The 1996 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships was the 60th such event sanctioned by the

International Ice Hockey Federation The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; french: Fédération internationale de hockey sur glace; german: Internationale Eishockey-Föderation) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 83 ...

(IIHF). Teams representing 36 countries participated in several levels of competition, with

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

making their first appearance in the top Champions Group A, in their fourth tournament since the

dissolution of Czechoslovakia The dissolution of Czechoslovakia ( cs, Rozdělení Československa, sk, Rozdelenie Česko-Slovenska) took effect on December 31, 1992, and was the self-determined split of the federal republic of Czechoslovakia into the independent countries ...

and the formation of the separate

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

and

Slovakia men's national ice hockey team The Slovakia men's national ice hockey team is the national ice hockey team of Slovakia and is controlled by the Slovak Ice Hockey Federation. A successor to the Czechoslovakia national team, it is one of the most successful national ice hockey ...

s. The competition also served as qualifications for group placements in the 1997 competition. The top Championship Group A tournament took place in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

from 21 April to 5 May 1996, with all games played in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. Twelve teams took part, with the first round split into two groups of six, with the first four from each group advancing to the quarter-finals. The Czech Republic beat

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

in the final to become World Champions for the first time. The final game was tied at two apiece before Martin Procházka scored with nineteen seconds left, followed by an empty net goal to seal the victory. In the bronze medal game,

Brian Rolston Brian Lee Rolston (born February 21, 1973) is an American former professional ice hockey player who most recently played for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). He won a Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils in 1995, and t ...

scored at 4:48 of overtime to win the first medal in 34 years for team USA.Podnieks page 160 The unfortunate

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 '' Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

, competing in their fifth tournament since being created after the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

, did not lose a game in regulation time in the entire tournament, but finished fourth.

World Championship Group A (Austria)

First round

Group 1

Group 2

Playoff round

Quarterfinals

Consolation Round 11–12 Place

was relegated to Group B.''

Semifinals

Match for third place

Final

World Championship Group B (Netherlands)

Played 10–20 April in

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,Artūrs Irbe Artūrs Irbe (born 2 February 1967) is a Latvian professional ice hockey coach and former goaltender. Born during the Soviet era, Irbe played for various Soviet league teams and the Soviet Union national team before moving to North America in ...

kept them in it, and a late tying goal by

Oļegs Znaroks Oleg Valerievich Znarok (russian: Олег Валерьевич Знарок, lv, Oļegs Znaroks; born 2 January 1963) is a Soviet-Latvian professional ice hockey player. In 2022, he was the head coach of Ak Bars Kazan in the Kontinental Hockey ...

sealed the tournament victory. 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 Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

was promoted to Group A while

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

was relegated to Group C.''

World Championship Group C (Slovenia)

Played 22–31 March in

Jesenice Jesenice (, german: Aßling''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru'', vol. 6: Kranjsko. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 144.) is a Slovenian town and the seat of the Municipality of Jesenice on the ...

and

Kranj Kranj (, german: Krainburg) is the third-largest city in Slovenia, with a population of 37,941 (2020). It is located approximately northwest of Ljubljana. The centre of the City Municipality of Kranj and of the traditional region of Upper Carnio ...

. 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 Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

was promoted to Group B while

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capi ...

was relegated to Group D.

World Championship Group D (Lithuania)

Played in

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Traka ...

and Elektrenai 25–31 March. To narrow the field of the bottom tier to eight nations, two regional qualifying tournaments were used.

Qualifying round

Group 1 (Australia)

Played 5 and 6 November 1995 in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

Group 2 (Israel)

Played 27–29 January 1996 in

Metulla Metula ( he, מְטֻלָּה) is a town in the Northern District of Israel. Metula is located next to the northern border with Lebanon. In it had a population of . Metula is the northernmost town in Israel. History Bronze and Iron Age Metula ...

. The Greek team originally won both their games, but it was later found that they had used ineligible players. Both games were declared 5–0 forfeits in favour of the opposing team.Summary at Passionhockey.com
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First round

Group 1

Group 2

The Israeli team, that had qualified for the tournament after 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.

Final Round 29–32 Place

''Host

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

won all five games to earn promotion to Group C.''

Consolation Round 33–36 Place

Ranking and statistics

Tournament awards

*Best players selected by the directorate: **Best

Goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near ...

Roman Turek Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

**Best

Defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference t ...

Alexei Zhitnik Oleksiy Mykolaiovych "Alexei" Zhitnik ( uk, Олексій Миколайович Житник, russian: Алексей Николаевич Житник; born October 10, 1972) is a Ukrainian former professional ice hockey defenceman. Zhitnik has ...

**Best Forward:

Yanic Perreault Yanic Jacques Perreault (born April 4, 1971) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played thirteen seasons in the National Hockey League. Playing career As a youth, he played in the 1983 and 1984 Quebec International Pee-Wee Ho ...

*Media All-Star Team: **Goaltender: Roman Turek **Defence: Michal Sýkora, Alexei Zhitnik **Forwards:

Paul Kariya Paul Tetsuhiko Kariya (born October 16, 1974) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger who played 15 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). Known as a skilled and fast-skating offensive player, he played in the NHL for the Might ...

Robert Reichel Robert Reichel (born June 25, 1971) is a Czech former professional ice hockey centre and coach. He began his career with HC Litvínov of the Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League; his 49 goals in 1989–90 was the second highest total in Czecho ...

, Otakar Vejvoda

Final standings

The final standings of the tournament according to

IIHF The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; french: Fédération internationale de hockey sur glace; german: Internationale Eishockey-Föderation) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 83 m ...

Scoring leaders

List shows the top skaters sorted by points, then goals. Source

/small>

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

/small>

Citations

References