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1981 Ice Hockey World Championships

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1981 Ice Hockey World Championships
Tournament details
Host country Sweden
Venue(s)1 (in 2 host cities)
Dates12–26 April 1981
Teams8
Final positions
Champions  Soviet Union (17th title)
Runner-up  Sweden
Third place  Czechoslovakia
Fourth place Canada
Tournament statistics
Games played32
Goals scored288 (9 per game)
Attendance171,675 (5,365 per game)
Scoring leader(s)West Germany Holger Meitinger 20 points
← 1979
1982 →

The 1981 Ice Hockey World Championships took place in Sweden between 12 and 26 April 1981, with games being played in the arenas of Scandinavium in Gothenburg and Johanneshovs isstadion in Stockholm. Eight teams took part, first splitting into two groups of four, with the best two from each group advancing to the final group. These teams then play each other in the final round. This was the 47th World Championships, and also the 58th European Championships. The Soviet Union became World Champions for the 17th time, and also won their 20th European title. Don Cherry commented, "This is the best Russian team I've ever seen."[1]

The Dutch team had won Group C and Group B in successive years to play in this tournament, but did not fare well. Their best game was a narrow one goal loss to the Americans, a goal scored on a penalty shot by Dave Christian with eleven seconds left.[1] It was their first appearance at the top level since 1950 and they have not returned since.[2]

World Championship Group A (Sweden)

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First round

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Group 1

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1  Soviet Union 3 3 0 0 25 4 +21 6
2  Canada 3 2 0 1 14 12 +2 4
3  Finland 3 1 0 2 16 14 +2 2
4  Netherlands 3 0 0 3 5 30 −25 0
Source: [citation needed]
12 AprilCanada 4–3 Finland
12 AprilSoviet Union 10–1 Netherlands
13 AprilCanada 8–1 Netherlands
13 AprilSoviet Union 7–1 Finland
15 AprilSoviet Union 8–2 Canada
15 AprilFinland 12–3 Netherlands

Group 2

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1  Czechoslovakia 3 2 1 0 20 7 +13 5
2  Sweden 3 2 1 0 11 7 +4 5
3  United States 3 1 0 2 14 21 −7 2
4  West Germany 3 0 0 3 10 20 −10 0
Source: [citation needed]
12 AprilCzechoslovakia 11–2 United States
12 AprilSweden 4–2 West Germany
14 AprilSweden 4–2 United States
14 AprilCzechoslovakia 6–2 West Germany
15 AprilCzechoslovakia 3–3 Sweden
15 AprilUnited States 10–6 West Germany

Final round

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1  Soviet Union 6 4 2 0 38 12 +26 10
2  Sweden 6 3 1 2 16 26 −10 7
3  Czechoslovakia 6 2 2 2 20 22 −2 6
4  Canada 6 0 1 5 16 30 −14 1
Source: [citation needed]
18 AprilCzechoslovakia 7–4 Canada
18 AprilSoviet Union 4–1 Sweden
20 AprilSweden 3–1 Canada
20 AprilSoviet Union 8–3 Czechoslovakia
22 AprilCanada 4–4 Soviet Union
22 AprilSweden 4–2 Czechoslovakia
24 AprilCzechoslovakia 4–2 Canada
24 AprilSoviet Union 13–1 Sweden
26 AprilSweden 4–3 Canada
26 AprilSoviet Union 1–1 Czechoslovakia

Consolation round

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
5  United States 6 4 1 1 35 28 +7 9
6  Finland 6 3 2 1 33 21 +12 8
7  West Germany 6 3 1 2 40 30 +10 7
8  Netherlands 6 0 0 6 22 51 −29 0
Source: [citation needed]

The Netherlands were relegated to Group B.

17 AprilUnited States 7–6 Netherlands
17 AprilFinland 6–3 West Germany
19 AprilWest Germany 9–2 Netherlands
19 AprilUnited States 6–4 Finland
21 AprilWest Germany 6–2 United States
21 AprilFinland 4–2 Netherlands
23 AprilUnited States 7–3 Netherlands
23 AprilWest Germany 4–4 Finland
25 AprilWest Germany 12–6 Netherlands
25 AprilFinland 3–3 United States

World Championship Group B (Italy)

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Played in Urtijëi 20–29 March. The hosts went undefeated to win, led by former Pittsburgh Penguin and Edmonton Oiler Wayne Bianchin and backstopped by former Oiler Jim Corsi.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
9  Italy 7 6 1 0 38 18 +20 13
10  Poland 7 5 1 1 49 25 +24 11
11   Switzerland 7 4 2 1 28 20 +8 10
12  East Germany 7 4 1 2 37 25 +12 9
13  Romania 7 2 0 5 25 30 −5 4
14  Norway 7 2 0 5 21 39 −18 4
15  Yugoslavia 7 1 1 5 23 44 −21 3
16  Japan 7 1 0 6 18 38 −20 2
Source: [citation needed]

Italy was promoted to Group A, both Yugoslavia and Japan were relegated to Group C.

