2012 IIHF World Championship

The 2012 IIHF World Championship was the 76th IIHF World Championship, an annual international ice hockey tournament. It took place between 4–20 May 2012 in Finland and Sweden. This tournament determined the countries’ seeding for the men's Olympic Ice Hockey tournament in Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympics, and for all countries participating in the qualification program leading up to the Olympics.[1]

2012 IIHF World Championship
2012 IIHF World Championship official logo
Tournament details
Host countries Finland
 Sweden
Dates4–20 May
Teams16
Venue(s)2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions  Russia (4th title)
Runner-up  Slovakia
Third place  Czech Republic
Fourth place Finland
Tournament statistics
Matches played64
Goals scored376 (5.88 per match)
Attendance451,054 (7,048 per match)
Scoring leader(s) Evgeni Malkin
(19 points)
MVP Evgeni Malkin
2011
2013
HockeyBird, the tournament's mascot.

Russia won the tournament by defeating Slovakia 6–2 in the Final game; the Russians finished the tournament undefeated with a record of 10–0–0, becoming the first team to win every game in regulation since the Soviet Union in the 1989 World Championships.[2] The Czech Republic captured the bronze medal by defeating co-host Finland 3–2 in the bronze medal game.[3] The tournament's top scorer, Russia's Evgeni Malkin, was named the most valuable player of the tournament.[4]

Host selection

At the IIHF congress in Moscow in 2007 four nations submitted bids to host the 2012 World Championship: Finland, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Hungary. The Hungarian and Czech bids were withdrawn before the vote, which was then contested by Finland and Sweden. Finland won with 64 votes to Sweden's 35.[5] Sweden later won the vote to host the 2013 World Championship. At the congress in Bern in 2009, it was announced that Finland and Sweden would instead co-host both the 2012 and 2013 tournaments.[6]

Voting results

Country Votes
 Finland64
 Sweden35

Venues

Group A preliminary round and quarterfinals were played in Hartwall Areena, Helsinki. Group B preliminary round and quarterfinals were played in Ericsson Globe, Stockholm. All semifinal and medal games were played at the Hartwall Areena.

Hartwall Areena
Capacity: 13,506
Ericsson Globe
Capacity: 13,850
 Finland Helsinki  Sweden Stockholm

Format

For the first time since 2000, a new format was adopted in the IIHF World Hockey Championships. The preliminary round and qualification round were merged into one (two pools of eight teams), with the top four teams from each pool advancing to the quarterfinals.[7]

Rosters

Each teams roster for the 2012 IIHF World Championship consisted of at least 15 skaters (forwards, and defencemen) and 2 goaltenders, and at most 22 skaters and 3 goaltenders.[8] All sixteen participating nations, through the confirmation of their respective national associations, had to submit a roster by the first IIHF directorate meeting.

Summary

Preliminary round

Group H (Helsinki)

This group saw the three favourites, Canada, the United States and Finland advance pretty easily. All three teams advanced a day before the group play was done. Canada lost just one game, their second game, against the Americans in overtime.[9] The Americans themselves needed to win their last game against Switzerland to capture the second place in the group ahead of Finland and did so with the result being 5–2.[10] For the final spot of advancing, Slovakia and France played in a "final", where France needed a win to advance to the quarterfinals. The game was close throughout, tied the whole way until it was 4–4, this is when Slovakia scored the final and decisive goal to win 5–4 and get to the fourth spot in the group.[11] France, Switzerland were eliminated alongside Belarus, with Kazakhstan finishing in the last spot and being relegated.[12] They ended the tournament with one point, by losing to the United States in overtime.[13] Canada faced Slovakia, and the United States played against Finland in the quarterfinals.

Group S (Stockholm)

Russia went through the group undefeated by winning all seven games. Co-host Sweden captured the second place, after falling short to Russia.[14] Czech Republic rounded up the third place and advanced to the quarterfinals. Norway, Latvia and Germany all fought for the last spot in the next round but Germany was eliminated after failing miserably 4–12 to Norway.[15] Latvia lost to Denmark and was eliminated,[16] which meant that Norway advanced. Italy finished last and was relegated to Division I.[17] In the quarterfinals, Russia took on Norway, while Sweden battled the Czech Republic.

