The 2008 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships was the 72nd such event hosted 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 ...

. Teams representing 48 countries participated in four levels of competition. The competition also served as qualification for division placements in the 2009 competition. In the Division I Championship held in April,

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

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

were promoted to the Championship division, while

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

and

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

were demoted to Division II. In the Division II competition,

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

were promoted,

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

were relegated to Division III.

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

won the Division III qualification in February, and competed in the

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

competition from March to April. In that competition,

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 ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

were promoted to Division II in 2009.

Championship

;Final standings # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # — ''relegated to Division I for 2009'' # — ''relegated to Division I for 2009''

Division I

Twelve teams comprise Division I. They are broken into two groups, with the winner of each group gaining promotion to the World Championship pool for the following year. Group A ;Final standings # — ''promoted to Championship pool for 2009'' # # # # # — ''relegated to Division II for 2009'' Group B ;Final standings # — ''promoted to Championship pool for 2009'' # # # # # — ''relegated to Division II for 2009''

Division II

Twelve teams comprise Division II. They are also broken into two groups competing to advance into Division I. Group A ;Final standings # — ''promoted to Division I for 2010'' # # # # # — ''relegated to Division III for 2010'' Group B ;Final standings # — ''promoted to Division I for 2010'' # # # # # — ''relegated to Division III for 2010''

Division III

Division III is made up of six teams. The top two teams are promoted to Division II for the following year. ;Final standings # — ''promoted to Division II for 2009'' # — ''promoted to Division II for 2009'' # # # #

Division III Qualification

Three teams comprise the Division III Qualification with the winning team advancing to the 2008 Division III competition. ;Final standings # — ''qualified for the 2008 IIHF World Championship Division III'' # #

References

External links

IIHF Website

{{Ice Hockey World Championships World Ice Hockey Championships - Men's IIHF Men's World Ice Hockey Championships