czechia managed to score first, but later was the one that have to catch Latvia and survive. But I would not call it "team Latvia" is strong at this tournament. They will do their usual - lose most of games, play draw against average teams, but manage to give a good competition or even beat one strong opponent, later finish tournament at top10 as usually. So team Czechia was their "strongest opponent to beat", meaning they will lose to Switzerland and Slovakia , win Kazakhstan and have draw against Norway

[LTU_btc]

However, yesterday team Latvia managed to bring a surprise for their fans by beating team Czechia 4:3 in overtime. I've managed to watch that game and it was worth watching, as Czechia managed to score first, but later was the one that have to catch Latvia and survive. But I would not call it "team Latvia" is strong at this tournament. They will do their usual - lose most of games, play draw against average teams, but manage to give a good competition or even beat one strong opponent, later finish tournament at top10 as usually. So team Czechia was their "strongest opponent to beat", meaning they will lose to Switzerland and Slovakia , win Kazakhstan and have draw against Norway

Well, so far Latvia is doing very well in this tournament. They already achieved 3rd win in a row after beating Slovenia. They're not wasting points in games where they're favorites and if they will beat Kazakhstan on Saturday, they almost guarantee themselves spot in playoffs.
Meanwhile Kazakhstan made an upset by beating Slovakia after penalties. 6 more games on Saturday and Switzerland - Canada looks most interesting to watch

[TopTort777]

Why this topic is so silent ? Nobody watches IIHF or likes ice hockey? Or current championship isnt interesting? Well you have missed some good games. For example do you know team Canada is in two looses streak right now ? Loss to Switzerland - this is accepted. And a loss to Norway. That is something unexpected. Two straight losses in prelims is rare for Canada. Also finishing on third place in group is something rare to see.

[LTU_btc]

Why this topic is so silent ? Nobody watches IIHF or likes ice hockey? Or current championship isnt interesting? Well you have missed some good games. For example do you know team Canada is in two looses streak right now ? Loss to Switzerland - this is accepted. And a loss to Norway. That is something unexpected. Two straight losses in prelims is rare for Canada. Also finishing on third place in group is something rare to see.

Yeah, surprised that there is no activity in this topic, last year much more people were posting about it. Well, maybe playoffs will bring more interest. In final day of group stage hosts Latvia jumped into playoffs after beating Switzerland in extra time. After Slovakia win Latvia needed point in this game, while win in extra time moves them to 3rd place already, while Czech Republic is just 4th.
In other group game for 1st place between Sweden and USA also ended in extra time where USA won. While Slovenia and Hungary finished last and going down just after one year in top division. They will be replaced by Italy and Poland.
Final standings of groups and playoffs pairs:

[TopTort777]

Latvia vs Switzerland yesterdays game was amazing. Never seen Latvia having 5 win streak in ice hockey Magic of prelims, Latvia lost to Canada (a disaster game), Canada lost to Switzerland, Switzerland lost to Latvia I think Latvia won because the game was in their homeland. Fan support made that 4:3 happen. Because usually for team Latvia, it is loosing most of games in prelims, having a draw or beating one strong team, and that is it, no more power to continue playing. And now they are in play-off.

P.S. I have noticed that forum members are not interested in ice hockey at all. No matter if this is Olympic games, NHL or IIHF, topics are usually empty.

[TopTort777]

Anyone wants to discuss Joe Veleno more ? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJHy3NoXfW0 <-- here is what I am talking about. I think even in MMA such more arent allowed. Good that players have protection on that part of the body. What about that slight elbow to face connection? Veleno was first to start aggression, got hit slightly to face, and felt down like a football player We dont need hockey like that!

[slackovic]

Anyone wants to discuss Joe Veleno more ? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJHy3NoXfW0 <-- here is what I am talking about. I think even in MMA such more arent allowed. Good that players have protection on that part of the body. What about that slight elbow to face connection? Veleno was first to start aggression, got hit slightly to face, and felt down like a football player We dont need hockey like that!

Wow! I don't think that I have ever seen a move like that. It's true that hockey players have protection on that part of the leg, but a player should be penalized for a move like that. And I'm not saying about 2 minute penalization but an extra penalization after the game so that he never again think of doing something like that. And that dive when Niederreiter touched him is something you see on football games, not ice hockey.