Quarterfinals

Canada vs. Slovakia

The Slovak team was the underdog going against Team Canada who had lost just one game so far. But the game started with a surprising strong start by Slovakia, who scored twice in the first 10 minutes to get a 2–0 lead. Evander Kane was able to cut into the lead before going into the first break.[18] In the second period Canada scored twice and got the lead and Slovakia was down by one going into the last period. With just 6 and a half minutes to go Milan Bartovič tied the game before Michal Handzuš even took the lead with a bit over two minutes to go. Canada pulled the goalie but was not able to connect against and lost 3–4.[19] The crowd was stunned and the surprise perfect, Slovakia advanced to the semifinals while Canada was eliminated.[20]

Russia vs. Norway

The undefeated Russian team added Alexander Semin and Alexander Ovechkin to their roster before the quarterfinals. Ovechkin went right away and scored the equalizer after Per-Åge Skrøder gave Norway the lead. After Russia took the lead, Patrick Thoresen made it a tied game just 28 seconds after the second period started, with his 18th point of the tournament.[21] The game went into the last period tied, 2–2. Not even one minute into the third period, Alexei Emelin gave Russia the lead.[22] After Russia raised the lead to two, Ilya Nikulin finished Norway off by making it a 5–2 lead with just five minutes to go. Norway was outshot 45–21 and eliminated.[23]

United States vs. Finland

Co-Host Finland tried to advance against the US-team who they lost to in the preliminary round. The first period ended scoreless, before Jesse Joensuu broke the tie, just to be answered 21 seconds later by Kyle Palmieri. With the game going 1–1 into the last period, the United States took the lead with under two minutes played.[24] Mikko Koivu tied the game seven minutes before the end of the game. With everyone expecting an overtime, Jesse Joensuu struck again, just nine seconds before the end.[25] The US pulled the goalie but never had another chance and were eliminated.[26]

Sweden vs. Czech Republic

The last quarterfinals saw Co-host Sweden going up against the Czech team. The first period ended in a 2–1 lead for the Czech Republic after Sweden took the lead early on. Martin Erat scored and gave the Czechs a two-goal lead before Henrik Zetterberg cut into the lead 45 seconds before the end of the second period.[27] Jonathan Ericsson continued the Swedish way of climbing back by tying the game just 45 seconds into the last period. Both teams had their chance in the next few minutes, Sweden hit the post and the Czechs failed to score against Viktor Fasth.[28] 29 seconds before the end, Michálek took the puck away from a Swedish defender and scored. Sweden pulled the goalie and had one last chance but it was missed and the Czech advanced to the semifinals. The Czechs became the first team since Finland in 2000 to eliminate Sweden in a World Championship quarterfinal.[29]

Semifinals

Russia vs. Finland

Seven minutes into the game, Janne Niskala gave Finland the lead. Two goals from Evgeni Malkin brought Russia back into the game going into the first intermission.[30] In the second period Alexander Ovechkin increased the lead to 3–1; a while later Malkin would increase Russia's lead to 4–1. Denis Kokarev then scored another goal and with Russia in control of the game, yet another after that.[31] Four minutes before the end of the game Mikael Granlund scored the last goal of the game, as it ended 6–2 in favour of Russia although they were out-shot 23 to 31. Malkin was the player of the game with scoring a hat trick to give him 18 points for the tournament. Russia advanced to the final to try to win their twenty-sixth title, while Finland will battle for bronze.[32]

Czech Republic vs. Slovakia

The Slovak team tried to continue their ride at this championship by advancing to the final even though the Czech team was the favorite before the game started. The game started slow, but Miroslav Šatan broke the tie 15 minutes into the game to give Slovakia the lead. Another 15 minutes in, this time the second period, Michael Frolík made it a 1–1 game going into the last period.[33] The third period was not more than one minute old, when Šatan struck again with his second goal, despite Slovakia being shorthanded. Libor Hudáček then gave Slovakia a two-goal lead four minutes later. The Czech team had 15 minutes to turn the game around but did not create enough opportunities. They pulled their goaltender with two minutes to go, but Slovakia kept up their defense well enough not to concede another goal.[34] Slovakia finished off another upset and advanced to the final, while the Czech Republic plays in the bronze medal game. Slovakia had no penalties but was outshot by nine.[35]

