1972 Ice Hockey World Championships

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The 1972 Ice Hockey World Championships was the 39th edition of the Ice Hockey World Championships. The tournament was held in Prague, Czechoslovakia from 7 to 22 April 1972, and the Czechoslovakia national team won the tournament, the third time they had done so and first since 1949, ending the Soviet Union's streak of nine consecutive titles.^[1] In addition it was the Czechoslovaks' 12th European title.

1972 Ice Hockey World Championships
Tournament details
Host country	Czechoslovakia
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Dates	7–22 April
Teams	6
Final positions
Champions	Czechoslovakia (3rd title)
Runner-up	Soviet Union
Third place	Sweden
Fourth place	Finland
Tournament statistics
Games played	30
Goals scored	288 (9.6 per game)
Attendance	285,564 (9,519 per game)
Scoring leader(s)	Alexander Maltsev 22 points
← 1971 1973 →

For the first time, a separate tournament is held for both the World Championships and the Winter Olympics. Previously, the Olympic tournament was held in lieu of a world championships, with the winner being declared world champion for that year.^[1] It also marked the first time in international ice hockey that all goaltenders were required to wear face masks.^[1]

The American team, who had won the silver medal earlier in the year at the Olympics, failed to win the 'B' pool, losing to Poland in their final game.

World Championship Group A (Czechoslovakia)

Finland–Soviet Union game in Prague. Alexander Maltsev (left side), Valeri Vasiliev (right side) and Lauri Mononen (middle) are pictured.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Czechoslovakia	10	9	0	1	72	16	+56	19
2	Soviet Union	10	7	1	2	78	17	+61	16
3	Sweden	10	5	4	1	49	33	+16	11
4	Finland	10	4	6	0	47	48	−1	8
5	West Germany	10	2	8	0	21	76	−55	4
6	Switzerland	10	1	9	0	19	96	−77	2

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

7 April

19–1

7 April

11–0

8 April

1–12

8 April

5–8

9 April

4–1

9 April

2–10

10 April

8–1

10 April

10–2

11 April

0–10

11 April

3–2

12 April

1–2

12 April

3–3

13 April

3–6

14 April

2–11

14 April

5–3

15 April

12–2

15 April

0–7

16 April

8–5

16 April

13–3

17 April

7–2

17 April

2–0

18 April

8–1

18 April

0–14

19 April

7–1

19 April

9–1

20 April

4–5

20 April

3–2

21 April

4–1

22 April

8–2

22 April

3–3

World Championship Group B (Romania)

Played in Bucharest from 24 March to 2 April.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD	Pts
7	Poland	6	6	0	0	41	12	+29	12
8	United States	6	5	1	0	39	22	+17	10
9	East Germany	6	4	2	0	31	18	+13	8
10	Romania	6	3	3	0	25	26	−1	6
11	Japan	6	1	4	1	20	49	−29	3
12	Yugoslavia	6	1	5	0	25	28	−3	2
13	Norway	6	0	5	1	15	41	−26	1

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Poland was promoted to Group A, both Norway and France were relegated to Group C. The French team boycotted the tournament in a protest over their federation's failure to finance the team's participation in the Sapporo Olympics^[2]^[3]

24 March

5–3

24 March

9–1

24 March

7–1

25 March

3–2

26 March

5–2

26 March

14–5

27 March

7–2

27 March

11–1

27 March

4–3

29 March

6–5

29 March

4–4

29 March

0–7

30 March

3–8

30 March

5–1

30 March

5–3

1 April

10–3

1 April

11–5

1 April

6–5

2 April

6–3

2 April

2–4

2 April

3–2

World Championship Group C (Romania)

Played in Miercurea-Ciuc from 3 March to the 12th. The Chinese won their first game ever played in a World Championship.^[4]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD	Pts
14	Austria	6	5	0	1	21	12	+9	11
15	Italy	6	4	1	1	31	13	+18	9
16	China	6	2	2	2	19	20	−1	6
17	Bulgaria	6	3	3	0	20	19	+1	6
18	Hungary	6	2	2	2	31	24	+7	6
19	Denmark	6	1	5	0	13	25	−12	2
20	Netherlands	6	1	5	0	11	33	−22	2

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Both Austria and Italy were promoted to Group B.

3 March

4–3

3 March

11–4

4 March

3–1

4 March

4–2

5 March

6–2

5 March

4–3

6 March

6–2

6 March

6–1

6 March

4–2

8 March

7–1

8 March

4–3

8 March

5–3

9 March

8–0

9 March

4–2

9 March

6–1

11 March

2–2

11 March

4–2

11 March

6–6

12 March

2–0

12 March

3–3

12 March

3–1

Ranking and statistics

1972 IIHF World Championship winners
Czechoslovakia 3rd title

Tournament Awards

Best players selected by the directorate:
- Best Goaltender: Jorma Valtonen
- Best Defenceman: František Pospíšil
- Best Forward: Alexander Maltsev
Media All-Star Team:
- Goaltender: Jiří Holeček
- Defence: Oldřich Machač, František Pospíšil
- Forwards: Valeri Kharlamov, Alexander Maltsev, Vladimir Vikulov

Final standings

The final standings of the tournament according to IIHF:

	Czechoslovakia
	Soviet Union
	Sweden
4	Finland
5	West Germany
6	Switzerland

European championships final standings

The final standings of the European championships according to IIHF:

	Czechoslovakia
	Soviet Union
	Sweden
4	Finland
5	West Germany
6	Switzerland

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c Szemberg & Podnieks 2007, p. 199
^ France Boycotts
^ Explanation of Olympic controversy (in french)
^ Group C

References

Duplacey, James (1998). Total Hockey: The official encyclopedia of the National Hockey League. Total Sports. pp. 498–528. ISBN 0-8362-7114-9.
Podnieks, Andrew (2010). IIHF Media Guide & Record Book 2011. Moydart Press. pp. 142–3.
Szemberg, Szymon; Podnieks, Andrew, eds. (2007), World of Hockey: Celebrating a Century of the IIHF, Bolton, Ontario: Fenn Publishing, ISBN 978-1-55168-307-2
Complete results at Passionhockey.com

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