1997 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships

World Championship Group A (Finland)

First round

Group 1

Group 2

Second Round 1–6 Place

Teams that had played each other in the first round carried those results forward. First and second place played off for gold, third and fourth for bronze.

Consolation Round 7–12 Place

Teams that had played each other in the first round carried those results forward. Last place was not relegated to Group B, instead they had to play against three qualifiers from Group B for the last two openings in the 1998 Group A tournament. This was Germany's lowest finish since 1965.

Norway was sent to 1998 Group A Qualifier.

Final round

Match for third place

2-0 2-1 3-1 3-2 3-3 4-3 Vladimir Vujtek − 12:21

Martin Procházka − 26:45

Jiří Dopita − 58:10

14:44 − Alexander Korolyuk

40:58 − Alexei Yashin 48:49 − Aleksandr Prokopiev

Final

1-1 2-1 3-1 3-2 Jonas Höglund – 15:29 Niklas Sundblad – 35:47 Marcus Thuresson – 56:05

59:22 – Anson Carter

1-1 1-2 1-3 Per Eklund – 30:56

38:09 – Anson Carter 47:42 – Mark Recchi

2-0 2-1 Owen Nolan – 21:56

58:43 – Michael Nylander

World Championship Group B (Poland)

Played 12–21 April in Katowice (Spodek) and Sosnowiec (Stadion Zimowy). With the announcement that Group A would be expanding from twelve to sixteen nations, Group B would also undergo significant changes. The winner and next year's host (Switzerland) were promoted. In addition, the remaining three best teams would win the opportunity to play in a qualifying tournament against the last place team from Group A, where the top two would be included in the Group A tournament.

Belarus, as winner, was promoted to Group A. Switzerland, as host, was also promoted to Group A. Kazakhstan, Austria, and Poland were all promoted to the Qualifying tournament for Group A, along with Norway. No one was relegated.

World Championship Group C (Estonia)

Played 22–28 March in Tallinn and Kohtla-Järve. Along with the expansion of Group A, a provision was made to allow the best "Far East" team to qualify directly. Beginning in 1999 there would be a tournament to decide who that would be. But for now, the top placing "Far East" hockey nation was able to proceed directly from Group C to Group A. For this year, as well, promotion to Group B was available to the top three European teams, and there was no relegation.

First round

Group 1

Group 2

Final Round 21–24 Place

Japan was promoted to Group A as the "Far East Qualifier", Ukraine, Slovenia, and Estonia were all promoted to Group B.

Consolation Round 25–28 Place

World Championship Group D (Andorra)

Played 7–14 April in Canillo. With Group A expansion, four nations were promoted to Group C.

First round

Group 1

Croatia and South Korea were promoted to Group C.

Group 2

Spain and Yugoslavia were promoted to Group C.

Final Round 29–32 Place

Consolation Round 33–36 Place

Unofficial Group E

Three men's teams that were going to be included in Group D in 1998 played a tournament in Ankara Turkey from 19 to 24 February 1997.

Ranking and statistics

Tournament Awards

• Best players selected by the directorate:
  • Best Goaltender: SWE Tommy Salo
  • Best Defenceman: CAN Rob Blake
  • Best Forward: SWE Michael Nylander
• Media All-Star Team:
  • Goaltender: SWE Tommy Salo
  • Defence: CAN Rob Blake, FIN Teppo Numminen
  • Forwards: SWE Michael Nylander, CZE Martin Procházka, CZE Vladimír Vůjtek

Final standings

The final standings of the tournament according to IIHF:

Scoring leaders

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

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.

IIHF Hall of Fame induction

The inaugural IIHF Hall of Fame induction ceremony was held during the 1997 World Championships, with 31 members inducted.

• Austria: Walter Wasservogel
• Belgium: Paul Loicq
• Canada: Father David Bauer, Gordon Juckes, Robert Lebel, Vic Lindquist, Seth Martin, Harry Sinden
• Czech Republic: Vlastimil Bubník, Jaroslav Drobný, Vladimír Kostka, Václav Nedomanský, Vladimír Zábrodský
• Finland: Urpo Ylönen
• France: Louis Magnus
• Germany: Erich Kühnhackl, Günther Sabetzki
• Great Britain: Bunny Ahearne
• Russia: Vsevolod Bobrov, Alexander Ragulin, Andrei Starovoytov, Anatoly Tarasov, Vladislav Tretiak
• Sweden: Arne Grunander, Anders Hedberg, Sven Tumba
• Switzerland: Bibi Torriani
• United States: Walter A. Brown, Bill Cleary, Gerry Cosby, John Mayasich

Citations

References

• Official IIHF Pool A website (via Internet Archive)
• Official IIHF Pool B website (via Internet Archive)
• Complete results

References

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