1967 Ice Hockey World Championships

USSR-Canada 2–1 game on 27 March
Tournament details
Host country	Austria
Dates	18–29 March
Teams	8
Final positions
Champions	Soviet Union (7th title)
Runner-up	Sweden
Third place	Canada
Fourth place	Czechoslovakia
Tournament statistics
Games played	28
Goals scored	205 (7.32 per game)
Attendance	172,800 (6,171 per game)
Scoring leader(s)	Anatoli Firsov (22 points)
←  1966 1968 →

The 1967 Ice Hockey World Championships was the 34th edition of the Ice Hockey World Championships. The tournament was held in Vienna, Austria from March 18 to March 29, 1967. The Soviet Union won the tournament for the fifth straight year, Sweden won the silver medal, and Canada claimed the bronze medal.

Host selection

Bids to host the event were received from the Austrian Ice Hockey Association and the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) in March 1965. The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) voted to host the event in Austria. Canada had bid hoping to combine the event with the Canadian Centennial. CAHA second vice-president Lloyd Pollock reacted by saying, "possibly we should consider now whether or not its worth" going to future championships, in a comment that foreshadowed Canada's eventual withdrawal from the world championships in 1970. ^[1]

Summary

For the fifth straight year, the Soviet Union won the tournament. They won all their games claiming their seventh World championship, and eleventh European. The competition for the other medals was very close, with Sweden, Canada, and Czechoslovakia all being in contention until the end. Sweden defeated Canada on the final day to clinch a medal and claimed Silver when the Czechs lost to the Soviets in the final game. Canada claimed Bronze, losing out to Sweden on the head-to-head tie-breaker. The East Germans handily defeated the West this year, which was believed to have settled who would be relegated. However, starting in 1969, the top tier shrank to only six nations meaning that both German entries ended up being relegated. The tournament also featured an historic first, when Finland defeated Czechoslovakia. ^[2]

In Group 'B' the championship was settled on the final day. With one game to play, both Romania and Poland had ten points, both had a goal differential of +14, and they had tied each other, so whoever won their final game by a wider margin would claim tournament victory. The Romanians defeated Yugoslavia five to three, and then had to watch as the Poles defeated Austria seven to two. The Polish team were quite fortunate that Romania had blown a lead on the second last day against Austria, but were very unfortunate that the change in the top tier format allowed for no promotion from Group 'B' Oddly, the leading scorer ( Zoltán Horváth) came from the last placed team, Hungary. Japan won all four of their games by wide margins to claim Group 'C' but had to wait (like Poland) until 1969 for another chance to move up.

World Championship Group A (Austria)

Final Round

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Soviet Union	7	7	0	0	58	9	+49	14
2	Sweden	7	4	1	2	31	22	+9	9
3	Canada	7	4	1	2	28	15	+13	9
4	Czechoslovakia	7	3	2	2	29	18	+11	8
5	United States	7	3	1	3	20	23	−3	7
6	Finland	7	2	1	4	14	24	−10	5
7	East Germany	7	1	1	5	14	38	−24	3
8	West Germany	7	0	1	6	11	56	−45	1

Both East and West Germany were relegated as the top tier shrank to six nations for 1969.

18 March

Soviet Union

8–2

Finland

18 March

Czechoslovakia

6–2

West Germany

18 March

Sweden

3–4

United States

18 March

Canada

6–3

East Germany

19 March

Canada

5–1

Finland

19 March

Soviet Union

7–2

United States

20 March

Czechoslovakia

6–0

East Germany

20 March

Sweden

3–1

West Germany

21 March

Soviet Union

12–0

East Germany

21 March

Finland

1–5

Sweden

21 March

Canada

13–1

West Germany

21 March

Czechoslovakia

8–3

United States

23 March

Czechoslovakia

1–3

Finland

23 March

East Germany

2–8

Sweden

23 March

Soviet Union

16–1

West Germany

23 March

United States

1–2

Canada

25 March

East Germany

0–0

United States

25 March

Finland

2–2

West Germany

25 March

Soviet Union

9–1

Sweden

25 March

Czechoslovakia

1–1

Canada

26 March

United States

2–0

Finland

26 March

East Germany

8–1

West Germany

27 March

Czechoslovakia

5–5

Sweden

27 March

Soviet Union

2–1

Canada

28 March

East Germany

1–5

Finland

28 March

United States

8–3

West Germany

29 March

Canada

0–6

Sweden

29 March

Czechoslovakia

2–4

Soviet Union

World Championship Group B (Austria)

