Citizendia

The Ice Hockey World Championship is an annual event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation. The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF was founded in 1908 as the Ligue Internationale de Hockey sur Glace and is the worldwide governing body for Ice

They were preceded by the European Championship which was held from 1910 to 1932, and decided at the 1920 Summer Olympics for the first time. The Ice Hockey European Championship was an annual Ice hockey tournament for European countries associated to the International Ice Hockey Federation. The 1920 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad, were an International Multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1920 Subsequently ice hockey featured at the Winter Olympics, where the World Championship was decided when the two events occurred concurrently. Ice hockey, often referred to simply as hockey, is a team Sport played on Ice. The Winter Olympic Games are a winter Multi-sport event held every four years The last time the World Championship was decided during the Olympic Games was at the 1968 Winter Olympics. The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games, were a Winter Multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1968

The 73rd championship will be held between April 24 and May 10, 2009 Zürich and Berne,Switzerland

Contents

History

Early years and World War II

In the early days of the Championship, the teams from Canada dominated. 2009 Men's World Ice Hockey ChampionshipsThe 2009 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships will be held in Switzerland between April 24 and May 10, 2009 Events 1479 BC - Thutmose III ascends to the throne of Egypt, although power effectively shifts to Hatshepsut (according to Events 1291 - Scottish Nobles recognize the authority of Edward I of England. This article is about the year For the film see 2009 Lost Memories. Zürich (, Zürich German: Züri, Zurich, Zurigo; in English generally Zurich) is the largest city in Switzerland and capital of the The city of Berne or Bern (, Berne, Berna, Romansh: Berna, Bernese German: Bärn) is the Bundesstadt ( Federal Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page Between 1930 and 1939, Canadian teams won the tournament eight times. Year 1930 ( MCMXXX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. This occurred despite the fact that Canada sent a different club team each year, as in those days Senior Amateur teams typically represented Canada.

World War II caused the Championship to be cancelled from 1940-46. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1946 ( MCMXLVI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

Post World War II through to 1970

Canadian teams continued to dominate the tournament in the early post-war era, but from 1954 onwards, the Championship became increasingly competitive, as the USSR joined them this year, and the teams from Czechoslovakia and Sweden improved their skill level. Year 1954 ( MCMLIV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1954 Gregorian calendar) The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 Czechoslovakia may also refer to what is now the Czech Republic and Slovakia. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation.

While the top European players were officially able to compete in the World Championship while retaining their amateur status, players in the National Hockey League and other North American minor professional leagues were prohibited for many years from entering in the tournament. The National Hockey League ( NHL) is a professional Ice hockey league composed of 30 teams in North America As the great majority of these players were Canadian nationals, this rule was seen by many as discriminatory against Canadian players.

1970 through the end of the Cold War

During this period the Soviet ice hockey team dominated, winning almost all the World Championships. 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). Year 1970 ( MCMLXX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Stanley Cup (La Coupe Stanley is an Ice hockey club championship Trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL playoffs champion 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 Championship 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. Year 1976 ( MCMLXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. 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. Year 1994 ( MCMXCIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar)

Post-Cold War

By the early 1990s the breakup of the Soviet Union, which dominated the Championship 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:

  1. Players in the former USSR and Czechoslovakia had the freedom to play in the NHL. The 1990s collectively refers to the years between and including 1990 and 1999 Thus many European countries' best players were also competing in the NHL, and so unable to send their best to the Championship
  2. 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 Championship.