Bronze medal game

The bronze medal game featured Finland and the Czech Republic. The Czechs took the lead in the first period before Finland tied the game at one, three minutes before the first break. Jiří Novotný and David Krejčí raised the lead to two goals, being 3–1 at the first intermission.[36] The second period went scoreless before the Finnish team got new hope when Jussi Jokinen scored a goal ten minutes before the end of the game. But they did not score again, and the Czech team captured the bronze medal and Finland ended the tournament in fourth place.[3]

Gold medal game

The gold medal game featured Russia and Slovakia. Slovakia played in the World Championship final game for the first time since 2002, while Russia advanced to their fourth gold medal game in the last five years. Russia defeated Slovakia 6–2 to take home the gold medal from the tournament. The Russian team went through the tournament undefeated.[2]

Nations

The following 16 nations qualified for the elite-pool tournament. 13 nations from Europe, 2 nations from North America and 1 nation from Asia are represented.[37]

* = Automatic qualifier after a top 14 placement at the 2011 IIHF World Championship
^ = Qualified through winning a promotion at the 2011 IIHF World Championship Division I
= Qualified as hosts (and as automatic qualifier)

Officials

The IIHF selected 16 referees and 16 linesmen to work the 2012 IIHF World Championship. They were the following:[38]

Seeding and groups

The seeding in the preliminary round was based on the 2011 IIHF World Ranking, which ended at the conclusion of the 2011 IIHF World Championship. The teams were grouped accordingly by seeding (in parenthesis is the corresponding world ranking):[39]

Preliminary round

The top four teams in each group moved to the quarterfinals where the group winner met the fourth place, and the group runner-up met the third place within the same group. The last placed team in each group was relegated to Division I, Group A.[40]

     Team advanced to the Playoff Round
     Team was relegated to Division I A

Group H

Team GP W OTW OTL L GF GA DIF PTS
 Canada 760103515+2019
 United States 742013217+1516
 Finland 750022114+715
 Slovakia 750022113+815
 France 730042132−119
  Switzerland 720051621−56
 Belarus 710061123−123
 Kazakhstan 700161133−221

All times are local (UTC+3).

