1998 Men's Ice Hockey World Championship

	Ice Hockey World Championship
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	Winner: Sweden

The 62nd Ice Hockey World Championship in 1998 was held in Zurich and Basel , Switzerland . Sweden became world champion for the seventh time . The A World Championship was held for the first time with 16 teams this year. There were fixed places for the host and a team from the Far East, and two other participants were played in a qualification. In addition, the tournament started for the first time in May, as late as never before.

The other groups with eight teams each took place in Slovenia , Hungary and South Africa . A total of 40 teams took part in these world championships, a new record.

Overview

competition	place	date	sub- contractor	viewers total	Games	O
A world championship	Zurich , Basel	0May 1, 1998 - May 17, 1998	16		49
Qualification for the A-WM	Klagenfurt	0Nov 6, 1997 - Nov 9, 1997 0	4th		6th
B world championship	Jesenice , Ljubljana	Apr 15, 1998 - Apr 24, 1998	8th		28
C world championship	Budapest , Székesfehérvár , Dunaújváros	22 Mar 1998 - March 28 1998	8th		20th
D world championship	Krugersdorp , Pretoria	27 Mar 1998 - Apr 2, 1998 0	8th		20th

Qualification for the A World Championship

in Klagenfurt, Austria

Games

November 6, 1997	Klagenfurt	Kazakhstan	-	Poland	6: 1 (1: 0.4: 1.1: 0)
November 6, 1997	Klagenfurt	Austria	-	Norway	1: 3 (0: 0.0: 1.1: 2)
November 8, 1997	Klagenfurt	Norway	-	Poland	3: 0 (1: 0.1: 0.1: 0)
November 8, 1997	Klagenfurt	Austria	-	Kazakhstan	4: 2 (1: 0.3: 1.0: 1)
November 9, 1997	Klagenfurt	Norway	-	Kazakhstan	2: 4 (1: 1.0: 2.1: 1)
November 9, 1997	Klagenfurt	Austria	-	Poland	4: 0 (1: 0.1: 0.2: 0)

Closing table

RF	team	Sp	Sg	U.N	NL	Gates	TD	Pts.
1	Kazakhstan	3	2	0	1	12: 7	+ 5	4: 2
2	Austria	3	2	0	1	9: 5	+ 4	4: 2
3	Norway	3	2	0	1	8: 5	+ 3	4: 2
4th	Poland	3	0	0	3	1:13	-12	0: 6

Ascent and descent

Relegated from the A group:	Norway
Promoted to the A group:	Kazakhstan, Austria
Remaining in group B:	Poland

A world championship

Sweden won its seventh world title at the end of the tournament. After the unfortunate final defeat against Canada in the previous year , the Scandinavians remained unbeaten throughout the tournament this year and were sovereign world champions. The performance of the hosts from Switzerland , which won fourth place, leaving defending champions Canada and Russia behind, was sensational . The team from the USA , which had to qualify, played a catastrophic world championship .

mode

Compared to the previous year , there were extensive innovations. The A group played with 16 teams for the first time this year, with two participants being identified in a qualifying tournament prior to the World Cup. What was also new was that the host of the World Cup, as well as a representative from the Far East, were each given a permanent place at the World Cup. Switzerland was allowed to take part in the A-World Cup , although it was not athletically qualified, and Japan as the reigning Asian champion, although actually playing in group C.

The increase in the A group made it necessary to change the mode. In four preliminary round groups, eight intermediate round participants (the two first placed in each group) were determined. These eight teams then played the four semi-final participants in two groups. The semi-finals and finals were held according to the “Best of Two” principle. This means that the team that has 2 wins or 1 win and 1 draw goes to the next round. If each team has won once, the 2nd game is extended. However, overtime is viewed as a separate game. The winner of the extra time goes one round.

There were also changes to the rules for promotion and relegation. The direct promotion and relegation between the A and B group has been abolished. For this, in the run-up to the upcoming A World Championships, in addition to the qualification for the Far East representative, an additional qualification with eight teams should be held. Participants in this qualification were the three winners in the B-WM, as well as the four bottom of the group in the A-WM preliminary round. As the fifth team from the A group, the last of a placement round was added, in which the third-placed finishers in the preliminary round groups played for places 9-12. If the Far East representative is among these five teams, the penultimate of the placement round also had to qualify. In the lower World Cup groups, nothing changed in terms of promotion and relegation.

