Spiky, the official mascot of the 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship was announced in Tampere

Tampere co-hosts the men’s 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship with Riga, the capital of Latvia, next spring. The tournament will be played May 12-28, 2023. Preparations for the games are already underway and the organizers presented the progress of the preparations at a press conference today, Thursday September 22, at the Deck Arena. The event included the presentation of the rights to buy tickets, the championship’s theme, slogan, and the mascot Spiky.

Spiky, the hedgehog, posed with Juha Yli-Rajala, Group CEO of the City of Tampere, outside the arena. The City of Tampere welcomes the championship back to Tampere, the home of hockey.

Tournament schedule released

The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has released the groups and the game schedule of the 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship on September 8. Tampere co-hosts the tournament with Riga. Both cities will host one group in preliminary round, and quarterfinals, but from semifinals onwards the games will be played in Tampere.

World Championship schedule