by IIHF World Championship 2023: Dates, schedule, TV channels and more for international hockey tournament
The 2023 Stanley Cup playoff may still be in full swing, but there’s another massive hockey tournament going on.
The 2023 IIHF World Championship is set to get underway in Europe. There are 16 countries competing at the event, with the goal of a gold medal in mind.
Finland enters this year as the defending champions. The country defeated Canada 4-3 in overtime of the 2022 gold-medal game to earn its fourth first-place finish at the tournament.
It has been Finland and Canada competing in the championship game of the event for the last three consecutive years. Will that trend continue in 2023, or will a new country contend for gold?
The Sporting News has everything you need for the 2023 IIHF World Championship.
MORE: Watch the 2023 IIHF World Championship live with fuboTV (free trial, U.S. only)
When is the 2023 IIHF World Championship?
- Start date: Friday, May 12
- End date: Sunday, May 28
The 2023 tournament is set to start on Friday, May 12 and run until Sunday, May 28.
The group stage will take over a week and a half, as it begins on Friday, May 12 and goes until Tuesday, May 23. The playoff portion of the tournament starts on Thursday, May 25.
How to watch 2023 IIHF World Championship on TV, live stream
- TV channel (U.S.): NHL Network
- Live stream (U.S.): Fubo (free trial), ESPN+
- TV channel (Canada): TSN, RDS
- Live stream (Canada): TSN.ca, TSN app
TSN and the NHL Network are the homes in North America for the 2023 IIHF World Championship
In the United States, all games involving Team USA and other select pool play games will be broadcast on NHL Network. The network will have both semifinal games and medal games.
Cord cutters can stream NHL Network through Fubo, which offers a free trial. ESPN+ will carry games that are not available on NHL Network.
Canadians can view games on TSN (English language) or RDS (French language). The network will carry every game with Canada involved at the tournament and select other games, including all of the playoff contests.
TSN can be streamed on TSN.ca, through the TSN App and TSN+.
Where is the 2023 IIHF World Championship?
- Location: Tampere, Finland / Riga, Latvia
- Venue: Nokia Arena / Arena Riga
The 2023 IIHF World Championship is being split between two host countries: Tampere, Finland and Riga, Latvia.
Games held in Tampere will be played at the Nokia Arena, the home rink for Ilves and Tappara of Finland’s Liiga. Contests in Riga will be played at Arena Riga, home of Latvian national teams and the former arena of the KHL’s Dinamo Riga.
The 2023 tournament was scheduled to be held in Saint Petersburg, Russia, however, the country’s rights to the event were stripped following the IIHF ban of Russia and Belarus following the invasion of Ukraine.
2023 IIHF World Championship standings
There are 16 countries competing at the 2023 IIHF World Championship. The group is split up into two pools of eight.
Teams will play seven preliminary games in a round-robin format within their group, followed by a three-round playoff.
In the group stage, teams earn three points for a regulation win, two points for an overtime win, one point for an overtime loss and no points for a regulation loss.
The top four teams from each pool advance to the quarterfinals. The winners of quarterfinal games advance to the semis, while the losers will play in a 5th-place game for seeding purposes. The victors of the semifinals will face off in the gold medal game, and the semis losers will play for bronze.