Venues

The men's A World Championship was held at two venues in Switzerland : Zurich and Basel .

The Hallenstadion in Zurich had 11,500 seats in 1998 and is usually the venue for the ZSC Lions . The St. Jakobshalle in Basel, at that time the venue of the EHC Basel , offered 9,000 seats.

Zurich	Basel
Hallenstadion Capacity: 11,500	St. Jakobshalle Capacity: 9,000

Preliminary round

Group A

May 1, 1998	Basel	Czech Republic	-	Japan	8: 2 (2: 0.3: 0.3: 2)
May 1, 1998	Basel	Germany	-	Belarus	2: 4 (0: 1.2: 1.0: 2)
May 3, 1998	Basel	Czech Republic	-	Belarus	4: 2 (1: 0.1: 1.2: 1)
May 3, 1998	Basel	Germany	-	Japan	5: 1 (0: 1.3: 0.2: 0)
May 5, 1998	Basel	Belarus	-	Japan	6: 4 (3: 1.3: 1.0: 2)
May 5, 1998	Basel	Czech Republic	-	Germany	8: 1 (2: 0.3: 1.3: 0)

Closing table

RF	team	Sp	Sg	U.N	NL	Gates	TD	Pts.
1	Czech Republic	3	3	0	0	20: 5	+15	6-0
2	Belarus	3	2	0	1	12:10	+ 2	4: 2
3	Germany	3	1	0	2	8:13	- 5th	2: 4
4th	Japan	3	0	0	3	7:19	-12	0: 6

Group B

May 1, 1998	Zurich	Canada	-	Austria	5: 1 (2: 0.0: 0.3: 1)
May 1, 1998	Zurich	Slovakia	-	Italy	2: 1 (2: 1.0: 0.0: 0)
May 3, 1998	Zurich	Canada	-	Slovakia	2: 2 (0: 0.0: 1.2: 1)
May 3, 1998	Zurich	Italy	-	Austria	5: 1 (0: 0.2: 0.3: 1)
May 5, 1998	Zurich	Slovakia	-	Austria	5: 1 (3: 0.2: 0.0: 1)
May 5, 1998	Zurich	Canada	-	Italy	5: 2 (2: 1.2: 1.1: 0)

Closing table

RF	team	Sp	Sg	U.N	NL	Gates	TD	Pts.
1	Canada	3	2	1	0	12: 5	+ 7	5: 1
2	Slovakia	3	2	1	0	9: 4	+ 5	5: 1
3	Italy	3	1	0	2	8: 8	0	2: 4
4th	Austria	3	0	0	3	3:15	-12	0: 6

Group C

May 2, 1998	Zurich	Switzerland	-	United States	2: 5 (0: 2.0: 2.2: 1)
May 2, 1998	Basel	Sweden	-	France	6: 1 (4: 0.1: 1.1: 0)
May 4, 1998	Zurich	United States	-	France	1: 3 (1: 0.0: 3.0: 0)
May 4, 1998	Zurich	Switzerland	-	Sweden	2: 4 (0: 1.1: 2.1: 1)
May 6, 1998	Zurich	Sweden	-	United States	6: 1 (2: 0.2: 1.2: 0)
May 6, 1998	Zurich	Switzerland	-	France	5: 1 (1: 0.2: 1.2: 0)

Closing table

RF	team	Sp	Sg	U.N	NL	Gates	TD	Pts.
1	Sweden	3	3	0	0	16: 4	+12	6-0
2	Switzerland	3	1	0	2	9:10	- 1	2: 4
3	United States	3	1	0	2	7:11	- 4th	2: 4
4th	France	3	1	0	2	5:12	- 7th	2: 4

Group D

May 2, 1998	Basel	Russia	-	Kazakhstan	8: 4 (2: 1.5: 1.1: 2)
May 2, 1998	Zurich	Finland	-	Latvia	6: 0 (1: 0.5: 0.0: 0)
May 4, 1998	Basel	Russia	-	Latvia	7: 5 (4: 1.2: 1.1: 3)
May 4, 1998	Basel	Finland	-	Kazakhstan	4: 0 (1: 0.1: 0.2: 0)
May 6, 1998	Basel	Latvia	-	Kazakhstan	7: 2 (1: 1.5: 0.1: 1)
May 6, 1998	Basel	Russia	-	Finland	4: 2 (0: 1.3: 0.1: 1)

