NHL World Championship - NHL World Cup Winners - NHL Office Pools - Signup: NHL Office Pools - Create Fantasy NHL League International Hockey - World Cup Hockey History Early years and World War II In the early days of the Championships, the 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 club team each year, as in those days Senior Amateur teams typically represented Canada. The World War II years caused the Championships to be cancelled from 1940-1946. Post World War II through the 1970 Canadian teams continued to dominate the tournament in the early post-war era, but from 1954 onward the Championships became increasingly competitive, as USSR joined them this year, and teams Czechoslovakia and Sweden 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. 1970 through the End of the Cold War 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 However, these rules were later rescinded after officials produced many reciprocal claims against them.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 whose teams had missed the playoffs could not dominate. Not until 1994, 33 years after its previous championship, would Canada win the tournament again. Post-Cold War By the early 1990s 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 for two reasons: Players in the former USSR and Czechoslovakia had the freedom to play in the NHL. Thus many European countries' best players were also competing in the NHL, and so unable to send their best to the Championships The breakup of the USSR and Czechoslovakia meant that the remaining core states, respectively Russia and the Czech Republic, had fewer talented players to draw from, even among those not playing in the NHL during the Championships. The breakup of USSR and Czechoslovakia created a challenge for the IIHF because new national teams like Belarus, Czech Republic, Kazahkstan, Latvia, Russia, and Slovakia wanted to participate in the Championships at the highest level of play, pool A. The IIHF ruled that Czech Republic and Russia would be permitted immediate entry to pool A, but the other new national teams would have to start at pool C. It became clear that the new teams were or would soon be, better than many of the existing, but less elite, pool A teams. The Championships ran the risk of established countries being displaced from pool A by the new teams as they advanced from pool C. As the IIHF depended on advertising revenue derived from the established countries, it decided to expand pool A to accommodate the existing pool A teams plus the new rising teams. 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 in Nagano, Japan). Canada has recently returned to prominence with an international trophy binge, capturing the 2003 and 2004 World Championships as well as the 2002 Winter Olympic gold medal at Salt Lake City and the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. The Czech Republic won the 2005 World Championship. 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. In the Preliminary round the 16 teams are split into 4 groups (Groups A through D) and the teams play each other in a round robin format, and the top 3 teams in each division advance into the Qualifying round. The Qualifying round is another round of group play with 2 groups of 6; the top three teams from group A and group D are placed together and the top three teams from group B and group C are placed together. In the Qualifying round teams maintain their results from the Preliminary round against other teams who have also advanced, and only play against teams which they have not previously played against. The top four teams in each Qualifying round group advance into the knockout playoff stage. In the quarterfinals the first place team from one group plays the fourth place team from the other group, and the second place team from one group plays the third place team from the other group. The winners advance to the semi-finals. The winners of the semi-finals advance to the Gold medal game, and the losers advance to the Bronze medal game. The bottom teams in the Preliminary round play in another group as well; this group will determine relegation. After a round-robin format, the bottom two teams are usually relegated to Division I. Japan was typically never relegated, as the IIHF held a "Far East Qualifier" with an automatic berth from 1998 to 2005 to develop the popularity of the sport in the Far East. Japan had always won this tournament, but due to the lack of popular support 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. Below the World Championship group are two 6-team Division I round robin groups, the winner of which is promoted to the World Championship group, while each last place team is demoted to Division II. Division II works similarly to Division I, with two 6-team groups where each last place team is relegated to a Division III group. There is no relegation from Division III. Significance Because the World ?hampionships are played at the same time as the NHL playoffs, some of the world's best players do not participate. The World Championships receive far less media coverage in Canada than North American competitions do. In the United States, few sports fans are even aware the tournament exists. In the hockey-playing countries of Europe, however, the World Championships are one of the major events on the sports calendar. IIHF European Championships Year Gold Silver Bronze Venue 1910 Great Britain Germany Belgium Les Avants 1911 Bohemia Germany Belgium Berlin 1912 Cancelled 1913 Belgium Bohemia Germany Munich 1914 Bohemia Germany Belgium Berlin No Championships 