In the fourth and final edition of this year's "4 by 4" we take a look back at some of the unique performances and results from the recently concluded 2023 IIHF World Championship. 

1. This year, Latvia won a medal for the first time and Germany for the first time in 70 years. Is this year an aberration or can we expect more of this kind of thing in future years? If the latter, which team that hasn't medalled in the past 30 years could possibly return to the podium soon? 

Andy: It’s not an aberration. I think we’ve seen in recent seasons that the teams outside the usual suspects can compete with the best when everything aligns for them. The likes of Germany, Slovakia, Switzerland and now Latvia can bring strong rosters. They play with a lot of passion and conviction – this tournament means so much to hockey in these nations – and they are closing the gap on the best in terms of skills and tactics. But I’m not sure we’ll see more “new” medallists in the near future. It would be a major stretch to expect Austria or Great Britain to leap up several levels and return to their pre-war heights. Instead, I hope we’ll see the 6-10 seeds making the podium more often.

Derek: I think it’s a bit of an aberration. It really took a perfect storm of circumstances for Latvia to finish third this year. Maybe we’ll see it happen again some time and maybe not, and I would agree with Lucas that Denmark fits into that same category. As for the Germans, I’d certainly expect to see them win medals again in the future, although it’s hard to say how often.

Lucas: I think we’ll continue to see more medal-winners that aren’t the usual suspects, although usually not two at a time as with Germany and Latvia this year. For example, when Switzerland surprised with silver medals in the last decade, gold went to Sweden and bronze to the U.S. both times, which wasn’t particularly eyebrow-raising. Looking to the future, if Denmark gets its best NHL reinforcements, out-of-this-world goaltending, a red-hot power play, and a lavish amount of luck one year, I could imagine a run to bronze.

Andrew: The World Championship is the one tournament where nothing is guaranteed, so every year there is a different feeling about who will be the favourites. If you look at Canada’s roster for 2015, no team was going to beat them—Crosby, MacKinnon, Hall, Giroux, Ekblad. This year was less star power but a gold again. For the nations outside the Top Six, they need all of their stars, but what we are seeing is that if those nations get a full roster, they can compete.

2. What's with the USA's semi-final curse? 12 losses in a row now and, sure, some of those losses were to superior opponents but some also came after the team finished 1st or 2nd in its group. 

Lucas: In terms of unsolved mysteries, this ranks up there with the Loch Ness Monster and the Bermuda Triangle. To me, it’s just unfathomable that we’ve seen Switzerland and Slovakia in multiple finals since the IIHF instituted the playoff system in 1992 but the U.S. never once.

Andrew: It’s not a curse. Their roster typically is a college-World Junior roster. They are skilled, fast, tenacious. What they are not is experienced. They really, really need two or three NHLers who have had good runs in the playoffs, guys who know what to do late in a close game. I guarantee if this exact roster came back to the Worlds in five years, they’d win gold. Until they get more of that top-level experience, they are doomed to 3rd, 4th, 5th place, I think.

Andy: I think this is what I touched on at the start of the tournament while disagreeing with Derek’s suggestion that the USA might be a dark horse for gold. There’s a lot of talent among those young American players, and it’s great to see USA hockey putting that confidence in them. But there’s a lack of big-game experience and a lack of know-how when it comes to the high-pressure games.

Derek: I take Andrew and Andy’s point about the US teams typically lacking big-game experience, but you’d think they’d still win at least once in 12 games. It always seems to follow a similar script and this year it was taken to the extreme – winning the first eight games and taking the lead into the final minute of the semi-final game against Germany. It’s almost become a running joke among us how I keep picking them to win, figuring it simply has to happen eventually.

3. Despite the way they finished, the Americans still had a pretty good tournament overall. Which of the teams do you think underperformed?

Andy: Finland stands out, but that’s partly because they struggled to meet the huge expectations following such a great run since 2019. The greater concern might be Sweden. Four tournaments without a medal now, and while new head coach Sam Hallam did a good job in the Euro Hockey Tour and through the group stage, the Tre Kronor looked a bit flimsy and were duly blown over by a storm of Latvian passion in the QF.

Lucas: As far as coming up empty at a bad time, the Czechs gave one of the least inspired performances I can recall in an Ice Hockey World Championship elimination game in their 3-0 quarter-final loss to the Americans. France sagged particularly badly as the preliminary round wore on. Getting outscored 18-0 in your last three games is never desirable.

Andrew: For sure, Sweden, Finland, and Czechia, but if I had to choose one, I’d say Czechia. They finished in 8th place. Ouch. They had a good roster of talent but lost to Latvia and Switzerland and then later, when it mattered more, scored only one goal in two games against Canada and the U.S. This after an impressive bronze last year.

Derek: All good suggestions. I mentioned earlier the perfect storm needed for Latvia to medal, and part of that was several favourites underperforming and some others stumbling at key moments, such as Switzerland and the USA. I’d even add the Slovaks, who shot themselves in the foot by losing in a shootout to Kazakhstan, costing themselves a quarter-final spot.

4. We all saw great individual performances from Arturs Silovs, Mackenzie Weegar and John Peterka, but were you pleasantly surprised by any players that didn't win any of the tournament awards?

Derek: Silovs was Latvia’s big star but he didn’t do it all by himself. Another Latvian who came up big was Rihards Bukarts – who currently plays in the ICEHL – putting up 11 points, including seven in the last three games.

Andrew: Leo Carlsson showed why he’s a top prospect, but a lesser name, Dans Locmelis, really showed some promise and scored a couple of big goals. Canada’s Samuel Blais isn’t a name to necessarily scare anyone, but he scored in each of Canada’s last four games and was something of a clutch performer. There were a lot of newcomers to the tournament and many impressed. Maybe not a ton of star power, but certainly a lot of players who played like stars.

Andy: Cutter Gauthier was the stand-out for me. Again, at the start, I was looking forward to seeing which of the college players would really enhance their reputation, and I felt Gauthier did just that. Reflecting my earlier point about big-game experience, he didn’t really carry that form into the final weekend, though. There’s still work to do, but that shot is a real weapon and one I expect to see a lot more of in future.

Lucas: I’ll second Andy’s remarks about Cutter Gauthier. Would I be surprised to see this kid winning the accuracy shooting competition at the NHL All-Star Weekend in the next few years? By no means. And watching U.S. defenceman Lane Hutson join the rush with his speed and creativity was a blast.