Closing table

RF	team	Sp	Sg	U.N	NL	Gates	TD	Pts.
1	Russia	3	3	0	0	19:11	+ 7	6-0
2	Finland	3	2	0	1	12: 4	+ 8	4: 2
3	Latvia	3	1	0	2	12:15	- 3	2: 4
4th	Kazakhstan	3	0	0	3	6:19	-13	0: 6

Placement round

In the placement round (group G), places 9-12 were played out.

May 8, 1998	Zurich	United States	-	Germany	1: 1 (0: 0.0: 0.1: 1)
May 8, 1998	Zurich	Latvia	-	Italy	1: 1 (0: 0.0: 1.1: 0)
May 10, 1998	Zurich	United States	-	Italy	0: 4 (0: 2.0: 1.0: 1)
May 10, 1998	Basel	Latvia	-	Germany	5: 0 (4: 0.0: 0.1: 0)
May 11, 1998	Zurich	Italy	-	Germany	4: 4 (2: 3.1: 0.1: 1)
May 11, 1998	Zurich	United States	-	Latvia	2: 3 (1: 0.0: 1.1: 2)

Closing table

RF	team	Sp	Sg	U.N	NL	Gates	TD	Pts.
1	Latvia	3	2	1	0	9: 3	+6	5: 1
2	Italy	3	1	2	0	9: 5	+4	4: 2
3	Germany	3	0	2	1	5:10	-5	2: 4
4th	United States	3	0	1	2	3: 8	-5	1: 5

Intermediate round

Group E

May 7, 1998	Zurich	Canada	-	Belarus	6: 2 (0: 0.5: 1.1: 1)
May 7, 1998	Zurich	Sweden	-	Finland	1: 0 (0: 0.1: 0.0: 0)
May 9, 1998	Zurich	Canada	-	Finland	3: 3 (1: 0.1: 1.1: 2)
May 9, 1998	Zurich	Sweden	-	Belarus	2: 1 (0: 0.1: 0.1: 1)
May 10, 1998	Zurich	Sweden	-	Canada	7: 1 (2: 1.3: 0.2: 0)
May 10, 1998	Zurich	Finland	-	Belarus	5: 2 (0: 0.4: 0.1: 2)

Closing table

RF	team	Sp	Sg	U.N	NL	Gates	TD	Pts.
1	Sweden	3	3	0	0	10: 2	+8	6-0
2	Finland	3	1	1	1	8: 6	+2	3: 3
3	Canada	3	1	1	1	10:12	-2	3: 3
4th	Belarus	3	0	0	3	5:13	-8th	0: 6

Group F.

May 7, 1998	Basel	Czech Republic	-	Slovakia	1: 0 (1: 0.0: 0.0: 0)
May 7, 1998	Basel	Switzerland	-	Russia	4: 2 (0: 0.2: 0.2: 2)
May 9, 1998	Basel	Switzerland	-	Czech Republic	1: 3 (0: 1.1: 2.0: 1)
May 9, 1998	Basel	Russia	-	Slovakia	6: 1 (1: 0.1: 0.4: 1)
May 10, 1998	Basel	Czech Republic	-	Russia	2: 2 (0: 0.2: 1.0: 1)
May 10, 1998	Basel	Switzerland	-	Slovakia	1: 1 (1: 1.0: 0.0: 0)

The Czech and Swiss national teams qualified for the semi-finals.