4 May 2012
12:15
United States 7–2
(1-1, 3–1, 3–0)
 FranceHartwall Areena, Helsinki
Attendance: 8,402
4 May 2012
16:15
Canada 3–2
(1–0, 2–1, 0–1)
 SlovakiaHartwall Areena, Helsinki
Attendance: 6,400
4 May 2012
20:15
Belarus 0–1
(0–1, 0–0, 0–0)
 FinlandHartwall Areena, Helsinki
Attendance: 12,354
5 May 2012
15:00
Switzerland  5–1
(2–0, 3–1, 0–0)
 KazakhstanHartwall Areena, Helsinki
Attendance: 7,221
5 May 2012
19:00
Canada 4–5 OT
(1–1, 1–1, 2–2)
(OT 0–1)
 United StatesHartwall Areena, Helsinki
Attendance: 6,842
6 May 2012
12:15
France 6–3
(3–1, 1–1, 2–1)
 KazakhstanHartwall Areena, Helsinki
Attendance: 8,673
6 May 2012
16:15
Finland 1–0
(1–0, 0–0, 0–0)
 SlovakiaHartwall Areena, Helsinki
Attendance: 12,855
6 May 2012
20:15
Switzerland  3–2
(2–1, 0–1, 1–0)
 BelarusHartwall Areena, Helsinki
Attendance: 5,249
7 May 2012
16:15
France 2–7
(1–4, 1–1, 0–2)
 CanadaHartwall Areena, Helsinki
Attendance: 3,415
7 May 2012
20:15
United States 2–4
(1–3, 1–0, 0–1)
 SlovakiaHartwall Areena, Helsinki
Attendance: 3,948
8 May 2012
16:15
Belarus 3–2
(0–1, 3–1, 0–0)
 KazakhstanHartwall Areena, Helsinki
Attendance: 3,221
8 May 2012
20:15
Finland 5–2
(1–0, 2–2, 2–0)
  SwitzerlandHartwall Areena, Helsinki
Attendance: 12,448
9 May 2012
16:15
Slovakia 4–2
(1–1, 1–0, 2–1)
 KazakhstanHartwall Areena, Helsinki
Attendance: 3,706
9 May 2012
20:15
Canada 3–2
(0–1, 1–0, 2–1)
  SwitzerlandHartwall Areena, Helsinki
Attendance: 4,829
10 May 2012
16:15
United States 5–3
(2–1, 1–1, 2–1)
 BelarusHartwall Areena, Helsinki
Attendance: 7,441
10 May 2012
20:15
France 1–7
(0–1, 0–4, 1–2)
 FinlandHartwall Areena, Helsinki
Attendance: 12,957
11 May 2012
16:15
Kazakhstan 2–3 OT
(0–0, 1–1, 1–1)
(OT 0–1)
 United StatesHartwall Areena, Helsinki
Attendance: 9,856
11 May 2012
20:15
Finland 3–5
(2–0, 1–3, 0–2)
 CanadaHartwall Areena, Helsinki
Attendance: 13,059
12 May 2012
12:15
Slovakia 5–1
(1–0, 4–1, 0–0)
 BelarusHartwall Areena, Helsinki
Attendance: 9,032
12 May 2012
16:15
Switzerland  2–4
(0–1, 2–1, 0–2)
 FranceHartwall Areena, Helsinki
Attendance: 9,155
12 May 2012
20:15
Kazakhstan 0–8
(0–1, 0–2, 0–5)
 CanadaHartwall Areena, Helsinki
Attendance: 4,151
13 May 2012
16:15
Finland 0–5
(0–1, 0–2, 0–2)
 United StatesHartwall Areena, Helsinki
Attendance: 12,652
13 May 2012
20:15
Switzerland  0–1
(0–1, 0–0, 0–0)
 SlovakiaHartwall Areena, Helsinki
Attendance: 4,257
14 May 2012
16:15
Belarus 1–2
(1–0, 0–1, 0–1)
 FranceHartwall Areena, Helsinki
Attendance: 5,583
14 May 2012
20:15
Kazakhstan 1–4
(0–0, 0–3, 1–1)
 FinlandHartwall Areena, Helsinki
Attendance: 12,443
15 May 2012
12:15
Canada 5–1
(1–1, 3–0, 1–0)
 BelarusHartwall Areena, Helsinki
Attendance: 9,140
15 May 2012
15:15
Slovakia 5–4
(2–2, 1–1, 2–1)
 FranceHartwall Areena, Helsinki
Attendance: 7,481
15 May 2012
20:15
United States 5–2
(0–0, 2–1, 3–1)
  SwitzerlandHartwall Areena, Helsinki
Attendance: 9,212

Group S

Game between Sweden and Norway at Ericsson Globe.
Team GP W OTW OTL L GF GA DIF PTS
 Russia 77000278+1921
 Sweden 760012915+1418
 Czech Republic 741022411+1314
 Norway 740123319+1413
 Latvia 720051119−86
 Germany 720051431−176
 Denmark 710151323−104
 Italy 70106631−252

All times are local (UTC+2).

