Latvian World Hockey Championship records

It is he who is now the most productive player of the Latvian national team at a single World Championship (since Latvia’s debut in the elite division in 1997).

Previously, only Lauris Darzins and Oleg Znarok scored ten points at one World Championship, and now this figure has exceeded Bukarts.

There are also five cases in the history of Latvian hockey when players scored nine points at one World Championship. Striker Rudolfs Balcers succeeded in this twice (in 2019 and at the current tournament). Defender Janis Jaks has 7 (2+5) points at the 2023 World Cup, repeating the best figure among defensive players. Defender Sergei Chudinov scored the same number of points (4+3) at the 1997 tournament.

Hockey “Minister of Defense”

After Artur Shilov became almost a folk hero, his achievement was immediately overgrown with memes. For example, they proposed making Shilov the new Minister of Defense. So it is only logical that he was eventually recognized as the most valuable player of the World Cup.

In total, he played ten games in the tournament, conceding an average of 2.2 goals per match and stopping 92.1% of shots.

In addition, Shilov was included in the symbolic team of the 2023 World Cup. Among the defensive players, Canadian Mackenzie Weegar, recognized as the best defender of the 2023 World Cup, and German Moritz Seider were noted.

Top forwards and scorers

The three forwards were German John-Jason Peterka, who became the best forward of the tournament, American Rocco Grimaldi (top scorer) and Czech Dominik Kubalik (top sniper).

Meanwhile, US team forward Rocco Grimaldi became the top scorer at the 2023 World Cup. In ten matches, the 30-year-old Anaheim player scored 14 (7+7) points. He also shared second place in the sniper race with national teammate Kutter Gauthier. The first among snipers at the tournament was Czech Republic forward Dominik Kubalik (Detroit), who scored eight goals in eight games.

John-Jason Peterka from the German national team was recognized as the best forward of the 2023 World Cup. In ten matches, the 21-year-old Buffalo player scored 12 (6+6) points, sharing second place in the scoring dispute with Czech Dominik Kubalik. Mackenzie Weegar from Team Canada was named the best defenseman of the tournament. In ten matches, the 29-year-old Calgary player has 11 points (3+8) – the best indicator among defenders (utility coefficient plus 10).