The Finnish national team could not build on the success, losing to the Swedes in the semifinals (1:4), and in the bronze medal game - to the Russian team (3:5). "We didn't win bronze, but being in the top four at this tournament is a good result, we are proud of it," said Finnish head coach Lauri Maryamäki.

As a result, the title of the main disappointment went to the Americans, who, having started the tournament with a defeat from the German team (1:2), approached the playoffs with a series of six victories, the last of which was won over the Russian team (5:3). However, in the quarter-finals, the Americans, who averaged more than four goals per game in the group stage, failed to score even once and let the Finns through to the semi-finals.

Teams of Latvia, Slovakia and Denmark, who played at the group stage in Cologne, were left out of the playoffs. Moreover, the Slovaks have not been able to break into the top four for the fourth year in a row, and the Latvians have not played in the playoffs since 2009.

With a plus sign, we can note the performance of the Swiss team, which was left out of the playoffs a year ago - in the Paris group, it became the second and the only one besides the Canadians that did not lose a single match in the group stage in regular time. In the quarterfinals, the Swiss faced the Swedes, who were objectively difficult for Patrick Fischer's team to fight (1:3).

Belarusians left the scandal

For the second year in a row, the Czech national team failed to overcome the quarterfinal stage, stumbling on the Russian team (0:3). Traktor Chelyabinsk goalkeeper Pavel Francouz, for whom this World Championship was already the fourth in his career, played in the playoffs for the first time.

"I played in the playoffs of the World Championship for the first time, and this is a big event for me. Despite the defeat, it was a hockey holiday for me, I am happy to be part of the Czech national team and enjoyed the tournament," Francouz told the R-Sport agency ".

A sport in which two teams try to hit the opponent's goal with a hard, round ball or puck using sticks. Each team has one goalkeeper who defends the goal of his team. .

Hockey (eng. Hockey) is divided into types:
Ice hockey is played on ice with a small (168 gram) rubber disc called a puck. The most popular of all types of hockey - usually the prefix "with a puck" is omitted. Canada is considered the homeland. Popular in Russia, Canada, USA, Scandinavia, Czech Republic, Latvia, Slovakia, Germany, Switzerland, Ukraine, Belarus, Finland and Kazakhstan.
Inline hockey is an analogue of ice hockey played on roller skates.
Field hockey is played on grass (or other suitable) surface with a small, hard ball. Popular in Australia, India, Pakistan and Malaysia.
Indoor hockey is an analog of field hockey played on a handball court.
Bandy (Russian hockey) - is played on ice with a small, hard ball. Most popular in Russia, Sweden, Finland, and Norway.
Mini-hockey with a ball (rink-bandy) - hockey with a ball, held on the ice hockey rink.
Floorball is indoor hockey played with plastic sticks and a hollow plastic ball.
Vertical hockey and sledge hockey are varieties of hockey for the disabled.

The first ice hockey tournament within the framework of the Olympic Games took place at the 1920 Summer Olympics (VII Olympiad). Since 1924, ice hockey has been transferred to the program of the Winter Olympic Games. Since 1930, the World Cup has been held annually. An ice hockey tournament among women's teams has been included in the Olympic program since the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano. In 1983, at the IIHF session, the 1920 competition received the status of an independent world championship, but not a separate hockey Olympic tournament. Until 1972, the World Championships during the Olympics were held as part of the Olympic tournaments, in 1972 and 1976 - separately from them, and in 1980-1988 they were not held during the Olympics. Since 1976 the World Championships have become "open", ie. both amateurs and professionals take part in them.

History of the Ice Hockey World Championships

The history of ice hockey is one of the most contested of all sports. Montreal is traditionally considered the birthplace of hockey (although more recent research points to the championship of Kingston, Ontario or Windsor, Nova Scotia). However, some 16th-century Dutch paintings also show many people playing a hockey-like game on a frozen canal. But, despite this, Canada is still considered the birthplace of modern ice hockey.

When Great Britain conquered Canada from France in 1763, the soldiers brought field hockey with them to this land. Since Canadian winters are very harsh and long, winter sports have always been welcomed in this area. By attaching cheese cutters to their boots, Canadians played this game on frozen rivers, lakes and other bodies of water. In Nova Scotia and Virginia, there are old paintings of people playing hockey.