Closing table

RF	team	Sp	Sg	U.N	NL	Gates	TD	Pts.
1	Czech Republic	3	2	1	0	6: 3	+3	5: 1
2	Switzerland	3	1	1	1	6: 6	0	3: 3
3	Russia	3	1	1	1	10: 7	+3	3: 3
4th	Slovakia	3	0	1	2	2: 8	-6	1: 5

Play-offs

Semifinals

May 12, 1998	Zurich	Switzerland	-	Sweden	1: 4 (0: 1.0: 0.1: 3)
May 14, 1998	Zurich	Switzerland	-	Sweden	2: 7 (0: 4.0: 1.2: 2)
May 12, 1998	Zurich	Czech Republic	-	Finland	1: 4 (1: 1.0: 1.0: 2)
May 14, 1998	Zurich	Czech Republic	-	Finland	2: 2 (0: 0.1: 0.1: 2)

3rd place match

May 15, 1998

Zurich

Switzerland

-

Czech Republic

0: 4 (0: 0.0: 3.0: 1)

The Czech team won the bronze medal match 4-0.

final

The final was played in Best of Two plus possible extra time.

May 16, 1998 5:00 p.m.	Sweden J. Tornberg (50:07)	1: 0 (0: 0, 0: 0, 1: 0)	Finland	Hallenstadion , Zurich
May 17, 1998 3:00 p.m.	Sweden	0: 0 (0: 0, 0: 0, 0: 0)	Finland	Hallenstadion, Zurich spectators: 10,300

The second final game ended in a 0-0 draw.

Best scorer

Abbreviations: Sp = games, T = goals, V = assists , pts = points, SM = penalty minutes; Fat: tournament best

player	team	Sp	T	V	Pt	SM
Peter Forsberg	Sweden	7th	6th	5	11	0
Mats Sundin	Sweden	10	5	6th	11	6th
Raimo Helminen	Finland	10	2	9	11	0
Ville Peltonen	Finland	10	4th	6th	10	8th
Pavel Patera	Czech Republic	9	6th	3	9	12
Mikael Renberg	Sweden	10	5	3	8th	6th
Radek Bělohlav	Czech Republic	9	6th	3	9
Viktor Kozlov	Russia	6th	4th	5	9	0
Sergei Beresin	Russia	6th	6th	2	8th	2
Oļegs Znaroks	Latvia	6th	5	3	8th	2
Alexei Kovalev	Russia	6th	5	3	8th	14th
Marcel Jenni	Switzerland	9	3	5	8th
Martin Procházka	Czech Republic	8th	3	5	8th	0

Best goalkeeper

Abbreviations: Sp = games, Min = ice age (in minutes), GT = goals conceded, SO = shutouts , GAA = goals conceded , Sv = shots saved, Sv% = catch rate ; Fat: tournament best

player	team	Sp	Min	GT	ATM	Sv	Sv%
Tommy Salo	Sweden	9	540	7th	0.78	164	95.91
Ari Sulander	Finland	8th	477	10	1.26	216	95.58
Michael Rosati	Italy	5	299	8th	1.61	152	95.00
Milan Hnilička	Czech Republic	8th	430	10	1.39	157	94.01
Miroslav Šimonovič	Slovakia	6th	360	12	2.00	144	92.31
Félix Potvin	Canada	4th	240	8th	2.00	93	92.08
Oleg Shevtsov	Russia	4th	240	9	2.25	90	90.91
David Aebischer	Switzerland	7th	376	18th	2.87	158	89.77
Artūrs Irbe	Latvia	6th	359	17th	2.84	142	89.31

Final placement of the World Cup

Bronze medal of the Czech national team

RF	team
1	Sweden
2	Finland
3	Czech Republic
4th	Switzerland
5	Russia
6th	Canada
7th	Slovakia
8th	Belarus
9	Latvia
10	Italy
11	Germany
12	United States
13	France
14th	Austria
15th	Kazakhstan
16	Japan

in the A-WM qualification :	Germany , USA , France , Austria , Kazakhstan , Japan
Relegated:	Germany (according to qualification), Kazakhstan (according to qualification)
Climbers	Norway (as A World Cup hosts), Ukraine (after qualification)

Awards

Player trophies

Award	player	team
Best goalkeeper	Ari Sulander	Finland
Best defender	František Kučera	Czech Republic
Best striker	Peter Forsberg	Sweden

All-Star Team A

Attack:	Peter Forsberg - Mats Sundin - Ville Peltonen
Defense:	Jere Karalahti - František Kučera
Goal:	Tommy Salo

All-Star Team B

Attack:	Marcel Jenni - Pavel Patera - Sergei Beresin
Defense:	Mattias Öhlund - Marko Kiprusoff
Goal:	Ari Sulander