4 May 2012
12:15
Germany 3–0
(1–0, 1–0, 1–0)
 ItalyEricsson Globe, Stockholm
Attendance: 1,033
4 May 2012
16:15
Czech Republic 2–0
(0–0, 1–0, 1–0)
 DenmarkEricsson Globe, Stockholm
Attendance: 1,610
4 May 2012
20:15
Sweden 3–1
(1–0, 1–1, 1–0)
 NorwayEricsson Globe, Stockholm
Attendance: 7,770
5 May 2012
16:15
Latvia 2–5
(1–0, 0–2, 1–3)
 RussiaEricsson Globe, Stockholm
Attendance: 5,219
5 May 2012
20:15
Sweden 4–1
(1–0, 1–0, 2–1)
 Czech RepublicEricsson Globe, Stockholm
Attendance: 10,076
6 May 2012
12:15
Denmark 3–4 OT
(0–2, 3–1, 0–0)
(OT 0–1)
 ItalyEricsson Globe, Stockholm
Attendance: 2,878
6 May 2012
16:15
Russia 4–2
(0–0, 3–2, 1–0)
 NorwayEricsson Globe, Stockholm
Attendance: 4,438
6 May 2012
20:15
Germany 2–3
(0–1, 2–1, 0–1)
 LatviaEricsson Globe, Stockholm
Attendance: 4,162
7 May 2012
16:15
Czech Republic 4–3 GWS
(1–1, 1–1, 1–1)
(OT 0–0)
(SO: 1–0)
 NorwayEricsson Globe, Stockholm
Attendance: 3,383
7 May 2012
20:15
Denmark 4–6
(1–4, 1–2, 2–0)
 SwedenEricsson Globe, Stockholm
Attendance: 8,119
8 May 2012
16:15
Latvia 5–0
(1–0, 2–0, 2–0)
 ItalyEricsson Globe, Stockholm
Attendance: 2,785
8 May 2012
20:15
Russia 2–0
(1–0, 0–0, 1–0)
 GermanyEricsson Globe, Stockholm
Attendance: 2,897
9 May 2012
16:15
Norway 6–2
(2–1, 2–1, 2–0)
 ItalyEricsson Globe, Stockholm
Attendance: 1,357
9 May 2012
20:15
Sweden 5–2
(1–1, 2–1, 2–0)
 GermanyEricsson Globe, Stockholm
Attendance: 11,500
10 May 2012
16:15
Denmark 1–3
(1–2, 0–1, 0–0)
 RussiaEricsson Globe, Stockholm
Attendance: 2,117
10 May 2012
20:15
Czech Republic 3–1
(0–0, 1–1, 2–0)
 LatviaEricsson Globe, Stockholm
Attendance: 2,570
11 May 2012
16:15
Italy 0–6
(0–2, 0–3, 0–1)
 Czech RepublicEricsson Globe, Stockholm
Attendance: 2,753
11 May 2012
20:15
Russia 7–3
(1–2, 2–1, 4–0)
 SwedenEricsson Globe, Stockholm
Attendance: 11,500
12 May 2012
12:15
Norway 3–0
(1–0, 2–0, 0–0)
 LatviaEricsson Globe, Stockholm
Attendance: 5,332
12 May 2012
16:15
Germany 2–1
(0–0, 1–1, 1–0)
 DenmarkEricsson Globe, Stockholm
Attendance: 5,107
12 May 2012
20:15
Italy 0–4
(0–2, 0–1, 0–1)
 SwedenEricsson Globe, Stockholm
Attendance: 8,979
13 May 2012
16:15
Russia 2–0
(1–0, 0–0, 1–0)
 Czech RepublicEricsson Globe, Stockholm
Attendance: 5,341
13 May 2012
20:15
Germany 4–12
(0–3, 1–6, 3–3)
 NorwayEricsson Globe, Stockholm
Attendance: 2,462
14 May 2012
16:15
Latvia 0–2
(0–0, 0–2, 0–0)
 DenmarkEricsson Globe, Stockholm
Attendance: 2,197
14 May 2012
20:15
Italy 0–4
(0–1, 0–2, 0–1)
 RussiaEricsson Globe, Stockholm
Attendance: 2,336
15 May 2012
12:15
Norway 6–2
(0–0, 5–0, 1–2)
 DenmarkEricsson Globe, Stockholm
Attendance: 2,054
15 May 2012
16:15
Czech Republic 8–1
(3–1, 3–0, 2–0)
 GermanyEricsson Globe, Stockholm
Attendance: 2,114
15 May 2012
20:15
Sweden 4–0
(2–0, 1–0, 1–0)
 LatviaEricsson Globe, Stockholm
Attendance: 9,358

