IIHF finalizes groups, schedule for the 2023 World Hockey Championship

On Thursday, the International Ice Hockey Federation finalized the groups and announced the schedule for the 2023 World Hockey Championship, which is set to be held in Riga (Latvia) and Tampere (Finland), next May.

The 2023 World Championship was originally supposed to be hosted Saint Petersburg, but due to Russia's ban, the IIHF moved the tournament to be co-hosted by Finland and Latvia.

Before we look at some key games on the schedule, let's take a look at the groups.

Group A (Tampere): Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Sweden, United States.
Group B (Riga): Canada, Czechia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland.

Canada will open up the tournament on May 12th against the hosts, Latvia. They'll then face Slovenia on May 14th, Slovakia on May 15th, Kazakhstan on May 17th, Switzerland on May 20th, Norway on May 22nd, before wrapping up the preliminary round on May 23rd against Czechia.

The quarter-finals will be played on May 25th, two games in Riga and two games in Tampere. Two days later, the semi-finals get underway, with both games being played in Tampere. The bronze and gold medal games will take place on May 28th.

Here are some notable games to watch in the preliminary round.

- Finland vs United States: May 12th.
- Slovakia vs Czechia: May 12th.
- Finland vs Sweden: May 15th.
- Slovakia vs Canada: May 15th.
- Canada vs Switzerland: May 20th.
- Sweden vs United States: May 23rd.
- Canada vs Czechia: May 23rd.

The final groups and game schedule of the #IIHFWorlds in Tampere & Riga are here! And soon more information on tickets. Read more ➡️ https://t.co/IQvDltxnzY

🇫🇮 MM-kisojen otteluohjelma on julkaistu https://t.co/7w1TbPAXD1

🇱🇻 Paziņots PČ kalendārs! https://t.co/SXaUXzaU8T pic.twitter.com/86rV1w9RBN— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) September 8, 2022

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