[TopTort777]

He received 5 game suspension for that move. For him, this tournament is over, as there are exactly 5 games were left after team Canada vs team Switzerland game. 5 game suspension is a fair penalty. He could have got 5 min penalty, and that is nothing. Or 5+25 and miss the rest of the game, but that also would be soft for such misconduct. So sending him home was a good decision. Sadly, he would get a medal anyway, because he was in teams roster the moment tournament has started.

[slackovic]

He received 5 game suspension for that move. For him, this tournament is over, as there are exactly 5 games were left after team Canada vs team Switzerland game. 5 game suspension is a fair penalty. He could have got 5 min penalty, and that is nothing. Or 5+25 and miss the rest of the game, but that also would be soft for such misconduct. So sending him home was a good decision. Sadly, he would get a medal anyway, because he was in teams roster the moment tournament has started.

Yeah, I expected that he will get a few games suspension for that move. Ice hockey is a rough sport and players shouldn't do such things to make it dangerous. And for the medal, I think that he deserves a medal if Canada wins it.

Now let's get back to the tournament. Two games already started and later we have two more. Germany is currently leading 1-0 against Switzerland but I'll be surprised if they manage to win the game. I think that USA, Switzerland and Canada will qualify for the semi final, but I'm not who to pick between Sweden and Latvia.

[LTU_btc]

Wow, what Latvia did is incredible. They were huge underdogs against Sweden, but managed to win with amazing support in Arena Riga. In 2nd period Sweden got 5 minutes power play, but even that didn't helped them to score. So, Latvia will play for medals for the first time ever, big congratulations to neighbours. It's only sad that championship leaves Riga, I think that fans were huge factor for Latvia that helped them.
They will face Canada in semifinal who won quite easy against Finland. It's also a bit unexpected, because Finland were favored a bit.
Germany made big upset by eliminating Switzerland. Germany hgad some bad luck in start of championship, loosing 3 games by 1 goal, but now they're looking very solid. Their opponents will be USA who didn't had big problems against Czechia. I saw interesting fact on Twitter that last time USA won World Championship only in 1933. I didn't believed until I checked myself.

[slackovic]

Wow, what Latvia did is incredible. They were huge underdogs against Sweden, but managed to win with amazing support in Arena Riga. In 2nd period Sweden got 5 minutes power play, but even that didn't helped them to score. So, Latvia will play for medals for the first time ever, big congratulations to neighbours. It's only sad that championship leaves Riga, I think that fans were huge factor for Latvia that helped them.
They will face Canada in semifinal who won quite easy against Finland. It's also a bit unexpected, because Finland were favored a bit.
Germany made big upset by eliminating Switzerland. Germany hgad some bad luck in start of championship, loosing 3 games by 1 goal, but now they're looking very solid. Their opponents will be USA who didn't had big problems against Czechia. I saw interesting fact on Twitter that last time USA won World Championship only in 1933. I didn't believed until I checked myself.

I was pretty surprised that Germany managed to beat Switzerland by two goals. I didn't watch the game but I see that Switzerland had 30 shots on the goal so I guess the real hero is Niederberger who stopped all but one shot. Congrats to Germany whose goal was to reach the quarters and will fight for the medal!

[romero121]

Wow, what Latvia did is incredible. They were huge underdogs against Sweden, but managed to win with amazing support in Arena Riga. In 2nd period Sweden got 5 minutes power play, but even that didn't helped them to score. So, Latvia will play for medals for the first time ever, big congratulations to neighbours. It's only sad that championship leaves Riga, I think that fans were huge factor for Latvia that helped them.
They will face Canada in semifinal who won quite easy against Finland. It's also a bit unexpected, because Finland were favored a bit.
Germany made big upset by eliminating Switzerland. Germany hgad some bad luck in start of championship, loosing 3 games by 1 goal, but now they're looking very solid. Their opponents will be USA who didn't had big problems against Czechia. I saw interesting fact on Twitter that last time USA won World Championship only in 1933. I didn't believed until I checked myself.

That's a big day for Latvia. The small country Latvia have secured its quarter finals position with the 3-1 win against Sweden. More good matches to come. Everything for the first time seems to be very special and the moment have come for Latvia. The country holds the good audience support. The country plays for a medal for the very first time. The fans were out of excitement and as a way to show their joy of entering the quarter finals some have thrown their TV's through the windows.

[TopTort777]

Amazing game by Latvia. I think they are on huge hype after beating Switzerland, so yesterday their team spirit was like 200%, and with support of fans (I've read that here were only about 500 Swedish fans), they have managed to create a miracle yesterday. That is their highest achievement in history. And it seems that tomorrow their luck will end, as they gonna face Canada, who already beat them 6-0. Also there will not much help from fans, as finals are going to be in Finland.

