The 1974 Ice Hockey World Championships were the 41st

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 ...

and the 52nd European Championships in

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

. The tournament took place in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

from 5 to 20 April and the games were played in the

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

. Six teams took part in the main tournament, all playing each other twice. 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 ...

won the world championships for the 13th time, and also won their 16th European title. The event was the second Ice Hockey World Championships hosted by Finland, and was organized by

Harry Lindblad Harry Gustaf Lindblad (30 July 1912 – 2 February 1984) was a Finnish ice hockey administrator, coach and player. He served as the Finnish Ice Hockey Association president for 18 years, after five years as its vice-president. During this time, ...

, president of the

Finnish Ice Hockey Association The Finnish Ice Hockey Association ( fi, Suomen Jääkiekkoliitto, sv, Finlands Ishockeyförbund) is the governing body of ice hockey in Finland. In 1927, the Finnish Skating Association introduced ice hockey as part of its program and, through ...

. For the first time in ice hockey World Championship history, two players were suspended for doping. They were the Swede Ulf Nilsson and the Finn Stig Wetzell who failed a drug test for the forbidden substance

ephedrine Ephedrine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is often used to prevent low blood pressure during anesthesia. It has also been used for asthma, narcolepsy, and obesity but is not the preferred treatment. It is of unclear benefit in ...

. Both players were suspended for the rest of the tournament. Nilsson failed the test after Sweden's game against Poland, which Sweden won 4–1. The game was awarded to Poland as a 5–0 forfeit. The Finn, Wetzell, failed the test after Finland's match against Czechoslovakia, which Finland won 5–2, which was also awarded to Czechoslovakia as a 5–0 forfeit. The Finns were able to defeat Czechoslovakia again on the last day, which would have earned the Finns their first medal in history, if not for the points lost in the forfeited win.

World Championship Group A (Finland)

''East Germany were very unlucky to be relegated to Group B, as Poland's only win was the awarded default for a doping violation against Sweden.''

World Championship Group B (Yugoslavia)

Played in

Hala Tivoli Hala may refer to: People * Hala (given name), a female given name (including a list of people and fictional characters with the name) * David Hala (born 1989), Australian Rugby League player * Hāla (fl. 20-24), Indian king of the Satavahana dyn ...

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

, SR Slovenia,

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

21–30 March. ''The USA was promoted to Group A, and both Norway and Austria were relegated to Group C.''

World Championship Group C (France)

Played in

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

, Gap and

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

, 8–17 March. This was

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

's first World Championship. ''Switzerland 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 ...

Vladislav Tretiak Vladislav Aleksandrovich Tretiak, Meritorious Service Decoration (Canada), MSM ( rus, links=no, Владислав Александрович Третьяк, p=trʲɪˈtʲjak; born 25 April 1952) is a Russian former goaltender for the Soviet Un ...

**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 ...

Lars-Erik Sjöberg Lars-Erik "Taxen" Sjöberg (4 May 1944 in Falun, Sweden – 20 October 1987 in Uppsala, Sweden) was a Swedish ice hockey defenceman. He played in Sweden from 1962 to 1974 (Leksands IF 1962–65 and 1967–69, Djurgårdens IF Hockey 1965–67, ...

**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 ...

Václav Nedomanský Václav Nedomanský (born 14 March 1944) is a Czech former ice hockey forward. Nedomanský is best known as the first Czech hockey player to defect to North America to play. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2019. He is also a membe ...

*Media All-Star Team: **Goaltender:

Curt Larsson Curt Larsson (born December 11, 1944) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey goaltender. Between 1974 and 1977, Larsson played 68 games in the World Hockey Association (WHA) with the Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ...

**Defence: Lars-Erik Sjöberg,

Valeri Vasiliev Valeri Ivanovich Vasiliev (russian: Валерий Иванович Васильев; August 3, 1949 – April 19, 2012) was a Soviet and Russian ice hockey defenceman, who competed for the USSR. An eight-time Soviet all-star, Vasiliev was capt ...

**Forwards:

Vladimír Martinec Vladimír Martinec (born December 22, 1949) is a Czech retired ice hockey right wing who played both nationally and internationally in the 1970s and early 1980s. He won the Golden Hockey Stick award as top player in Czechoslovakia four times, i ...

, Václav Nedomanský,

Alexander Yakushev Alexander Sergeyevich Yakushev (russian: Александр Серге́евич Якушев) (born January 2, 1947) is a former ice hockey player and coach for the Soviet Union. Born in Moscow, Soviet Union, Alexander Yakushev is best known to ...

Final standings

The final standings of the tournament according to

IIHF The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; french: Fédération internationale de hockey sur glace; german: Internationale Eishockey-Föderation) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 83 m ...

European championships final standings

The final standings of the European championships according to

References

Complete results
* * {{IIHF Ice Hockey European Championships IIHF Men's World Ice Hockey Championships

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

International sports competitions in Helsinki

1970s in Helsinki

International ice hockey competitions hosted by Yugoslavia International ice hockey competitions hosted by France Sports competitions in Ljubljana 1970s in Ljubljana Sports competitions in Grenoble 20th century in Grenoble Sports competitions in Lyon 20th century in Lyon 1973–74 in French ice hockey 1973–74 in Yugoslav ice hockey 1974 in Slovenia