Master teams

World Champion 1998 Sweden	Johan Hedberg , Tommy Salo , Mattias Öhlund , Kim Johnsson , Hans Jonsson , Niclas Hävelid , Christer Olsson , Mikael Renberg , Peter Nordström , Fredrik Modin , Niklas Sundström , Mikael Johansson , Mats Sundin , Nichlas Falk , Peter Forsberg , Anders Huusko , Jonas Bergqvist , Ulf Dahlén , Patric Kjellberg , Jörgen Jönsson , Mattias Norström , Johan Tornberg , Jan Mertzig , Tommy Westlund , Magnus Eriksson Coaching staff: Kent Forsberg , Tommy Tomth
Silver Finland	ARI SULANDER , Jarmo Myllys , Vesa Toskala - Kimmo Timonen , Jere Karalahti , Marko Kiprusoff , Toni Lydman , Janne Laukkanen , Petteri Nummelin , Antti-Jussi Niemi , Kaj Linna - Raimo Helminen , Ville Peltonen , Sami Kapanen , Antti Törmänen , Juha icons , Mika Alatalo , Mikko Eloranta , Kimmo Rintanen , Jarkko Ruutu , Joni Lius , Olli Jokinen , Marko Tuomainen , Toni Mäkiaho Coaching staff: Hannu Aravirta , Esko Nokelainen , Jari Kaarela
Bronze Czech Republic	Milan Hnilička , Roman Čechmánek , Martin Prusek - František Kučera , Frantisek Kaberle , Jiri Vykoukal , Libor Procházka , Robert Kántor , Jiří Šlégr , Jiří Veber , Václav Burda - Radek Bělohlav , Pavel Patera , Martin Prochazka , David Výborný , Ladislav Lubina , Jiri Dopita , Marián Kacíř , Jan Hlaváč , Robert Reichel , Petr Sýkora , Josef Beránek , David Moravec , Patrik Eliáš , Milan Hejduk Coaching staff: Ivan Hlinka , Slavomír Lener and Vladimír Martinec

doping

The Italian Michael De Angelis gave a positive doping test during the World Cup and was banned for three months.

B world championship

in Ljubljana and Jesenice, Slovenia

Games

April 15, 1998	Jesenice	Norway	-	Estonia	1: 2 (0: 0.0: 1.1: 1)
April 15, 1998	Ljubljana	Slovenia	-	Poland	3: 0 (0: 0.2: 0.1: 0)
April 15, 1998	Jesenice	Ukraine	-	Great Britain	6: 1 (2: 0.1: 0.3: 1)
April 15, 1998	Ljubljana	Netherlands	-	Denmark	0: 1 (0: 0.0: 0.0: 1)
April 16, 1998	Jesenice	Netherlands	-	Estonia	2: 4 (2: 3.0: 0.0: 1)
April 16, 1998	Ljubljana	Great Britain	-	Denmark	7: 1 (3: 0.2: 1.2: 0)
April 16, 1998	Jesenice	Ukraine	-	Poland	6: 3 (2: 1.3: 0.1: 2)
April 16, 1998	Ljubljana	Slovenia	-	Norway	4: 3 (1: 2.0: 0.3: 1)
April 18, 1998	Jesenice	Poland	-	Denmark	5: 5 (3: 1.1: 2.1: 2)
April 18, 1998	Ljubljana	Norway	-	Ukraine	2: 5 (0: 1.1: 1.1: 3)
April 18, 1998	Jesenice	Slovenia	-	Netherlands	6: 1 (2: 0.3: 0.1: 1)
April 18, 1998	Ljubljana	Great Britain	-	Estonia	4: 5 (2: 3.2: 2.0: 0)
April 19, 1998	Jesenice	Ukraine	-	Netherlands	10: 1 (4: 0.4: 0.2: 1)
April 19, 1998	Ljubljana	Norway	-	Denmark	1: 2 (0: 1.1: 1.0: 0)
April 19, 1998	Jesenice	Poland	-	Estonia	3: 0 (3: 0.0: 0.0: 0)
April 19, 1998	Ljubljana	Slovenia	-	Great Britain	5: 3 (2: 2.2: 0.1: 1)
April 21, 1998	Jesenice	Denmark	-	Estonia	3: 3 (1: 0.0: 2.2: 1)
April 21, 1998	Ljubljana	Poland	-	Great Britain	3: 4 (0: 4.2: 0.1: 0)
April 21, 1998	Jesenice	Slovenia	-	Ukraine	3: 4 (2: 1.0: 2.1: 1)
April 21, 1998	Ljubljana	Norway	-	Netherlands	4: 1 (3: 0.0: 1.1: 1)
April 22, 1998	Jesenice	Norway	-	Great Britain	4: 3 (1: 1.2: 2.1: 0)
April 22, 1998	Ljubljana	Ukraine	-	Estonia	3: 1 (0: 0.1: 0.2: 1)
April 22, 1998	Jesenice	Slovenia	-	Denmark	4: 4 (2: 2.1: 2.1: 0)
April 22, 1998	Ljubljana	Poland	-	Netherlands	5: 4 (3: 1.0: 3.2: 0)
April 24, 1998	Jesenice	Great Britain	-	Netherlands	10: 3 (1: 1.2: 2.7: 0)
April 24, 1998	Ljubljana	Ukraine	-	Denmark	4: 2 (2: 0.0: 1.2: 1)
April 24, 1998	Jesenice	Norway	-	Poland	6: 2 (1: 0.3: 1.2: 1)
April 24, 1998	Ljubljana	Slovenia	-	Estonia	3: 0 (1: 0.2: 0.0: 0)

