2014 IIHF World Championship

2014 IIHF World Championship
Tournament details
Host nation	Belarus
Dates	9–25 May
Teams	16
Venue(s)	2 (in 1 host city)
Champions	Russia (27th/5 titles)
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

The 2014 IIHF World Championship was hosted by Belarus in its capital, Minsk. 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 both Europe and the United States calling for the IIHF to move the tournament to another country.

Russia remained undefeated throughout the championship and captured the gold medal by defeating Finland 5–2 in the final. 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, Division I-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.

Host selection

On 8 May 2009, the Belarusian bid was successful and got 75 votes in the race for hosting the 2014 IIHF World Championship. The application with the slogan “Welcome to the young hockey country” beat out those from Hungary (24 votes), Latvia (3), and Ukraine (3).

The two main venues listed as hosts for the ice hockey teams were Minsk-Arena (capacity around 15000) and Chizhovka-Arena (capacity around 9600). The larger arena was completed and opened in 2010, whereas construction of the smaller one was completed in 2012.

The selection of Belarus as hosts caused great controversy (Minsk2014 Campaign). On 11 April 2011, United States Senator [Dick Durbin]] and Representative Michael Quigley urged the IIHF to move the World Championship to another location, citing concerns over the authoritarian government of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko. Lukashenko's alleged human rights violations had resulted in numerous sanctions placed on himself and 157 of his associates by the European Union and United States. Senator Durbin and Representative Quigley were supported by former Slovak ice hockey player and current Member of the European Parliament Peter Šťastný. According to a 2013 report by the U.S. organisation Freedom House, Belarus was the least democratic country in Europe at the time. However, the IIHF remarked that its statutes did not allow it to discriminate on political grounds, and spokespersons for the Latvian and Lithuanian ice hockey federations stated that they had no desire for "mixing politics with sports".

On 16 January 2012, President Lukashenko announced that any foreigners who wanted to attend the World Championships would not need a visa to enter Belarus, or the medical insurance required for entry. The only documentation required was an original or electronic copy of a ticket to a game.

Volat, the official mascot of the tournament.

Preliminary round

The schedule was released on 5 September 2013.

	Team advances to the Playoff round
	Team relegated to Division I A

All times are local ([UTC+3).

Group A

Team	GP	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Canada	7	5	1	1	0	28	13	+15	18
Sweden	7	5	1	1	0	21	10	+11	18
Czech Republic	7	2	2	2	1	20	18	+2	12
France	7	2	2	1	2	25	20	+5	11
Slovakia	7	3	0	1	3	20	21	−1	10
Norway	7	2	0	1	4	16	19	−3	7
Denmark	7	1	1	0	5	17	27	−10	5
Italy	7	1	0	0	6	6	25	−19	3

9 May 2014 16:45

France

3–2 SO (1–1, 0–0, 1–1) (OT 0–0) (SO: 1–0)

Canada

Chizhovka-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 6,780

Game reference
	8 min	Penalties	12 min
	29	Shots	36

9 May 2014 20:45

Slovakia

2–3 OT (0–1, 2–0, 0–1) (OT 0–1)

Czech Republic

Chizhovka-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 6,920

Game reference
	10 min	Penalties	10 min
	16	Shots	33

10 May 2014 12:45

Italy

0–3 (0–1, 0–1, 0–1)

Norway

Chizhovka-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 4,200

Game reference
	4 min	Penalties	6 min
	15	Shots	27

10 May 2014 16:45

Sweden

3–0 (2–0, 0–0, 1–0)

Denmark

Chizhovka-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 4,900

Game reference
	6 min	Penalties	6 min
	34	Shots	21

10 May 2014 20:45

Canada

4–1 (0–0, 1–1, 3–0)

Slovakia

Chizhovka-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 6,200

Game reference
	8 min	Penalties	10 min
	28	Shots	24

11 May 2014 12:45

France

1–2 (0–0, 1–1, 0–1)

Italy

Chizhovka-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 4,600

Game reference
	8 min	Penalties	14 min
	29	Shots	17

11 May 2014 16:45

Norway

4–3 (1–2, 2–0, 1–1)

Denmark

Chizhovka-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 4,837

Game reference
	20 min	Penalties	14 min
	27	Shots	18

11 May 2014 20:45

Sweden

4–3 SO (1–2, 1–1, 1–0) (OT 0–0) (SO: 1–0)

Czech Republic

Chizhovka-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 6,018

Game reference
	12 min	Penalties	10 min
	25	Shots	33

12 May 2014 16:45

Slovakia

3–5 (1–0, 2–1, 0–4)

