Ice hockey is a sports team game with sticks and puck on a special ice rink. The goal of the game is to score the puck into the opponent's goal. The team with the most goals wins the match.

The formula for the World Championship has changed more than once. The championships were played in the Olympic and round robin systems, as well as in various mixed options, one of which is currently adopted.

In the qualifying round, 16 teams will be divided into two groups of eight teams. The teams that take the first four places in each group will advance to the quarterfinals, where they will play criss-cross (1-4, 2-3). The first place team in each qualifying round group plays the fourth place team from the other group, while the second place team plays the third place team from the other group: 1A-4B, 2A-3B , 1B-4A, 2B-3A. The winning teams advance to the semi-finals. Semifinal pairs: winner 1A-4B versus winner 2B-3A, winner 1B-4A versus winner 2A-3B.

The winners of the semi-finals will face off in the gold medal match, while the losing teams will face off in the bronze medal match.

Points for games are awarded as follows: the team that wins in regulation time gets 3 points; the teams, which finished the match in the main time in a draw, receive 1 point. The team that wins in 5-minute overtime or in the penalty shoot-out series, which is carried out in the event of no winner being identified in overtime, will receive an additional point. The team that loses in regulation time gets 0 points.

If, at the end of regular time, the teams do not determine the winner, after a three-minute break, the teams spend a 5-minute overtime.

The teams change goals, the game ends after five minutes or after a goal is scored. The team scoring the goal is declared the winner. If teams do not score goals in overtime, a series of free throws will be played. In overtime for the Ice Hockey World Championship, teams play in the following format: four field players and one goalkeeper. A series of post-match free throws is carried out according to the following scheme: each team fills three players who take turns shooting at the goal. If, after three throws by each team, the score is still equal, the streak continues with additional throws performed by the players of the teams in reverse order.

The tournament is held in two stages.

First stage (group)

The first stage is attended by 16 teams, divided into 2 groups of 8 teams. 4 teams advance from each group to the playoffs, and the last team from each group is sent to play in the first division next year. In the group stage, teams in each group play against each other. There are 7 games in total, one with each team. Until the 2007 World Cup, the team received 2 points for a victory, 1 for a draw, and 0 for a defeat. Since 2007, the regulations have been changed. If during the regular time of the match a draw is recorded, an additional 5 minutes (overtime) is played until the first goal scored in 4 × 4 format (3 × 3 in 2017). If extra time does not reveal a winner, the teams shoot a series of 3 free throws (shootouts). If, after three shootouts, there is a draw, then additional pairs of shootouts are broken through until the first different outcome (that is, until the situation when one team scored their bullets, and the other did not). For a victory in regulation time, a team gets 3 points, for a victory in overtime or in shootouts - 2 points, for a defeat in overtime or in shootouts - 1 point, for a defeat in regulation time - 0 points.

Stage two (playoffs)

8 teams take part in the second stage. The stage consists of 1/4 finals, 1/2 finals, a match for third place and a final. At this stage, the teams play “for elimination”. In the quarter-finals, the teams that took the first places in the groups of the first stage play with the teams that took 4th places in the other group, and the teams that took the second places play with the teams that took the third places. The winner of the 1/4 final match will advance to the 1/2 final, the loser will stop participating in the tournament. In the 1/2 finals, the winners of the 1/4 final matches with the teams that took the first places in the first stage groups play with the winners of the 1/4 final matches with the teams that took the second places in the other groups.

The winner of the 1/2 final match will advance to the final, the loser will take part in the match for 3rd place. If in matches of 1/4, 1/2 finals and in the match for 3rd place a draw is fixed in regular time, then the teams play extra time lasting 10 minutes before the first scored puck in 4 × 4 format. In the final match, overtime is played in 4 × 4 format (5 × 5 in 2017) and lasts 20 minutes. The team that took 3rd place receives bronze medals, 2nd - silver, 1st - gold and the champion's cup.

Divisional hierarchy (since 2011)

In addition to the TOP division, there are lower divisions for teams that did not make it to the TOP division:

1. TOP division (16 teams, 8 of them advance to the playoffs)
2. First Division (Group A) (6 teams)
3. First Division (Group B) (6 teams)
4. Second Division (Group A) (6 teams)
5. Second Division (Group B) (6 teams)
6. Third division (6 teams) (2015 - 8)
7. Qualification of the third division (non-regular competitions, the number of teams is different)

On May 20, 2018, on Sunday, the Ice Hockey World Championship ended in Denmark. In the final match, the national teams of Sweden and Switzerland met for the title of world champion.

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If the Swedes, the reigning champions, were expected to reach the final of the tournament, then getting into the decisive match of the Swiss national team became a huge sensation of the entire tournament. On their way to the final, the Swiss managed to outplay Finland and Canada in the playoffs.