Final table of the B-WM

RF	team	Sp	Sg	U.N	NL	Gates	TD	Pts.
1	Ukraine	7th	7th	0	0	38:13	+25	14: 0
2	Slovenia	7th	5	1	1	28:15	+13	11: 3
3	Estonia	7th	3	1	3	15:19	- 4th	7: 7
4th	Denmark	7th	2	3	2	18:24	- 6	7: 7
5	Norway	7th	3	0	4th	21:19	+ 2	6: 8
6th	Great Britain	7th	3	0	4th	32:27	+ 5	6: 8
7th	Poland	7th	2	1	4th	21:28	- 7th	5: 9
8th	Netherlands	7th	0	0	7th	12:40	-28	0:14

Ascent and descent

B-World Champion 1998:	Ukraine
Promoted to the A group:	Norway (direct promoters as A World Cup hosts), Ukraine (after A World Cup qualification )
Participants in the A-WM qualification :	Ukraine, Slovenia, Estonia
Relegated from the A group:	Germany (after A World Cup qualification ), Kazakhstan (after A World Cup qualification )
Relegated to the C group:	Netherlands
Newcomers from the C group:	Hungary

C world championship

in Budapest, Székesfehérvár and Dunaújváros, Hungary

Preliminary round

Group A

March 22, 1998	Budapest	Romania	-	Yugoslavia	5: 3 (2: 0.1: 2.2: 1)
March 22, 1998	Székesfehérvár	Lithuania	-	Croatia	3: 2 (1: 0.1: 1.1: 1)
March 23, 1998	Dunaújváros	Lithuania	-	Yugoslavia	2: 0 (1: 0.0: 0.1: 0)
March 23, 1998	Budapest	Romania	-	Croatia	6: 1 (3: 0.2: 1.1: 0)
March 25, 1998	Székesfehérvár	Croatia	-	Yugoslavia	1: 1 (0: 1.1: 0.0: 0)
March 25, 1998	Dunaújváros	Romania	-	Lithuania	9: 3 (2: 1.5: 1.2: 1)

Closing table

RF	team	Sp	Sg	U.N	NL	Gates	TD	Pts.
1	Romania	3	3	0	0	20: 7	+13	6-0
2	Lithuania	3	2	0	1	8:11	- 3	4: 2
3	Yugoslavia	3	0	1	2	4: 8	- 4th	1: 5
4th	Croatia	3	0	1	2	4:10	- 6	1: 5

