The Best Players Ever to Play at the Ice Hockey World Championships

Zdeno Chára

April and May are like Christmas for hockey fans. The Stanley Cup playoffs are starting, the playoffs in the European leagues are going into their final phase, and the Ice Hockey World Championships are around the corner. The 2024 IIHF Worlds takes place in two Czech cities: Prague and Ostrava.

We will see many superstars from the NHL, such as Connor Bedard (Chicago Blackhawks/Canada), Juraj Slafkovský (Montreal Canadiens/Slovakia), Brady Tkachuk (Ottawa Senators/USA), Nico Hishier (New Jersey Devils/Switzerland), Erik Karlsson (Pittsburgh Penguins/Sweden), and more. 

Let's have a look at the interesting records and legends from the Ice Hockey World Championships history. Are you familiar with teams like Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union? 

Connor Bedard

Ice Hockey World Championships: All-Time Points Leaders

If you expect some names from the Soviet Union, you won't be surprised. You will find all-time point leaders at IIHF Worlds in the chart below. Some great players did not make the TOP 10. Vladimír Zábrodský is a very interesting name that isn't on this list. This Czechoslovakian forward managed to collect 37 points at the Ice Hockey World Championship in 1947, when he scored 29 goals (+8 assists) in just seven games!  

Rank Name  Country  Total Points (goals + assists)
1 Boris Mikhailov Soviet Union 164 (98+66)
2 Valeri Kharlamov Soviet Union 156 (74+82)
3 Alexander Maitsev Soviet Union 153 (77+76)
4 Vladimir Petrov Soviet Union 152 (74+78)
5 Sergei Makarov Soviet Union 123 (55+68)
6 Vladimír Martinec Czechoslovakia 109 (53+56)
7 Sven Johansson Sweden 97 (56+41)
8 Vyacheslav Fetisov Soviet Union 96 (36+60)
9 Jiří Holík  Czechoslovakia 94 (51+43)
10 Alexander Yakushev Soviet Union 93 (60+33)

 

What about the others? In the chart below you can see the most productive players from countries like Slovakia, Finland, Austria, Russia or Czechia. Some of these names are true hockey legends! 

 Name Country Total Points (Goals + Assists)
Ilya Kovalchuk Russia 86 (36+50)
Richard Torriani Switzerland 82 (49+53)
Ville Peltonen Finland 81 (34+47)
Erich Kühnhackl Germany 75 (40+35)
Miroslav Šatan Slovakia 75 (37+38)
Jaromír Jágr Czechia  75 (35+40)
Mathis Olimb Norway  69 (14+55)
Morten Green Denmark 52 (16+36)
Mikhail Grabovski Belarus 45 (19+26)
Lauris Darzins Latvia 40 (24+16)
Stephane Da Costa France 39 (16+23)
Czechoslovakia

Most decorated hockey players at IIHF World Championships

What about players? There are many hockey legends with multiple medals from the Ice Hockey World Championships. It's rare to see a player who has both multiple medals for his country and a successful career in the NHL (Alexander Ovechkin is an exception). The reason is simple: when you have a long run in the Stanley Cup playoffs, you can't make it to the IIHF Worlds

You can see the most successful players by country in the chart below. We chose this type of selection because the most successful players ever (in terms of medals) are all from the Soviet Union (Tretiak, Ragulin, Maitsev, Petrov, Starshinov, Davydov, etc.). 

Rank Player Country Number of medals (gold, silver, bronze)
1 Vladislav Tretiak Soviet Union 13 (10 - 2 - 1)
2 Jiří Holík Czechoslovakia 13 ( 3 - 6 - 4)
3 Alexander Ovechkin Russia (3 - 2 - 4)
4 Sven Johansson Sweden  (3 - 2 - 4)
5 David Výborný Czechia 8 (5 - 1 - 2)
6 Ville Peltonen Finland  8 (1 - 4 - 3)
7 Richard Torriani Switzerland 6 (0 - 1 - 5)
8 Shane Doan & Danny Heatley Canada 5 (2 - 3 - 0) 
9 Miroslav Šatan Slovakia  4 (1 - 2 - 1) 
10 Gordon Dailley  & Gerry Davey Great Britain 4 (1- 2 - 1)
Russia

Most decorated hockey teams at IIHF Worlds

You can find out the most decorated nations in the Ice Hockey World Championships in the chart below. Three countries—the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, and West Germany—no longer exist. It's interesting that Great Britain has five medals, including one gold (from 1936). Latvia won their first medal in 2023 during their home tournament. 

Rank Country Number of medals (gold, silver, bronze)
1 Canada  53 (28 - 16 - 9)
2 Sweden 47 (11 - 19 - 17)
3 Soviet Union 34 (22 - 7 - 5) 
4 Czechoslovakia 34 (6 - 12 - 6)
5 United States 20 ( 2 - 9 - 9) 
6 Finland  16 (4 - 9 - 3) 
7 Czechia 13 (6 - 1 - 6)
8 Russia  13 (5 - 3 - 5) 
9 Switzerland  11 (0 - 3 - 8)
10 Great Britain 5 (1 - 2 - 2)
11 Slovakia  4 (1 - 2 - 1)
12 Germany 4 (0 - 2 - 2)
13 Austria  2 (0 - 0 - 2) 
14 West Germany 1 (0 - 1 - 0)
15 Latvia  1 (0 - 0 - 1)

2024 IIHF Worlds: Players to watch

The tournament in the Czech Republic will bring together many star players from the National Hockey League. The final rosters will be announced shortly before the start of the 2024 IIHF Worlds, but some of them are already known.

For example, Mikael Granlund from the San Jose Sharks will help Finland, Ondřej Palát from the New Jersey Devils will play for Czechia, the Germans can count on J.J. Peterka from the Buffalo Sabres, and Norway will have their star in Mats Zuccarello from the Minnesota Wild. 

We mentioned Karlsson, Slafkovský, Tkachuk, and Bedard before. The United States also brings Johny Gaudreau (Columbus Blue Jackets), Cole Caufield (Montreal Canadiens), and Jake Senderson (Ottawa Senators). And who knows, maybe Trevor Zegras (USA/Anaheim Ducks) will show another Michigan goal

Trevor Zegras
 
 Photo Source: Sportsnet, New York Post, Pinterest, IIHF, Sporting News
Jakub Vaverka

Jakub Vaverka

I create content for social media for a living and I live hockey. Going to NHL games and writing blogs about my most favorite game is a dream come true.

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