Final Round

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
9	Poland	7	5	2	0	32	13	+19	12
10	Romania	7	5	2	0	34	18	+16	12
11	Norway	7	5	0	2	35	21	+14	10
12	Yugoslavia	7	2	3	2	29	31	−2	7
13	Italy	7	2	1	4	23	31	−8	5
14	Austria	7	2	1	4	23	34	−11	5
15	Switzerland	7	1	1	5	22	37	−15	3
16	Hungary	7	0	2	5	27	40	−13	2

Both Switzerland and Hungary were relegated to the 'C' pool for 1969, additionally they missed qualifying for the 1968 Olympics. No one was promoted.

18 March

Hungary

6–6

Yugoslavia

18 March

Norway

1–3

Poland

18 March

Romania

7–2

Switzerland

18 March

Austria

2–4

Italy

20 March

Yugoslavia

3–3

Poland

20 March

Italy

2–7

Romania

20 March

Switzerland

2–5

Norway

20 March

Austria

5–4

Hungary

21 March

Hungary

3–7

Poland

21 March

Austria

3–8

Yugoslavia

21 March

Norway

2–3

Romania

21 March

Switzerland

5–7

Italy

23 March

Hungary

2–5

Romania

23 March

Italy

2–4

Yugoslavia

23 March

Poland

7–1

Switzerland

23 March

Austria

2–5

Norway

25 March

Italy

4–4

Hungary

25 March

Romania

3–3

Poland

25 March

Yugoslavia

2–9

Norway

25 March

Austria

5–2

Switzerland

27 March

Hungary

5–6

Norway

27 March

Poland

2–0

Italy

27 March

Switzerland

3–3

Yugoslavia

27 March

Austria

4–4

Romania

28 March

Norway

7–4

Italy

28 March

Switzerland

7–3

Hungary

28 March

Romania

5–3

Yugoslavia

28 March

Austria

2–7

Poland

World Championship Group C (Austria)

Final Round

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
17	Japan	4	4	0	0	46	8	+38	8
18	Denmark	4	2	0	2	18	23	−5	4
19	Bulgaria	4	2	0	2	17	17	0	4
20	France	4	1	0	3	18	21	−3	2
21	Netherlands	4	1	0	3	19	49	−30	2

With the top level shrinking, no one was promoted but Japan earned a trip to the Grenoble Olympics. Belgium, Great Britain, and North Korea were expected to play in this tournament, but did not participate. ^[2]

19 March

Bulgaria

10–3

Netherlands

19 March

Japan

11–2

Denmark

20 March

Bulgaria

3–2

France

22 March

Japan

8–2

Bulgaria

22 March

France

12–6

Netherlands

23 March

Denmark

5–2

France

26 March

Netherlands

8–7

Denmark

26 March

Japan

7–2

France

27 March

Denmark

4–2

Bulgaria

28 March

Japan

20–2

Netherlands

Ranking and statistics

1967 IIHF World Championship winners
Soviet Union 7th title

Tournament Awards

• Best players selected by the directorate:
  • Best Goaltender: Carl Wetzel
  • Best Defenceman: Vitaly Davydov
  • Best Forward: Anatoli Firsov
• Media All-Star Team:
  • Goaltender: Carl Wetzel
  • Defence: Carl Brewer, Alexander Ragulin
  • Forwards: Veniamin Alexandrov, Alexander Almetov, Anatoli Firsov

Final standings

The final standings of the tournament according to IIHF:

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

European championships final standings

The final standings of the European championships according to IIHF:

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

Citations

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1967 IIHF World Championship.

• Summary (in french)
• 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. 140–1.
• 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