The 1976 Ice Hockey World Championships were the 43rd Ice Hockey World Championships and the 54th European Championships in

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

. The tournament took place in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

from 8 to 25 April, and the games were played in

Katowice Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...

. Eight teams took part in the main tournament, with each team first playing each other once. The four best teams then took part in a medal play off, and the teams placed 5–8 took part in a relegation play-off. The teams took the results from the first round through to the second round with them. In response to charges of the rules regarding amateurism being unfair a change was implemented for this year. The 1976 IHWC tournament was first to feature major league professionals from the NHL and WHA, although in the end only the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

made use of the new rule, recalling eight pros from the Minnesota North Stars and Minnesota Fighting Saints. Some nations, such as the Soviet Union, had been using pros all along, while circumventing their status by listing them in the military. The Americans promptly made the medal play off for the first time since 1962 after beating Sweden and tying Finland in the first round. The Czechoslovakia national ice hockey team won nine games and were unbeaten, becoming world champions for the fourth time. The defending champions from the

USSR 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 ...

finished 2nd after sensationally losing the opening game 4–6 to hosts Poland. Sweden won the bronze after beating the Americans 7-3 in the medal round. In the European standings Sweden moved up one position leaving the Soviets with the bronze for the first time ever.

World Championship Group A (Poland)

First round

Final Round 1–4 place

Consolation Round 5–8 place

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

was relegated to Group B.

was also relegated to make room for the return of team

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

.''

World Championship Group B (Switzerland)

Played in Aarau and Bienne 18–27 March. ''

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

was promoted to Group A, and both

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

were relegated to Group C.''

World Championship Group C (Poland)

Played in

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

8–13 March. ''Both

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

were promoted to Group B.''

Ranking and statistics

Tournament Awards

*Best players selected by the directorate: **Best Goaltender: Jiří Holeček **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: Vladimír Martinec *Media All-Star Team: **Goaltender: Jiří Holeček **Defence: František Pospíšil, Mats Waltin **Forwards: Valeri Kharlamov, Vladimír Martinec, Milan Nový

Final standings

The final standings of the tournament according to IIHF:

European championships final standings

The final standings of the European championships according to IIHF:

References

Complete results
* * {{IIHF Ice Hockey European Championships IIHF Men's World Ice Hockey Championships I

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

Sports competitions in Katowice Ice Hockey World Championships 20th century in Katowice International ice hockey competitions hosted by Switzerland Ice Hockey World Championships Aarau World Championships Sports competitions in Gdańsk 20th century in Gdańsk