France

Chizhovka-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 5,358

Game reference
	14 min	Penalties	10 min
	21	Shots	26

12 May 2014 20:45

Czech Republic

3–4 (1–1, 0–3, 2–0)

Canada

Chizhovka-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 6,317

Game reference
	37 min	Penalties	6 min
	34	Shots	20

13 May 2014 16:45

Italy

1–4 (1–1, 0–2, 0–1)

Denmark

Chizhovka-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 5,092

Game reference
	8 min	Penalties	8 min
	13	Shots	31

13 May 2014 20:45

Norway

1–2 (0–0, 1–1, 0–1)

Sweden

Chizhovka-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 6,389

Game reference
	14 min	Penalties	12 min
	14	Shots	35

14 May 2014 16:45

Czech Republic

2–0 (0–0, 1–0, 1–0)

Italy

Chizhovka-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 4,160

Game reference
	4 min	Penalties	10 min
	37	Shots	11

14 May 2014 20:45

Slovakia

5–2 (2–2, 1–0, 2–0)

Norway

Chizhovka-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 5,881

Game reference
	8 min	Penalties	8 min
	33	Shots	20

15 May 2014 16:45

Canada

6–1 (1–1, 1–0, 4–0)

Denmark

Chizhovka-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 7,085

Game reference
	8 min	Penalties	8 min
	46	Shots	30

15 May 2014 20:45

Sweden

2–1 (0–0, 2–0, 0–1)

France

Chizhovka-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 7,045

Game reference
	8 min	Penalties	20 min
	34	Shots	18

16 May 2014 16:45

Canada

6–1 (1–0, 4–0, 1–1)

Italy

Chizhovka-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 5,772

Game reference
	14 min	Penalties	33 min
	34	Shots	22

16 May 2014 20:45

Sweden

3–1 (2–0, 0–1, 1–0)

Slovakia

Chizhovka-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 7,563

Game reference
	8 min	Penalties	8 min
	40	Shots	21

17 May 2014 12:45

France

5–4 SO (0–1, 3–1, 1–2) (OT 0–0) (SO: 1–0)

Norway

Chizhovka-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 6,103

Game reference
	18 min	Penalties	4 min
	36	Shots	28

17 May 2014 16:45

Denmark

4–3 SO (1–2, 0–0, 2–1) (OT 0–0) (SO: 1–0)

Czech Republic

Chizhovka-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 6,892

Game reference
	10 min	Penalties	10 min
	27	Shots	32

17 May 2014 20:45

Slovakia

4–1 (1–0, 2–1, 1–0)

Italy

Chizhovka-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 5,929

Game reference
	14 min	Penalties	10 min
	53	Shots	20

18 May 2014 16:45

Canada

3–2 OT (0–1, 2–1, 0–0) (OT 1–0)

Sweden

Chizhovka-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 8,453

Game reference
	10 min	Penalties	12 min
	31	Shots	32

18 May 2014 20:45

Czech Republic

1–0 (1–0, 0–0, 0–0)

Norway

Chizhovka-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 7,902

Game reference
	8 min	Penalties	8 min
	39	Shots	21

19 May 2014 16:45

Denmark

2–6 (1–2, 1–0, 0–4)

France

Chizhovka-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 7,450

Game reference
	8 min	Penalties	4 min
	33	Shots	29

19 May 2014 20:45

Italy

1–5 (1–2, 0–2, 0–1)

Sweden

Chizhovka-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 7,878

Game reference
	12 min	Penalties	6 min
	11	Shots	40

20 May 2014 12:45

Norway

2–3 (1–0, 1–2, 0–1)

Canada

Chizhovka-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 7,487

Game reference
	14 min	Penalties	4 min
	16	Shots	42

20 May 2014 16:45

Denmark

3–4 (0–1, 1–0, 2–3)

Slovakia

Chizhovka-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 7,251

Game reference
	20 min	Penalties	20 min
	30	Shots	24

20 May 2014 20:45

Czech Republic

5–4 OT (1–3, 3–0, 0–1) (OT 1–0)

France

Chizhovka-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 8,214

Game reference
		0–1 0–2 0–3 1–3 2–3 3–3 4–3 4–4 5–4
	14 min	Penalties	10 min
	39	Shots	24

Group B

Team	GP	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Russia	7	7	0	0	0	31	7	+24	21
United States	7	4	1	0	2	27	23	+4	14
Belarus	7	4	0	0	3	18	17	+1	12
Finland	7	3	1	0	3	18	15	+3	11
Switzerland	7	3	0	1	3	19	21	−2	10
Latvia	7	3	0	0	4	20	24	−4	9
Germany	7	1	1	0	5	13	23	−10	5
Kazakhstan	7	0	0	2	5	16	32	−16	2