2019 WORLD HOCKEY RESULTS –

A miracle was close in the main game of the championship. In the first period, the Swiss team opened the scoring in the 16th minute with the efforts of Minnesota's right-handed striker Niederreiter. Immediately, a minute later, the Swedes responded with a goal from Detroit striker Nyquist. The second period went in the same vein: the “cheese makers” took the lead after Mayer's goal on the 23rd minute, to which Tre-krunur responded with a goal scored by Zibanejad on the 34th minute of the meeting.

The third period and overtime passed without goals scored and everything was decided in a shootout. The Swedes were luckier in the hockey lottery, having defended their world title.
Sweden - Switzerland - 3: 2 (1: 1, 1: 1, 0: 0)
May 20, 21.15 Moscow time, Royal Arena
0: 1 - 16 Niederreiter (Fiala, Yossi)
1: 1 - 17 Nyquist (Ekholm)
1: 2 - 23 Mayer ()
2: 2 - 34 Zybanejad (Ekman-Larsson)

The final standings of the teams of the 2018 World Cup in hockey

In the consolation final for third place, the US team beat the Canadians 4-1. Russia, lost in the quarter-finals to the Canadians and finished sixth at the 2018 Ice Hockey World Championship.

1. Sweden
2. Switzerland
3. USA
4. Canada
5. Finland
6. Russia
7. Czech
8. Latvia
9. Slovakia
10. Denmark
11. Germany
12. France
13. Norway
14. Austria
15. Belarus
16. The Republic of Korea

The national teams of the Republic of Belarus and South Korea took the last two places and are leaving the elite division. Next year teams from Great Britain and Italy will take their places.

The best players of the tournament

Ice hockey is a team game on ice in which two teams compete with each other. Each team at the rink has 6 players: a goalkeeper, two defenders and three forwards. The match consists of three periods, each of which lasts 20 minutes.

The emergence of hockey

The history of this game dates back to Canada, although some 16th century Dutch paintings depict a group of people playing a hockey-like game on ice. Some sources say that it originated in Montreal. Others argue that Ontario is considered the birthplace of hockey. The exact year of the appearance of this sport remains unknown.

In the middle of the 18th century, the British Empire conquered Canada from France and brought field hockey to the continent, which did not take root due to the cold weather. From time immemorial, residents of Canada have preferred winter sports. On March 3, 1875, the first hockey match took place in Montreal.

Ice hockey world championships

World championships hold a special place in the history of hockey. The tournament was first held in 1920. The event was organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation. In 1920, 1924 and 1928, the world championship was held only as part of the Olympics, but since 1930 the tournament has become an annual event. The exception was the period from 1940 to 1946, when the Second World War took place.

The Ice Hockey World Championship is held in two stages. Teams first play in the group stage to determine who will make it to the playoffs. A total of 16 national teams take part in the tournament. They are divided into two groups of 8 teams. Four teams from each group pass to the second stage of the competition.

In a group, the national team meets each other once. In the entire history of the World Hockey Championships, the competition rules have changed only once. It happened in 2007, when it was decided to spend a five-minute overtime before the puck was thrown, if the regular time of the match ends in a draw. If after overtime the winner is not revealed, shootouts are made. Until then, a draw was acceptable.

The play-off round consists of three stages: the quarterfinals, the semi-finals and the match for 3rd place (final). There is only one meeting at each stage. In the match for the 3rd place, the teams that lost in the ½ finals converge. If the score is tied, an overtime of 20 minutes is played in the final. If a tie was called in the early stages of the playoffs, the extra time is 10 minutes.

Pre-World War II World Cup Winners

The first world ice hockey champion in history was the Canadian national team, which beat the United States of America in the 1920 final. Four years later, the same national teams became the protagonists of the decisive match, and again the Canadians were able to win. In 1928, Canada won its third gold, beating Sweden.

From 1930 to 1932, the Wedge Leaf national team won 3 tournaments in a row, beating the Germans and twice the Americans in the final matches. In 1933, the US national team managed to take revenge on their northern neighbors and won their first gold medals. And the Canadians failed to become world champions for the first time.

Between 1934 and 1939, Canada won 5 of 6 tournaments. First, the “red-whites” returned the debt to the US national team, then they beat the Swiss. In 1936, Great Britain took the title of world champions from Canada, but the founders of hockey mods took it back after a season, defeating the very British in the final.

World Championships from 1947 to 1954

The first post-war world ice hockey champion was the national team of Czechoslovakia, who beat Sweden at the home tournament. The competition took place in 1947 and became the first championship in the history of hockey, in the final of which Canadian hockey players did not play. The next two finals were played by Canadians and Czechoslovakians. In 1948 the representatives of North America won, and in 1949 - the Europeans.

