1978 World Ice Hockey Championships

1978 World Ice Hockey Championships
Tournament details
Host country  Czechoslovakia
Dates 26 April – 14 May
Teams 8
Venue(s) 1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions   Soviet Union (15th title)
Runner-up   Czechoslovakia
Third place   Canada
Fourth place  Sweden
Tournament statistics
Matches played 40
Goals scored 322 (8.05 per match)
Attendance 362,642 (9,066 per match)
Scoring leader(s) West Germany Erich Kühnhackl 16 points
← 1977
1979 →

The 1978 Ice Hockey World Championships took place in Prague, Czechoslovakia from 26 April to 14 May. Eight teams took part, with each team playing each other once in the first round, and then the four best teams meeting in a new round. This was the 45th World Championships, and also the 56th European Championships. The USSR won for the fifteenth time, narrowly defeating the incumbent Czechoslovaks.

On the final day, there was essentially a gold medal game, and a bronze medal game. The Soviets played the Czechoslovaks and needed to win by at least two to win the Championship.[1] They took a three nothing lead, and hung to win by two, capturing gold by being even head to head with the Czechoslovaks, but having a cumulative two goal advantage against everyone else. Canada and Sweden came into the final game even, so the winner would claim the bronze. Pat Hickey scored with a minute left in the game to give Canada a three to two victory, and the medal.[2]

Because of the allowance of professionals from the NHL into the tournament, a peculiar (and new) situation arose during this year's tournament. The Minnesota North Stars had players representing Canada (2), Sweden (3), and the USA (4).[3]

World Championship Group A (Czechoslovakia)

First round

Team Games Won Drawn Lost Points Difference Points
1  Czechoslovakia 7 7 0 0 44 - 15 14
2  Soviet Union 7 6 0 1 46 - 23 12
3  Canada 7 4 0 3 32 - 26 8
4  Sweden 7 4 0 3 35 - 21 8
5  West Germany 7 2 1 4 23 - 35 5
6  United States 7 1 1 5 25 - 42 3
7  East Germany 7 1 1 5 13 - 45 3
8  Finland 7 1 1 5 23 - 34 3
26 April Sweden  6-2
  West Germany
26 April Czechoslovakia  8-0
  East Germany
26 April Soviet Union  9-5
  United States
27 April Finland  6-4
  Canada
27 April Soviet Union  7-4
  West Germany
27 April Sweden  5-1
  United States
28 April Czechoslovakia  6-4
  Finland
28 April Canada  6-2
  East Germany
29 April Sweden  10-1
  East Germany
29 April Czechoslovakia  8-2
  West Germany
30 April Canada  7-2
  United States
30 April Soviet Union  6-3
  Finland
1 May Canada  6-2
  West Germany
1 May Soviet Union  10-2
  East Germany
2 May Czechoslovakia  8-3
  United States
2 May Sweden  6-1
  Finland
3 May West Germany  7-4
  United States
3 May East Germany  4-3
  Finland
4 May Czechoslovakia  5-0
  Canada
4 May Soviet Union  6-1
  Sweden
5 May West Germany  5-3
  Finland
5 May United States  7-3
  East Germany
6 May Czechoslovakia  6-4
  Soviet Union
6 May Canada  7-5
  Sweden
7 May East Germany  1-1
  West Germany
7 May Finland  3-3
  United States
8 May Czechoslovakia  3-2
  Sweden
8 May Soviet Union  4-2
  Canada

Final Round 1-4 place

Team Games Won Drawn Lost Points difference Points
1  Soviet Union 10 9 0 1 61 - 26 18
2  Czechoslovakia 10 9 0 1 54 - 21 18
3  Canada 10 5 0 5 38 - 36 10
4  Sweden 10 4 0 6 39 - 37 8
10 May Soviet Union  5-1
  Canada
10 May Czechoslovakia  6-1
  Sweden
12 May Czechoslovakia  3-2
  Canada
12 May Soviet Union  7-1
  Sweden
14 May Canada  3-2
  Sweden
14 May Soviet Union  3-1
  Czechoslovakia

Consolation Round 5-8 place

Team Games Won Drawn Lost Points difference Points
5  West Germany 10 3 3 4 35 - 43 9
6  United States 10 2 2 6 38 - 58 6
7  Finland 10 2 2 6 37 - 44 6
8  East Germany 10 1 3 6 20 - 57 5

East Germany was relegated to Group B.

9 May Finland  4-4
  West Germany
9 May United States  5-5
  East Germany
11 May West Germany  0-0
  East Germany
11 May United States  4-3
  Finland
13 May West Germany  8-4
  United States
13 May Finland  7-2
  East Germany

World Championship Group B (Yugoslavia)

Played in Belgrade March 17–26.