9 May 2014 16:45

Switzerland

0–5 (0–3, 0–1, 0–1)

Russia

Minsk-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 13,300

Game reference
	10 min	Penalties	8 min
	27	Shots	31

9 May 2014 20:45

Belarus

1–6 (0–1, 1–3, 0–2)

United States

Minsk-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 13,600

Game reference
	14 min	Penalties	6 min
	21	Shots	25

10 May 2014 12:45

Kazakhstan

1–2 SO (1–1, 0–0, 0–0) (OT 0–0) (SO: 0–1)

Germany

Minsk-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 12,880

Game reference
	20 min	Penalties	4 min
	20	Shots	47

10 May 2014 16:45

Finland

2–3 (1–1, 1–0, 0–2)

Latvia

Minsk-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 11,700

Game reference
	18 min	Penalties	12 min
	24	Shots	26

10 May 2014 20:45

United States

3–2 (0–0, 1–2, 2–0)

Switzerland

Minsk-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 11,000

Game reference
	14 min	Penalties	12 min
	38	Shots	29

11 May 2014 13:45

Germany

3–2 (1–1, 1–1, 1–0)

Latvia

Minsk-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 11,200

Game reference
	4 min	Penalties	6 min
	33	Shots	21

11 May 2014 17:30

Belarus

4–1 (0–1, 2–0, 2–0)

Kazakhstan

Minsk-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 13,734

Game reference
	12 min	Penalties	12 min
	29	Shots	20

11 May 2014 21:00

Finland

2–4 (1–2, 1–2, 0–0)

Russia

Minsk-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 13,934

Game reference
	22 min	Penalties	14 min
	36	Shots	26

12 May 2014 16:45

Switzerland

3–4 (2–1, 0–1, 1–2)

Belarus

Minsk-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 13,207

Game reference
	10 min	Penalties	8 min
	31	Shots	23

12 May 2014 20:45

Russia

6−1 (2−0, 4−1, 0−0)

United States

Minsk-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 14,124

Game reference
	16 min	Penalties	12 min
	23	Shots	40

13 May 2014 16:45

Germany

0–4 (0–2, 0–2, 0–0)

Finland

Minsk-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 10,959

Game reference
	8 min	Penalties	6 min
	20	Shots	29

13 May 2014 20:45

Kazakhstan

4–5 (2–1, 2–3, 0–1)

Latvia

Minsk-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 10,870

Game reference
	8 min	Penalties	18 min
	29	Shots	27

14 May 2014 16:45

Switzerland

3–2 (1–1, 2–1, 0–0)

Germany

Minsk-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 11,628

Game reference
	6 min	Penalties	6 min
	25	Shots	24

14 May 2014 20:45

Russia

7–2 (1–0, 3–0, 3–2)

Kazakhstan

Minsk-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 12,299

Game reference
	4 min	Penalties	12 min
	47	Shots	18

15 May 2014 16:45

United States

5–6 (1–2, 2–1, 2–3)

Latvia

Minsk-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 11,814

Game reference
	20 min	Penalties	16 min
	36	Shots	25

15 May 2014 20:45

Finland

2–0 (1–0, 0–0, 1–0)

Belarus

Minsk-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 14,447

Game reference
	12 min	Penalties	8 min
	15	Shots	15

16 May 2014 16:45

United States

4–3 OT (1–1, 2–1, 0–1) (OT: 1–0)

Kazakhstan

Minsk-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 10,779

Game reference
	8 min	Penalties	14 min
	40	Shots	25

16 May 2014 20:45

Finland

3–2 SO (1–0, 1–0, 0–2) (OT: 0–0) (SO: 1–0)

Switzerland

Minsk-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 12,630

Game reference
	2 min	Penalties	4 min
	25	Shots	28

17 May 2014 12:45

Latvia

1–4 (1–3, 0–1, 0–0)

Russia

Minsk-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 14,427

Game reference
	33 min	Penalties	6 min
	15	Shots	43

17 May 2014 16:45

Belarus

5–2 (1–2, 1–0, 3–0)

Germany

Minsk-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 14,478

Game reference
	29 min	Penalties	2 min
	16	Shots	19

17 May 2014 20:45

Switzerland

6–2 (2–0, 2–0, 2–2)