20 MarchEast Germany 4–3 Japan
20 MarchRomania 5–6 Poland
20 MarchSwitzerland 5–2 Norway
20 MarchItaly 6–4 Yugoslavia
21 MarchSwitzerland 3–3 Poland
21 MarchJapan 0–2 Norway
21 MarchEast Germany 11–3 Yugoslavia
21 MarchItaly 3–2 Romania
23 MarchRomania 1–6 East Germany
23 MarchPoland 13–4 Norway
23 MarchJapan 7–3 Yugoslavia
23 MarchItaly 4–2  Switzerland
24 MarchJapan 2–11 Poland
24 MarchYugoslavia 3–2 Romania
24 MarchItaly 6–1 Norway
24 MarchSwitzerland 2–1 East Germany
26 MarchYugoslavia 4–4  Switzerland
26 MarchRomania 5–1 Japan
26 MarchEast Germany 6–3 Norway
26 MarchItaly 4–1 Poland
28 MarchNorway 6–2 Yugoslavia
28 MarchSwitzerland 8–3 Romania
28 MarchEast Germany 3–7 Poland
28 MarchItaly 9–2 Japan
29 MarchYugoslavia 4–8 Poland
29 MarchNorway 3–7 Romania
29 MarchSwitzerland 4–3 Japan
29 MarchItaly 6–6 East Germany

World Championship Group C (China PR)

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Played in Beijing 6–15 March.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
17  Austria 7 7 0 0 43 5 +38 14
18  China 7 6 0 1 46 14 +32 12
19  Hungary 7 4 1 2 38 22 +16 9
20  Denmark 7 3 1 3 36 27 +9 7
21  France 7 3 0 4 48 36 +12 6
22  Bulgaria 7 3 0 4 22 32 −10 6
23  North Korea 7 1 0 6 18 66 −48 2
24  Great Britain 7 0 0 7 11 60 −49 0
Source: [citation needed]

Both Austria and China were promoted to Group B.

6 MarchAustria 10–0 North Korea
6 MarchHungary 8–0 Great Britain
6 MarchFrance 7–0 Bulgaria
6 MarchChina 5–1 Denmark
7 MarchGreat Britain 2–11 France
7 MarchChina 6–2 Bulgaria
7 MarchNorth Korea 5–9 Denmark
7 MarchAustria 7–0 Hungary
9 MarchHungary 10–3 North Korea
9 MarchDenmark 4–6 Bulgaria
9 MarchFrance 1–7 Austria
9 MarchChina 12–2 Great Britain
10 MarchHungary 11–6 France
10 MarchNorth Korea 2–9 Bulgaria
10 MarchGreat Britain 2–13 Denmark
10 MarchChina 0–3 Austria
12 MarchBulgaria 4–2 Great Britain
12 MarchFrance 17–1 North Korea
12 MarchAustria 4–2 Denmark
12 MarchChina 3–1 Hungary
13 MarchChina 10–3 France
13 MarchGreat Britain 1–5 North Korea
13 MarchHungary 2–2 Denmark
13 MarchAustria 5–0 Bulgaria
15 MarchAustria 7–2 Great Britain
15 MarchBulgaria 1–6 Hungary
15 MarchFrance 3–5 Denmark
15 MarchChina 10–2 North Korea

Ranking and statistics

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 1981 IIHF World Championship winners 

Soviet Union
17th title

Tournament Awards

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Final standings

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The final standings of the tournament according to IIHF:

1st place, gold medalist(s)  Soviet Union
2nd place, silver medalist(s)  Sweden
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)  Czechoslovakia
4  Canada
5  United States
6  Finland
7  West Germany
8  Netherlands

European championships final standings

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The final standings of the European championships according to IIHF:

 Soviet Union
 Sweden
 Czechoslovakia
4  Finland
5  West Germany
6  Netherlands

Fanfare of the Championships

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The fanfare for the Championships was written by Benny Andersson (from ABBA) in 1981. It was later used as the jingle/opening theme for the television special Dick Cavett Meets ABBA aired later in 1981. Reference - Palm, Carl Magnus: ABBA - The Complete Recordings Sessions, page 106. Verulam Publishing Ltd (13 October 1994). ISBN 0-907938-10-8. ISBN 978-0-907938-10-1.

Citations

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  1. ^ a b Summary
  2. ^ Ponieks page 95

References

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