The International Ice Hockey Federation governs the annual world hockey tournament known as the IIHF World Championship. The first world event was contested in 1920. The modern-era championship includes participants from up to 40 countries. The top 16 ranked teams compete for the title. The IIHF determines rankings based on teams' final positions in the last four World Championships plus the previous Winter Olympic Games.
Origins
In 1908, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Great Britain and Bohemia founded the Ligue Internationale de Hockey sur Glace, later to become known as the International Ice Hockey Federation. In 1910, the LIHG hosted the first European Championship in Les Avants, Switzerland. This tournament evolved into the current IIHF World Championship.
Hockey World Championships and the Olympic Games: 1920-1928
The first official World Championship was contested in 1920 at the Summer Olympic Games in Antwerp, Belgium. Canads won the gold medal and the United States took silver. While in Antwerp, the LIHG decided to stage future world championships in conjunction with the Olympic Games. This coincided with the introduction of the first Winter Olympic Games in Chamonix, France, in 1924. Canada won the gold medal and World Championship title in both the 1924 and 1928 Olympic Games.
1929-1939
In 1929, the IIHF agreed to organize standalone world hampionships annually except in years that coincided with the Winter Olympic Games. This practice continued until 1968 when the World Championship became a wholly separate event. Canada won the 1930 World Championship and amassed seven more titles throughout the decade. The United States and Great Britain also captured championship titles during the 1930s.
Post-World War II and the USSR
The annual World Championship was suspended from 1940 through 1946 because of World War II. Prague hosted the return of the event in 1947 and the Czechoslovakian team won the title. The playing field shifted considerably during the post-WWII years. Germany and Japan were expelled from the IIHF in 1946 and allowed to rejoin in the early 1950s. National teams from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were collapsed into the new Soviet Union national team, which competed in its first World Championship in 1954 and won. The USSR would rule the sport from 1954 through1990, collecting the title all but 12 times, including nine consecutive titles from 1963 to 1971.
Canada Protests Amateur-Only Rule
Canada sat out the World Championships from 1970 through 1977 to protest the IIHF's "amateur-only" rule, which prevented National Hockey League athletes from competing. The IIHF revoked the rule in 1976. That same year, the United States competed in the World Championship with NHL players on its squad. Canada returned the following year with professionals on its team.
1980s
The IIHF did not stage separate World Championships during the 1980, 1984 and 1988 Winter Olympic Games. The decade began with the U.S. team upsetting the heavily favored Soviet team at the 1980 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, New York. The USSR rebounded and won the World Championship title in 1981, 1982, 1983, 1986 and 1989. The Soviets also won the gold medal in the 1984 and 1988 Winter Olympic Games.
The 1990s
The 1990s were a decade of change for the World Championship. The end of the Soviet Union in 1991 altered the competitive landscape. Countries formerly part of the USSR and Eastern Bloc were admitted to the IIHF. The newly formed Russian national team won its first World Championship title in 1993, but wouldn't win another until 2008. Sweden, Canada and the Czech Republic captured multiple titles in the 1990s and Finland took home its first title.
2000-2010
In 2001, the Czech Republic joined Canada and the Soviet Union as one of only three countries to win three consecutive World Championship titles. The following year, Slovakia won and became only the eighth nation to capture the world title. Canada collected two consecutive wins in 2003 and 2004, a feat it last achieved in 1959. In 2006, Sweden became the first country to win an Olympic gold medal and a World Championship in the same year. In 2008, Canada hosted its first World Championship event, finishing second to Russia, which repeated its victory in 2009. The Czech Republic denied the Russians a third consecutive title in 2010.
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