News

For two periods, Kazakhstan could dream of a great escape in its World Championship relegation. But reality bites, and Switzerland rallied to win in regulation, condemning the Kazakhs to Division IA next season.

Team Kazakhstan suffered its heaviest loss of the 2025 IIHF World Championship.

Two goals from Denmark’s Alexander True pushed Kazakhstan to a 1-5 loss in Wednesday’s World Championship action. Nikita Mikhailis kept up his productive streak with his country’s only goal but the night belonged to the host nation in Herning.

Newly-promoted Hungary stunned Kazakhstan with a 4-2 win at the 2025 IIHF World Championship in Herning, Denmark. The Hungarians lost heavily in their opening games, but rebounded to defeat the Kazakhs and blow the survival battle in Pool B wide open.

Day three of the IIHF World Championship saw another brave performance from Kazakhstan in a 1-4 loss against Germany. Admiral’s Slovak defenseman Mario Grman had an assist in his country’s win over Slovenia.

The 2025 IIHF World Championship got underway in Sweden and Denmark at the weekend. In the absence of Russia and Belarus, the main KHL interest hinges on Kazakhstan – and the Central Asian nation started with victory over Norway on Saturday.

The final day of international action in St. Petersburg saw Russia 25 make it three from three with victory over Kazakhstan. That secured the trophy for the tournament host, while condemning the winless Kazakhs to last place. Then Belarus thrashed the KHL World Team 6-1, securing second place in the four-team competition.

Day two of the Channel 1 Cup started with Russia 25 edging past Belarus in overtime after an entertaining 3-3 tie in St. Petersburg. Then the KHL World Stars defeated Kazakhstan 3-1, bouncing back from an opening-night loss.

For the first time at the Channel 1 Cup, fans got to see 3x3 hockey. The four teams played a knock-out tournament, whetting the appetite for the start of the KHL 3x3 championship next week. Russia 25 and Belarus progressed to the final, with the host nation taking a 4-2 verdict in that gold medal game. Kazakhstan defeated the KHL World Team in the battle for bronze.

Thursday saw the start of the 2024 Channel 1 Cup. The four-team international tournament at the SKA Arena in St. Petersburg featured a KHL World Team for the first time. The roster, coached by Mike Keenan and comprising 28 top imports, faced a Russian national team in its opening game and fell to a 1-4 loss. Earlier, Belarus defeated Kazakhstan 3-1.

The Kontinental Hockey League has announced the roster for the KHL World Team participating in the upcoming Channel One Cup.

The Czech Republic is celebrating gold on home ice at the 2024 IIHF World Championship. A 2-0 win over Switzerland in the final gave the Czechs the title for the first time since 2010, while the Swiss are still waiting for a maiden championship. Sweden claimed bronze with a 4-2 success against Canada.

It was party time in Prague as the Czech Republic halted Sweden’s unbeaten run through the IIHF World Championship. Saturday’s 7-3 victory gives the Czechs a first final since 2010, and guarantees a home-ice medal for the first time since 1992. Tomorrow, the host nation will face Switzerland for the gold after a shoot-out verdict against Canada in the second game. The Canadians will face Sweden for bronze.

Quarter-final day at the 2024 IIHF World Championship saw the Czech Republic, Canada, Sweden and Switzerland advance to the weekend’s decisive games. The semi-final pairings see unbeaten Sweden take on the Czech host, with Canada facing Switzerland in a swift repeat of their Group A match-up, won 3-2 by the Canadians.

Several former and current KHL players are competing at this year’s World Championships, which is taking place in Czechia.

The final day of group stage play saw Latvia fall short of a playoff place. A 3-6 loss against Team USA left the Latvians in fifth in Group B. Finland, in danger of missing out for the first time since playoffs were introduced, avoided any drama after Austria blew its chance with defeat against Great Britain. The quarter-finals on Thursday will see two games in Prague: Canada vs Slovakia, and Czech Republic vs USA. In Ostrava, Sweden faces Finland and Switzerland takes on Germany.

A 3-1 win over Poland was enough to keep Kazakhstan in the top division at the IIHF World Championship. Goals from Nikita Mikhailis, Valery Orekhov and Roman Starchenko secured the verdict in a must-win game to conclude the Kazakhs’ campaign. Poland returns to Division IA, as does Britain after a 2-5 loss to Norway. Sweden clinched first place in Group B with a 3-1 win over France, while Finland moved back to fourth in Group A with victory over Denmark.

Latvia’s playoff hopes are still alive after a shoot-out win over Slovakia. Last year’s bronze medallist can continue to dream of more hardware if it can get a win against the USA on Tuesday. The Americans, meanwhile, handed Kazakhstan a 10-1 thrashing. Kazakhstan has one game left and must avoid a regulation time loss against Poland to remain in the top division. In Group A, Norway is in a similar situation after its 1-4 reverse against an Austrian team that still has hopes of a rare QF run. The evening game in Prague saw Canada edge Switzerland to go top of the Group A standings.

