Ice Hockey World Championship
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Ice hockey world championships have been held since 1920 and are organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) .
The first three tournaments took place as part of the Olympic Games (1920 Summer Games , 1924 and 1928 Winter Games ). as a world championship. The World Cup has been held separately and annually since 1930 (with the exception of an interruption from 1940 to 1946 due to the Second World War ). From 1932 to 1968 the tournament of the Olympic Winter Games, which takes place every four years, counted as a world championship. Since 1972 there has been a separate world championship in the Olympic years (except in 1980, 1984 and 1988).
In addition to the actual World Championship tournament (also called top division), the weaker nations play in divisions I to IV with promotion and relegation. So the first two of Division I Group A qualify for the top division of the next year. Until 2000 the top division was called the A world championship, the other groups as the B, C and D world championships.
In addition to the men's world championship, there have been junior world championships for players under 20 years of age (U20) since 1977 and for juniors under 18 years of age (U18) since 1999. The women's world championship has been held since 1990. World championships for women under 18 years of age (U18) have also been held since 2008 .
history
Beginning
The international ice hockey association LIHG (today IIHF), founded in 1908, initially consisted only of European associations. From 1910 , the LIHG held European championships . A first Olympic ice hockey tournament was planned for the 1916 Olympic Games in Berlin . However, with the outbreak of World War I , the games had to be canceled. Therefore, it was not until 1920 that a national ice hockey tournament with European and North American participation took place: the ice hockey tournament at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp . Canada and the United States joined the LIHG during the tournament. This tournament was later declared the first ice hockey world championship. Canada became the first world champion, with the country being represented by a club team. During the tournament, Czechoslovakia was also offered to host a World Cup in 1921. However, the Czechoslovak Association refused to host it for fear of bad weather, so the tournament was awarded to Sweden. However, of the seven LIHG members only Czechoslovakia made the trip to Sweden, so that the tournament was played as a European championship in just one game.
In the following years, only European championships were held. Only at the Olympic Winter Games in 1924 and 1928 did the North Americans travel to Europe. In contrast, Canada, for example, canceled the planned World Cup in Davos in 1925 because the team captain had married shortly before. While the Olympic tournament in 1924 was officially recognized as a world championship by the LIHG only one year later, the tournament was officially held as a world championship in 1928 and the European championship was also awarded there.
Independent world championship tournaments
In 1930 the first independent World Cup tournament was finally held. With the new LIHG member Japan, the association was also represented in Asia for the first time. The tournament was held as a challenge: defending champion Canada was set for the final, the remaining teams played a challenger in knockout mode: Germany, which was the best European team and was also declared European champion. Canada clearly won the final. The USA took part in the now annual World Cup from 1931 onwards. Before World War II (with one exception), the world titles were agreed between the two North American countries. In 1932 and 1936 the world championship title was again awarded in the Olympic ice hockey tournament. The 1932 tournament took place in Lake Placid (USA), making it the first world championship in North America. At the 1936 tournament, Great Britain managed to win the title surprisingly, with the majority of British players growing up in Canada and playing there.
After the Second World War
After a forced break due to the Second World War , a World Cup was played again in 1947 . Czechoslovakia was the first post-war world champion - but Canada was missing. Czechoslovakia was the fourth nation to become world champions. The Czechoslovak team also remained strong in the two following years, winning silver in 1948 (again at the Olympic Games ) and in 1949, after a 3-2 win against Canada, the second world title. In 1950, however, the team were charged with high treason and most of them were sentenced to prison terms. Canada continued to be represented by a club team. In the USA there were two competing associations that provided a national team, which among other things led to the USA being removed from the rating at the Olympic Games in 1948, but not from the rating as a World Cup.
The tournaments were characterized by some extremely high results: in 1949 Canada won 47-0 against Denmark (a record for the top tournament of the world championships to this day), in 1950 13 of 27 games ended in double digits. In 1951 , the field of participants was divided in terms of performance: the best seven teams played the world champions, a further six teams played in the European Criterium , and both tournaments were held in Paris at the same time . The predecessor of the later B World Championship, today Division I, was born. Also in 1952 , when the world champion was crowned again at the Olympic Games , a European Criterium was played for the weaker teams. The 1952 tournament also saw Germany return to the World Cup, represented by the West German national team - the GDR only made its debut in 1957 .
1953 saw Sweden become a fifth nation as world champions. However, Canada refused to participate and the Czechoslovak team broke off the tournament due to the impending death of Czechoslovak President Klement Gottwald .