On March 3, 1875, the first hockey match was held in Montreal at the Victoria rink, information about which was recorded in the Montreal newspaper Montreal Gazette. Each team consisted of nine people. They played with a wooden puck, and borrowed protective equipment from baseball. For the first time on the ice put a hockey goal.

In 1877, some students at Montreal's McGill University invented the first seven hockey rules. In 1879 they made a rubber washer. After some time, the game became so popular that in 1883 it was presented at the annual Montreal Winter Carnival. In 1885, the Amateur Hockey Association was founded in Montreal.

The hockey rules were improved, streamlined and printed in 1886. According to them, the number of field players decreased from nine to seven, there were a goalkeeper, front and rear defenders, a center and two forwards on the ice, and a rover (English rover - tramp) acted in front of the entire width of the field - the strongest hockey player, best of all throwing pucks . The team played the entire match in the same squad, and by the end of the game the athletes were literally crawling on the ice from fatigue, because only the player who was injured was allowed to replace (and then in the last period and only with the consent of the opponents). In the same year, the first international meeting was held between the Canadian and English teams.

In 1890, Ontario hosted a four-team championship. Soon indoor skating rinks with natural ice appeared. To prevent it from melting, narrow slots were cut in the walls and roofs for the access of cold air. The first artificial ice rink was built in Montreal in 1899.

The game of hockey became so popular that in 1893, the Governor General of Canada, Lord Frederick Arthur Stanley, bought for 10 guineas a cup that looked like an inverted pyramid of silver rings - to be presented to the country's champion. This is how the legendary trophy, the Stanley Cup, was born. At first, amateurs fought for it, and since 1910 - professionals. Since 1927, the Stanley Cup has been contested by teams in the National Hockey League.

In 1900, a net appeared on the gate. Thanks to this novelty, disputes about whether a goal was scored or not stopped. The referee's metal whistle, which stuck to the lips from the cold, was replaced with a bell, and soon with a plastic whistle. At the same time, the puck throw-in was introduced (earlier, the referee used his hands to move the sticks of the opponents to the puck lying on the ice and, having blown the whistle, moved to the side so as not to get hit with the stick).

The first professional hockey team was formed in Canada in 1904. In the same year, hockey players switched to a new game system - “six by six”. A standard site size of 56 × 26 m was established, which has changed little since then. Four seasons later, there was a complete division into professionals and amateurs. For the latter, the Allan Cup was established, which has been played since 1908. Its owners subsequently represented Canada at the World Championships.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Europeans became interested in Canadian hockey. The Congress in Paris in 1908 founded the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), which initially united four countries - Belgium, France, Great Britain and Switzerland. In 1914, the Canadian Hockey Association (KAHA) was formed, and in 1920 it became a member of the International Federation. To increase the entertainment and speed of the game in 1910, the replacement of athletes was allowed. In the same year, the National Hockey Association arose, and the famous National Hockey League (NHL) did not appear until 1917.

A lot of innovations belong to the hockey players Patrick brothers - James, Craig and Lester (the latter became a well-known hockey figure). On their initiative, the players were assigned numbers, points were awarded not only for goals, but also for assists (the “goal plus pass” system), hockey players were allowed to pass the puck forward, and goalkeepers were allowed to take their skates off the ice. The game has since gone on to last three periods of 20 minutes each.

In 1911, the IIHF officially approved the Canadian rules of hockey, and in 1920 the first world championship was held. In 1929, goaltender Clint Benedict of the Montreal Maroons wore a mask for the first time. In 1934, the free throw was legalized - a shootout. In 1945, multi-colored lanterns were installed outside the goal to more accurately record goals scored (“red” means a goal, “green” means no goal was scored). In the same year, triple refereeing was introduced: the chief referee and two assistants (linesmen). In 1946, the system of judicial gestures for specific violations of the rules was legalized.

In 1920, the first meeting took place in an official tournament - at the Olympic Games - between the teams of the Old and New Worlds. Canadians once again confirmed their glory as the strongest hockey power in the world. The Canadians also won the Olympic tournaments (which were simultaneously considered world championships) in 1924 and 1928.

Hockey in the USSR and Russia. December 22, 1946 is considered the birthday of hockey in Russia and in the USSR as a whole, when the first matches of the first USSR ice hockey championship were played in Moscow, Leningrad, Riga, Kaunas and Arkhangelsk.