1915-1920 (World War I) 1921 Sweden Czechoslovakia (only two teams) Stockholm 1922 Czechoslovakia Sweden Switzerland St. Moritz 1923 Sweden France Czechoslovakia Antwerp 1924 France Sweden Switzerland Milan 1925 Czechoslovakia Austria Switzerland trbské Pleso / Starı Smokovec 1926 Switzerland Czechoslovakia Austria Davos 1927 Austria Belgium Germany Vienna 1929 Czechoslovakia Poland Austria Budapest 1932 Sweden Austria Switzerland Berlin Notes Berlin 1932 was the last separate IIHF European Championship event. European Championships medals were awarded to the European participants of the IIHF World Championships until 1991. IIHF World Championships Year Gold Silver Bronze Venue 1920 Canada United States Czechoslovakia Antwerp 1924 Canada United States Great Britain Chamonix 1928 Canada Sweden Switzerland St. Moritz 1930 Canada Germany Switzerland Chamonix / Berlin 1931 Canada United States Austria Krynica 1932 Canada United States Germany Lake Placid, New York 1933 United States Canada Czechoslovakia Prague 1934 Canada United States Germany Milan 1935 Canada Switzerland Great Britain Davos 1936 Great Britain Canada United States Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1937 Canada Great Britain Switzerland London 1938 Canada Great Britain Czechoslovakia Prague 1939 Canada United States Switzerland Zürich / Basel No Championships 1940-1946 (World War II) 1947 Czechoslovakia Sweden Austria Prague 1948 Canada Czechoslovakia Switzerland St. Moritz 1949 Czechoslovakia Canada United States Stockholm 1950 Canada United States Switzerland London 1951 Canada Sweden Switzerland Paris 1952 Canada United States Sweden Oslo 1953 Sweden West Germany Switzerland Zürich / Basel 1954 USSR Canada Sweden Stockholm 1955 Canada USSR Czechoslovakia Krefeld / Dortmund / Cologne 1956 USSR United States Canada Cortina 1957 Sweden USSR Czechoslovakia Moscow 1958 Canada USSR Sweden Oslo 1959 Canada USSR Czechoslovakia Prague / Bratislava 1960 United States Canada USSR Squaw Valley 1961 Canada Czechoslovakia USSR Geneva / Lausanne 1962 Sweden Canada United States Colorado Springs / Denver 1963 USSR Sweden Czechoslovakia Stockholm 1964 USSR Sweden Czechoslovakia Innsbruck 1965 USSR Czechoslovakia Sweden Tampere 1966 USSR Czechoslovakia Canada Ljubljana 1967 USSR Sweden Canada Vienna 1968 USSR Czechoslovakia Canada Grenoble 1969 USSR Sweden Czechoslovakia Stockholm 1970 USSR Sweden Czechoslovakia Stockholm 1971 USSR Czechoslovakia Sweden Berne / Geneva 1972 Czechoslovakia USSR Sweden Prague 1973 USSR Sweden Czechoslovakia Moscow 1974 USSR Czechoslovakia Sweden Helsinki 1975 USSR Czechoslovakia Sweden Munich / Dusseldorf 1976 Czechoslovakia USSR Sweden Katowice 1977 Czechoslovakia Sweden USSR Vienna 1978 USSR Czechoslovakia Canada Prague 1979 USSR Czechoslovakia Sweden Moscow 1981 USSR Sweden Czechoslovakia Gothenburg / Stockholm 1982 USSR Czechoslovakia Canada Helsinki / Tampere 1983 USSR Czechoslovakia Canada Düsseldorf / Dortmund / Munich 1985 Czechoslovakia Canada USSR Prague 1986 USSR Sweden Canada Moscow 1987 Sweden USSR Czechoslovakia Vienna 1989 USSR Canada Czechoslovakia Stockholm / Södertälje 1990 USSR Sweden Czechoslovakia Berne / Fribourg 1991 Sweden Canada USSR Turku / Helsinki / Tampere 1992 Sweden Finland Czechoslovakia Prague / Bratislava 1993 Russia Sweden Czech Republic Dortmund / Munich 1994 Canada Finland Sweden Bolzano / Canazei / Milano 1995 Finland Sweden Canada Stockholm / Gävle 1996 Czech Republic Canada United States Vienna 1997 Canada Sweden Czech Republic Helsinki / Turku / Tampere 1998 Sweden Finland Czech Republic Zürich / Basel 1999 Czech Republic Finland Sweden Oslo / Lillehammer / Hamar 2000 Czech Republic Slovakia Finland St. Petersburg 2001 Czech Republic Finland Sweden Cologne / Hanover / Nuremberg 2002 Slovakia Russia Sweden Göteborg / Karlstad / Jönköping 2003 Canada Sweden Slovakia Helsinki / Tampere / Turku >2004 Canada Sweden > United States Prague / Ostrava 2005 Czech Republic Canada Russia Innsbruck / Vienna 2006 Sweden Czech Republic Finland Riga 2007 Moscow 2008 Halifax / Quebec City 2009 Zürich / Berne 2010 Cologne / Mannheim 2011 Bratislava / Košice Notes All Olympic Hockey Ice Hockey Tournaments between 1920 and 1968 also counted as World Championships. In the Olympic years 1980, 1984 and 1988, no IIHF World Championships were staged. In winning the 2006 World Championships, Sweden became the first nation in history to win an Olympic Gold as well as the World Championship in the same season. Medal Table Country Gold Silver Bronze Medals Participations Canada 2339% 1118.6% 1016.9% 4474.6% 59 USSR 2264.7% 720.6% 514.7% 34100% 34 Sweden 810.9% 1828.1% 1421.9% 4060.9% 64 Czechoslovakia 611.5% 1223.1% 1528.8% 3363.5% 52 Czech Republic 538.5% 17,7% 323.1% 969.2% 13 United States 23.1% 914.1% 57.8% 1628.1% 64 Finland 12% 59.8% 22% 813.7% 51 Great Britain 12.4% 24.8% 24.8% 511.9% 42 Slovakia 19.1% 19.1% 19.1% 327.3% 11 Russia 17.7% 17.7% 17.7% 323.1% 13 Switzerland 0 11.6% 812.7% 914.3% 63 Germany 0 13.4% 26.9% 310.3% 29 West Germany 0 1? 0 1? ? Austria 0 0 23.3% 23.3% 60 Notes Includes medals up to and including the 2005 championships. Under the number of medals is the percentage showing the ratio of won medals to all participations. Red colored shows the highest percentage for the column. The USSR and Russia have a combined total of 37 medals (23-8-6). Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic have a combined total of 42 medals (11-13-18). Czechoslovakia and Slovakia have a combined total of 36 medals (7-13-16). Czechoslovakia, Czechia, and Slovakia have a combined total of 45 medals (12-14-19).