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Latvia won its first ever World Championship medal after edging past team USA in overtime to secure bronze in Tampere.

A third period fightback lifted Canada to victory over Latvia and sends Andre Tourigny’s team to its fourth World Championship final in a row. However, the Latvians pushed the Canadians all the way, twice leading in a hard-fought battle in Tampere.

Latvia reached its first ever World Championship semi-final after a stunning win over Sweden. Two days after Arena Riga partied into the night as the co-host secured a playoff spot in dramatic style, there was even greater jubilation after a 3-1 victory over the Tre Kronor set up a clash with Canada in the final four.

Several former and current KHL players are competing at this year’s World Championships.

With 5:04 left on the clock in regulation time, Kaspars Daugavins scored a goal that raised the roof at Arena Riga. The Latvian captain delivered a tying goal for his country in a vital game against Switzerland, earning the point that put the co-hosts into the quarter final. A power play goal in the extras saw Rudolfs Balcers crown a memorable evening beside the Baltic.

Two late goals grabbed a 4-3 victory over Slovenia as Kazakhstan signed off at the 2023 World Championship. Monday’s match-up was a dead rubber as far as the competition was concerned, with Slovenia already relegated and Kazakhstan unable to make the playoffs. However, it produced an entertaining game with both teams looking to finish on a high note.

Sunday’s opening game in Riga was a big one for Kazakhstan. If Slovenia failed to get at least a point from its meeting with Slovakia, the Kazakhs would be safe from relegation regardless of its match-up against the Slovenes on Monday.

Latvia’s push for a playoff place continues after a crushing 7-0 victory over Kazakhstan. The win gives the co-host a six-point cushion over fifth-placed Slovakia, but the champagne corks can’t start popping just yet. Slovakia would have the head-to-head advantage in the event of a tie and has winnable games against Slovenia and Norway to come. Thus the Latvians could still need a point against undefeated Switzerland in the final game to book a quarter-final spot.

Kazakhstan took a huge step towards securing its top division status at this year’s IIHF World Championship with a surprise victory over Slovakia on Friday evening.

Roman Cervenka potted the Czech Republic’s game-winner over Slovenia. His team had to come from 0-2 to record a 6-2 verdict. That fightback was warmly welcomed by Kazakhstan, which remains two points clear of the as yet winless Slovenians.

Kazakhstan suffered a second heavy loss in 24 hours, going down 5-1 to Canada. That follows a 0-5 loss to Switzerland the night before.

Kazakhstan suffered a heavy loss to Switzerland in its third game at the 2023 World Championship. The Swiss posted a third straight shut-out to secure a 5-0 verdict and move to the top of the Group B standings.

Oskars Batna got Latvia off the mark with a winner 44 seconds from the end of an enthralling overtime period against the Czech Republic.

After an impressive opening win over Norway, Kazakhstan came back down to earth in its second game at the 2023 World Championship. A 1-5 loss against the Czech Republic leaves the Kazakhs with two points from two games in Riga, good for fifth place in Group B.

Day two of the 2023 World Championship saw Kazakhstan’s first game. This year’s Kazakh roster is shorn of the dual-nationals who have dominated in recent years. Instead, there’s a chance for home-grown talent to emerge from the Kazakh championship and prove its worth.

Kazakhstan gave mighty Canada a fright, leading twice in Helsinki. However, on a day disrupted by a fire alarm, the Canadians doused those flames to complete a fourth successive victory in Group A at the World Championship.

Finland took on Sweden in front of a capacity crowd in Tampere as the excitement around the 2022 World Championship moved up another notch. This Nordic rivalry was the most eagerly anticipated clash of the group stage, and it went all the way to a shoot-out before Sweden took the verdict.

Kazakhstan fell to a third successive loss at the 2022 World Championship, dropping a 2-3 verdict against unbeaten Switzerland to remain stuck at the foot of the Group A standings.

Finland proved too strong for the USA in Monday’s big game. Another capacity crowd in Tampere was treated to a convincing 4-1 victory as the Americans’ discipline let them down.

A much-improved performance from Kazakhstan was not enough to prevent a second successive loss at the World Championship in Finland.

When Team Kazakhstan arrived in Helsinki, it had hopes of improving on last season’s performance in Riga and reaching the World Championship quarter finals for the first time. Today, though, those hopes seem forlorn.

