1979 Ice Hockey World Championships

The 1979 Ice Hockey World Championships took place at the Palace of Sports of the Central Lenin Stadium in Moscow, Soviet Union from 14 to 27 April. Eight teams took part, with the first round split into two groups of four, and the best two from each group advancing to the final group. The four best teams then played each other twice in the final round. This was the 46th World Championship and at the same time, the 57th European Championship. In the May 1978 congress many rules were aligned with NHL practices and archaic rules (like changing ends half way the third period) were finally officially abandoned.[1] The games were very well attended, setting a record by averaging over eleven thousand spectators per game.

1979 Ice Hockey World Championships
Soviet stamp sheet dedicated to the 1979 World Ice Hockey Championships
Tournament details
Host country Soviet Union
Dates14–27 April
Teams8
Venue(s)2 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions  Soviet Union (16th title)
Runner-up  Czechoslovakia
Third place  Sweden
Fourth place Canada
Tournament statistics
Matches played32
Goals scored263 (8.22 per match)
Attendance354,500 (11,078 per match)
Scoring leader(s) Vladimir Petrov 15 points
← 1978
1981 →

The Soviets wished the tournament to be finished before the May Day celebrations began, so the schedule was moved up one week allowing for less NHL players being eligible.[1] The hosts won all seven games they played capturing their 16th title, the only game that was even close was their early match with West Germany, which they won three to two. The competition for the bronze (at least) was tight with Sweden edging out the Canadians. After the tournament NHL star Marcel Dionne praised the level of play and offered the following criticism of North American play, "only the media can change things here. Tell them how the European teams play with so much talent. Tell them that they play without a fight. Let them realize that if a kid does not know how to skate and shoot, but just to fight, he should not be allowed to be a hockey player. There are so many idiots who run hockey, so stupid, so stupid. Tell them."[2]

Promotion and relegation was effective for 1981 as the IIHF ceased running a championship in Olympic years. Nations that did not participate in the Lake Placid Olympics were invited to compete in the inaugural Thayer Tutt Trophy.

World Championship Group A (Soviet Union)

First round

Results between countries that moved on to the same group in the second round were carried forward.

Group 1
Team Games Won Drawn Lost Points difference Points
1 Soviet Union330019 - 056
2 Sweden320116 - 174
3 West Germany301208 - 131
4 Poland301208 - 161
14 AprilSoviet Union 7-0 Poland
14 AprilSweden 7-3 West Germany
15 AprilSweden 6-5 Poland
15 AprilSoviet Union 3-2 West Germany
17 AprilWest Germany 3-3 Poland
17 AprilSoviet Union 9-3 Sweden

Group 2
Team Games Won Drawn Lost Points difference Points
1 Czechoslovakia321011 - 035
2 Canada320112 - 114
3 United States302106 - 092
4 Finland301205 - 111
14 AprilCanada 6-3 United States
14 AprilCzechoslovakia 5-0 Finland
15 AprilCzechoslovakia 4-1 Canada
15 AprilUnited States 1-1 Finland
17 AprilCanada 5-4 Finland
17 AprilCzechoslovakia 2-2 United States

Final round
Team Games Won Drawn Lost Points difference Points
1 Soviet Union660051 - 1212
2 Czechoslovakia631225 - 307
3 Sweden611420 - 383
4 Canada610520 - 362
19 AprilSoviet Union 5-2 Canada
19 AprilCzechoslovakia 3-3 Sweden
21 AprilSweden 5-3 Canada
21 AprilSoviet Union 11-1 Czechoslovakia
23 AprilCzechoslovakia 10-6 Canada
23 AprilSoviet Union 11-3 Sweden
25 AprilSoviet Union 9-2 Canada
25 AprilCzechoslovakia 6-3 Sweden
27 AprilCanada 6-3 Sweden
27 AprilSoviet Union 6-1 Czechoslovakia

Consolation round
Team Games Won Drawn Lost Goal difference Points
5 Finland641123 - 179
6 West Germany631227 - 217
7 United States622222 - 206
8 Poland602415 - 292
18 AprilPoland 5-5 United States
18 AprilFinland 5-2 West Germany
20 AprilPoland 3-4 Finland
20 AprilWest Germany 6-3 United States
22 AprilUnited States 6-2 Finland
22 AprilWest Germany 8-1 Poland
24 AprilUnited States 5-1 Poland
24 AprilFinland 7-3 West Germany
26 AprilFinland 4-2 Poland
26 AprilWest Germany 5-2 United States

World Championship Group B (Romania)

Played in Galati March 16–24. This year's tournament was expanded to ten teams to try to avoid hostilities between China and South Korea. China and Denmark were both elevated with the consequence that four teams would be relegated.

First round

The ten teams were split into groups of five, the top two of each battled for promotion to Group A, the next two played in a group to decide fifth through eighth, and both bottom place teams were simply relegated without playing further. Additionally, the top two in each group joined all Group A teams at the Lake Placid Olympics.

Group 1
Team Games Won Drawn Lost Points difference Points
1 East Germany440030 - 068
2 Romania421122 - 165
3 Austria421115 - 205
4 Denmark410308 - 182
5 Hungary400410 - 250

Hungary was relegated to Group C.

