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?
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) |
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 | 9 (3 - 2 - 4) |
| 4 | Sven Johansson | Sweden | 9 (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) |
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.
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