Jokerit duo Iiro Pakarinen and Hannes Bjorninen were on target as Finland edged past Germany in the World Championship semi-final. The Finns will face Canada, who defeated the USA 4-2 with Justin Danforth among the scorers. Germany plays the Americans in the bronze-medal game in Riga tomorrow afternoon.

Russia’s World Championship campaign ended in disappointment after an overtime loss against Canada knocked Valery Bragin’s team out at the quarter-final stage. For the first time in the tournament, Russia failed to win after scoring first and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky’s first game in this year’s competition proved to be his last. Canada goes on to face the USA in Saturday’s semi-final, while Finland will take on Germany in the other match-up.

In Latvia, the IIHF World Men’s preliminary stage ended with many surprises and unpredictable results. KHL.ru analyzes the performance of its players.

The World Championship quarter-finals promise another instalment of a classic hockey rivalry when Russia takes on Canada. Valery Bragin’s team secured top spot in Group A with an emphatic win over Belarus, while the Canadians crept into the last eight thanks to Germany’s victory over Latvia.

Valery Bragin celebrated his 65th birthday with a shoot-out win over Sweden, a result that means the Tre Kronor cannot progress to the knock-out phase. It’s the first time since the playoffs were introduced in 1992 that Sweden has not been there. Kazakhstan, meanwhile, is still waiting to see if it will make its first ever quarter-final after losing to Norway in its final group game.

Sunday’s action at the IIHF World Championship was all about whether Sweden, Latvia and Canada could get the results they needed to remain in contention for a quarter-final spot. In the event, they all picked up something — Sweden beating Slovakia, Canada thrashing Italy and Latvia taking a point from Finland — to set up a nerve-jangling finale. However, Belarus saw its hopes of progress emphatically ended by Switzerland.

A goal-crazy performance from Kazakhstan brought an 11-3 win over Italy to keep the country’s playoff hopes well and truly alive in Group B of the IIHF World Championship. And Russia continued its steady progress towards the knock-out rounds as Sergei Tolchinsky inspired a 4-1 win over Switzerland.

It would take a brave man to predict the quarter finalists from Group B of the IIHF World Championship after Friday’s play. Just five points separate group leader Finland (10 points from four games) and seventh-placed Norway (five points from five games). As it stands, Latvia is holding on to fourth place, just ahead of Kazakhstan and Canada. In Group A, though, things are clearer after defeats for Great Britain and Belarus pushed those nations to the brink of elimination. However, both the Czechs and Swedes have work to do to get over the line.

It wasn’t quite ‘winner takes all’, but when Sweden met the Czechs in Group A both teams knew that defeat would push them to the brink of elimination. And it was the Czech Republic that got the verdict, battling back from 0-2 to give its playoff hopes a big boost thanks to a game-winner from Lukas Klok. In Group B, a Miks Indrasis goal was not enough to save Latvia from defeat against the USA, while former Dinamo Riga man Tony Sund scored twice as Finland beat Italy 3-0.

Sweden, expected to be one of Russia’s big rivals in Group A, finally got a win at the World Championship. After losing to Denmark and Belarus, the Tre Kronor overpowered Switzerland. In Group B, Kazakhstan suffered its first defeat, going down 0-3 against the USA before Finland defeated Norway.

Day four of the IIHF World Championship saw an uncharacteristically sluggish Russian performance end in a 1-3 loss against Slovakia. That’s a first loss of the tournament for Valery Bragin’s team and sees the Slovaks move clear at the top of Group A. The Czech Republic got its first win of the championship in the evening game, edging Belarus in overtime. Latvia briefly went to the summit in Group B after a 3-0 win over Italy but was overtaken by Germany as Canada lost again.

The 2021 IIHF World Championship continues, and so do the surprises. Belarus defeated Sweden for the first time in World Championship play while Kazakhstan stunned defending champion Finland in a shoot-out. It all adds up to Kazakhstan with two wins from two in Group B, while Canada has two losses from two games, and fewer goals than Great Britain.

The 2021 IIHF World Championship started with a bang. The opening game saw Russia snatch a dramatic last-minute winner against the Czech Republic, then the evening action brought a sensational result as host nation Latvia stunned Canada with a 2-0 verdict in Riga. Belarus, though, struggled in its game against Slovakia and went down 2-5.

The 2021 IIHF World Championship will start on May 21 in Riga, Latvia. Nine national teams will feature KHL players, while almost all teams in the league will have at least a representative at the tournament. Five teams, however, will be mostly made up of KHL players: Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Latvia, and Finland.