In 1952 the Ice Hockey Federation of the Soviet Union joined the LIHG. Ice hockey had only existed in the USSR since around 1945, before bandy was more prevalent. But the Soviets managed to win the title already when they first participated in the World Cup in 1954 - without defeat, with only one draw and with a goal difference of 37:10. In the following years the USSR, Canada and Sweden alternated as world champions, with Czechoslovakia and the USA also able to advance into the medal ranks. The United States also won the 1960 tournament , the country's second world title.
In 1960 Australia took part in a World Cup for the first time and in 1961 South Africa , so that teams from all continents except South America have now participated in the World Cup. In 1959 the association, which had since been renamed the IIHF, decided to introduce different championship classes with promotion and relegation. From 1961 onwards there were A, B and C world championships, and a total of 20 countries took part in that year.
Soviet dominance
In 1963 Canada was represented by a club team for the last time, from 1964 the country entered with a "real" national team. However, the two North American countries were increasingly unable to keep up because professional ice hockey players were not eligible to play at the World Cup. The European players did not count as real professionals, although the Eastern European state amateurs in particular were actually paid to play ice hockey. This was especially true of the Soviets, who became the dominant power in the World Cup for three decades. From 1963 to 1971, the Soviet team won nine world titles in a row.
To concentrate performance, the IIHF reduced the A group in 1969 from eight to six teams. The 1969 tournament was planned in Czechoslovakia, but had to be moved to Sweden after the crackdown on the Prague Spring due to the invasion of Warsaw Pact troops . The B and C groups were held for the first time in another country (Yugoslavia).
In 1969, under pressure from Canadians, nine professional players (not from the NHL) per country were admitted and the tournament was awarded to Canada ( Montreal and Winnipeg ) for the first time. However, in January 1970, the IIHF returned to pressure from IOC President Avery Brundage ; Brundage had threatened to withdraw the sport's Olympic status if professionals were to play against amateurs at a World Cup. Canada then gave up hosting the World Cup (as in the previous year, Sweden stepped in at short notice) and boycotted the tournament until 1976. The Americans continued to compete with an amateur team, but initially commuted between A and B groups.
The only serious opponents of the Soviets were now Sweden and Czechoslovakia. The Czechoslovaks used the home advantage of the World Cup in Prague in 1972 , won their third title and interrupted the triumphant advance of the Soviets. This World Cup tournament was the first in an Olympic year - the Olympic tournaments no longer counted as world championships from now on. The year saw a third competition in which the best ice hockey nations in the world met: In the Summit Series , the Soviet national team and a Canadian national team consisting of NHL players met. The Canadians won the series with four to three wins (with a draw).
Professional player at world championships
After Günther Sabetzki was elected IIHF President in 1975, the relationship between the IIHF and the Canadian association CAHA began to improve again. From 1976 professionals were admitted to the World Cup without restrictions (but not to the Olympic Games until further notice). Group A was again enlarged to eight teams and Canada was offered a place out of turn - which the Canadians only noticed in 1977. The tournaments were also postponed from 1977 to allow players from NHL teams who did not take part in the play-offs to participate in the World Cup. At the same time, the Canada Cup , which emerged from the Summit Series, was recognized by the IIHF.
In 1977 the IIHF organized another world championship for the first time: the Junior World Championship (U20). It replaced the European Junior Championship (U19), which has been held since 1968. An unofficial Junior World Championship had already been held three times from 1974 to 1976. The Soviet Union became the first official junior world champion .
On July 9, 1978, the IIHF decided that no more world championships should be played in the Olympic years. For the nations of the B and C groups, there was a replacement competition in these years with the Thayer Tutt Trophy .
At this meeting, a reduction in the duration of the World Cup to two weeks was also agreed. This regulation first applied in 1980 and then also for the two subsequent Winter Olympic Games in 1984 and 1988.
