The 1972 Ice Hockey World Championships was the 39th 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. The IIHF was created in 1908 while the I ...

. The tournament was held in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

from 7 to 22 April 1972, and the Czechoslovakia national team won the tournament, the third time they had done so and first since

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

, ending the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

's streak of nine consecutive titles. In addition it was the Czechoslovaks' 12th European title. For the first time, a separate tournament is held for both the World Championships and the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held i ...

. Previously, the Olympic tournament was held in lieu of a world championships, with the winner being declared world champion for that year. It also marked the first time in international ice hockey that all goaltenders were required to wear face masks. The American team, who had won the silver medal earlier in the year at the Olympics, failed to win the 'B' pool, losing to Poland in their final game.

World Championship Group A (Czechoslovakia)

World Championship Group B (Romania)

Played in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

from 24 March to 2 April. ''Poland was promoted to Group A, both Norway and France were relegated to Group C. The French team boycotted the tournament in a protest over their federation's failure to finance the team's participation in the Sapporo Olympics''

World Championship Group C (Romania)

Played in

Miercurea-Ciuc Miercurea Ciuc (; ; ) is the county seat of Harghita County, Romania. It lies in the Székely Land, a mainly Hungarian-speaking ethno-cultural region in eastern Transylvania, and is situated in the Olt River valley. The city administers three ...

from 3 March to the 12th. The Chinese won their first game ever played in a World Championship.Group C
/ref> ''Both Austria and Italy were promoted to Group B.''

Ranking and statistics

Tournament Awards

*Best players selected by the directorate: **Best

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

: Jorma Valtonen **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 Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

: František Pospíšil **Best Forward: Alexander Maltsev *Media All-Star Team: **Goaltender:

Jiří Holeček Jiří Holeček (born March 18, 1944) is a Czech professional ice hockey coach and former player. Holeček played in the Czechoslovak Elite League from 1964 to 1979, and on the Czechoslovak national team for many years. After joining the mili ...

**Defence: Oldřich Machač, František Pospíšil **Forwards: Valeri Kharlamov, Alexander Maltsev, Vladimir Vikulov

Final standings

The final standings of the tournament according to

IIHF The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; ; ) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 84 member countries. The IIHF maintains the IIHF World Ranking based on international ice hockey tourn ...

European championships final standings

The final standings of the

European championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

according to

Notes

References

* * *
Complete results at Passionhockey.com
{{IIHF Ice Hockey European Championships IIHF Men's World Ice Hockey Championships World Championships International ice hockey competitions hosted by Czechoslovakia Sports competitions in Prague World Ice Hockey Championships, 1972 World Ice Hockey Championships 1970s in Prague Miercurea Ciuc World Ice Hockey Championships 1970s in Bucharest Sports competitions in Bucharest 1971–72 in Romanian ice hockey International ice hockey competitions hosted by Romania