Ice Hockey World Championship 1978

This article covers the men's ice hockey world championship. See also 1978 Junior Ice Hockey World Championship .

	Ice Hockey World Championship Ice Hockey European Championship
	◄ previous	1978	next ►
	Winner: Soviet Union

The games of group A of the 45th Ice Hockey World Championship and 56th Ice Hockey European Championship took place from April 26 to May 14, 1978 in Prague , Czechoslovakia . Group B played in Belgrade , Yugoslavia from March 17th to 26th, and Group C teams met in Las Palmas ( Spain ) in the Canary Islands from March 10th to 19th . A total of 24 teams took part.

The competition mode of previous years was retained. There was a political scandal after the World Cup in the run-up to the Ice Hockey World Championship in 1979 . The People's Republic of China, intended to host the C-World Cup 1979, refused entry visas to the South Koreans who were taking part for the first time. The visa dispute led to intense diplomatic tensions between the two countries. As a result, the C-World Cup host China was withdrawn and given again to Spain, which agreed to host it at short notice. In order to prevent a direct encounter between China and South Korea, which could possibly be fraught with considerable complications, it was decided to allow China to move up into the B group as third group in C and Denmark as fourth in group. This year there were 4 newcomers to the B group, which was increased to 10 teams for one year.

The A World Cup in Prague was the first World Cup in years in which the USSR did not go into the tournament as a top favorite. Due to the home advantage and title wins in the previous two years, Czechoslovakia took this role. In fact, the Czechoslovaks looked like the new world champions until the last game, when the Soviets turned the tide and secured the 15th world championship and the 18th European championship by one goal thanks to their 3-1 victory after a dramatic match. With a 3: 2 or 2: 1, the hosts would have won the gold medal; after they had won 6: 4 in the group stage on May 6th, the score was now 7: 7, which is why the goal difference of all games was used based on the regulations. Canada secured its first World Cup medal since 1968.

Overview

competition	place	date	sub- contractor	viewers total	Games	O
A world championship	Prague	Apr. 26, 1978 - May 14, 1978	8th	362,642	40	9,066
B world championship	Belgrade	17th Mar 1978 - March 26th 1978	8th		28
C world championship	Las Palmas	March 12 1978 - March 20 1978	8th		28

A world championship

The championship of the best teams took place in Prague, Czechoslovakia.