In 1954, Soviet hockey players made their debut at the world championships and immediately took a leading position in world hockey. Already the first meeting with the Canadians ended with the victory of the Soviet athletes - 7:2. This victory brought the USSR national team the first world title. In the 1990s, the lack of stability prompted many top players to seek their fortunes at wealthy overseas clubs. Domestic hockey has lost its stars, and the only consolation is the fact that most of them are not lost in someone else's hockey, but on the contrary, they are leaders, including in NHL clubs, and thereby support the high brand of the Russian hockey school.

During this period, the Russian team, having won the 1993 World Cup, remained without any medals for a long time. And only recently the Russian team began to return to its former strength. And if at the World Championships in Moscow in 2007 the Russians stumbled in the semi-finals, then in 2008, in the year of the official 100th anniversary of hockey, they regained the title of world champions by beating the Canadians in Quebec, and on May 10, 2009, the Russian team confirmed its title by beating Team Canada in the final of the 2009 World Cup, held in Bern (Switzerland), with a score of 2:1. However, despite the positive trend, on February 24, 2010, in the 1/4 final match of the Olympic hockey tournament, the Russian team lost to the Canadians 3:7. In 2010, at the next World Championship, the Russian team took revenge for the defeat at the Olympic Games, beating the Canadian team in the 1/4 finals with a score of 5: 2 (it is noteworthy that during the game the Russians were leading 4: 0), but not was able to retain the world title, losing in the final to the Czech Republic with a score of 2:1. In 2011, Russia lost to the Czechs 4:7 and for the first time in five years was left without medals. The Finns took the gold medals, the Swedes took the silver, the Czechs were in third place.

The tournament is held in two stages.

First stage (group)

16 teams, divided into 2 groups of 8 teams, take part in the first stage. 4 teams from each group go to the playoffs, and the last team from each group goes to play in the first division the next year. In the group stage, the teams in each group play 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 a draw is recorded in the regular time of the match, an additional 5 minutes (overtime) are played until the first goal scored in the 4x4 format (3x3 in 2017). If extra time does not reveal the winner, then the teams break through a series of 3 free throws (shootouts). If after three shootouts there is a draw, then additional pairs of shootouts are broken through to the first different outcome (that is, until the situation when one team scored their own shootout and the other did not). A team receives 3 points for a win in regular time, 2 points for a win in overtime or shootouts, 1 point for a loss in overtime or shootouts, and 0 points for a loss in regular time.

Second stage (playoffs)

8 teams take part in the second stage. The stage consists of 1/4 finals, 1/2 finals, match for third place and final. At this stage, the teams play "on the fly". In the 1/4 finals, the teams that took first places in the groups of the first stage play with the teams that took 4th places in another group, and the teams that took second places play with the teams that took third places. The winner of the 1/4 finals match advances to the 1/2 finals, the loser ceases to participate in the tournament. In the 1/2 finals, the winners of the 1/4 final matches with the participation of the teams that took first places in the groups of the first stage play with the winners of the 1/4 final matches with the participation of the teams that took second places in other groups.

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

Division 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 go 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) (in 2015 - 8)
7. Third Division Qualification (occasional competition, number of teams varies)

By the number of victories at the world championships - 27 gold medals (1954, 1956, 1963-1971, 1973-1975, 1978-1983, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1993, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2014). Ten times the USSR / Russia team won silver (1955, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1972, 1976, 1987, 2002, 2010, 2015) and seven times bronze (1960, 1961, 1977, 1985, 1991, 2005, 2007) medals of the world hockey championship.

Head coach - Oleg Znarok.

Team Canada

The Canadian team, as the "ancestor" of hockey, is considered one of the strongest teams in the international arena. Member of the IIHF since 1920.

Sweden national team

Head Coach: Todd Richards.

Finnish national team

The Finns have won the Ice Hockey World Championship twice (1995, 2011), they are the owners of seven silver (1992, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2007, 2014) and three bronze (2000, 2006, 2008) world championship awards. The Finnish national team is a two-time silver (1988, 2006) and four-time bronze (1994, 1998, 2010, 2014) Olympic medalist.

This World Cup began with the match between Canada and the USA - and it almost ended with it. The two North American teams had only to play bronze against each other after rather unexpected defeats in the semi-finals. The US team won the first meeting in the derby.