Group B

March 22, 1998	Budapest	Hungary	-	China	7: 1 (2: 1.3: 0.2: 0)
March 22, 1998	Székesfehérvár	South Korea	-	Spain	1: 0 (0: 0.1: 0.0: 0)
March 23, 1998	Dunaújváros	Hungary	-	Spain	6: 1 (2: 0.3: 0.1: 1)
March 23, 1998	Budapest	China	-	South Korea	6: 0 (1: 0.1: 0.4: 0)
March 25, 1998	Székesfehérvár	Hungary	-	South Korea	6: 0 (1: 0.2: 0.3: 0)
March 25, 1998	Dunaújváros	China	-	Spain	7: 4 (2: 1.3: 2.2: 1)

Closing table

RF	team	Sp	Sg	U.N	NL	Gates	TD	Pts.
1	Hungary	3	3	0	0	24: 3	+21	6-0
2	China	3	2	0	1	14:11	+ 3	4: 2
3	South Korea	3	1	0	2	1:12	-11	2: 4
4th	Spain	3	0	0	3	5:14	- 9	0: 6

Relegation round for places 5–8

(direct comparisons of the preliminary round have been adopted)

March 27, 1998	Székesfehérvár	South Korea	-	Croatia	1: 3 (0: 2.0: 0.1: 1)
March 27, 1998	Székesfehérvár	Yugoslavia	-	Spain	3: 3 (0: 2.3: 1.0: 0)
March 28, 1998	Székesfehérvár	Croatia	-	Spain	4: 4 (0: 2.1: 1.3: 1)
March 28, 1998	Székesfehérvár	Yugoslavia	-	South Korea	3: 2 (1: 0.2: 2.0: 0)

Closing table

RF	team	Sp	Sg	U.N	NL	Gates	TD	Pts.
1	Croatia	3	1	2	0	8: 6	+2	4: 2
2	Yugoslavia	3	1	2	0	7: 6	+1	4: 2
3	South Korea	3	1	0	2	4: 6	-2	2: 4
4th	Spain	3	0	2	1	7: 8	-1	2: 4

Final round for places 1–4

(direct comparisons of the preliminary round have been adopted)

March 27, 1998	Budapest	Romania	-	China	9: 3 (3: 0.4: 2.2: 1)
March 27, 1998	Budapest	Hungary	-	Lithuania	14: 0 (4: 0.5: 0.5: 0)
March 28, 1998	Budapest	Lithuania	-	China	5: 4 (1: 1.3: 1.1: 2)
March 28, 1998	Budapest	Hungary	-	Romania	3: 2 (0: 2.3: 0.0: 0)

Closing table

RF	team	Sp	Sg	U.N	NL	Gates	TD	Pts.
1	Hungary	3	3	0	0	24: 3	+21	6-0
2	Romania	3	2	0	1	20: 9	+11	4: 2
3	Lithuania	3	1	0	2	8:27	-19	2: 4
4th	China	3	0	0	3	8:21	-13	0: 6

Final placement of the C-WM

RF	team
1	Hungary
2	Romania
3	Lithuania
4th	People's Republic of China
5	Croatia
6th	Yugoslavia
7th	South Korea
8th	Spain

Ascent and descent

C World Champion 1998:	Hungary
Moving up to the B group:	Hungary
Relegated from group B:	Netherlands
Relegated to the D group:	Spain
Newcomers to the C group:	Bulgaria

D world championship

in Krugersdorp and Pretoria, South Africa

Preliminary round

Group A

March 27, 1998	Krugersdorp	Israel	-	Greece	16: 2 (4: 1.8: 0.4: 1)
March 27, 1998	Krugersdorp	South Africa	-	Belgium	3: 5 (1: 0.1: 4.1: 1)
March 29, 1998	Krugersdorp	Belgium	-	Greece	14: 2 (5: 0.6: 0.3: 2)
March 29, 1998	Krugersdorp	South Africa	-	Israel	1: 8 (1: 4.0: 4.0: 0)
March 30, 1998	Krugersdorp	Israel	-	Belgium	5: 3 (2: 0.2: 1.1: 2)
March 30, 1998	Krugersdorp	South Africa	-	Greece	11: 2 (2: 1.5: 0.4: 1)

Closing table

RF	team	Sp	Sg	U.N	NL	Gates	TD	Pts.
1	Israel	3	3	0	0	29: 6	+23	6-0
2	Belgium	3	2	0	1	22:10	+12	4: 2
3	South Africa	3	1	0	2	15:15	0	2: 4
4th	Greece	3	0	0	3	6:41	-35	0: 6