16 MarchHungary 2-10 East Germany
16 MarchRomania 7-7 Austria
17 MarchAustria 4-3 Hungary
17 MarchDenmark 1-9 East Germany
18 MarchRomania 4-1 Denmark
19 MarchRomania 8-4 Hungary
19 MarchAustria 0-7 East Germany
20 MarchHungary 1-3 Denmark
21 MarchAustria 4-3 Denmark
21 MarchRomania 3-4 East Germany

Group 2
Team Games Won Drawn Lost Points difference Points
1 Netherlands440029 - 088
2 Norway430116 - 136
3  Switzerland420213 - 174
4 Japan410320 - 172
5 China400408 - 310

China was relegated to Group C.

16 MarchNorway 5-1  Switzerland
16 MarchJapan 5-6 Netherlands
17 MarchNetherlands 8-1 Norway
17 MarchChina 4-6  Switzerland
18 MarchJapan 9-3 China
19 MarchJapan 3-4 Norway
19 MarchNetherlands 5-2  Switzerland
20 MarchNorway 6-1 China
21 MarchNetherlands 10-0 China
21 MarchJapan 3-4  Switzerland

Final round
Team Games Won Drawn Lost Points difference Points
9 Netherlands330015 - 066
10 East Germany320116 - 094
11 Romania310208 - 092
12 Norway300305 - 200

The Netherlands were promoted to Group A.

23 MarchEast Germany 9-2 Norway
23 MarchRomania 2-3 Netherlands
24 MarchEast Germany 3-4 Netherlands
24 MarchRomania 3-2 Norway

Consolation round
Team Games Won Drawn Lost Points difference Points
13  Switzerland330014 - 066
14 Japan320117 - 104
15 Austria310208 - 132
16 Denmark300308 - 180

Both Austria and Denmark were relegated to Group C.

23 MarchDenmark 1-3  Switzerland
23 MarchAustria 2-3 Japan
24 MarchDenmark 4-11 Japan
24 MarchAustria 2-7  Switzerland

World Championship Group C (Spain)

Played in Barcelona March 16–25. This tournament was supposed to be played in China but the Chinese said that they would deny entrance to the South Korean team. To avoid political issues with the two playing each other, both China and Denmark (last year's 3rd and 4th place teams) were elevated to Group B and two extra nations were allowed to participate in Group C.[3]

Team Games Won Drawn Lost Points difference Points
19 Yugoslavia770083 - 1014
20 Italy760164 - 1712
21 France750259 - 2710
22 Bulgaria740335 - 288
23 Great Britain720523 - 684
24 Spain720525 - 484
25 South Korea711516 - 673
26 Australia701613 - 531

Both Yugoslavia and Italy were promoted to Group B.

16 MarchSpain 7-1 South Korea
16 MarchBulgaria 0-3 France
16 MarchGreat Britain 0-12 Italy
16 MarchAustralia 0-10 Yugoslavia
17 MarchAustralia 4-12 Italy
17 MarchFrance 5-7 Yugoslavia
18 MarchSouth Korea 9-6 Great Britain
18 MarchBulgaria 5-4 Spain
19 MarchFrance 9-3 Australia
19 MarchGreat Britain 2-4 Bulgaria
19 MarchYugoslavia 18-0 South Korea
19 MarchSpain 1-10 Italy
20 MarchAustralia 3-5 Great Britain
20 MarchItaly 11-0 South Korea
21 MarchBulgaria 1-7 Yugoslavia
21 MarchFrance 8-2 Spain
22 MarchSouth Korea 0-0 Australia
22 MarchItaly 8-4 Bulgaria
22 MarchGreat Britain 3-15 France
22 MarchYugoslavia 16-1 Spain
24 MarchSpain 4-6 Great Britain
24 MarchYugoslavia 4-2 Italy
24 MarchSouth Korea 3-15 France
24 MarchAustralia 1-11 Bulgaria
25 MarchGreat Britain 1-21 Yugoslavia
25 MarchFrance 4-9 Italy
25 MarchSouth Korea 3-10 Bulgaria
25 MarchSpain 6-2 Australia

Ranking and statistics
 


 1979 IIHF World Championship Winners 

Soviet Union
16th title

Tournament Awards

Final standings

The final standings of the tournament according to IIHF:

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

European championships final standings

The final standings of the European championships according to IIHF:

 Soviet Union
 Sweden
 Czechoslovakia
4 Finland
5 West Germany
6 Poland

Citations
  1. Duplacey, James (1998). Total Hockey: The official encyclopedia of the National Hockey League. Total Sports. p. 506. ISBN 0-8362-7114-9.
  2. Marcel Dionne's quote (translated from French). passionhockey.com
  3. Summary of conflict. passionhockey.com
gollark: Are they though? I mean, lots of them just have bad quirks for no apparent reason.
gollark: Um.
gollark: There are coordination problems involved.
gollark: SinthÖrion: does your thing just do HTML search queries and scrape the results or something?
gollark: Oh, there we ungo.

References
  • Complete results
  • Podnieks, Andrew (2010). IIHF Media Guide & Record Book 2011. Moydart Press. pp. 147–8.
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