Mischief of the owners. Did Latvia really need to host this world championship?

In Helsinki in 1997, Finland was not among the main contenders for gold, although the Finns were coached by the man who had led them to gold two years earlier – Sweden’s Kurt Lindström. In the final group in Helsinki, the Finns finished in 5th place, not reaching the fight for medals.

After playing in Group B for two years, Switzerland made a bit of a surprise in Zurich in 1998 by beating Russia 4-2 in the qualifying group and reaching the semi-finals. They lost to Sweden in both games there, and lost to the Czech Republic in the match for 3rd place (0:4).

Oslo (1999) Norway did the minimum, defeating Italy and getting to play for 9th to 12th place, where they lost heavily to Latvia (1:7).

Everything is clear about St. Petersburg (2000) – Russian NHL stars thought too highly of themselves, but coach Alexander Yakushev did not know how to deal with such a star-studded and drinking team. Losses to USA (0:3), Switzerland (2:3), Latvia (2:3) and Belarus (0:1) gave Russia only 11th place.

In its World Championship (2001), Germany already laid a solid foundation for the play-off in the first game against Switzerland (3:1). There, however, there were no great chances against Finland (1:4), the result was 8th place.

The Swedes were definitely the favorites in Gothenburg (2002), but lost to the eventual champions Slovakia (2:3) in the semi-finals in a shootout.

A year later, the Finnish Turks’ efforts were stifled in the quarter-finals by none other than their neighbors the Swedes (6:5). 5th place.

At the turn of the century, the Czechs had won three consecutive world championships, also winning gold at the Nagano Olympic Games. Logically, the Czechs hoped for gold in Prague (2004). Three wins in the group, two more in the next stage, also 6-2 against Canada. However, in the quarter-finals, they lost 2:3 against the Americans. 5th place.

In 2005, the championship was held in Austria – Innsbruck and Vienna. The Austrians got the only point (2:2) against Germany, it was the last – 16th place.

In the Olympic year 2006 in Riga, Sweden became the first national team to win the Olympic Games and the World Championship in the same year. 10th place for the Latvian national team.

In Moscow (2007), the Russians under the leadership of Vyacheslav Bykov rolled like a red car – six victories in a row, but in the semifinals 1:2 in extra time with Finland. However, the Swedes were defeated in the match for 3rd place (3:1).

In Halifax and Quebec (2008), the Canadians surpassed the success of the Russians – seven victories! In the final – 4:5 in extra time against Russia.

Aleksandrs Nizhivi can be proud that his post-match accurate shot left Switzerland, the hosts of the 2009 championship, out of the play-off – 2:1. Latvia played well in that tournament, defeating Sweden for the first time in the world championship.

In 2010, when the championship returned to Germany again, the Germans had a very good team: 2:1 (OT) against USA, 3:1 against Denmark, 0:1 against Finland, 2:3 against Russia, 2:1 against Slovakia. 1:0 against Switzerland in the quarter finals, then 1:2 against Russia and 1:3 against Sweden in the bronze medal match.

In Bratislava (2011), the Slovaks finished in 10th place, losing to Russia, Germany, the Czech Republic and Finland.

In 2012, the world championship had two hosts – Finland and Sweden. In the end, Finns took 4th place, Swedes – 6th.

A year later, the championship was again held in Sweden and Finland, only this time the semi-finals and medal games were held in Stockholm. Finally, the organizer of the championship got the gold! Swedes lost to Switzerland (2:3) and Canada (0:3) in the group tournament, but in the play-off everything was in place – first 3:2 (OT) with Canada, then 3:0 with Finland and in the final rematch with Switzerland – 5: 1. If there are two hosts of the tournament, then both cannot win… On the other hand, the Finns lost the bronze match to the Americans in the shootout (2:3).

In Minsk (2014), Belarus took the high 7th place.

Continuing the tradition, in 2015 the hosts of the tournament, the Czechs, did not become champions. Jagra blice lost to Canada (0:2) in the semi-finals.

2016 took us again to Moscow and St. Petersburg. Znaroks was very ready to win this time as well, but in the semi-finals he stumbled against the Finns (1:3), leaving no hope for the Americans (7:2) in the bronze game.

The 2017 championship was also held in two countries – France and Germany. In the quarter-finals, the Germans only lost 1:2 to Canada, it was the 8th place. In Paris, the French fought very heroically – 5:1 against Finland, 4:3 each in the bullpen with Switzerland and Belarus, 4:1 with Slovenia. One point was missing from the play-off, 9th place.

In 2018, in Herning, Andris Džeriņš, with the only shot he made in this game, left the hosts of the championship, the Danes, out of the play-off, they took 10th place.

Regarding 2019 and Košice/Bratislava, it is safe to say that Slovakia also does not need to hold world hockey forums. Another Slovak 9th place.

The year 2021 is still a good memory for us – for the second time the world hockey championship was held in Riga! Due to Covid, almost no viewers. In the end, ours remained in 10th place.

Last year, the championship was again held in Tampere and Helsinki. Ouch! Finally, the Finnish organizers of the championship were the best again. The Finns won six of the seven games in the Tampere subgroup, defeated the Slovaks (4:2) in the quarterfinals, the Americans (4:3) in the semifinals, but Sakari Manninen’s shot in the majority brought them the victory against Canada in the extra time of the final game – 4:3.

25 years in world championships

The host of the year’s city champion WC

1997. Helsinki/Tampere/Turku 1. Canada, 5. Finland

1998. Zurich/Basel 1. Sweden, 4. Switzerland

1999. Oslo/Hamar/Lillehammer 1. Czech Republic, 12. Norway

2000. St. Petersburg 1. Czech Republic, 11. Russia

2001. Hannover/Cologne/Nuremberg 1. Czech Republic, 8. Germany

2002. Gothenburg/Karlstad/Jönköping 1. Slovakia, 3. Sweden

2003. Helsinki/Tampere/Turku 1. Canada, 5. Finland

2004. Prague/Ostrava 1. Canada, 5. Czech Republic

2005. Vienna/Innsbruck 1. Czech Republic, 16. Austria

2006. Riga 1. Sweden, 10. Latvia

2007. Moscow/Mytishchi 1. Canada, 3. Russia

2008 Quebec/Halifax 1. Russia 2. Canada

2009. Bern/Klotene 1. Russia, 9. Switzerland

2010. Gelsenkirchen/Mannheim/Cologne 1. Czech Republic, 4. Germany

2011. Bratislava/Košice 1. Finland, 10. Slovakia

2012. Helsinki/Stockholm 1. Russia, 4. Finland, 6. Sweden

2013. Stockholm/Helsinki 1. Sweden, 4. Finland

2014. Minsk 1. Russia, 7. Belarus

2015. Prague/Ostrava 1. Canada, 9. Slovakia

2016. Moscow/St. Petersburg 1. Canada, 2. Russia

2017. Paris/Cologne 1. Sweden, 8. Germany, 9. France

2018. Copenhagen/Herning 1. Sweden, 10. Denmark

2019. Bratislava/Košice 1. Finland, 9. Slovakia

2021. Riga 1. Canada, 11. Latvia

2022. Tampere/Helsinki 1. Finland