Group B

March 27, 1998	Pretoria	Australia	-	Turkey	14: 1 (6: 0.6: 0.2: 1)
March 27, 1998	Pretoria	Bulgaria	-	New Zealand	18: 1 (7: 0.4: 0.7: 1)
March 29, 1998	Pretoria	Bulgaria	-	Turkey	20: 0 (5: 0.6: 0.9: 0)
March 29, 1998	Pretoria	Australia	-	New Zealand	10: 1 (5: 0.2: 1.3: 0)
March 30, 1998	Pretoria	Bulgaria	-	Australia	4: 4 (3: 2.0: 2.1: 0)
March 30, 1998	Pretoria	Turkey	-	New Zealand	4: 3 (0: 1.1: 1.3: 1)

Closing table

RF	team	Sp	Sg	U.N	NL	Gates	TD	Pts.
1	Bulgaria	3	2	1	0	42: 5	+37	5: 1
2	Australia	3	2	1	0	28: 6	+22	5: 1
3	Turkey	3	1	0	2	5:37	-32	2: 4
4th	New Zealand	3	0	0	3	5:32	-27	0: 6

Placement round for places 5–8

(direct comparisons of the preliminary round have been adopted)

April 1, 1998	Pretoria	South Africa	-	New Zealand	5: 2 (2: 1.1: 1.2: 0)
April 1, 1998	Pretoria	Turkey	-	Greece	4: 7 (0: 2.3: 3.1: 2)
April 2, 1998	Pretoria	New Zealand	-	Greece	8: 2 (2: 0.4: 1.2: 1)
April 2, 1998	Pretoria	South Africa	-	Turkey	12: 3 (3: 0.2: 2.7: 1)

Closing table

RF	team	Sp	Sg	U.N	NL	Gates	TD	Pts.
1	South Africa	3	3	0	0	28: 7	+21	6-0
2	New Zealand	3	1	0	2	13:11	+ 2	2: 4
3	Turkey	3	1	0	2	11:22	-11	2: 4
4th	Greece	3	1	0	2	11:23	-12	2: 4

Final round for places 1–4

(direct comparisons of the preliminary round have been adopted)

April 1, 1998	Krugersdorp	Israel	-	Australia	3: 6 (2: 2.1: 2.0: 2)
April 1, 1998	Krugersdorp	Bulgaria	-	Belgium	4: 0 (1: 0.3: 0.0: 0)
April 2, 1998	Krugersdorp	Belgium	-	Australia	6: 1 (3: 1.2: 0.1: 0)
April 2, 1998	Krugersdorp	Bulgaria	-	Israel	4: 2 (3: 1.0: 0.1: 1)

Closing table

RF	team	Sp	Sg	U.N	NL	Gates	TD	Pts.
1	Bulgaria	3	2	1	0	12: 6	+6	5: 1
2	Australia	3	1	1	1	11:13	-2	3: 3
3	Israel	3	1	0	2	10:13	-3	2: 4
4th	Belgium	3	1	0	2	9:10	-1	2: 4

Final placement of the D-WM

RF	team
1	Bulgaria
2	Australia
3	Israel
4th	Belgium
5	South Africa
6th	New Zealand
7th	Turkey
8th	Greece

Ascent and descent

D World Champion 1998:	Bulgaria
Newcomers to the C group:	Bulgaria
Relegated from the C group:	Spain

See also

• Junior Ice Hockey World Championship 1998
• Ice Hockey World Championship 1998 (overview)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ sport.sf.tv, WM 1998: An exploit for the euphoria
2. ^ Welt.de, Switzerland in the semi-finals of the Ice Hockey World Cup - out for Canada and Russia
3. ↑ welt.de, bronze is also a medal
4. ↑ welt.de Sweden wins the seventh world ice hockey title with just one goal
5. ↑ ^{a b c} Championnats du monde 1998 at hockeyarchives.info (French)
6. ^ Doping case in the Belarusian team derstandard.at May 6, 2005
7. ↑ De Angelis blocked berliner-zeitung.de August 25, 1998

Web links

• World Senior Championship Pool A
• The 1998 World Cup in Switzerland