Playoff round

  Quarterfinals Semifinals
                           
  H1  Canada 3  
H4  Slovakia 4  
  WQF1  Slovakia 3  
  WQF2  Czech Republic 1  
S2  Sweden 3 Final
  S3  Czech Republic 4  
    WSF1  Slovakia 2
  WSF2  Russia 6
  S1  Russia 5  
S4  Norway 2  
  WQF3  Russia 6 Bronze medal game
  WQF4  Finland 2  
H2  United States 2 LSF1  Czech Republic 3
  H3  Finland 3   LSF2  Finland 2

Quarterfinals

The games in Stockholm are UTC+2, while the games in Helsinki are UTC+3.

17 May 2012
13:00
Canada 3–4
(1–2, 2–0, 0–2)
 SlovakiaHartwall Areena, Helsinki
Attendance: 11,568
17 May 2012
14:45
Russia 5–2
(2–1, 0–1, 3–0)
 NorwayEricsson Globe, Stockholm
Attendance: 7,519
17 May 2012
18:30
United States 2–3
(0–0, 1–1, 1–2)
 FinlandHartwall Areena, Helsinki
Attendance: 12,426
17 May 2012
20:15
Sweden 3–4
(1–2, 1–1, 1–1)
 Czech RepublicEricsson Globe, Stockholm
Attendance: 10,397

Semifinals

All times are local (UTC+3).

19 May 2012
14:30
Russia 6–2
(2–1, 2–0, 2–1)
 FinlandHartwall Areena, Helsinki
Attendance: 13,239
19 May 2012
18:30
Czech Republic 1–3
(0–1, 1–0, 0–2)
 SlovakiaHartwall Areena, Helsinki
Attendance: 12,355

Bronze medal game

Time is local (UTC+3).

20 May 2012
16:00
Finland 2–3
(1–3, 0–0, 1–0)
 Czech RepublicHartwall Areena, Helsinki
Attendance: 12,879

Gold medal game

Time is local (UTC+3).

20 May 2012
20:30
Russia 6–2
(1–1, 3–0, 2–1)
 SlovakiaHartwall Areena, Helsinki
Attendance: 13,242
 2012 IIHF World Championship Winners 

Russia
4th/26th[41] title

Ranking and statistics

Tournament awards

Final standings

The official IIHF final standings of the tournament:

 Russia
 Slovakia
 Czech Republic
4 Finland
5 Canada
6 Sweden
7 United States
8 Norway
9 France
10 Latvia
11  Switzerland
12 Germany
13 Denmark
14 Belarus
15 Italy
16 Kazakhstan

Scoring leaders

List shows the top skaters sorted by points, then goals. If the list exceeds 10 skaters because of a tie in points, all of the tied skaters are shown.

Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM POS
Evgeni Malkin1011819+164F
Patrick Thoresen871118+64F
Henrik Zetterberg831215+64F
Loui Eriksson85813+72F
Per-Åge Skrøder85712+72F
Alexander Popov104812+152F
Max Pacioretty821012+54F
Mikko Koivu10381104F
Duncan Keith811011+70D
Valtteri Filppula104610+16F

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalties In Minutes; POS = Position
Source: IIHF.com

Leading goaltenders

Only the top ten goaltenders, based on save percentage, who have played 40% of their team's minutes, are included in this list.

Player TOI GA GAA SA Sv% SO
Semyon Varlamov440:00131.7721493.931
Jakub Štěpánek242:0761.499893.881
Jakub Kovář351:14122.0516692.771
Ján Laco524:10192.1725092.401
Vitali Koval266:26132.9316392.020
Edgars Masalskis340:00152.6518791.980
Jimmy Howard421:08172.4219091.050
Lars Haugen424:53202.8222090.910
Petri Vehanen366:43132.1314090.710
Cam Ward360:32172.8318190.611

TOI = Time On Ice (minutes:seconds); SA = Shots Against; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; Sv% = Save Percentage; SO = Shutouts

Source: IIHF.com

IIHF broadcasting rights

Over 100 countries broadcast the matches, live or near-live transmissions, of the 2012 tournament.[43]

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