The breakup of USSR and Czechoslovakia created a challenge for the IIHF because new national teams like Belarus, Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Russia, Slovakia, and Ukraine wanted to participate in the Championship 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 Championship ran the risk of established countries from Western Europe, such as Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, and Switzerland, being displaced from pool A by the new teams from Eastern Europe as they advanced from pool C. As the IIHF depended on advertising revenue derived from the established Western European 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. Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. (The Czech side also won the 1998 Winter Olympic gold medal in Nagano, Japan). The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVIII Olympic Winter Games were a Winter Multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1998 the capital city of Nagano Prefecture, is located in the northern part of the prefecture near the confluence of the Chikuma and the Sai rivers on the Canada has recently returned to prominence with an international trophy binge, capturing the 2003, 2004, and 2007 World Championships as well as the 2002 Winter Olympic gold medal at Salt Lake City and the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIX Olympic Winter Games were a Winter Multi-sport event which was celebrated in 2002 Salt Lake City is the Capital and the most populous city of the U This article is about Ice Hockey For other Hockey World Cups see World Cup (hockey for disambiguation

Format

The modern format for the World Championship features a minimum of 40 teams: 16 teams in the main group, 12 teams in Division I and 12 teams in Division II. The IIHF World Championship Division I are an annual sports event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation. The IIHF World Championship Division II are an annual sports event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation. If there are more than 40 teams, the rest compete in Division III. The IIHF World Championship Division III are an annual sports event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation.

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. A round-robin tournament or all-play-all tournament is a type of group tournament in which each participant plays every other participant an equal number of times 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. A single-elimination tournament, also called a knockout, cup or sudden death tournament, is a type of Tournament where the loser of each 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. In many Sports leagues around the world (with North American and Australian professional leagues being the most notable exceptions promotion and 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. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar) Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. 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. The 2005 Men's Ice Hockey Championships were held April 30-May 15 2005 in Vienna and Innsbruck, Austria.

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.

The IIHF consists of 5 tournaments. Championship tournament is the main one and everything below that is trying to get to the championship round. At the end of the tournaments the top 2 teams in each division (Except the Championship division) get promoted to the next highest division. The Bottom 2 Teams in each Division (Except Division III) get relegated to the next lowest division. The Bottom 1 in Division III gets booted out and has to Qualify for Division III.

Championship

The 73rd championship will be held between April 24 and May 10, 2009 Zürich and Berne,Switzerland

The Championship comprises the top sixteen hockey nations in the world. 2009 Men's World Ice Hockey ChampionshipsThe 2009 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships will be held in Switzerland between April 24 and May 10, 2009 Events 1479 BC - Thutmose III ascends to the throne of Egypt, although power effectively shifts to Hatshepsut (according to Events 1291 - Scottish Nobles recognize the authority of Edward I of England. This article is about the year For the film see 2009 Lost Memories. Zürich (, Zürich German: Züri, Zurich, Zurigo; in English generally Zurich) is the largest city in Switzerland and capital of the The city of Berne or Bern (, Berne, Berna, Romansh: Berna, Bernese German: Bärn) is the Bundesstadt ( Federal Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation For the 2009 tournament,

The competitors and groups are:

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Division I

Twelve teams comprise Division I. History From 1920 until 1963 the Senior Amateur Club teams representing Canada were usually the most recent Allan Cup champions The Slovak men's National Ice Hockey team is one of the major ice hockey powers in the world Notable Games and Players Current top players Andrei Kostitsyn Sergei Kostitsyn Mikhail Grabovski The Hungarian national ice hockey team has participated in the IIHF European Championships the IIHF World Hockey Championships and the Olympic Games. 2008 IIHF World Championship team See 2008 IIHF World Championship rosters 2007 IIHF World Championship team The Swiss national men's ice hockey team is a founding member of the International Ice Hockey Federation and is controlled by the Schweizerischer The German national men's Ice hockey team first participated in serious international competition at the 1911 European Hockey Championship. 2008 World Championship team Olympic record 1920 - Finished in 5th place 1924 - Finished tied in 5th place 2008 World Championship team 2006 teams Olympic record 1920 - Finished in 4th place 1924 - Finished 2008 World Championship roster The following players were most recently named to represent the United States at the 2008 IIHF World Championship, finishing in 6th place 2008 World Championship team Coaching history 1992 to 1994 - Helmuts Balderis 1994             2008 World Championship team Notable Players Olympic record 1920 - Did not participate 1924 - Did 2008 World Championship team Olympic record 1952 - Finished in 7th place 1956 - did not participate Coaching history Olympics 1994 – Ivan Hlinka 1998 – Ivan Hlinka and Slavomir Lener 2002 – Josef Augusta Olympic record 1920-1948 - did not qualify 1952 - Finished in 9th place 1956-1960 - did not qualify 1964 - finished The Danish national men's hockey team is the national Ice hockey team for Denmark. They are broken into two groups, with the winner of each group gaining promotion to the World Championship pool for the following year.

