World Championships have long history in Germany

Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2001

By Lucas Aykroyd

2001 won’t mark the first time the IIHF World Championships have come to Germany. The tournament has a long and illustrious history in this part of the world. But there is a chance for a different kind of breakthrough.

While both Canada and Russia are considered strong medal contenders this year, it’s hardly a given that one of those teams will claim top spot, as the Czech Republic would love to win a third straight title. In the past, however, the two traditional hockey superpowers won every gold medal at the World Championships. Let’s take a look back.

In 1930, Germany wasn’t supposed to host the World Championships, but warm weather in Chamonix, France left the ice in bad shape, so the final games were played in Berlin. The move paid off for the Germans, who beat Switzerland 2-1 to claim the European title. However, they fell 6-1 to Canada in the World Championship game.

In 1936, the World and European Championships were combined with the Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. This tournament was marred by controversy. Canada protested the number of Canadian-born players representing France and Great Britain, but failed to get its rivals disqualified. In the gold medal game, Canada lost 2-1 to the British. German finished an unremarkable fifth.

Four West German cities hosted the 1955 World Championships, which turned into a Cold War grudge match. The Soviet Union had won its first-ever title at the 1954 tournament in Stockholm, and Canada was out for revenge on the Big Red Machine. The Penticton Vees pounded Russian star Vsevolod Bobrov in their climactic 5-0 victory, ending up with a record of 8-0.

1975 brought the championships to Munich and Düsseldorf. As described in Vladislav Tretiak’s book The Hockey I Love, the Soviet national team paid its traditional visit to the Blue Room of the newspaper Pravda the day before leaving. The journalists gave them the puck with which the Soviets had won the 1964 championships and asked them to bring back the winning puck from West Germany. The gimmick worked, as the Soviets claimed the gold with a 10-0 record, scoring 90 goals and allowing just 23.

In 1983, the Soviets iced one of their strongest lineups ever in Dortmund, Düsseldorf and Munich. They easily won their nineteenth title, tying Canada’s record. Vladimir Krutov, Igor Larionov, Sergei Makarov, Viacheslav Fetisov, Alexei Kasatonov and Tretiak claimed all spots on the tournament all-star team. West Germany earned 11 points to East Germany’s six.

At the 1993 tournament, Boris Mikhailov took over the coaching reins of the Russian national team from incumbent dictator Viktor Tikhonov. Despite Eric Lindros’s tournament-leading 17 points for Canada, Russia ended up beating Sweden in the finals. Germany finished a surprising fifth, ahead of both the USA and Finland.

With these exciting memories in mind, it’s not surprising that in 1999, 16 German cities were vying for the honor of hosting the tournament. Hannover, Cologne and Nuremberg were the lucky candidates to emerge out of a final pool of five that also included Dortmund and Munich.

So, could it be the host country’s turn to shine this year? It’s a long shot, but after the string of upsets we saw in St. Petersburg last year, anything is possible.