The 1981

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 annual ...

took place in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

between 12 and 26 April 1981, with games being played in the arenas of Scandinavium in

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

and

Johanneshovs isstadion Hovet (formerly known as Johanneshovs Isstadion or, in English: Johanneshov Stadium) is an arena located in the Johanneshov district of Stockholm (Stockholm Globe City) which is mainly used for ice hockey, concerts and corporate events. It was op ...

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...

. Eight teams took part, first splitting into two groups of four, with the best two from each group advancing to the final group. These teams then play each other in the final round. This was the 47th World Championships, and also the 58th

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, ...

. The Soviet Union became World Champions for the 17th time, and also won their twentieth European title.

Don Cherry Donald Stewart Cherry (born February 5, 1934) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and television commentator. Cherry played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins, and later coached the team for five se ...

commented, "This is the best Russian team I've ever seen."Summary
/ref> The Dutch team had won Group C and Group B in successive years to play in this tournament, but did not fare well. Their best game was a narrow one goal loss to the Americans, a goal scored on a penalty shot by

Dave Christian David William Christian (born May 12, 1959) is an American former professional ice hockey forward. He played on the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team that won the gold medal during the 1980 Winter Olympics. Additionally he played for five National ...

with eleven seconds left. It was their first appearance at the top level since 1950 and they have not returned since.Ponieks page 95

World Championship Group A (Sweden)

First round

Group 1

Group 2

Final Round

Consolation Round

''The

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

were relegated to Group B.''

World Championship Group B (Italy)

Played in

Urtijëi Urtijëi (; german: St. Ulrich in Gröden ; it, Ortisei ) is a town of 4,637 inhabitants in South Tyrol in northern Italy. It occupies the Val Gardena within the Dolomites, a mountain chain that is part of the Alps. Geography Urtijëi borders th ...

20–29 March. The hosts went undefeated to win, led by former Pittsburgh Penguin and Edmonton Oiler

Wayne Bianchin Wayne Richard Bianchin (born September 6, 1953) is a Canadian-born Italian former professional ice hockey Left Winger. He played in the National Hockey League for the Pittsburgh Penguins and Edmonton Oilers between 1973 and 1980. Internationally ...

and backstopped by former Oiler Jim Corsi. ''

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

was promoted to Group A, both

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

were relegated to Group C.''

World Championship Group C (China PR)

Played in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

6–15 March. ''Both

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

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 ...

Peter Lindmark Peter "Pekka" Lindmark (born 8 November 1956) is a Swedish former ice hockey goaltender. During his career he represented three teams in Elitserien: Timrå IK, Färjestads BK and Malmö Redhawks. He also had a successful international care ...

**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 scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference t ...

Larry Robinson Larry Clark Robinson (born June 2, 1951) is a Canadian former ice hockey coach, executive and player. His coaching career includes head coaching positions with the New Jersey Devils (which he held on two occasions), as well as the Los Angeles Ki ...

**Best Forward:

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-Ch ...

*Media All-Star Team: **Goaltender: Peter Lindmark **Defence: Larry Robinson,

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:

Sergei Kapustin Sergei Alekseevich Kapustin (russian: Сергей Алексеевич Капустин) (13 February 1953 in Ukhta, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union – 4 June 1995) was an ice hockey player who played in the Soviet Hockey League. He played ...

, Sergei Makarov, Alexander Maltsev

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 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

Fanfare of the Championships

The fanfare for the Championships was written by Benny Andersson (from ABBA) in 1981. It was later used as the jingle/opening theme for the television special Dick Cavett Meets ABBA aired later in 1981. Reference - Palm, Carl Magnus: ABBA - The Complete Recordings Sessions, page 106. Verulam Publishing Ltd (13 October 1994). . .

Citations

References

Complete results
* *
To hear the Fanfare of the Championships

External links

IIHF World Ice Hockey Championships at SVT's open archive (including the 1981 tournament)
{{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, ...

World In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

April 1981 sports events in Europe International sports competitions in Gothenburg International sports competitions in Stockholm 1980s in Stockholm 1980s in Gothenburg March 1981 sports events in Europe International ice hockey competitions hosted by Italy International ice hockey competitions hosted by China 1980–81 in Italian ice hockey 1980–81 in Chinese ice hockey Sports competitions in Beijing 1980s in Beijing