2009 IIHF Division I, Group A: Host will be Vilnius, Lithuania, April 11-17, 2009

2009 IIHF Division I, Group B: Host will be Torun, Poland, April 11-17, 2009

Division II

Twelve teams comprise Division II. The Slovenian national men's ice hockey team, also known as the Lynx (Risi is currently ranked 15th in the world by IIHF as of 2007 2006 Olympic team Goaltenders Vitaliy Yeremeyev Vitaly Kolesnik Kirill Zinovyev Team Japan players at the 1998 Nagano Olympics Dan Daikawa D Ryan Fujita F Yūji Iga F Dusty The Lithuaninan national ice hockey team is the national Ice hockey team of Lithuania, and a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation. The Croatian national ice hockey team represents Croatia in IIHF Ice hockey competitions Current roster World records Australia has the distinction of holding a world record for most goals and highest winning margin in a World Championship game they The Italian national ice hockey team is the national Ice hockey team of Italy, and is controlled by the Federazione Italiana Sport del Ghiaccio (FISG The Ukrainian national men's ice hockey team is the national Ice hockey team of Ukraine, and is controlled by the Ice Hockey Federation of Ukraine 2008 World Championship team Notable Players Krzysztof Oliwa Mariusz Czerkawski Olympic Record Current roster Olympic record 1920 - did not participate 1924 - Won bronze medal 1928 - The Dutch national ice hockey team is the national men's Ice hockey of the Netherlands. The Romanian national ice hockey team is the national men's Ice hockey of the Romania, and a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation. They are also broken into two groups competing to advance into Division I.

2009 IIHF Division II, Group A: Host will be Novi Sad, Serbia, April 9-15, 2009

2009 IIHF Division II, Group B: Host will be Sofia, Bulgaria, April 6-12, 2009

Division III

Division III is made up of six teams. 2008 World Championship Team World Championship Record 2001 - Finished 12th in Division I 2002 - Finished 1st in Division Tournament participation 1999 - 4th place Pool C 2001 - 5th place Division I Group B 2002 - 6th place Division The Serbian national ice hockey team is the national men's Ice hockey team of Serbia, and a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation. The Israeli National Ice Hockey Team is the national Ice hockey team of Israel. The Icelandic national ice hockey team is the national Ice hockey team of Iceland, and member of the International Ice Hockey Federation. Asian Winter Games At the recent 6th Asian Winter Games held in Changchun China the men's team was placed a respectable 5th position behind the four major powers of Asian ice The Belgian national ice hockey team has participated in the IIHF European Championships from 1910 to 1932 The Spanish national ice hockey is the national men's Ice hockey of Spain, and a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation. The Mexican national ice hockey team is the national men's Ice hockey team of Mexico and a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation. The Bulgarian national men's ice hockey team is ranked 32nd in the IIHF World Ranking (2008 and competes in Division II at the Ice Hockey World Championships. The South African national ice hockey team is the national Ice hockey team of South Africa. The top two in each year’s tournament are promoted to Division II.

2009 IIHF Division II, Group B: Host will be Dunedin, New Zealand, April 10-16, 2009


IIHF World Championship

Main article: List of IIHF World Championship tournaments

Other tournaments

The IIHF also organizes the IIHF World Women Championships and three Ice Hockey World Junior Championships. The Ice Hockey World Championships is an annual event held by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF was founded in 1908 as the Ligue Internationale de Hockey sur Glace and is the worldwide governing body for Ice The IIHF Women's World Hockey Championship is the premier international tournament in Women's ice hockey. The International Ice Hockey Federation World Under 20 Championship (colloquially known as the World Junior Hockey Championship WJHC) is an annual event organized by the

See also

External links/Sources

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