IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship
History of the ŠKODA Sponsorship
This year sees ŠKODA celebrate its 26th year as the Official Main Sponsor of the IIHF World Championships. We have been in the game since 1993.
It's our passion, it's our dedication, it's our pride and, above all, it's our game!
The lead scoring title went to Canadian Eric Lindros, but that's the only trophy "The Next One" would take home from the World Championships, never winning the tournament. He did, however, win gold at the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002, when Canada topped the podium. Leading scorer: Eric Lindros. Goals scored: 235. Medals: Champion Russia, runner-up: Sweden, third place Czech Republic.
This was the last time Great Britain appeared among hockey's elite. The U.K. had an illustrious history from the 1930s when they would regularly bring home medals from major tournaments and even won gold at the 1932 Olympics in Lake Placid. Leading scorer: Magnus Svensson. Goals scored: 267. Medals: Champion Canada, runner-up Finland, third place Sweden.
Stockholm's Globen Arena was the venue where the legendary Saku Koivu won his only gold medal, though he would go on to collect medals with the Finnish team up to 2010 when he won a bronze at the Olympics. Leading scorer: Sergej Berezin. Goals scored: 229. Medals: Champion Finland, runner-up Sweden, third place Canada.
Czech forward David Výborný debuted at the World Championships and would attend every tournament with the Czech team until 2007. He won 5 titles, including this one in Vienna. Leading scorer: Yannick Perreault. Goals scored: 249. Medals: Champion Czech Republic, runner-up Canada, third place United States.
It's not often that two players from hockey's minnows are near the top of the points list, but in 1997 two Italians, Bruna Zarrilo and Gaetano Orlando, were both in the top ten with 9 points each. Leading scorer: Martin Procházka, Vladimír Vůjtek, Roger Dube. Goals scored: 302. Medals: Champion Canada, runner-up Sweden, third place Czech Republic.
All-time great Peter Forsberg led Sweden to the title, helping his personal haul reach two world championships, two Olympic golds and two Stanley Cup rings. Leading scorer: Radek Bělohlav, Pavel Patera, Peter Forsberg. Goals scored: 276. Medals: Champion Sweden, runner-up Finland, third place Czech Republic.
The first of the Czech Republic's "Golden Hat-trick" of championships, this tournament in Norway set up the next two titles. Leading scorer: Alexej Jašin, Goals scored: 302. Medals: Champion Czech Republic, runner-up Finland, third place Sweden.
The final became historic as Czechs faced off against Slovaks. Slovakia's silver was its first-ever medal from the world championships, while Slovak legend Miroslav Šatan also managed to win the scoring title. Leading scorer: Miroslav Šatan. Goals scored: 327. Medals: Champion Czech Republic, runner-up Slovakia, third place Finland.
The Czechs were down 0-2 in the finals against the Finns, but two scores and an overtime goal from David Moravec meant the third straight gold medal for the Czech team. That is still far from the USSR record of 9 wins in a row during the 1960s. Leading scorer: Sami Kapanen. Goals scored: 318. Medals: Champion Czech Republic, runner-up Finland, third place Sweden.
Slovakia took home its first ever world championship and Miroslav Šatan outscored all the others to win his second leading scoring crown. Leading scorer: Peter Bondra. Goals scored: 340. Medals: Champion Slovakia, runner-up Russia, third place Sweden.
Canadian goalie Sean Burke stood on his head to win the gold medal. It was a fantastic finale for Burke, who never again played for the Canadian national team. Leading scorer: Teemu Selänne. Goals scored: 349. Medals: Champion Canada, runner-up Sweden, third place Slovakia.
Canada won the final played in Prague, and tournament star Dany Heatley scored 8 goals. Interestingly enough, he was born in Freiburg, Germany and has a German passport to accompany his Canadian citizenship. Leading scorer: Dany Heatley. Goals scored: 286. Medals: Champion Canada, runner-up Sweden, third place United States.