Preliminary round

April 26, 1978	Prague	Sweden	-	BR Germany	6: 2 (2: 0.3: 1.1: 1)
April 26, 1978	Prague	USSR	-	United States	9: 5 (3: 2.1: 2.5: 1)
April 26, 1978	Prague	Czechoslovakia	-	GDR	8: 0 (2: 0.2: 0.4: 0)
April 27, 1978	Prague	Canada	-	Finland	4: 6 (4: 1.0: 3.0: 2)
April 27, 1978	Prague	USSR	-	BR Germany	7: 4 (4: 2.0: 0.3: 2)
April 27, 1978	Prague	Sweden	-	United States	5: 1 (2: 1.0: 0.3: 0)
April 28, 1978	Prague	Czechoslovakia	-	Finland	6: 4 (1: 3.1: 2.3: 0)
April 28, 1978	Prague	Canada	-	GDR	6: 2 (3: 0.1: 0.2: 2)
April 29, 1978	Prague	Czechoslovakia	-	BR Germany	8: 2 (2: 1.4: 1.2: 0)
April 29, 1978	Prague	Sweden	-	GDR	10: 1 (2: 0.4: 0.4: 1)
April 30, 1978	Prague	USSR	-	Finland	6: 3 (0: 2.3: 0.3: 1)
April 30, 1978	Prague	Canada	-	United States	7: 2 (2: 0.3: 0.2: 2)
May 1, 1978	Prague	USSR	-	GDR	10: 2 (2: 1.0: 1.8: 0)
May 1, 1978	Prague	Canada	-	BR Germany	6: 2 (1: 0.3: 1.2: 1)
May 1, 1978	Prague	Czechoslovakia	-	United States	8: 3 (0: 0.3: 0.5: 3)
May 1, 1978	Prague	Sweden	-	Finland	6: 1 (0: 0.3: 0.3: 1)
May 3, 1978	Prague	United States	-	BR Germany	4: 7 (1: 2.3: 1.0: 4)
May 3, 1978	Prague	Finland	-	GDR	3: 4 (1: 1.1: 2.1: 1)
May 4th 1978	Prague	USSR	-	Sweden	6: 1 (2: 0.1: 0.3: 1)
May 4th 1978	Prague	Czechoslovakia	-	Canada	5: 0 (1: 0.1: 0.3: 0)
May 5th 1978	Prague	Finland	-	BR Germany	3: 5 (0: 2.1: 1.2: 2)
May 5th 1978	Prague	United States	-	GDR	7: 3 (3: 1.2: 1.2: 1)
May 6, 1978	Prague	Czechoslovakia	-	USSR	6: 4 (1: 2.3: 1.2: 1)
May 6, 1978	Prague	Canada	-	Sweden	7: 5 (1: 1.2: 3.4: 1)
May 7, 1978	Prague	BR Germany	-	GDR	1: 1 (0: 1.1: 0.0: 0)
May 7, 1978	Prague	Finland	-	United States	3: 3 (1: 0.1: 2.1: 1)
May 8, 1978	Prague	Czechoslovakia	-	Sweden	3: 2 (0: 1.1: 1.2: 0)
May 8, 1978	Prague	USSR	-	Canada	4: 2 (1: 0.0: 0.3: 2)

Closing table

Pl	team	Sp	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff	Points
1	Czechoslovakia	7th	7th	0	0	44:15	+29	14: 0
2	USSR	7th	6th	0	1	46:23	+23	12: 2
3	Canada	7th	4th	0	3	32:26	+6	8: 6
4th	Sweden	7th	4th	0	3	35:21	+14	8: 6
5	BR Germany	7th	2	1	4th	23:35	−12	5: 9
6th	United States	7th	1	1	5	25:42	−17	3:11
7th	GDR	7th	1	1	5	13:45	−32	3:11
8th	Finland	7th	1	1	5	23:34	−11	3:11

Relegation round for places 5–8

(Points from the preliminary round also taken over)

May 9, 1978	Prague	BR Germany	-	Finland	4: 4 (2: 1.0: 0.2: 3)
May 9, 1978	Prague	United States	-	GDR	5: 5 (0: 3.1: 0.4: 2)
May 11, 1978	Prague	United States	-	Finland	4: 3 (1: 0.2: 2.1: 1)
May 11, 1978	Prague	BR Germany	-	GDR	0: 0 (0: 0.0: 0.0: 0)
May 13, 1978	Prague	GDR	-	Finland	2: 7 (1: 3.0: 4.1: 0)
May 13, 1978	Prague	BR Germany	-	United States	8: 4 (2: 1.1: 1.5: 2)

Closing table

Pl	team	Sp	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff	Points
5	BR Germany	10	3	3	4th	35:43	−8	9:11
6th	United States	10	2	2	6th	28:58	−30	6:14
7th	Finland	10	2	2	6th	37:44	−7	6:14
8th	GDR	10	1	3	6th	20:57	−37	5:15

Championship round for places 1–4

(Points from the preliminary round also taken over)

May 10, 1978	Prague	USSR	-	Canada	5: 1 (0: 0.3: 0.2: 1)
May 10, 1978	Prague	Czechoslovakia	-	Sweden	6: 1 (2: 0.3: 0.1: 1)
May 12, 1978	Prague	Czechoslovakia	-	Canada	3: 2 (2: 2.0: 0.1: 0)
May 12, 1978	Prague	USSR	-	Sweden	7: 1 (2: 0.5: 1.0: 0)
May 14, 1978	Prague	Canada	-	Sweden	3: 2 (1: 1.1: 1.1: 0)
May 14, 1978	Prague	Czechoslovakia	-	USSR	1: 3 (0: 1.0: 1.1: 1)

