The 2006 IIHF World Championship was held in between 5–21 May 2006 in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

. It was the 70th annual event, and was run by the

International Ice Hockey Federation 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 ...

(IIHF). One of the requirements of the IIHF for Latvia to host the event was that a new arena would be constructed.

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 country located on ...

was the stand-by organizer in case the arena was delayed, but the construction was completed on schedule, marking the first time a former

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

state apart from

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

has hosted the event. The

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

of the championships was a

beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers ar ...

called RIX (after

Riga International Airport Riga International Airport ( lv, Starptautiskā lidosta "Rīga"; ) is the international airport of Riga, the capital of Latvia, and the largest airport in the Baltic states with direct flights to 76 destinations as of November 2019. It serves ...

IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff ...

code.)

shut out the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

4-0 in the Gold Medal Game to win the

IIHF 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 ...

. Sweden had won the 2006 Winter Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Gold 3-2 versus

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 ...

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

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 re ...

two months earlier. They therefore became the first hockey team to win both the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

and the

in the same year.Recap of Swedish golden double at IHWC official site
/ref>

Venues

Nations

The following 16 nations qualified for the elite-pool tournament – 13 nations from Europe, two nations from North America and one nation from Asia are represented. ;Asia * ;Europe * * * * * * * * * * * * * ;North America * *

Rosters

Preliminary round

Sixteen participating teams were placed in the following four groups. After playing a round-robin, the top three teams in each group advanced to the Qualifying Round. The last team in each group competed in the Relegation Round. Groups A and D were played in Kloten, groups B and C in Berne.

Group A

All times local ( UTC +3)

Group B

All times local (UTC +3)

Group C

All times local (UTC +3)

Group D

All times local (UTC +3)

Qualifying round

The top three teams from each group in the Preliminary round advance to the Qualifying Round. The top three teams from Groups A and D advance to Group E, and the top three teams from Groups B and C advance to Group F. Teams in the Qualifying Round carry forward the results and points gained in the Preliminary Round with the teams that they have played and advance with. Teams, which have played in the Preliminary Round, do not meet again in the Qualifying Round.

Group E

All times local ( UTC+3)

Group F

All times local (UTC +3)

Relegation round

The relegation round is composed of the four teams that placed last in Groups A through D. They play in a round-robin fashion, and the bottom two teams get relegated to the Division I group in next year's World Championships.

Group G

All times local ( UTC +3)

Playoff round

Bracket

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Bronze medal game

Gold medal game

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 ...

Johan Holmqvist Johan Erik Daniel Holmqvist (born May 24, 1978) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey goaltender, he most notably played in the National Hockey League and the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). Playing career He started his career in the Elitse ...

**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 ...

Niklas Kronwall Hans Niklas Kronwall (; born 12 January 1981) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey defenceman, who currently serves as an advisor to the general manager of the Detroit Red Wings. He previously played for the Red Wings of the National 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 ...

Sidney Crosby Sidney Patrick Crosby (born August 7, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed "Sid the Kid" and dubbed " The Next One", he was selected first o ...

**Most Valuable Player: Niklas Kronwall *Media All-Star Team: **Goaltender:

Andrei Mezin Andrei Anatolyevich Miezin ( be, Андрэй Анатольевiч Мезiн, russian: Андрей Анатольевич Мезин; born 8 July 1974) is a Belarusian ice hockey coach and a retired goaltender. Playing career Mezin left his n ...

**Defence: Niklas Kronwall,

Petteri Nummelin Timo Petteri Nummelin (born November 25, 1972) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League for the Minnesota Wild and Columbus Blue Jackets. He was drafted by the Columbus Blue ...

**Forward:

Alexander Ovechkin Alexander Mikhailovich Ovechkin ( rus, Александр Михайлович Овечкин, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɐˈvʲetɕkʲɪn; born 17 September 1985) is a Russian professional ice hockey left winger and captain of the Washington Capitals ...

, David Výborný

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 ...

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 left out. Source
IIHF.com
/small>

Leading goaltenders

Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage, who have played 40% of their team's minutes are included in this list. Source
IIHF.com
/small>

IIHF broadcasting rights

*Austria: ** ''Austrian Matches'':

ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of the ...

