Ice Hockey World Championships

The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation. They were preceded by the European Championships which were held from 1910 to 1932, and decided at the 1920 Summer Olympics for the first time. Subsequently ice hockey featured at the Winter Olympics, where the World Championship was decided when the two events occurred concurrently. The last time the World Championships were decided during the Olympic Games was at the 1968 Winter Olympics.

History

In the early days of the Championships, teams from Canada dominated. Between 1930 and 1939, Canadian teams won the tournament eight times. This occurred despite the fact that Canada sent a different team each year, as in those days Senior A amateur teams typically represented Canada.

The World War II years caused the Championships to be cancelled from 1940-46. Canadian teams continued to dominate the tournament in the early post-war era, but from 1962 onward the Championships became increasingly competitive, as teams from Czechoslovakia, Sweden, and the Soviet Union improved their skill level.

While the top European players were officially able to compete in the World Championships while retaining their amateur status, players in the National Hockey League were prohibited for many years from entering in the tournament. As the great majority of NHL players were Canadian nationals, this rule was seen by many as discriminatory against Canadian players. In 1970, the IIHF allowed Canada to send nine professionals from the ranks of the NHL and its affiliated minor leagues (though as the tournaments were held during the Stanley Cup playoffs, only a handful of them could actually compete). However, these rules were later rescinded after officials produced many reciprocal claims against them. It upset the Canadians, who felt that they should be allowed to send their best players as well. Canada boycotted the World Championships for seven years as a result, during which the IIHF moved the championships out of the Olympics in 1972 and 1976 in an attempt to resolve the issue.

In 1976, a new president of the IIHF finally allowed professionals on all teams, and Canada returned to competition the following year. By this time, the quality of play of European hockey had improved so much that even Canadian rosters filled with NHL players could not dominate. Not until 1994, 33 years after its previous championship, would Canada win the tournament again. The breakup of the Soviet Union, which dominated the Championships for much of the three decades after Canada's dominance ended, and of Czechoslovakia, which won in most of the years in which the Soviets did not, brought about unprecedented parity to the international game. By the early 1990's, most European countries' best players were also competing in the NHL, and the ones who were not represented a number of different countries.

In recent championships, the two nations of the former Czechoslovakia have fared extremely well in international play, accounting for four straight championships between 1999-2002 – the first three by the Czech Republic and the latter by Slovakia. (The Czech side also won the 1998 Winter Olympic gold medal from the "Tournament of the Century" in in Nagano, Japan). Canada has recently returned to prominance, capturing the 2003 and 2004 World Championships as well as the 2002 Winter Olympic gold medal at Salt Lake City.

The Playing Format

The modern format for the World Championships features a minimum of 40 teams: 16 teams in the main group, 12 teams in Division I and 12 teams in Division II. If there are more than 40 teams, the rest compete in Division III.

The main group features 16 teams split into 4 groups. The teams play each other in a round robin format, and the top 3 teams in each advance into another round of group play, this time with 2 groups of 6. After another robin round format, the top 4 teams in each advance into an 8 team knockout playoff, which eventually decides the championship.

The bottom teams in the first groups will play in another group as well, this group will determine relegation. After round-robin format, the bottom two teams are usually relegated to the Division I. Japan typically did not get relegated, as the IIHF has held a "Far East Qualifier" since 1998 to develop the popularity of the sport in the region, the winner of which gets an automatic berth. Japan has always won this tournament. Due to the lack of success in popularising hockey in the Far East, little improvement in the quality of play, and poor prospects for any related marketing, the IIHF has discontinued the practice in the 2005 Championships, relegating Japan to compete in Division I.

After the World Championship group are the two 6-team Division I groups. Those groups play in a round robin format and the winner of the respective groups are promoted to the world championship group, while the last place teams in each are demoted to Division II. Division II works similarly to Division I, having two 6-team groups and the last place teams in these groups are subject to a Division III, a qualifying group which determines entry into Division II the following season. There is no relegation from Division III.

IIHF European Championships

Notes

1. Berlin 1932 was the last separate IIHF European Championship event.
2. European Championships medals were awarded to the European participants of the IIHF World Championships until 1991.

IIHF World Championships

Notes

1. The 1964 Olympic ice hockey tournament produced two different final standings, one for the Olympic medals and one for the World Championship.
2. All Olympic Hockey Ice Hockey Tournaments between 1920 and 1968 also counted as World Championships.
3. In the Olympic years 1980, 1984 and 1988, no IIHF World Championships were staged.

IIHF World Women Championships

See: IIHF World Women Championships

Junior World Championships

IIHF also conducts Junior World Championships in two age groups: for Under-20 and Under-18 players. They are organized according to a system similar to World Championships, with the main group and Divisions I, II and III but the number of teams is smaller.

IIHF World U20 Championships

IIHF World U18 Championships

See also

• Olympic Ice Hockey Tournaments
• World Cup of Hockey
• World Professional Hockey Championships
• Canada Cup
• Summit Series

External links

• World Championships web site – current Men's World Championships
• Result archive – Full results for men's, women's and junior championships since 1999 and medalists for all tournaments.