Kazakhstan

Minsk-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 11,739

Game reference
	12 min	Penalties	45 min
	40	Shots	25

18 May 2014 16:45

United States

3–1 (1–0, 0–0, 2–1)

Finland

Minsk-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 13,030

Game reference
	10 min	Penalties	8 min
	24	Shots	23

18 May 2014 20:45

Russia

3–0 (0–0, 0–0, 3–0)

Germany

Minsk-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 14,021

Game reference
	8 min	Penalties	12 min
	31	Shots	27

19 May 2014 16:45

Kazakhstan

3–4 (2–2, 0–2, 1–0)

Finland

Minsk-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 12,119

Game reference
	8 min	Penalties	14 min
	28	Shots	33

19 May 2014 20:45

Latvia

1–3 (0–2, 1–0, 0–1)

Belarus

Minsk-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 14,531

Game reference
	44 min	Penalties	18 min
	19	Shots	16

20 May 2014 12:45

Germany

4–5 (0–0, 3–3, 1–2)

United States

Minsk-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 11,845

Game reference
	8 min	Penalties	14 min
	28	Shots	36

20 May 2014 16:45

Latvia

2–3 (0–2, 1–1, 1–0)

Switzerland

Minsk-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 12,868

Game reference
	8 min	Penalties	12 min
	28	Shots	26

20 May 2014 20:45

Russia

2–1 (0–0, 2–0, 0–1)

Belarus

Minsk-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 14,679

Game reference
	10 min	Penalties	8 min
	27	Shots	20

Playoff round

Quarterfinals

22 May 2014 16:00

United States

3–4 (1–1, 0–3, 2–0)

Czech Republic

Chizhovka-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 8,234

Game reference
	41 min	Penalties	14 min
	34	Shots	33

22 May 2014 17:00

Russia

3–0 (1–0, 1–0, 1–0)

France

Minsk-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 14,011

Game reference
	12 min	Penalties	18 min
	28	Shots	16

22 May 2014 20:00

Canada

2–3 (0–1, 2–0, 0–2)

Finland

Chizhovka-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 8,671

Game reference
	6 min	Penalties	12 min
	38	Shots	26

22 May 2014 21:00

Sweden

3–2 (1–0, 1–2, 1–0)

Belarus

Minsk-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 14,598

Game reference
	6 min	Penalties	8 min
	25	Shots	23

Semifinals

24 May 2014 14:45

Russia

3–1 (2–1, 1–0, 0–0)

Sweden

Minsk-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 14,521

Game reference
	10 min	Penalties	37 min
	34	Shots	23

24 May 2014 18:45

Czech Republic

0–3 (0–1, 0–1, 0–1)

Finland

Minsk-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 14,378

Game reference
	10 min	Penalties	6 min
	20	Shots	26

Bronze medal game

25 May 2014 16:30

Sweden

3–0 (2–0, 0–0, 1–0)

Czech Republic

Minsk-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 14,001

Game reference
	14 min	Penalties	10 min
	24	Shots	29

Gold medal game

25 May 2014 21:00

Russia

5–2 (1–1, 2–1, 2–0)

Finland

Minsk-Arena, Minsk Attendance: 15,112

Game reference
	12 min	Penalties	28 min
	39	Shots	26

Ranking and statistics

2014 IIHF World Championship Winners  Russia 27th title Final ranking The official IIHF final ranking of the tournament: Russia Finland Sweden 4 Czech Republic 5 Canada 6 United States 7 Belarus 8 France 9 Slovakia 10 Switzerland 11 Latvia 12 Norway 13 Denmark 14 Germany 15 Italy 16 Kazakhstan Notes References Ice Hockey World Championships 1920 · 1924 · 1928 · 1930 · 1931 · 1932 · 1933 · 1934 · 1935 · 1936 · 1937 · 1938 · 1939 · 1947 · 1948 · 1949 · 1950 · 1951 · 1952 · 1953 · 1954 · 1955 · 1956 · 1957 · 1958 · 1959 · 1960 · 1961 · 1962 · 1963 · 1964 · 1965 · 1966 · 1967 · 1968 · 1969 · 1970 · 1971 · 1972 · 1973 · 1974 · 1975 · 1976 · 1977 · 1978 · 1979 · 1981 · 1982 · 1983 · 1985 · 1986 · 1987 · 1989 · 1990 · 1991 · 1992 · 1993 · 1994 · 1995 · 1996 · 1997 · 1998 · 1999 · 2000 · 2001 · 2002 · 2003 · 2004 · 2005 · 2006 · 2007 · 2008 · 2009 · 2010 · 2011 · 2012 · 2013 · 2014 · 2015 · 2016