In 1950, 1951 and 1952, only the Canadians won again, beating the United States, Sweden and the United States, respectively. In 1953, the Swedish national team won the tournament for the first time, defeating the Germans in the final.

The appearance at the World Cup of the USSR national team

In 1954, one of the most important events in the history of hockey took place. The world championship was won by the Soviet Union national team, defeating the founders of hockey in the final. From that moment on, the hockey players of the USSR began to occupy high places in the world championships every year.

A year later, Soviet athletes took second place, in 1956 they again became world champions. Since 1957, for three years, the USSR national team became the silver medalist three times, and then in two more world championships the Soviet Union took third place. In those years, Americans and Canadians became champions. In 1962, the tournament was won by the Swedes, who became three-time world champions.

Hegemony of the USSR

Since 1963, for 9 years, the Soviet Union national team won all world championships without exception. During all this time, only the Swedes and Czechoslovakians were the rivals of the Soviet national team in the final matches. For 9 years there were only four teams on the podium: the USSR, Sweden, Czechoslovakia and Canada. The North American squad won three bronze medals between 1966 and 1968.

In 1972, Czechoslovakian hockey players were able to break the hegemony of the Soviet Union by beating them in the final of their home world championship. But they managed to move the USSR from the first place only by one year. Already at the 1973 World Cup in Moscow, Soviet hockey players again became world champions. They repeated their achievement in 1974 and 1975, beating the national team of Czechoslovakia twice.

After that, the Czechoslovakians triumphed at the world championships twice. But since 1978, the USSR has not given anyone the gold of the World Championships for 5 years. From 1985 to 1992, the USSR national team won gold medals twice, the Swedes won three times, and the Czechoslovakian hockey team celebrated once.

World Championships of the last 25 years

After the collapse of the USSR, the first world championship for Russians was the 1992 tournament, in which they lost at the quarterfinals stage. A year later, the Russian national team became the world champion, beating Sweden in the final.

A year later, the Canadian national team was able to win their first gold in 33 years. In 1995, the Finns became champions for the first time. In 1996, as well as in the period from 1999 to 2001, the Czechs won the tournaments. Between their first and second triumphs, the Canadians and Swedes managed to win gold medals. In 2002, the Slovaks won the first title in their history.

Over the past 15 years, the Canadians have won the world championship 5 times, the Russians have become the winners of the tournament 4 times, the Finns and the Czechs celebrated the victory once, and the Swedish hockey players returned home three times with gold. It is the Swedish national team that is the reigning world hockey champion.

World Cup statistics

The national teams of the Czech Republic / Czechoslovakia and Sweden are the most frequent participants in the tournament in the entire history of hockey. They took part in 75 championships. In second place are Canadians with 70 visits to the hockey world championship. 3-4 places are shared by the national teams of the USA and Finland, which have played in 68 championships.

The greatest number of times the world champion in hockey in the history of the competition was the Russian national team (taking into account the performances of the USSR) - 27 first places. The second place is taken by the Canadian national team with 26 gold medals in the asset. But the North Americans have more medals in total - 49 versus 46 for Russia (taking into account the medals of the USSR).

Ice hockey world championships: history of meetings between the USSR and Canada

The matches between the national teams of Canada and the Soviet Union have become classics not only of world hockey, but of the whole sport. They first met at the 1954 World Cup in the final match. Soviet hockey players defeated their eminent rivals with a score of 7-2.

In 1972, against the USSR national team, the Canadians put up a team that consisted only of professional hockey players. It was from this year that the irreconcilable enmity between these hockey teams began. Unfortunately, Canada stopped showing good results when the Soviet Union began to dominate world hockey. Since 1954, these teams have met in the finals only 5 times. The Canadians won three times and the USSR hockey players enjoyed the success twice.

Ice hockey world championships: history of meetings between Russia and Canada

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia became the legal successor of the USSR, and the confrontation between the two hockey states moved to a new level. For the first time, the teams came together on the ice at the World Championships in 1992, when the Russians won with a score of 6-4. A year later, the Canadians got even by beating the Russian national team 3-1 in the group, but lost in the semifinals. At the 1994 World Cup, Canada won again, and the score was again recorded at 3-1.

In 1995 and 1996, the Russians won the world championships, but after that the next victory of the fan of the Russian national team had to wait until 2008. In 2015, in the final of the world championship, held in Prague, the Canadians beat the Russian national team in the final with a score of 6-1. At the 2017 World Cup, the "red-whites" met with the Russian national team at the semi-final stage and beat them 4-2.