From 1978 to 1985 , the Soviet team remained unbeaten 45 games in a row at world championships. The IIHF tried to make the World Cup more exciting with mode changes. From 1983 the results of the preliminary round no longer counted for the final round, for which the best four of the preliminary round qualified - unlike in the relegation round of the last four. In 1985, the host Czechoslovakia landed in fourth place in the preliminary round, but was able to get their sixth world championship in the final round with three wins, including a 2-1 win over the Soviet Union. 1987 handed Sweden a win with two draws in the final round for the fourth world title; after a 9-0 win against Canada, the goal difference against the tied Soviet Union was decisive. The sporting events of the 1987 World Cup were overshadowed by court rulings. The German international Miroslav Sikora played for the Polish junior national team in his youth . In spite of the previous protection of the German Association at the IIHF, the IIHF rated the two surprising victories of the Germans against Finland and Canada with 0: 5. The decision was suspended by the Vienna Regional Court . Also Doping moved increasingly into focus. In 1987 a US game was counted as lost due to a doping case. In 1987 , five games in all World Cup groups were counted for doping.
Increasingly, new national teams pushed into the competition, such as New Zealand, or came back after a long break, such as Belgium or the United Kingdom . In 1987 there was a D World Championship for the first time.
After the fall of the iron curtain
The revolutions of 1989 massively changed the dynamics of international ice hockey. In 1989 the first Soviet players migrated to the NHL, so that they could no longer compete with the best line-up for the World Cup. Nevertheless, the Soviet Union was able to win the 22nd world title in 1990 - it should be the last in history. In 1991 the Soviet Union disintegrated and Russia took its place in 1992 . In 1992 the breakup of Yugoslavia began and on January 1, 1993, Czechoslovakia dissolved - the Czech Republic took the place in the World Cup. At the 1993 World Cup , six successor states to the Soviet Union and the Croatians and Slovenes split off from Yugoslavia started qualifying for the C-World Cup.
As early as 1992 , the A world championship had been increased to 12 teams. The background was financial considerations, the IIHF hoped to be represented in more advertising-relevant markets through the increase. In addition, the World Cup was now decided in play-offs and the title finally in a final. Instead, the European championship title was not awarded. 1992 was also the first Olympic year since 1978 in which a world championship was held again.
1992 was also the first year in which Swedes were able to defend the world title. Between 1992 and 1996 five different nations won the title. After Sweden, these were Russia, Canada, Finland (for the first time) and the Czech Republic. Together with the USA, these countries are also called Big Six , the big six countries of world ice hockey. With a few exceptions, these have since made the medals at World Championships and Olympic Games between themselves.
The number of participants continued to rise, so that a "C2 group", later a "D group", was held regularly. The A group was increased again in 1998 : since then 16 nations have taken part in the A world championship. The reason was that the former Soviet republics (Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia) were increasingly pushing into the A group and thus displacing more interesting countries such as Germany, France, Norway or Austria from the sponsor's point of view. With the increase, there was at the same time (until 2004) a permanent place for a representative of East Asia, whereby the corresponding qualifying tournament was always won by Japan . The promotion and relegation between A and B groups was also replaced by a qualifying tournament in autumn until 2000. In addition, a seat was reserved for the host (used for the first time by Norway , who participated as hosts in 1999 , although they were only 5th in the B-WM last year). The A-World Championship itself was held in four groups with four teams each, of which the first three (1998/99 the first two) qualified for the intermediate round (with the results being transferred to one another). From the two intermediate round groups, the first four qualified for the quarter-finals (1998/99 the first two for the semi-finals).
Since the turn of the millennium
At times, Slovakia was also considered one of the then Big Seven . After the Czech Republic was awarded the place of Czechoslovakia in 1993, the Slovaks started in 1994 with a wild card in the C1 World Championship. This was won as well as the B world championship in the following year . In 2000 the Slovaks made it into the final, where they lost to the Czech Republic, of all places. In 2002 the great success finally came: with a 4: 3 in the final against Russia the Slovaks became world champions. Slovakia became the eighth nation to become world ice hockey champions. After the bronze medal in 2003 , Slovakia slipped continuously and from 2008 - with the exception of 2012 - they did not get past 8th place.
The Slovaks' world title ended a series of three Czech titles from 1999 to 2001 - the first series of three consecutive world titles since 1983.
In 2001 the mode of the World Championship was changed overall. The previous A group has officially been referred to as the World Championship or the top division since then. The other groups were renamed into divisions, which (as far as possible) played in two groups of six teams. The organization of the women's and junior world championships as well as the IIHF inline hockey world championship was carried out in a similar manner.
In 2006, Sweden was the first and so far only country to win the Winter Olympics and the World Cup in one year.
