1996 Men's World Ice Hockey ChampionshipsTournament details |
---|
Host country |
Austria |
---|
Dates |
21 April – 5 May |
---|
Teams |
12 |
---|
Venue(s) |
1 (in 1 host city) |
---|
Final positions |
---|
Champions  |
Czech Republic (1st title) |
---|
Runner-up  |
Canada |
---|
Third place  |
United States |
---|
Fourth place |
Russia |
---|
Tournament statistics |
---|
Matches played |
40 |
---|
Goals scored |
249 (6.23 per match) |
---|
Attendance |
186,830 (4,671 per match) |
---|
Scoring leader(s) |
Yanic Perreault 9 points |
---|
|
The 1996 Ice Hockey World Championship took place in Austria 21 April - 5 May. The games were played in Vienna. Thirty-six nations competed at four levels, with Slovakia making their first appearance in Group A.
Twelve teams took part in Group A, with the first round split into two groups of six, with the first four from each group advancing to the quarter-finals. This was the 60th World Championship and the Czech Republic beat Canada in the final to become World Champions for the first time. (Czechoslovakia had won the World Championship six times). The final game was tied at two apiece before Martin Procházka scored with nineteen seconds left, an empty net goal sealed the victory.[1] In the bronze medal game, Brian Rolston scored at 4:48 of overtime to win the first medal in 34 years for team USA.[2][3] The unfortunate Russians did not lose a game in regulation time in the entire tournament, but finished fourth.
World Championship Group A (Austria)
Group 1
Group 2
Quarterfinals
Consolation Round 11-12 Place
Austria was relegated to Group B.
Semifinals
Match for third place
Final
World Championship Group B (Netherlands)
Played 10–20 April in Eindhoven. Latvia won at this level for the first time. In their final game, superb goaltending by Arturs Irbe kept them in it, and a late tying goal by Olegs Znaroks sealed the tournament victory.[3] The final game had high drama for the host crowd, the Japanese and Danish teams among them. If the Netherlands were to lose to Poland, they would finish last and be relegated, a tie and Japan would be last, a win and Denmark would be last. A third period goal by Poland sealed Japan's fate.
Latvia was promoted to Group A while Japan was relegated to Group C.
World Championship Group C (Slovenia)
Played 22–31 March in Jesenice and Kranj. For the fourth year in row the Kazakhs and Ukrainians met in Group C. For the first time the Kazakhs came out on top, and it was the difference in winning the tournament.
Kazakhstan was promoted to Group B while Croatia was relegated to Group D.
World Championship Group D (Lithuania)
Played in Kaunas and Elektrenai 25–31 March. To narrow the field of the bottom tier to eight nations, two regional qualifying tournaments were used.
Group 1 (Australia)
Played 5th and 6 November 1995 in Sydney.
|
Team |
Games |
Won |
Drawn |
Lost |
Goal difference |
Points |
1 | Australia | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12 - 02 | 4 |
2 | New Zealand | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 02 - 12 | 0 |
Group 2 (Israel)
Played 27–29 January 1996 in Metulla. The Greek team won both their games, but were found to have an ineligible roster, so both games were declared 5–0 forfeits in favour of the opposing team.[3]
|
Team |
Games |
Won |
Drawn |
Lost |
Points difference |
Points |
1 | Israel | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 24 - 00 | 4 |
2 | Turkey | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 05 - 19 | 2 |
3 | Greece | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 00 - 10 | 0 |
Group 1
|
Team |
Games |
Won |
Drawn |
Lost |
Goal difference |
Points |
1 | Yugoslavia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 14 - 05 | 6 |
2 | Spain | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 15 - 06 | 3 |
3 | South Korea | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 15 - 10 | 3 |
4 | Australia | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 08 - 31 | 0 |
27 March | Yugoslavia  | 4-3
| Spain | |
Group 2
Ironically, the Israeli team that had qualified for the tournament because of the Greek forfeits, had to forfeit its first two games because they used two Russian players who did not have the proper clearance to play.[3]
|
Team |
Games |
Won |
Drawn |
Lost |
Goal difference |
Points |
1 | Lithuania | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 19 - 02 | 6 |
2 | Belgium | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 - 13 | 4 |
3 | Bulgaria | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 07 - 06 | 2 |
4 | Israel | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 00 - 15 | 0 |
Final Round 29-32 Place
|
Team |
Games |
Won |
Drawn |
Lost |
Goal difference |
Points |
29 | Lithuania | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 25 - 04 | 6 |
30 | Yugoslavia | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 - 08 | 4 |
31 | Spain | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 10 - 16 | 2 |
32 | Belgium | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 05 - 22 | 0 |
Host Lithuania won all five games to earn promotion to Group C.
Consolation Round 33-36 Place
|
Team |
Games |
Won |
Drawn |
Lost |
Goal difference |
Points |
33 | South Korea | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 22 - 13 | 5 |
34 | Bulgaria | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 14 - 10 | 4 |
35 | Israel | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 - 10 | 3 |
36 | Australia | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 12 - 25 | 0 |
Ranking and statistics
|
Tournament Awards
- Best players selected by the directorate:
- Media All-Star Team:
|
Final standings
The final standings of the tournament according to IIHF:
Scoring leaders
List shows the top skaters sorted by points, then goals.
Source:
Leading goaltenders
Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage, who have played 40% of their team's minutes are included in this list.
Source:
Citations
References
- Complete results
- Duplacey, James (1998). Total Hockey: The official encyclopedia of the National Hockey League. Total Sports. pp. 498–528. ISBN 0-8362-7114-9.
- Podnieks, Andrew (2010). IIHF Media Guide & Record Book 2011. Moydart Press. pp. 159–60.