Jaromír Jágr's broken pinky became the lasting image from this tournament. Despite the injury at the beginning, he was able to lead the Czech team to the gold medal. Fans in the stands even wrapped their pinkies in solidarity. The win also meant that Jágr joined the Triple Gold Club for those who have lifted the Stanley Cup and have gold medals from the Olympics and the World Championships. Leading scorer: Rick Nash. Goals scored: 289. Medals: Champion Czech Republic, runner-up Canada, third place Russia.
For the first time in modern history, a single team won gold at both the World Championships and the Olympics in the same year. Sweden scored the impressive double, led by tournament MVP Niklas Kronwall. Leading scorer: Sidney Crosby. Goals scored: 329. Medals: Champion Sweden, runner-up Czech Republic, third place Finland.
Rick Nash led Canada to the title by scoring in every elimination game and netting two in the final. This was also the first tournament to use the three point system, meaning that each group stage game had a winner. Leading scorer: Alexej Morozov. Goals scored: 361. Medals: Champion Canada, runner-up Finland, third place Russia.
It was the first time in the 80-plus year history of the World Championships that the tournament took place in the sport's birthplace: Canada. It was also the first time in 40 years that narrower rinks according to NHL standards were used. Despite the line-up of stars fielded by the home team, Russia took home the gold. Leading scorer: Dany Heatley. Goals scored: 357. Medals: Champion Russia, runner-up Canada, third place Finland.
The final saw a rematch between hockey titans Russia and Canada, with Russia taking home gold again, along with its record 25th title. Leading scorer: Jason Spezza, Seven Stamkos, Niko Kapanen. Goals scored: 323. Medals: Champion Russia, runner-up Canada, third place Sweden.
The opening game was played in a specially prepared Gelsenkirchen football arena, home to Schalke 04. An amazing 77,803 fans attended the Germany vs USA match, which still stands as a one-game World Championship record. Leading scorer: John Tavares. Goals scored: 277. Medals: Champion Czech Republic, runner-up Russia, third place Sweden.
Finland triumphed in the first tournament held by an independent Slovakia, led by scoring champ Jarkko Immonen. This was also the last tournament with a round of 16 group stage. The next year saw a new system with two 8-member groups with the 4 best in each group advancing directly to the quarter finals. Leading scorer: Jarkko Immonen. Goals scored: 325. Medals: Champion Finland, runner-up Sweden, third place Czech Republic.
Finland & Sweden
2012 was a year of experiments. There were two host countries - Finland and Sweden - with the semi finals and finals held in Helsinki. The two countries then swapped semis and finals the following year. Leading scorer: Jevgenij Malkin. Goals scored: 376. Medals: Champion Russia, runner-up Slovakia, third place Czech Republic.
Switzerland became the surprise of the tournament, reaching the finals before falling to the hosts Sweden. The fact that this was the first medal the alpine country won in 60 years only underscores the magnitude of the success. Leading scorer: Petri Kontiola, Ilja Kovalčuk. Goals scored: 332. Medals: Champion Sweden, runner-up Switzerland, third place United States.
The first-ever championship to be held in Minsk, Belarus, saw more unexpected results from underdogs. France beat Canada in the group stage (for only the second time in history), gave other favourites tough games, and advanced to the quarter finals. France's left wing Antoine Roussel scored 6 goals, the second-highest in the tournament. Leading scorer: Viktor Tichonov. Goals scored: 352. Medals: Champion Russia, runner-up Finland, third place Sweden.
The last World Championship saw a new attendance record; this time going to the hosts Czech Republic. The tournament was watched by a total of 741,690 fans, exceeding the 2014 record by more than 100,000. Leading scorer: Tyler Seguin. Goals scored: 354. Medals: Champion Canada, runner-up Russia, third place United States.
Canada successfully defended its championship title after defeating Finland 2-0 in the final. That was sweet revenge for the Canadians who were beaten by the Finns 4-0 during the group stage. 19-year-old Connor McDavid was the hero of the match, scoring a vital goal – his first of the Championship. Leading scorer: Spielführer. Goals scored: 363. Medals: Champion Canada, runner-up Finland, third place Russia.
Germany & France
Sweden won the tournament by defeating Canada 2–1 after a penalty shoot-out. Leading scorer: Artemi Panarin. Goals scored: 355. Medals: Champion Sweden, runner-up Canada, third place Russia.
2018 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship
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