The initiative in the match from the first minutes passed to the Americans, which resulted in a two-fold advantage in shots in the first period. Only the game of Curtis McAlinney could delay the goal of Jeff Blashill's wards. But he did not assume that the threat should be expected from the leader of his own team, Connor McDavid. In the 27th minute, the forward lost the puck in his zone. Chris Kreider quickly intercepted the projectile and opened the scoring.

The Americans continued to press on McElinney's gate for the entire second period, but at the end they got the puck into their own net. The Canadians managed to play a beautiful attack, which Marc-Edouard Vlasic volunteered to complete, punishing the United States for a number of unused moments.

After the break, the Canadian team settled tightly at the gate of Keith Kincaid. This continued until the removal of Ryan O'Reilly, which helped the Americans to take the lead again. Patrick Kane clicked immediately after the throw-in, and Nick Bonino finished off the puck.

For Kane, this point for the transfer was the 20th in ten matches in the tournament. He became the first player to show such solid statistics at the World Cup since Canadian Danny Heatley scored 20 points in 2008. At the same time, Kane broke the American performance record, held since 1949. Then Bruce Mather scored 19 goals, and assists were not taken into account by the statistics.

When O'Reilly did not realize a 100% moment to recoup by simply missing the puck, the Canadians took McAlinney off the gate for almost all three remaining minutes. As a result, they not only failed to score, but also missed two more goals. First Anders Lee shot cleanly after winning the faceoff in his own area, and then Chris Kreider scored a double.

The US team won bronze medals for the third time in the last six years - since 1960, such a result has been the ultimate dream for her. The Canadians failed to win the small final for the second time, as was the case at the Pyeongchang Olympics. Their medal streak, which began at the 2015 World Championships, was interrupted.

The Swedes retain the title

Just like five years ago, when the US team just won bronze, Sweden and Switzerland reached the World Cup final. The team from Central Europe once again created a sensation, even louder than in 2013. After all, then the Swiss from the group stage began to beat the favorites, but this time they lost to the Czech Republic, Russia, and Sweden. It was possible to break into the playoffs only due to victories over frankly weak teams. But on the other hand, in the quarterfinals and semifinals, Patrick Fischer's wards represented by Finland and Canada.

From the first minutes of the decisive meeting, Switzerland began to show their best qualities - high-speed counterattacks and physical strength. The silver medalist of the World Championship Nino Niederreiter opened the scoring in the 17th minute, having accepted a pass from the connected Roman Josi on the spot, the author of the only Swiss puck in the final five years ago.

True, the leadership of the outsider lasted a little more than a minute. The breakthrough of Gustav Nykvist went unnoticed both for the defense of the Swiss and for Leonardo Genoni, who repelled 43 Canadian shots the day before. Viktor Arvidsson could have scored next, if there hadn't been a glitch in the perfect Swedish pass.

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The second period continued in the same spirit - the Swiss tried to punish the opponent for the slightest mistake, but did not forget to return to the defense in time. After the very first removal from the Scandinavians, they managed to catch an opponent at a shift change - Timo Mayer caught the puck at someone else's blue line and punched goalkeeper Anders Nilsson, whom no one had time to help.

The Swedes did not remain in debt, and as soon as Switzerland itself was in the minority, the score became equal. Mika Zibanejad scored his sixth goal of the tournament - only Sebastian Aho and Patrick Kane scored more. The Swede with Iranian roots succeeded in a deft throw from the brushes, which Genoni could not oppose.

The real test for the Swiss came in the final third of regular time. Roman Yosi received two removals in a row - first for pushing Mikael Backlund on his own patch, and then for touching the puck before completely exiting the penalty box. Without their most famous defender, the Swiss team was able to prevent new goals in their side, but there were no longer enough forces for counterattacks.

A year ago, the Swedes have already brought the matter to overtime, and then to a shootout, in which they celebrated the victory over Canada. The scenario of the current final developed according to exactly the same scenario. Although both teams had enough chances to avoid the hockey lottery, they remained unrealized.

In a series of post-match throws, the scales initially leaned towards Switzerland - Sven Andrighetto opened the scoring, and Leonardo Genoni twice defended the gate from the Swedes. But then he missed twice, and the partners could not beat Anders Nilsson. When Nino Niederreiter failed to get the puck into the goal, the match ended. Sweden has won the Ice Hockey World Championship for the 11th time, and the Swiss have to settle for silver for the third time.