The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The IIHF was created in 1908 while the European Championships, the precursor to the World Championships, were first held in 1910. The tournament held at the 1920 Summer Olympics is recognized as the first Ice Hockey World Championship. From 1920 to 1968, the Olympic hockey tournament was also considered the World Championship for that year.
The Czech Republic men's national ice hockey team is the national ice hockey team of the Czech Republic. Since 2021, the team has been officially known in English as Czechia. It is one of the most successful national ice hockey teams in the world and a member of the so-called "Big Six", the unofficial group of the six strongest men's ice hockey nations, along with Canada, Finland, Russia, Sweden and the United States. It is governed by the Czech Ice Hockey Association. The Czech Republic has 85,000 male players officially enrolled in organized hockey.
The Russian men's national ice hockey team is the national men's ice hockey team of Russia, overseen by the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia. As of 2021, they were rated third in the IIHF World Ranking. The team has competed internationally from 1992 until a 2022 ban, and is recognized by the IIHF as the successor to the Soviet Union team and CIS team. Russia has been one of the most successful national ice hockey teams in the world and a member of the so-called "Big Six," the unofficial group of the six strongest men's ice hockey nations, along with Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Sweden, and the United States. The European nations of the Big Six participate in the Euro Hockey Tour, which Russia won nine times since 2005. Since September 2021, the head coach is Alexei Zhamnov, who took over from Valeri Bragin.
The German men's national ice hockey team is the national ice hockey team of Germany and is controlled by the German Ice Hockey Federation. It first participated in serious international competition at the 1911 European Hockey Championship. When Germany was split after World War II, a separate East Germany national ice hockey team existed until 1990. By 1991, the West and East German teams and players were merged into the United German team. The team's head coach is Harold Kreis.
The Soviet national ice hockey team was the national men's ice hockey team of the Soviet Union. From 1954, the team won at least one medal each year at either the Ice Hockey World Championships or the Olympic hockey tournament.
The Russian women's national ice hockey team represents Russia at the International Ice Hockey Federation's IIHF World Women's Championships. The women's national team is controlled by the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia. After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the International Ice Hockey Federation suspended Russia from all levels of competition.
The Belarusian men's national ice hockey team is the national ice hockey team that represented Belarus. The team is controlled by the Belarusian Ice Hockey Association. Belarus was ranked 14th in the world by the IIHF as of the 2021 World Ranking.
The France men's national ice hockey team has participated in the IIHF European Championships, the IIHF World Hockey Championships and the Olympic Games. As of 2016, it is ranked 14th in the world in the IIHF World Rankings. The team is overseen by the Fédération Française de Hockey sur Glace. Notable recent wins include upsets against Russia at the 2013 IIHF World Championship, Canada at the 2014 IIHF World Championship, and a triumphant 5–1 over Finland as the tournament host of 2017 IIHF World Championship.
The 2000 World Junior Hockey Championships, was the 24th edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship. The tournament was hosted in Skellefteå and Umeå, Sweden from December 25, 1999, to January 4, 2000. The Czech Republic won the gold medal with a 1–0 shootout victory over Russia in the championship game, while Canada won the bronze medal with a 4–3 shootout victory over the United States. This still remains as the only tournament to where both medal games have been decided in a shootout.
The International Ice Hockey Federation is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 83 member countries.
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 Kyrgyzstan national ice hockey team is the national men's ice hockey team of Kyrgyzstan. They are controlled by the Ice Hockey Federation of the Kyrgyz Republic and has been an associate member of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). As of 2022, Kyrgyzstan is ranked 49th in the IIHF World Ranking.
The Russia men's national under-18 ice hockey team is the men's national under-18 ice hockey team of Russia. The team is controlled by the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia, a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation. The team represents Russia at the IIHF World U18 Championships.
Olga Petrovna Sosina is a Russian ice hockey forward and captain of the Russian national ice hockey team, currently serving as alternate captain of Agidel Ufa in the Zhenskaya Hockey League (ZhHL). She won bronze medals at the World Championships in 2013 and 2016. Sosina has played in the women's ice hockey tournament at three Olympic Games, first in 2010.
Alexandra Aleksandrovna "Sasha" Vafina is a Russian ice hockey forward and member of the Russian national ice hockey team, currently playing in the Zhenskaya Hockey League (ZhHL) with Dinamo-Neva Saint Petersburg.
The 2016 IIHF World Championship final was played at the VTB Ice Palace in Moscow, Russia, on 22 May 2016 between Finland and Canada. Canada defeated Finland 2–0 to win the championship. Finland and Canada entered the tournament as the fourth and first place seeds, respectively.
The 2022 IIHF World Championship was hosted by Finland from 13 to 29 May 2022, as the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) announced on 19 May 2017 in Cologne, Germany. The host cities of the World Championships were Tampere and Helsinki, of which Tampere's brand-new Nokia Arena served as the main venue of the games.
The men's tournament in ice hockey at the 2022 Winter Olympics took place in Beijing, China between 9 and 20 February 2022. Twelve countries qualified for the tournament; eight of them did so automatically by virtue of their ranking by the International Ice Hockey Federation, one, China, automatically qualified as hosts, while the three others took part in a qualification tournament.
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