2014 IIHF World Championship

2014 IIHF World Championship

Tournament details
Host country	Belarus
Venue(s)	2 (in 1 host city)
Dates	9–25 May
Opened by	Alexander Lukashenko
Teams	16
Final positions
Champions	Russia (5th title)
Runner-up	Finland
Third place	Sweden
Fourth place	Czech Republic
Tournament statistics
Games played	64
Goals scored	352 (5.5 per game)
Attendance	640,044 (10,001 per game)
Scoring leader(s)	Viktor Tikhonov (16 points)
MVP	Pekka Rinne
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The 2014 IIHF World Championship was hosted by Belarus in its capital, Minsk, held from 9 to 25 May 2014. Sixteen national teams were competing in two venues, the Minsk-Arena and Chizhovka-Arena. It was the first time Belarus hosted the tournament. The selection of Belarus to host this competition was the subject of much debate, with some politicians in the European Union and North America calling for the IIHF to move the tournament to another country.

Russia with a mix of NHL and KHL stars (unlike other nations, Russia comprised a squad close to their 2014 Olympic squad) remained undefeated throughout the championship. After losing on home-ice to Finland 1–3 earlier that year during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics Quarterfinals, the Russians rebounded by capturing the gold medal after defeating Finland 5–2 in the final.^[1] Sweden captured the bronze medal with a 3–0 victory over the Czech Republic. Host team Belarus made the playoffs for the first time since 2009, losing to Sweden 3–2 in the quarterfinal. Italy and Kazakhstan were relegated to Division I A. Prior to the championship, Divisions I to III had played their tournaments to establish the rank between teams of lower levels.

The tournament saw a new attendance record for the World Championship, as a total of 640,044 people attended games, surpassing the record set at the 2004 tournament in the Czech Republic, which had 552,097 spectators.^[2]