2012 IIHF World Championship

2012 IIHF World Championship
Tournament details
Host countries Finland
 Sweden
Venue(s)2 (in 2 host cities)
Dates4–20 May
Opened bySauli Niinistö and Carl XVI Gustaf
Teams16
Final positions
Champions  Russia (4th title)
Runner-up  Slovakia
Third place  Czech Republic
Fourth place Finland
Tournament statistics
Games played64
Goals scored376 (5.88 per game)
Attendance451,054 (7,048 per game)
Scoring leader(s)Russia Evgeni Malkin
(19 points)
MVPRussia Evgeni Malkin
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2013 →
HockeyBird, the tournament's mascot.

The 2012 IIHF World Championship was the 76th IIHF World Championship, an annual international ice hockey tournament. It took place between 4–20 May 2012 in Helsinki, Finland and Stockholm, Sweden. This tournament determined the countries' seeding for the men's Olympic Ice Hockey tournament in Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympics, and for all countries participating in the qualification program leading up to the Olympics.[1]

Russia won the tournament by defeating Slovakia 6–2 in the Final game; the Russians finished the tournament undefeated with a record of 10–0–0, becoming the first team to win every game in regulation since the Soviet Union in the 1989 World Championships.[2] The Czech Republic captured the bronze medal by defeating co-host Finland 3–2 in the bronze medal game.[3] The tournament's top scorer, Russia's Evgeni Malkin, was named the most valuable player of the tournament.[4]

  1. ^ "2012 Worlds schedule official". IIHF. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
  2. ^ Aykroyd, Lucas (20 May 2012). "Golden glory for Russia!". IIHF. Archived from the original on 23 May 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
  3. ^ "Czechs take bronze". IIHF. 20 May 2012. Archived from the original on 23 May 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
  4. ^ "Malkin wins MVP honours". IIHF. 20 May 2012.