Closing table

Pl	team	Sp	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff	Points
1	USSR	10	9	0	1	61:26	+35	18: 2
2	Czechoslovakia	10	9	0	1	54:21	+33	18: 2
3	Canada	10	5	0	5	38:36	+2	10:10
4th	Sweden	10	4th	0	6th	39:37	+12	08:12

Final placement of the World Cup

Pl	team
1	USSR
2	Czechoslovakia
3	Canada
4th	Sweden
5	BR Germany
6th	United States
7th	Finland
8th	GDR

Relegated:	GDR
Climbers	Poland

Final placement of the EM

Pl	team
1	USSR
2	Czechoslovakia
3	Sweden
4th	BR Germany
5	Finland
6th	GDR

Master teams

World Champion USSR	Vladislav Tretiak , Alexander Pashkov - Vladimir Luttschenko , Vyacheslav Fetisov , Valery Vasilyev , Vasily Pervukhin , Gennady Tsygankov , Sinetula Bilyaletdinov , Yuri Fedorov - Boris Mikhailov , Vladimir Petrov , Valeri Kharlamov , Alexander Maltsev , Vladimir Golikov , Alexander Golikov , Helmut Balderis , Viktor Schluktow , Sergei Kapustin , Juri Lebedew , Sergei Makarow Coaching staff : Viktor Tichonow , Vladimir Jursinow
Silver Czechoslovakia	Jiří Holeček , Jiri Crha - Jiří Bubla , Milan Kajkl , Oldřich Machač , Miroslav Dvořák , František Kaberle , January Zajíček , Milan Chalupa - Vladimír Martinec , Jiří Novák , Bohuslav Ebermann , Pavel Richter , Ivan Hlinka , Jaroslav Pouzar , Marián Šťastný , Peter Šťastný , Milan Nový , Josef Augusta , František Černík Coaching staff : Karel Gut , Ján Starší
Bronze Canada	Dan Bouchard , Denis Herron - David Shand , Pat Ribble , Brad Maxwell , Robert Picard , Rick Hampton , Dennis Kearns - Bob MacMillan , Garry Unger , Mike Murphy , Jean Pronovost , Marcel Dionne , Pat Hickey , Wilf Paiement , Glen Sharpley , Don Lever , Tom Lysiak , Guy Charron , Dennis Maruk Coaching staff : Harry Howell , Marshall Johnston

