The IIHF World Championships is a yearly international ice hockey competition. Officially held at the Summer Olympics in 1920, International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) organizes and manages the tournament (if you are looking to get involved in IIHF World Championship betting, check best sports betting companies).

The Ice Hockey European Championships first occurred in January 1910 in Les Avants, Switzerland. It was the first tournament intended for national teams, with Germany, Great Britain, Switzerland and Belgium being represented.

The tournament features between 40 and 52 teams, and ten nations have won the trophy before. Canada is the most successful nation, with 52 medals.

During the early years of the competition, it was set up as a round-robin tournament, with Canada becoming the first champion. The current tournament features divisions where I and II have twelve teams each.

Division III is only created when over 40 teams are taking part in the competition. Also, the tournament includes a preliminary round that involves the top eight national teams from each division.

The latest tournament is the IIHF World Championships 2023, that’ll take place between May 12th and 28th, with matches split across Arena Riga, Latvia and Nokia Arena Tampere, Finland.

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IIHF World Championships Format

The first Ice Hockey World Championships tournament was held as an individual event involving twelve national teams. Canada qualified for the medal game, while the rest competed in an elimination competition to determine which would play for the gold.

In 1931, IIHF World Championships changed to the Olympics format. Ten teams competed in a range of round-robin format qualifying stages of determining participants to participate in the medal round.

IIHF awarded medals based on the teams’ final standings in the medal round. In 1937, the format was changed, involving eleven teams in a preliminary round. The top four teams proceeded to the medal round. Medals were awarded depending on points collected, and no gold medal game existed. This format was preferred until 1951.

Between 1951 and 1989, the competitions included thirteen national teams divided into two groups. The top seven national teams were in (Pool A), and the other six were in (Pool B).

A playoff system was introduced in 1990, allowing more teams to compete at the IIHF World Championships. Additional pools were introduced, including C and D and in 2001, they were renamed Division I, II and III.

The modern format features at least 52 teams, divided into various groups, including the main championship group (16 teams), Division I, II, and III, each with 12 teams. Division IV exists if more than 52 teams are competing.

Favorite to win Ice Hockey World Championships

To have an idea about the favorite team and players to win the Ice Hockey World Championships, you need to check the odds at top online betting sites.

The list of the favorites to win includes Canada, the obvious suspect, with most bookies assigning odds of 9/4 (3.25). The second and third favorites are Finland and Sweden, with odds of 5/2 (3.50) and 9/2 (5.50), respectively.

Other countries that can trigger a surprise include the Czech Republic 13/2 (7.50), the United States 15/2 (8.50), Switzerland 14/1 (15.00) and Germany 28/1 (29.00). If you’re an experienced punter, you’ll not bet on any national team ranked below these odds.

You still have some time to check the odds while taking into consideration how they move to know a perfect selection for your wager.

Canada is the top expert pick for the favorite to win the Ice Hockey World Championships. Apart from being a successful country in this tournament, Ice Hockey is a Canadian sport. Canadian mythology invokes ice hockey, a sport that unites the country.

The natives believe that hockey cuts across social-economic, cultural and geographic lines so that when they play, they’re all Canadians. As a result, the Canadian ice hockey team is always prepared to take the trophy home, as it includes talented players, and it’s lately in top form.

How to Bet on the Ice Hockey World Cup 2023

If you are looking to get involved in the Ice Hockey World Cup 2023 then betting on the big tournament is easy. There are many ways in which you can bet, each offering a different kind of experience for the punter.

Outright and Group Betting

If you are looking for an interest throughout the tournament then betting on the outright markets is the best place for you. Here you can back a team to win the overall tournament or if you want to narrow the tournament down and focus on the group stages, you can back a team to win their group.

This gives you an interest in not only the games played by your team but every single game of the tournament as you work out who needs to win and lose for your bet to succeed.

Individual Match Betting

If you would like to take a look at just one game, and forget the bigger picture of the full tournament then match betting is the best place for you.

Here you will be able to place a bet on the upcoming game, whether it is who you think will win the game, total goals or the handicap line, the only thing that matters to you is the result in that game.

Some punters like to bet on the outright tournament, but those looking to place more bets and those wanting more interest often look at the individual ice hockey betting markets and place daily bets on those.

Ice Hockey Betting Tips

Those new to ice hockey may be looking for tips on the sport and how to make money making ice hockey bets.

If you are placing a bet on an individual game then one really important thing to look at which some punters forget about is the overall picture. While you may not be betting on the outright markets, you need to know how these are developing if you are betting on a game.

For example, if a team has already qualified for the knockout round, they are more likely to rest players and take it easy in a game, which could make them less likely to win. The same can be said the opposite way, if a team needs to win to qualify for the knockout round then they are likely to give it their all, and you know they will be trying their best in the game.

This can also be used with the lower ranked teams who are trying to avoid relegation. These teams will be fighting for their lives at the bottom in big games that they need to win to survive, so don’t be worried about backing them against higher ranked opponents.

If they have everything to play for and they are playing a better-ranked team who have nothing to play for, their desire and willingness to win can often level the playing field.

While the outright betting markets may not be for you, if you are betting on individual matches then it is vital you understand the bigger picture, and how an individual game will impact that. We hope that you will find these ice hockey betting tips helpful.