| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country |  Switzerland |
| Dates | 19 March – 3 April |
| Teams | 6 |
| Final positions | |
Champions  |  Soviet Union (11th title) |
Runner-up  |  Czechoslovakia |
Third place  |  Sweden |
| Fourth place |  Finland |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Games played | 30 |
| Goals scored | 234 (7.8 per game) |
| Attendance | 190,251 (6,342 per game) |
| Scoring leader(s) | Anatoli Firsov 19 points |
The 1971 Ice Hockey World Championships was the 38th edition of the Ice Hockey World Championships, which also doubled as the 49th European ice hockey championships. The Pool A, Pool B and Pool C tournaments were hosted by the following nations:
- Pool A in Switzerland (Bern and Geneva), 19 March – 3 April 1971
- Pool B in Switzerland (Bern, Geneva, La Chaux-de-Fonds and Lyss), 5–14 March 1971
- Pool C in the Netherlands, 26 February – 7 March 1971
A record 22 nations[1] participated in the tournaments. The Pool A tournament featured the top six nations, playing a double round-robin tournament for the World Championship. Teams #7-#14 participated in the Pool B tournament with the winner qualifying for the 1972 Pool A championship while the two last-place teams were demoted to the 1972 Pool C tournament. The bottom eight teams participated in the Pool C tournament with the top two teams qualifying for the 1972 Pool B tournament.
The Soviet Union won its ninth consecutive (a record which has not been broken), and 11th overall, title.
This was the last international tournament in which goaltenders did not have to wear face masks.[2]
- ^ Passion hockey.com
- ^ Szemberg & Podnieks 2007, p. 199