B world championship

Games

March 17, 1978	Belgrade	Japan	-	Italy	5: 4 (3: 2.1: 2.1: 0)
March 17, 1978	Belgrade	Poland	-	Switzerland	8: 1 (0: 0.6: 0.2: 1)
March 17, 1978	Belgrade	Romania	-	Norway	6: 4 (1: 1.0: 1.5: 2)
March 17, 1978	Belgrade	Yugoslavia	-	Hungary	2: 4 (1: 0.0: 2.1: 2)
March 18, 1978	Belgrade	Norway	-	Hungary	3: 4 (1: 1.1: 2.1: 1)
March 18, 1978	Belgrade	Yugoslavia	-	Poland	2: 5 (1: 1.1: 3.0: 1)
March 19, 1978	Belgrade	Romania	-	Italy	5: 5 (3: 1.1: 3.1: 1)
March 19, 1978	Belgrade	Japan	-	Switzerland	1: 6 (0: 2.1: 1.0: 3)
March 20, 1978	Belgrade	Japan	-	Hungary	2: 1 (0: 0.1: 1.1: 0)
March 20, 1978	Belgrade	Romania	-	Switzerland	3: 7 (2: 2.0: 3.1: 2)
March 20, 1978	Belgrade	Poland	-	Norway	9: 4 (5: 0.3: 2.1: 2)
March 20, 1978	Belgrade	Yugoslavia	-	Italy	3:12 (0: 3.3: 4.0: 5)
March 21, 1978	Belgrade	Poland	-	Hungary	7: 2 (1: 0.5: 0.1: 2)
March 21, 1978	Belgrade	Yugoslavia	-	Norway	1: 7 (0: 3.0: 0.1: 4)
March 22, 1978	Belgrade	Romania	-	Japan	2: 5 (0: 1.0: 3.2: 1)
March 22, 1978	Belgrade	Switzerland	-	Italy	7: 4 (0: 1.4: 1.3: 2)
March 23, 1978	Belgrade	Romania	-	Hungary	8: 0 (1: 0.5: 0.2: 0)
March 23, 1978	Belgrade	Norway	-	Switzerland	6: 6 (3: 1.2: 3.1: 2)
March 23, 1978	Belgrade	Poland	-	Italy	12: 2 (6: 1.0: 0.6: 1)
March 23, 1978	Belgrade	Yugoslavia	-	Japan	1: 6 (0: 4.0: 1.1: 1)
March 25, 1978	Belgrade	Switzerland	-	Hungary	12: 5 (5: 1.3: 2.4: 2)
March 25, 1978	Belgrade	Norway	-	Italy	4: 3 (1: 1.2: 2.1: 0)
March 25, 1978	Belgrade	Poland	-	Japan	2: 2 (0: 1.0: 1.2: 0)
March 25, 1978	Belgrade	Yugoslavia	-	Romania	0:11 (0: 5.0: 4.0: 2)
March 26, 1978	Belgrade	Japan	-	Norway	5: 1 (0: 1.3: 0.2: 0)
March 26, 1978	Belgrade	Hungary	-	Italy	5: 2 (2: 0.2: 1.1: 1)
March 26, 1978	Belgrade	Yugoslavia	-	Switzerland	5: 3 (2: 0.2: 2.1: 1)
March 26, 1978	Belgrade	Poland	-	Romania	8: 6 (2: 3.1: 0.5: 3)

Closing table

Pl	team	Sp	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff	Points
1	Poland	7th	6th	1	0	51:19	+32	13: 1
2	Japan	7th	5	1	1	26:17	+9	11: 3
3	Switzerland	7th	4th	1	2	42:32	+10	09: 5
4th	Romania	7th	3	1	3	41:29	+12	07: 7
5	Hungary	7th	3	0	4th	21:36	−15	06: 8
6th	Norway	7th	2	1	4th	29:34	−5	05: 9
7th	Italy	7th	1	1	5	32:41	−9	03:11
8th	Yugoslavia	7th	1	0	6th	14:48	−34	02:12

B-World Champion 1978:	Poland
Promoted to the A group:	Poland
Relegated from the A group:	GDR
Relegated to the C group:	Italy Yugoslavia
Newcomers from the C group:	Netherlands Austria Denmark China

Awards

• Best Goalkeeper: Takeshi Iwamoto (Japan)
• Best defender: Aldo Zenhäusern (Switzerland)
• Best striker: Leszek Tokarz (Poland)
• All-Star Team: Takeshi Iwamoto (JAP); Andrej Slovakiaiewicz (POL) - Aldo Zenhäusern (SUI); Jöri Mattli (SUI) - Leszek Tokarj (POL) - Tadeusz Obloj (POL)