Latvia’s hopes of progress at the 2024 IIHF World Championship took a knock when a record-breaking goal rush saw Sweden romp to a 7-2 win. Elsewhere in Group B, Slovakia beat France, piling up the pressure on the Latvians ahead of their meeting tomorrow. In Group A, the top three all won: Canada outlasted Finland for a 5-3 scoreline, Switzerland scored eight on Denmark and the Czechs eased past Britain.

An 8-2 drubbing against Germany left Kazakhstan looking anxiously at a relegation battle in its World Championship campaign. After an opening win, the Kazakhs have now lost four in a row and will likely need to defeat Poland to guarantee safety. The Poles, meanwhile, lost to team USA on Friday evening. In Group A, the Czechs beat Austria 4-0 to go top of the standings. Denmark edged a 4-3 verdict over Great Britain, which is still seeking its first point.

Kazakhstan suffered a 1-3 loss to Sweden, but produced a performance that got the seal of approval from former Barys defenseman Victor Hedman in Ostrava. In the same arena, France fell to a heavy loss against the USA later on Thursday. But the big talking point was Austria’s last-second victory over Finland, with Benjamin Baumgartner giving his country a first ever win over the Finns at a World Championship. In the evening, Canada defeated Norway.

After a promising start to the tournament, Latvia suffered a horror show in Wednesday’s 1-8 loss to Germany. Switzerland remains undefeated following a comfortable 3-0 victory over Great Britain and goes top of Group A ahead of the Czechs, who downed Denmark 7-4. The other Group B ended in a 4-0 win for Slovakia over Poland.

Unfancied Austria produced a historic fightback from 1-6 to force overtime against mighty Canada in Prague. Although the defending champion snatched the winner in the extras, avoiding total humiliation, this game will be remembered as one of Austria’s greatest performances. Elsewhere, Latvia beat Kazakhstan 2-0, Stephane Da Costa had two points as France won against Poland, and Norway came out on top in the Scandinavia battle against Denmark.

The big game on Day four of the World Championship saw the Czech hosts take on undefeated Switzerland. It promised to be tight and it went all the way to a shoot-out before the Swiss edged the verdict. Elsewhere, Slovakia survived a scare to defeat the USA in overtime and there were big wins for Finland and Sweden.

Kazakhstan couldn’t build on an opening night win at the IIHF World Championship, slipping to a 2-6 loss against Slovakia. Latvia followed its nervy OT win against Poland with another tight verdict over France, with Kaspars Daugavins again grabbing the OT goal. Elsewhere, there were comfortable victories for Finland, Canada and Sweden, while Switzerland faced a battle against Austria before edging a 6-5 verdict thanks to Nico Hischier’s hat-trick.

Three goals from behind the net saw Kazakhstan open its World Championship campaign with victory over France. Also in Group B, Latvia was dragged all the way to overtime by newly-promoted Poland before escaping with a 5-4 victory. The other newcomer, Great Britain, stunned Canada with the opening goal but fell to a 2-4 loss. Host nation Czechia had to rally from 1-3 to beat Norway, with Roman Cervenka scoring twice. There were comfortable victories for Denmark and the USA.

Russia wrapped up a perfect spring series with another victory over Belarus. The fifth and final game for Russia-25 this month brought a 4-2 victory in Minsk. That makes it four successive wins over the Belarusians, following victory over Kazakhstan at the start of the sequence.

The opening day of the IIHF World Championship saw victories for Switzerland, Sweden, Germany and the Czech Republic. The Czech hosts squeaked a shoot-out verdict over Finland despite a shut-out from former Vityaz and Sibir goalie Harri Sateri through 65 minutes of tense action in Prague.

Thursday brought another convincing win for Russia-25 over Belarus. The visitor had some consolation after it ended Artemy Pleshkov’s record-breaking shut-out streak, but rarely looked capable of inflicting a first loss of the spring on Roman Rotenberg’s team.

Two goals from Arseny Gritsyuk and a third successive shut-out for Artemy Pleshkov helped Russia-25 to a 4-0 victory over Belarus.

A big victory over Belarus secures gold for Roman Rotenberg’s team. Artur Tyanulin celebrates a first international goal, and Artemy Pleshkov posts back-to-back shut-outs in Astana.

The first game of the Kazakhstan Hockey Open ended with Artemy Pleshkov backstopping Russia-25 to a 1-0 win over the Kazakhs.

Russia 25 wrapped up a successful Channel 1 Cup with victory over Kazakhstan. The Red Machine’s prospects – average age 25 – defeated all-comers in St. Petersburg to win the trophy. Earlier in the day, VHL Stars got its first win of the competition, edging Belarus in OT.

A hard-fought victory over Belarus put Russia 25 in pole position at the Channel 1 Cup. With two wins from two games, the host nation can wrap up the trophy with a result against Kazakhstan on Sunday.

The 2023 Channel 1 Cup visits St. Petersburg for the first time. SKA Arena saw Belarus start it off with a win over Kazakhstan, before Russia 25 shot down at VHL Stars team 5-2 in the later game.

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.