The opening game of the 2010 World Cup between Germany and the USA took place in front of 77,803 spectators in the Gelsenkirchen Veltins-Arena , a football stadium. This was a new attendance record for ice hockey games and to this day (as of November 2019) it is the attendance record for indoor ice hockey games. The German team, which had only qualified as hosts for the tournament, used the home advantage and made it to the semi-finals for the first time. In the end, they ended up in fourth place, the best result since 1953 (when only three teams participated).
The mode of the top division was changed again in 2012 . Since then, the preliminary round has been played in two groups with eight teams each, from which the first four qualify for the quarter-finals. The last group in each group descends. In 2012, a tournament was awarded to two countries for the first time: the main host Finland hosted a preliminary group, two quarter-finals, as well as semi-finals, final and third place. Co-hosts Sweden also played a preliminary group and two quarter-finals. In 2013 , the two countries held the World Cup again and swapped roles. This concept of two hosts was repeated in 2017 with Germany / France and is also planned for 2021 with Belarus / Latvia and 2025 with Sweden / Denmark.
There was also a mode change in the lower divisions in 2012. The best three teams in Groups A and B of Division I 2011 qualified for Division I Group A 2012, which is now the highest competition below the top division. The first two are relegated to the top division, the last relegated to Division I, Group B. The other divisions are played out in the same way: Division I Group B, Division II Group A, Division II Group B and Division III. In 2013, the requirements for participation in World Championships were tightened, for example the presence of an Olympic-sized ice surface is a requirement for participation ( Greece and Ireland can therefore no longer participate). On the other hand, the number of Asian World Cup participants increased. The IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia introduced by the Asia Strategic Planning Group (ASPG) in 2008 brought them closer to the World Cup. Therefore, the number of participating nations increased to 54 (2020), so that in 2020 the introduction of Division III Group B and Division IV will be necessary (both with four teams).
In 2013 , Switzerland was surprisingly able to move into the final after only having to give up one point against Canada in the preliminary round. In the final, Sweden clearly lost 1: 5. This was the Swiss' second silver medal since 1935. The third followed in 2018 . Again you faced the Swedes, but only had to admit defeat in the penalty shootout .
The 2015 World Cup in the Czech Republic was the best-attended World Cup tournament so far. The 56 games were attended by 741,700 spectators, which corresponds to an average of 11,589 spectators per game.
Medal table
after 83 tournaments
| rank | country |
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
 Russia *(of which Soviet Union ) 
|
27 (22) |
10 (7) |
10 (5) |
47 (34) |
| 2 |
.svg){kind=small} / Canada
|
26th | 15th | 9 | 50 |
| 3 |
 Czech Republic *(of which Czechoslovakia ) 
|
12 (6) |
13 (12) |
21 (16) |
46 (34) |
| 4th |
 Sweden
|
11 | 19th | 17th | 47 |
| 5 |
 Finland
|
3 | 8th | 3 | 14th |
| 6th |
 United States
|
2 | 9 | 8th | 19th |
| 7th |
 Great Britain
|
1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| 8th |
 Slovakia
|
1 | 2 | 1 | 4th |
| 9 |
 Switzerland
|
- | 3 | 8th | 11 |
| 10 |
.svg){kind=small} / Germany (including Federal Republic of Germany 1949-1990 ) 
|
- (-) |
2 (1) |
2 (-) |
4 (1) |
| 11 |
 Austria
|
- | - | 2 | 2 |
Tournament overview
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See also
- Ice hockey at the Olympics
- European ice hockey championship
- Junior Ice Hockey World Championship
- Ice Hockey World Championship for women
- U18 women's ice hockey world championship
literature
- Joachim Schweer, Dino Reisner: The History of the Ice Hockey World Championship. AGON, Kassel 1996, ISBN 3-928562-56-8 .
- Stephan Müller: International Ice Hockey Encyclopedia 1904-2005. BoD GmbH, Norderstedt 2005, ISBN 3-8334-4189-5 .
Web links
- Official website of the IIHF (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ https://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/when-ice-hockey-was-summer-sport
- ↑ https://digipress.digitale-sammlungen.de/view/bsb00085864_00967_u001/11
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20080302063445/http://www.iihf.com/iihf-home/the-iihf/100-year-anniversary/100-top-stories/story-48.html
- ^ Protesting amateur rules, Canada leaves international hockey. In: webarchive.iihf.com. Accessed August 21, 2019 .
- ↑ Middle: “No world champion in the Olympic year” . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna July 11, 1978, p. 10 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
- ↑ Summary of the teams for the 2009 World Cup on the IIHF website, accessed on February 7, 2014
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