The 1972 Ice Hockey World Championships was the 39th edition of the

Ice Hockey World Championships The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics, it is the sport's highest profile annua ...

. The tournament was held in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

from 7 to 22 April 1972, and the Czechoslovakia national team won the tournament, the third time they had done so and first since

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

, ending the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

's streak of nine consecutive titles. In addition it was the Czechoslovaks' 12th

European title European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe a ...

. For the first time, a separate tournament is held for both the World Championships and the Winter Olympics. Previously, the Winter Olympics tournament was held in lieu of a world championships, with the winner being declared world champion for that year. It also marked the first time in international ice hockey that all goaltenders were required to wear face masks. The American team, who had won the Silver medal earlier in the year at the Olympics, could not even win the 'B' pool, losing to Poland in their final game.

World Championship Group A (Czechoslovakia)

World Championship Group B (Romania)

Played in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

from 24 March to 2 April. ''Poland was promoted to Group A, both Norway and France were relegated to Group C. The French team boycotted the tournament in a protest over their federation's failure to finance the team's participation in the

Sapporo Olympics The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially the and commonly known as Sapporo 1972 ( ja, 札幌1972), was a winter multi-sport event held from February 3 to 13, 1972, in Sapporo, Japan. It was the first Winter Olympic Games to take place outside Europe ...

World Championship Group C (Romania)

Played in

Miercurea-Ciuc Miercurea Ciuc (; hu, Csíkszereda, ; german: Szeklerburg) is the county seat of Harghita County, Romania. It lies in the Székely Land, a mainly Hungarian-speaking ethno-cultural region in eastern Transylvania, and is situated in the Olt (riv ...

from 3 March to the 12th. The Chinese won their first game ever played in a World Championship.Group C
/ref> ''Both Austria and Italy were promoted to Group B.''

Ranking and statistics

Tournament Awards

*Best players selected by the directorate: **Best

Goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

Jorma Valtonen Jorma Juhani Valtonen (born 22 December 1946) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the SM-liiga. Valtonen, who was born in Turku, Finland, played for Jokerit, TPS, RU-38 and Ässät. In Italy Valtonen played for ...

**Best

Defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

František Pospíšil František Pospíšil (born April 2, 1944) is a Czech former ice hockey defenceman and coach. He played in the Czechoslovak Elite League for Poldi Kladno from 1961 to 1978, then in Germany for EV Landshut in 1978–79. He won the Golden Hock ...

**Best

Forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Alexander Maltsev Alexander Nikolayevich Maltsev (russian: Александр Николаевич Мальцев; born 20 April 1949) is a Soviet former professional ice hockey forward and politician. Maltsev began his sports career at the Olimpiya Kirovo-Chep ...

*Media All-Star Team: **Goaltender:

Jiří Holeček Jiří Holeček (born March 18, 1944) is a Czech professional ice hockey coach and former player. Holeček played in the Czechoslovak Elite League from 1964 to 1979, and on the Czechoslovak national team for many years. After joining the milit ...

**Defence:

Oldřich Machač Oldřich Machač (18 April 1946 in Prostějov – 10 August 2011 in Brno) was a Czech ice hockey player who played in the Czechoslovak Extraliga The Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League was the elite ice hockey league in Czechoslovakia from ...

, František Pospíšil **Forwards:

Valeri Kharlamov The French name Valery () is a male given name or surname of Germanic origin ''Walaric'' (see Walric of Leuconay), that has often been confused in modern times with the Latin name ''Valerius''—that explains the variant spelling Valéry (). The S ...

, Alexander Maltsev, Vladimir Vikulov

Final standings

The final standings of the tournament according to IIHF:

European championships final standings

The final standings of the

European championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

according to IIHF:

Notes

References

* * *
Complete results at Passionhockey.com
{{IIHF Ice Hockey European Championships IIHF Men's World Ice Hockey Championships World Championships International ice hockey competitions hosted by Czechoslovakia Sports competitions in Prague World Ice Hockey Championships, 1972

World Ice Hockey Championships The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics, it is the sport's highest profile annual ...

1970s in Prague Miercurea Ciuc

1970s in Bucharest Sports competitions in Bucharest 1971–72 in Romanian ice hockey International ice hockey competitions hosted by Romania