Team Games Won Drawn Lost Points difference Points
9  Poland 7 6 1 0 51 - 19 13
10  Japan 7 5 1 1 26 - 17 11
11   Switzerland 7 4 1 2 42 - 32 9
12  Romania 7 3 1 3 41 - 29 7
13  Hungary 7 3 0 4 21 - 36 6
14  Norway 7 2 1 4 29 - 34 5
15  Italy 7 1 1 5 32 - 41 3
16  Yugoslavia 7 1 0 6 14 - 48 2

Undefeated Poland was promoted to Group A, and both Italy and Yugoslavia were relegated to Group C.

17 March Italy  4-5
  Japan
17 March Switzerland   1-8
  Poland
17 March Romania  6-4
  Norway
17 March Yugoslavia  2-4
  Hungary
18 March Hungary  4-3
  Norway
18 March Yugoslavia  2-5
  Poland
19 March Romania  5-5
  Italy
19 March Japan  1-6
   Switzerland
20 March Hungary  1-2
  Japan
20 March Romania  3-7
   Switzerland
20 March Norway  4-9
  Poland
20 March Yugoslavia  3-12
  Italy
21 March Poland  7-2
  Hungary
21 March Yugoslavia  1-7
  Norway
22 March Japan  5-2
  Romania
22 March Italy  4-7
   Switzerland
23 March Hungary  0-8
  Romania
23 March Switzerland   6-6
  Norway
23 March Italy  2-12
  Poland
23 March Yugoslavia  1-6
  Japan
25 March Switzerland   12-5
  Hungary
25 March Norway  4-3
  Italy
25 March Poland  2-2
  Japan
25 March Yugoslavia  0-11
  Romania
26 March Norway  1-5
  Japan
26 March Italy  2-5
  Hungary
26 March Yugoslavia  5-3
   Switzerland
26 March Poland  8-6
  Romania

World Championship Group C (Spain)

Played in the Canary Islands (Las Palmas) 10–19 March.

Team Games Won Drawn Lost Points difference Points
17  Netherlands 7 6 1 0 74 - 17 13
18  Austria 7 5 1 1 65 - 31 11
19  Denmark 7 4 1 2 59 - 25 9
20  China 7 4 0 3 47 - 30 8
21  Bulgaria 7 3 1 3 27 - 30 7
22  France 7 3 0 4 46 - 39 6
23  Spain 7 1 0 6 26 - 84 2
24  Belgium 7 0 0 7 13 - 101 0

The Netherlands and Austria were both promoted to Group B. China and Denmark also ended up being promoted to alleviate a political situation between the Chinese and the Koreans.[4]

10 March China  8-4
  France
10 March Netherlands  18-3
  Belgium
10 March Austria  7-4
  Denmark
10 March Spain  2-7
  Bulgaria
12 March China  3-2
  Denmark
12 March Austria  9-7
  France
12 March Spain  11-4
  Belgium
12 March Bulgaria  0-8
  Netherlands
13 March China  12-1
  Belgium
13 March Denmark  7-6
  France
13 March Spain  0-19
  Netherlands
13 March Austria  3-3
  Bulgaria
15 March Bulgaria  10-3
  Belgium
15 March Netherlands  12-3
  France
15 March Austria  9-4
  China
15 March Spain  2-10
  Denmark
16 March Netherlands  3-3
  Denmark
16 March France  9-0
  Belgium
16 March Spain  4-14
  Austria
16 March China  2-4
  Bulgaria
18 March Austria  19-1
  Belgium
18 March Denmark  8-3
  Bulgaria
18 March Spain  3-13
  France
18 March China  4-6
  Netherlands
19 March Denmark  22-1
  Belgium
19 March Bulgaria  0-4
  France
19 March Austria  4-8
  Netherlands
19 March Spain  4-14
  China

Ranking and statistics

 


 1978 IIHF World Championship Winners 

Soviet Union
15th title

Tournament Awards

Final standings

The final standings of the tournament according to IIHF:

 Soviet Union
 Czechoslovakia
 Canada
4  Sweden
5  West Germany
6  United States
7  Finland
8  East Germany

European championships final standings

The final standings of the European championships according to IIHF:

 Soviet Union
 Czechoslovakia
 Sweden
4  West Germany
5  East Germany
6  Finland

Citations

  1. ↑ Tie breaker
  2. ↑ Tournament summary
  3. ↑ Duplacey page 506
  4. ↑ Group B and C summaries 1979

References

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