1972 Ice Hockey World Championships
1972 edition of the World Ice Hockey Championships / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1972 Ice Hockey World Championships was the 39th edition of the Ice Hockey World Championships. The tournament was held in Prague, Czechoslovakia 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, ending the Soviet Union's streak of nine consecutive titles.[1] In addition it was the Czechoslovaks' 12th European title.
Tournament details | |
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Host country | ![]() |
Venue(s) | 1 (in 1 host city) |
Dates | 7–22 April |
Teams | 6 |
Final positions | |
Champions ![]() | ![]() |
Runner-up ![]() | ![]() |
Third place ![]() | ![]() |
Fourth place | ![]() |
Tournament statistics | |
Games played | 30 |
Goals scored | 288 (9.6 per game) |
Attendance | 285,564 (9,519 per game) |
Scoring leader(s) | ![]() |
For the first time, a separate tournament is held for both the World Championships and the Winter Olympics. Previously, the Winter Olympics tournament was held in lieu of a world championships, with the winner being declared world champion for that year.[1] It also marked the first time in international ice hockey that all goaltenders were required to wear face masks.[1]
The American team, who had won the Silver medal earlier in the year at the Olympics, could not even win the 'B' pool, losing to Poland in their final game.