2013 World Championship Sweden and Finland
Sweden and Finland hosted 77th IIHF World Championship on 3–19 May, 2013. All games were played in Stockholm and Helsinki. The format of the tournament was the same as in the previous 76th IIHF World Championship hosted by the same countries. The only difference was that semifinals and medal games for the 2012 were played in Helsinki and for 2013 it was chosen Stockholm.
Tournament Format
Sixteen teams divided into two groups played round-robin on 3–14 May, 2013. Four best teams of each group were qualified to the quaterfinals which were played within the groups. This was caused by the fact that the championship was played in two countries. This means that the winner of the Stockholm group played against the fourth team of the Stockholm group and the second team of the Stockholm group played against the third team of the Stockholm group. Similarly, quaterfinals were played in Helsinky.
After quaterfinals, all matches were played in Stockholm. Final game was planned on May 19, 2013.
Results in Groups
Each team played 7 matches againts all other teams in their group. There were some very interesting result and we provide you the most interesting result as well as the final standings.
Stockholm Group and Quaterfinals
The final standings of the Stockholm group:
| Team | GP | W | W(OT) | L(OT) | L | GF | GA | DIF | PTS |
| Switzerland | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 10 | 19 | 20 |
| Canada | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 10 | 15 | 18 |
| Sweden | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 11 | 6 | 15 |
| Czech Republic | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 19 | 12 | 7 | 11 |
| Norway | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 26 | −14 | 9 |
| Denmark | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 20 | −7 | 6 |
| Belarus | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 21 | −11 | 3 |
| Slovenia | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 27 | −15 | 2 |
GP=games played; W=wins for three points; W(OT)=wins in overtime for two points; L(OT)=loss in overtime for one point; L=loss; GF=goals for; GA=goals against; DIF=difference GF-GA; PTS=total points.
Great surprise of the whole group was Switzerland, they won all of their matches, including 3-2 win over Sweden, 3-2 overtime win over Canada and 5-2 win over Czech Republic. Slovenia, the last team of group, was relegated from the Elite Division.
Quaterfinals were played on May 16, 2013 and Switzerland was able to win for the second time over Czech Republic, this time 2-1 and they qualified for the semifinals.
After 60 minutes of the second quaterfinal, the score was 2-2 between Sweden and Canada. No goal was scored in the overtime and the quaterfinal had to be decided in shootouts. Sweden scored twice and Canada only once. In this game, Alex Edler (SWE) badly injured Eric Staal (CAN) and was suspended for the rest of the tournament.
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VCOvgM2wu4
Helsinki Group and Quaterfinals
The final standings of the Helsinki group:
| Team | GP | W | W(OT) | L(OT) | L | GF | GA | DIF | PTS |
| Finland | 7 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 23 | 14 | 9 | 16 |
| Russia | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 29 | 14 | 15 | 15 |
| United States | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 24 | 16 | 8 | 15 |
| Slovakia | 7 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 18 | 17 | 1 | 10 |
| Germany | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 16 | −3 | 9 |
| Latvia | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 14 | 25 | −11 | 7 |
| France | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 21 | −8 | 7 |
| Austria | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 18 | 29 | −11 | 5 |
GP=games played; W=wins for three points; W(OT)=wins in overtime for two points; L(OT)=loss in overtime for one point; L=loss; GF=goals for; GA=goals against; DIF=difference GF-GA; PTS=total points.
France shocked the whole hockey world when they won 2–1 over Russia for the first time in the history. Russia was also in problems in the game against Austria but in the end, they were able to win 8–4.
Quaterfinals were played on May 16, 2013 and USA won 8–3 over Russia and it is the highest loss of Russia in the whole history of World Championships! The previous highest loss was 2–7 with Czechoslovakia on the World Championship in Helsinki, Finland on April 10, 1974.
In the second quaterfinal, Finland won 4–3 over Slovakia.
Semifinals
Both semifinals were played on May 18, 2013 and both semifinals had the same result 3–0. In the first semifinal, Sweden won 3–0 over Finland. Highlights of the game:
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFGIZfa2oaY
In the second semifinal, Switzerland won 3–0 over USA. Highlights of the game:
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5okiy4JfAXU
Bronze Medal Game
Bronze medal game was played on May 19, 2013. First two goals was scored by USA but Finland managed to tie the game. After 10 minutes of the overtime the game was decided in the shootouts. USA scored twice (both by Galchenyuk) and Finland only once (Personen). USA celebrated their sixth bronze medal! Highlights of the game:
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m3l6D_CXBo
Gold Medal Game
Gold medal game was played between Sweden (SWE) and Switzerland (SUI). In the time 4:45 Roman Josi (SUI) scored the first goal of the game. It was the only goal scored by the Switzerland in the final game. Next goals were scored by Sweden – Erik Gustafsson (8:42), Henrik Sedin (11:38), Simon Hjalmarsson (47:13), Loui Eriksson (55:37) and Henrik Sedin (56:36). Highlilights of the game:
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0sQrj67IJ0
Sweden won their home championship. The last team that was able to achieve this was Russia (Soviet Union) in 1986.
Best Players of the Championship
- Best players picked by the directorate: Jhonas Enroth (goalie), Roman Josi (defenseman) and Petri Kontiola (forward).
- Media All-Star Team: Jhonas Enroth (goalie), Roman Josi (LD), Julien Vauclair (RD), Petri Kontiola (LW), Paul Stastny (C), Henrik Sedin (RW).
- Most valuable player of the Championship was Roman Josi.
Results of Divisions
In the following text, you can find results of lower divisions on World Championships.
Division IA – Hungary
Division IA was held in Budapest, Hungary. The final standings are:
- Kazakhstan – promoted to the Elite Division of the 2014 Championship
- Italy – promoted to the Elite Division of the 2014 Championship
- Hungary
- Japan
- South Korea
- Great Britain – relegated to the Division IB of the 2014 Championship
Division IB – Ukraine
Division IB was held in Donetsk, Ukraine. The final standings are:
- Ukraine – promoted to the Division IA of the 2014 Championship
- Poland
- Netherlands
- Romania
- Lithuania
- Estonia – relegated to the Division IIA of the 2014 Championship
Division IIA – Croatia
Division IIA was held in Zagreb, Croatia. The final standings are:
- Croatia – promoted to the Division IB of the 2014 Championship
- Belgium
- Iceland
- Australia
- Serbia
- Spain – relegated to the Division IIB of the 2014 Championship
Division IIB – Turkey
Division IIB was held in Izmit, Turkey. The finals standings are:
- Israel – promoted to the Division IIA of the 2014 Championship
- New Zealand
- Mexico
- China
- Turkey
- Bulgaria – relegated to the Division III of the 2014 Championship
Division III – United Arab Emirates and South Africa
The qualification for the Division III of the 2013 Championship was played in United Arab Emirates in October 2012 by four teams: United Arab Emirates, Greece, Mongolia and Georgia. First two named teams were promoted to the main venue.
Division III was held in Cape Town, South Africa. The final standings are:
- South Africa – promoted to the Division IIB of the 2014 Championship
- North Korea
- Luxembourg
- Ireland
- Greece
- United Arab Emirates