The 1961 Ice Hockey World Championships was the 28th edition of the

Ice Hockey World Championships The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics, it is the sport's highest profile annual ...

. The tournament was held in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...

and

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

from 1 to 12 March 1961. The games were played outdoors on a frozen pool. A glare made it hard for players to see well, however photographers were able to get aerial pictures from the diving board.

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 ...

, represented by the

Trail Smoke Eaters The Trail Smoke Eaters are a junior A ice hockey team from Trail, British Columbia, Canada. They are a part of the British Columbia Hockey League. History The Smoke Eaters (aka ''Smokies'') have existed as both junior and senior teams since the ...

, won their nineteenth international title. It would be 33 years before Canada won another World Championship. By beating out the Soviets for the Silver, the Czechoslovaks won their tenth European title. The final day was marred by political controversy when

Willi Daume Willi is a given name, nickname (often a short form or hypocorism of Wilhelm) and surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Willi Apel (1893–1988), German-American musicologist * Willi Boskovsky (1909–1991), Austrian violin ...

, president of West Germany hockey, forbade his team to take the ice against East Germany to avoid the possibility of honouring the East German's new flag. A record twenty nations participated in three groups, with

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

appearing for the first time. Teams were divided into the three tiers, roughly following the 1959 championships, and using qualification games, to establish an eight-team group A, a six-team group B, and a six-team group C. The South African team did not have the minimum number of players so forty-five-year-old federation president Tom Durling played despite not actually being a citizen of the country.Summary in French
Passionhockey.com (4 March 1961). Retrieved on 2018-02-27. Promotion and relegation did not begin yet, but it was a big step towards formulating the process.

Qualification matches for Group A and B

The nations who finished 1st through 6th in 1959 played in Group A. The nation ranked 7th played the hosts, and 8th played 9th to qualify the final two entries.

World Championship Group A (Switzerland)

Final Round

Qualification matches for Group B and C

The losers of the Group A qualifiers (Switzerland and Norway), were joined by the nations who finished 10th and 11th (Italy and Poland) in 1959. Remaining countries that wished to play at this level played qualification games.

World Championship Group B (Switzerland)

Final Round

World Championship Group C (Switzerland)

Final Round

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 ...

Seth Martin Seth Martin (May 4, 1933 – September 6, 2014) was a Canadian ice hockey player. He played professionally for the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League. He was inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame ...

**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 ...

Ivan Tregubov Ivan Sergeyevich Tregubov (russian: Иван Серге́евич Трегубов; January 19, 1930 – September 1, 1992) was a Soviet ice hockey defenceman in the 1950s and 1960s. He was born in the Mordovian ASSR of the Russian SFSR, ...

**Best Forward:

Vlastimil Bubník Vlastimil Bubník (; 18 March 1931 – 6 January 2015) was a Czech ice hockey player and footballer. Bubník was born in Kelč, Czechoslovakia, and played in the Czechoslovak Extraliga. He played for HC Brno and Královo Pole. He a ...

*Media All-Star Team: **Goaltender: Seth Martin **Defence:

Darryl Sly Darryl "Slip" Sly (April 3, 1939 – August 28, 2007) was a Canadian ice hockey player who played 79 games in the National Hockey League with the Vancouver Canucks, Toronto Maple Leafs and Minnesota North Stars. He also played parts o ...

, Harry Smith **Forwards:

Michel Legacé Michel may refer to: * Michel (name), a given name or surname of French origin (and list of people with the name) * Míchel (nickname), a nickname (a list of people with the nickname, mainly Spanish footballers) * Míchel (footballer, born 1963), ...

Boris Mayorov Boris Aleksandrovich Mayorov (born February 11, 1938, in Moscow, Soviet Union) is a retired ice hockey player who played in the Soviet Hockey League. He played for HC Spartak Moscow. He was inducted into the Russian and Soviet Hockey Hall of Fame ...

Miroslav Vlach Miroslav Vlach (October 19, 1935 in Český Těšín, Czechoslovakia – December 8, 2001 in Ostrava, Czech Republic) was an ice hockey player who played for the Czechoslovak national team. He won a bronze medal at the 1964 Winter Olym ...

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 ...

European championships final standings

The final standings of the

European championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

according to

Notes

References

Championnat du monde 1961
* * *
Ottawa Citizen - 3 Feb 1961The Montreal Gazette - 6 Feb 1961
*The Hartford Courant, 6 Feb 1961, page 15 *New York Times, 12 February 1961, Page S6
The Montreal Gazette - 13 Feb 1961The Pittsburgh Press - 17 Feb 1961Ottawa Citizen - 1 Mar 1961Tri City Herald - 8 Mar 1961The Montreal Gazette - 9 Mar 1961The Montreal Gazette - 11 Mar 1961
{{IIHF Ice Hockey European Championships IIHF Men's World Ice Hockey Championships World Championships, World Championships International ice hockey competitions hosted by Switzerland March 1961 sports events in Europe Sports competitions in Geneva Sports competitions in Lausanne 20th century in Geneva 20th century in Lausanne