Ice hockey is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hockey sticks to control, advance, and shoot a closed, vulcanized, rubber disc called a "puck" into the other team's goal. Each goal is worth one point. The team which scores the most goals is declared the winner. In a formal game, each team has six skaters on the ice at a time, barring any penalties, one of whom is the goaltender. Ice hockey is a full contact sport, and is considered to be one of the more physically demanding team sports.
The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, was the 18th Olympic Championship. Sweden won its first gold medal, becoming the sixth nation to ever win Olympic ice hockey gold. The tournament, held from February 12 to February 27, was played at the Fjellhallen in Gjøvik and the Håkons Hall in Lillehammer. There was no women's tournament at the Olympics until 1998.
The 2005 IIHF World Women's Championships was held April 2–9, 2005, in Linköping, at Cloetta Center, and Norrköping, at Himmelstalundshallen, in Sweden. USA won their first gold medal at the World Championships, defeating the defending champions Canada in a penalty shootout. Sweden won their first medal at the World Women Championships, defeating Finland 5–2 in the bronze medal game. The championship was expanded to nine teams for 2006, so there was no relegation at any level.
The 2004 IIHF World Women's Championships were held March 30 – April 6, 2004 in Halifax and Dartmouth, Canada at the Halifax Metro Centre, and the Dartmouth Sportsplex. The Canadian national women's hockey team won their eighth straight World Championships. The event had 9 teams, because the 2003 event was cancelled due to the SARS epidemic, therefore no teams were relegated and the winners of the 2002 and 2003 Division I tournaments qualified. Canada won their 37th consecutive World Championship game before losing 3–1 in their third game. They later avenged their loss to the US by defeating them in the gold medal game 2–1. Sweden and Finland also met each other twice, with Finland winning the bronze medal game 3–2 improving on the earlier draw.
Tommy Mikael Salo is a Swedish former professional ice hockey goaltender and the current general manager of Leksands IF of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). He previously played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Islanders, Edmonton Oilers and Colorado Avalanche, and previously served as head coach of IK Oskarshamn.
The men's tournament in ice hockey at the 2006 Winter Olympics was held in Turin, Italy, from 15 to 26 February. Twelve teams competed, with Sweden winning the gold medal, Finland winning silver, and the Czech Republic winning bronze. It was the third Olympic tournament to feature National Hockey League (NHL) players and the tenth best-on-best hockey tournament in history. United States defenseman Chris Chelios set a standard for longest time between his first Olympic ice hockey tournament and his last—he had competed twenty-two years earlier at the 1984 Olympics. The old record was set by Swiss hockey player Bibi Torriani. who had played twenty years after his debut.
The 2008 IIHF Women's World Championships were held from 4 to 12 April 2008, in Harbin, People's Republic of China. The games took place at the event's main arena, Baqu Arena. It was the 11th holding of the IIHF Women's World Championship and was organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). The Division I tournament was played in Ventspils, Latvia, at the Ice Hall of the Ventspils Olimpiskais Centrs from March 10 through March 16, 2008. The Division II tournament was held during 25 to 30 March 2008 at the Suomen urheiluopisto in Vierumäki, Finland.
The 2008 IIHF World Championship was played between May 2 and May 18, 2008 in the Canadian cities of Halifax and Quebec City (Quebec). The two venues were the Halifax Metro Centre and the Colisée Pepsi. The tournament was won by Russia which claimed its first gold medal since 1993.
The 1992 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships was the 56th such event sanctioned by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). Teams representing a record 32 countries participated in several levels of competition. The competition also served as qualifications for group placements in the 1993 competition.
The 1991 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships was the 55th such event sanctioned by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), and at the same time served as the 66th and last Ice Hockey European Championships. Teams representing 25 countries participated in several levels of competition. The competition also served as qualifications for group placements in the 1992 competition.
The 1987 Ice Hockey World Championships was the 52nd such event hosted by the International Ice Hockey Federation. It was also the 63rd European Championships. Teams representing 28 countries participated in four levels of competition.
The 2012 IIHF U20 World Championship was the 36th edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship. It was hosted in Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It began on December 26, 2011, and ended with the gold medal game played in Calgary on January 5, 2012. Sweden defeated defending-champion Russia 1–0 in overtime to win their first title in 31 years. Russian forward Evgeny Kuznetsov was named MVP of the tournament. Denmark was relegated to Division I and Germany was promoted to the 2013 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.
The 2011 IIHF World Championship was the 75th IIHF World Championship, an annual international men's ice hockey tournament. It took place between 29 April and 15 May 2011 in Slovakia. The games were played in the Orange Arena in Bratislava, and the Steel Aréna in Košice. The Czech team was the defending champion.
The 2011 IIHF World U20 Championship, commonly referred to as the 2011 World Junior Hockey Championships, was the 35th edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship and was hosted by the United States. The games were played in Western New York, at HSBC Arena in Buffalo and Niagara University's Dwyer Arena in Lewiston. Russia won the gold medal with a 5–3 victory over Canada in the championship game, after completing the biggest comeback in the WJHC history; being down 3–0 after two periods, the Russians scored five goals in the third period to capture their first WJHC gold medal since 2003. The host team, the United States, won the bronze medal with a 4–2 win over Sweden.
The 2012 IIHF World Championship was the 76th IIHF World Championship, an annual international ice hockey tournament. It took place between 4–20 May 2012 in Helsinki, Finland and Stockholm, Sweden. This tournament determined the countries' seeding for the men's Olympic Ice Hockey tournament in Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympics, and for all countries participating in the qualification program leading up to the Olympics.
The 2006 IIHF World Championship was held in between 5–21 May 2006 in Riga, Latvia. It was the 70th annual event, and was run by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).
The 1998 IIHF World Championship was held in Switzerland from 1–17 May 1998. The format expanded to 16 teams for the first time. The teams were divided into four groups of four with the top two teams in each advancing to the next round. The two groups of four then played a round robin with the top two teams in each moving on to the semi-finals. The semi-finals were a two-game total goals for series as was the final.
The 2013 IIHF World Championship was the 77th event hosted by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), held in Stockholm, Sweden and Helsinki, Finland, between 3–19 May 2013. TV4 and MTV3 served as host broadcasters of the event.
The 2013 IIHF World U20 Championship was the 37th edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship (WJC). It was hosted in Ufa, Russia. It began on December 26, 2012, and ended with the gold medal game played on January 5, 2013. The United States defeated defending-champion Sweden 3–1 to win their third title, their first one since 2010. American goalie John Gibson was named MVP of the tournament.
The men's tournament marked the second Olympic Games where the National Hockey League took a break to allow all its players the opportunity to play.
Finland 
Canada (22nd title)
Sweden 
Slovakia 
Czech Republic 