Group A
| Team | Games | Wins | OT Wins | OT Losses | Losses | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USA | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Sweden | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Hungary | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Denmark | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| France | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Austria | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Germany | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Finland | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Group B
| Team | Games | Wins | OT Wins | OT Losses | Losses | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Czechia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Canada | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Switzerland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Slovenia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kazakhstan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Norway | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Latvia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Slovakia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
2023 IIHF World Championship schedule, results
Friday, May 12
| Matchup | Time (ET) |
| USA 4, Finland 1 | FINAL |
| Czechia 3, Slovakia 2 | FINAL |
| Sweden 1, Germany 0 | FINAL |
| Canada 6, Latvia 0 | FINAL |
Saturday, May 13
| Matchup | Time (ET) |
| France vs. Austria | 5:20 a.m. |
| Switzerland vs. Slovenia | 5:20 a.m. |
| Hungary vs. Denmark | 9:20 a.m. |
| Norway vs. Kazakhstan | 9:20 a.m. |
| Germany vs. Finland | 1:20 p.m. |
| Slovakia vs. Latvia | 1:20 p.m. |
Sunday, May 14
| Matchup | Time (ET) |
| USA vs. Hungary | 5:20 a.m. |
| Slovenia vs. Canada | 5:20 a.m. |
| France vs. Denmark | 9:20 a.m. |
| Norway vs. Switzerland | 9:20 a.m. |
| Sweden vs. Austria | 1:20 p.m. |
| Czechia vs. Kazakhstan | 1:20 p.m. |
Monday, May 15
| Matchup | Time (ET) |
| Germany vs. USA | 9:20 a.m. |
| Slovakia vs. Canada | 9:20 a.m. |
| Finland vs. Sweden | 1:20 p.m. |
| Czechia vs. Latvia | 1:20 p.m. |
Tuesday, May 16
| Matchup | Time (ET) |
| Denmark vs. Austria | 9:20 a.m. |
| Slovenia vs. Norway | 9:20 a.m. |
| France vs. Hungary | 1:20 p.m. |
| Switzerland vs. Kazakhstan | 1:20 p.m. |
Wednesday, May 17
| Matchup | Time (ET) |
| USA vs. Austria | 9:20 a.m. |
| Latvia vs. Norway | 9:20 a.m. |
| Finland vs. France | 1:20 p.m. |
| Canada vs. Kazakhstan | 1:20 p.m. |
Thursday, May 18
| Matchup | Time (ET) |
| Hungary vs. Sweden | 9:20 a.m. |
| Czechia vs. Slovenia | 9:20 a.m. |
| Denmark vs. Germany | 1:20 p.m. |
| Switzerland vs. Slovakia | 1:20 p.m. |
Friday, May 19
| Matchup | Time (ET) |
| Hungary vs. Finland | 9:20 a.m. |
| Latvia vs. Slovenia | 9:20 a.m. |
| Austria vs. Germany | 1:20 p.m. |
| Kazakhstan vs. Slovakia | 1:20 p.m. |
Saturday, May 20
| Matchup | Time (ET) |
| USA vs. Denmark | 5:20 a.m. |
| Norway vs. Czechia | 5:20 a.m. |
| Austria vs. Finland | 9:20 a.m. |
| Canada vs. Switzerland | 9:20 a.m. |
| Sweden vs. France | 1:20 p.m. |
| Kazakhstan vs. Latvia | 1:20 p.m. |
Sunday, May 21
| Matchup | Time (ET) |
| Germany vs. Hungary | 9:20 a.m. |
| Slovenia vs. Slovakia | 9:20 a.m. |
| USA vs. France | 1:20 p.m. |
| Czechia vs. France | 1:20 p.m. |
Monday, May 22
| Matchup | Time (ET) |
| Denmark vs. Sweden | 9:20 a.m. |
| Canada vs. Norway | 9:20 a.m. |
| Austria vs. Hungary | 1:20 p.m. |
| Kazakhstan vs. Slovenia | 1:20 p.m. |
Tuesday, May 23
| Matchup | Time (ET) |
| Germany vs. France | 5:20 a.m. |
| Slovakia vs. Norway | 5:20 a.m. |
| Sweden vs. USA | 9:20 a.m. |
| Canada vs. Czechia | 9:20 a.m. |
| Finland vs. Denmark | 1:20 p.m. |
| Switzerland vs. Latvia | 1:20 p.m. |
Thursday, May 25
| Matchup | Time (ET) |
| Quarterfinal | 9:20 a.m. |
| Quarterfinal | 9:20 a.m. |
| Quarterfinal | 1:20 p.m. |
| Quarterfinal | 1:20 p.m. |
Saturday, May 27
| Matchup | Time (ET) |
| Semifinal | 7:20 a.m. |
| Semifinal | 11:20 a.m. |
Saturday, May 27
| Matchup | Time (ET) |
| Bronze-Medal Game | 8:20 a.m. |
| Gold-Medal Game | 1:20 p.m. |