1953 World Ice Hockey Championships

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The 1953 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships were held between March 7 and March 15, 1953 in Basel and Zurich, Switzerland.

This was the first world championship tournament with only European teams.

[edit] Standings

Place	Team	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Gold	Sweden	4	4	0	0	38	11	8
Silver	West Germany	4	1	3	0	17	26	2
Bronze	Switzerland	4	1	3	0	9	27	2
DSQ	Czechoslovakia	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

[edit] Games

March 7 B - Czechoslovakia 11 - 2 West Germany
March 7 Z - Sweden 9 - 2 Switzerland

March 8 B - Czechoslovakia 9 - 4 Switzerland
March 8 Z - Sweden 8 - 6 West Germany

March 10 B - Sweden 5 - 3 Czechoslovakia
March 10 Z - Switzerland 3 - 2 West Germany

March 12 B - Sweden 9 - 1 Switzerland
March 12 Z - Czechoslovakia 9 - 4 West Germany

March 13 B - Czechoslovakia - Switzerland cancelled
March 13 Z - Sweden 12 - 2 West Germany

March 15 B - West Germany 7 - 3 Switzerland
March 15 Z - Sweden - Czechoslovakia cancelled

NOTE: B = Basel, Z = Zurich

[edit] Trivia

Czechoslovakia withdrew from the tournament when it became obvious that their President, Klement Gottwald, was going to die from pneumonia he contracted at Stalin's funernal. General Frantisek Janda, the Chairman of the State Committee for the Physical Education and Sport ordered the team home, and Gottwald died the next day, March 14, 1953. The team was disqualified, their results annulled and their remaining games cancelled.

On January 12, 1953, Canadian Amateur Hockey Association president W.B. George stated Canada would not be sending a team to the 1953 World Championships. George told the press: "Every year we spend $10,000 to send a Canadian hockey team to Europe to play 40 exhibition games. All these games are played to packed houses that only enrich European hockey coffers. In return we are subjected to constant, unnecessary abuse over our Canadian style of play."