C world championship

Games

March 10, 1978	Las Palmas	China	-	France	8: 4 (1: 2.3: 1.4: 1)
March 10, 1978	Las Palmas	Netherlands	-	Belgium	18: 3 (6: 1.8: 1.4: 1)
March 10, 1978	Las Palmas	Austria	-	Denmark	7: 4 (3: 1.3: 1.1: 2)
March 10, 1978	Las Palmas	Spain	-	Bulgaria	2: 7 (1: 2.1: 3.0: 2)
March 12, 1978	Las Palmas	Denmark	-	China	2: 3 (0: 1.1: 0.1: 2)
March 12, 1978	Las Palmas	Austria	-	France	9: 7 (3: 4.2: 1.4: 2)
March 12, 1978	Las Palmas	Spain	-	Belgium	11: 4 (3: 1.4: 2.4: 1)
March 12, 1978	Las Palmas	Netherlands	-	Bulgaria	8: 0 (4: 0.3: 0.1: 0)
March 13, 1978	Las Palmas	China	-	Belgium	12: 1 (5: 0.4: 0.3: 1)
March 13, 1978	Las Palmas	Denmark	-	France	7: 6 (2: 1.4: 3.1: 2)
March 13, 1978	Las Palmas	Spain	-	Netherlands	0:19 (0: 2.0: 7.0: 10)
March 13, 1978	Las Palmas	Austria	-	Bulgaria	3: 3 (2: 1.1: 0.0: 2)
March 15, 1978	Las Palmas	Bulgaria	-	Belgium	10: 3 (1: 1.4: 2.5: 0)
March 15, 1978	Las Palmas	Netherlands	-	France	12: 3 (2: 1.5: 2.5: 0)
March 15, 1978	Las Palmas	Austria	-	China	9: 4 (3: 0.2: 1.4: 3)
March 15, 1978	Las Palmas	Spain	-	Denmark	2:10 (0: 4.1: 3.1: 3)
March 16, 1978	Las Palmas	Netherlands	-	Denmark	3: 3 (2: 1.1: 1.0: 1)
March 16, 1978	Las Palmas	France	-	Belgium	9: 0 (4: 0.3: 0.2: 0)
March 16, 1978	Las Palmas	Spain	-	Austria	4:14 (2: 5.1: 4.1: 5)
March 16, 1978	Las Palmas	Bulgaria	-	China	4: 2 (2: 0.0: 1.2: 1)
March 18, 1978	Las Palmas	Austria	-	Belgium	19: 1 (7: 1.5: 0.7: 0)
March 18, 1978	Las Palmas	Denmark	-	Bulgaria	8: 3 (0: 0.5: 1.3: 2)
March 18, 1978	Las Palmas	Spain	-	France	3:13 (0: 3.1: 6.2: 4)
March 18, 1978	Las Palmas	Netherlands	-	China	6: 4 (2: 0.3: 3.1: 1)
March 19, 1978	Las Palmas	Denmark	-	Belgium	22: 1 (11: 0.3: 0.8: 1)
March 19, 1978	Las Palmas	Bulgaria	-	France	0: 4 (0: 0.0: 2.0: 2)
March 19, 1978	Las Palmas	Netherlands	-	Austria	8: 4 (5: 1.1: 2.2: 1)
March 19, 1978	Las Palmas	Spain	-	China	4:14 (2: 5.1: 4.1: 5)

Closing table

Pl	team	Sp	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff	Points
1	Netherlands	7th	6th	1	0	74:17	+57	13: 1
2	Austria	7th	5	1	1	65:31	+34	11: 3
3	Denmark	7th	4th	1	2	56:25	+31	09: 5
4th	People's Republic of China	7th	4th	0	3	47:30	+17	08: 6
5	Bulgaria	7th	3	1	3	27:30	−3	07: 7
6th	France	7th	3	0	4th	46:39	+7	06: 8
7th	Spain	7th	1	0	6th	26:81	−55	02:12
8th	Belgium	7th	0	0	7th	13: 101	−88	00:14

C-World Champion 1978:	Netherlands
Moving up to the B group:	Netherlands Austria Denmark China
Relegated from group B:	Yugoslavia Italy

See also

• Junior Ice Hockey World Championship 1978

Individual evidence

1. ↑ «Only one goal was missing to win the World Cup» . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna May 16, 1978, p. 8 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).