[LTU_btc]

Amazing game by Latvia. I think they are on huge hype after beating Switzerland, so yesterday their team spirit was like 200%, and with support of fans (I've read that here were only about 500 Swedish fans), they have managed to create a miracle yesterday. That is their highest achievement in history. And it seems that tomorrow their luck will end, as they gonna face Canada, who already beat them 6-0. Also there will not much help from fans, as finals are going to be in Finland.

As much as I love Latvia, yeah, I don't see them making miracle against Canada. And they won't have 6th player anymore - their fans. I read that there will be only 500, maybe 1000 Latvia fans in Tampere. But still, they will have chance to fight for bronze medals, what would be amazing achievement for them.
While I wouldn't be that much surprised if Germany will make an upset against USA. Germany had difficult start, but it seems that their game is improving while reaching late stages of tournament.

[LTU_btc]

C'mon, guys, where is comments about semifinals. It's really worth few words. I would call that Latvia against Canada was game of wasted opportunities. In 2nd period Latvia had powerplay 5 on 3, but didn't managed to make something dangerous. Few minutes later similar situation happened again, but then Bukarts got stupid penalty for boarding and it was just 4 on 3. In 3rd period Canada already dominated and there weren't many chances for Latvia.
Seems that my post about Germany didn't aged bad and they won against USA after extra time. Another great game and I think they have chances against Canada in the final. While USA probably is cursed in World Championships. No USA, Finland, Sweden or Switzerland in the final and only Canada reaching it almost each year. I'm not sure, does it shows that other countries improved or simply leaders aren't looking with right attituted into World Championship.

[bakasabo]

I wish Latvia to make a victory over USA and get their first ever medals in ice hockey. And I also wish Germany to win Canada and get their gold medals finally. This would be a nice two historical moments for both national teams. Seeing Canada vs USA finals would be boring, as it will be as if we would be seeing another NHL game, but with less famous and competitive players. Because NHL stars usually dont participate in IIHF tournaments, because they are busing during their play-off games.

My opinion on IIHF World Championships - we dont see much of an interest and competition here, as players are busy in play-off and focus more on winning gold medals during Olympic games. Countries (those who have strong teams) use such championships to train their rookies, second (not strongest) line ups, or as a testing field in general. Players focus more on Olympic games, as its medals are more precious.

[LTU_btc]

Final disappointed me a bit. Yes, Germany gave good fight, they were leading twice, but Canada showed who is who in 3rd period where Germany wasn't real threat for them. So many empty seats in arena and no atmosphere made by fans - it didn't looked like final. Canada continue their dominance, while for Germany it's first medal in World Championship since 1953 - finally.
3rd place game was very exciting. Latvia played another very solid game, honestly I never seen such good Latvia team. Game went to overtime and it didn't took long for Latvia to score goal which brings first ever bronze for them. While for USA it's another tournament that they want to forget.

My opinion on IIHF World Championships - we dont see much of an interest and competition here, as players are busy in play-off and focus more on winning gold medals during Olympic games. Countries (those who have strong teams) use such championships to train their rookies, second (not strongest) line ups, or as a testing field in general. Players focus more on Olympic games, as its medals are more precious.

I don't agree fully because in Olympics teams also don't have their best players. In 2022 and 2018 Olympics NHL didn't released their players as they didn't made window for it in regular season. Last time when there was NHL players was 2014 Olympics in Sochi. So, actually in IIHF World Championships teams have better squads than in Olympics because at least some of their NHL players who laready ended their season is available.
Canada reached final 4th year in a row, but they have just few players from previous tournaments. Probably they are able to make 10 different squads who would be contenders to win championship.

[BitcoinAccepted]

Canada doesn't have a great tournament anyway, I don't remember exactly who it was against but they already lost a game. I thought that was only Denmark or Norway. Then they lost after overtime or penalties. Of course the USA is the huge favorite to win this tournament, but many stars in the American league also come from other countries, so the differences may be smaller than most people think. I just think that little attention is paid to this tournament on the internet.

[TopTort777]

Canada now holds the record of most wins in World Championships. They have now 28 gold medals. Even though getting gold medals is a huge achievement, I dont like their performance during this years tournament. They have lost to Switzerland (and finished second in group), barely won Slovakia, hardly won Latvia in semi finals, were even with Germany in game for gold during two periods. Congratz anyway.