** ''Other Matches'':

ORF Sport Plus ORF Sport + is an Austrian sports channel owned by the public service broadcaster, ORF. The channel is available via satellite Astra 1KR, on 19.2°E, cable and DVB-T, in Austria and parts of Europe. History Before the launch of ORF Sport Plus on ...

*Canada: ** ''English'': TSN ** ''French'': RDS *Czech Republic:

Česká televize Czech Television ( cs, Česká televize, italics=no ; abbreviation: ČT) is a public television broadcaster in the Czech Republic, broadcasting seven channels. Established after the Velvet Revolution in 1992, it is the successor to Czechoslov ...

(

ČT2 ČT2 (ČT Dva, Česká televize 2, "''Dvojka''") is Czech public television channel, operated by Česká televize. ČT2 broadcasts documentaries nature-oriented shows, frequently showing foreign films in the original versions with Czech subtitles ...

, ČT4 Sport) *Denmark: TV2 Sport *Finland:

YLE Yleisradio Oy ( Finnish, literally "General Radio Ltd." or "General Broadcast Ltd."; abbr. Yle ; sv, Rundradion Ab, italics=no), translated to English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, found ...

*France:

Sport+ Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, t ...

*Germany: ** ''German Matches'': ARD,

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

** ''Other Matches'': DSF *Latvia: TV3, 3+ Latvia *Norway: ** ''Norwegian Matches'':

NRK NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting Aksjeselskap, AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and ...

** ''Other Matches'':

Viasat SportN Viasat Sport N ("N" as in "Norway") was the name of a former sports channel which broadcast to Norway. The channel launched on 29 November 2005, as a replacement for the then pan-Nordic Viasat Sport 1 channel in Norway. The channel was a joint ve ...

Viasat Sport 3 Viasat Sport 3 was a Scandinavian sports channel mainly showing basketball, combat sports, auto racing and American football. The channel started on 1 February 2004 together with Viasat Sport 2. The main sports in the summer are NASCAR, Indy Racin ...

*Russia: RTR Sport *Slovakia: STV *Slovenia:

RTV Slovenija Radiotelevizija Slovenija ( en, Radio-Television of Slovenia) – usually abbreviated to RTV Slovenija (or simply RTV within Slovenia) – is Slovenia's national public broadcasting organization. Based in Ljubljana, it has regional broadcastin ...

*Sweden:

Viasat Viasat may refer to: *Viasat (American company) (founded 1986) * Viasat (Nordic television service) (founded 1991) * Danish 1st Division, officially Viasat Divisionen, second-highest football league in Denmark * Viasat Cup, 2006 Danish football to ...

*Switzerland: ** ''German'':

SF zwei SRF zwei (''Swiss Radio and Television Two'') is a Swiss German-language free-to-air television channel run under the public SRG SSR broadcasting group. History The channel was launched in 1997 as 'SF 2' as the German-speaking replacement f ...

** ''French'':

TSR 2 RTS 2 (''RTS deux''), launched on 1 September 1997 as TSR2 and renamed in 2012, is the second Swiss (French-speaking) public television channel owned by RTS Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS); the other is RTS 1. Logos and identities TSR2 logo ...

** ''Italian'': TSI 2 *Ukraine:

Mega Mega or MEGA may refer to: Science * mega-, a metric prefix denoting 106 * Mega (number), a certain very large integer in Steinhaus–Moser notation * "mega-" a prefix meaning "large" that is used in taxonomy * Gravity assist, for ''Moon-Eart ...

sport

References

External links

2006 IIHF World Championship official site
{{Ice Hockey World Championships IIHF World Championship 1 Latvian Sports competitions in Riga

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

May 2006 sports events in Europe 2000s in Riga Ice hockey in Riga

Venues

Nations

Rosters

Preliminary round

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Qualifying round

Group E

Group F

Relegation round

Group G

Playoff round

Bracket

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Bronze medal game

Gold medal game

Ranking and statistics

Tournament Awards

Final standings

Scoring leaders

Leading goaltenders

IIHF broadcasting rights

See also

References

External links