“Latvia’s Historic 5 Victories in World Championships and Surprising Win over Canada”

The Latvian national team started the championship with two losses, losing 0:6 to Canada and 1:2 to Slovakia. Then followed the first ever victory over the Czechs (4:3 in extra time) and four more victories were won – 2:1 over Norway, 3:2 over Slovenia, 7:0 over Kazakhstan and 4:3 in extra time over Switzerland. The points obtained in the last match made it possible not only to enter the quarter-finals, but also to win the third place in Group B.

Latvia has won five victories in the world championships for the first time. Until now, our hockey players managed to achieve four successes twice.

On the other hand, after the victory over Latvia, the Canadians beat Slovenia 5:2, beat Slovakia 2:1 in the shootout series, defeated Kazakhstan 5:1, but then lost to Switzerland 2:3 and lost to the Norwegians in the shootout series 2:3. but won 3-1 against the Czech Republic in the final group game. Canada beat Finland 4-1 in the quarterfinals.

In 2021, in the first game of the world championship in Riga, Latvia defeated the future champions, the Canadians, with 2:0, goals were scored by Mikas Indraš and Oskar Batņi, but in 2018, in the world championship in Denmark, the Canadians won only in extra time (2:1).

Among the Canadian hockey players, defenseman Mackenzie Wieger has been the most productive so far, scoring three goals and making seven assists in eight matches, while Rūdolfs Balcers scored eight (1+7) points in the Latvian national team, while Rodrigo Ābols collected five goals and two assists and Rihards Bukarts stood out with seven (3+4) points.