Hockey: history and development

Ice hockey - a team game on ice, with the participation of two teams competing with each other. Each team on the rink is 6 players: a goalkeeper, two defenders and three attackers. Match consists of three periods, the duration of each of them is 20 minutes.

The emergence of hockey

The history of this game has its origins in Canada, despite the fact that some Dutch paintings of the XVI century shows a group of people playing on ice like a hockey game. Some sources say that it originated in Montreal. But others argue that the birthplace of hockey is considered to Ontario. The exact year of occurrence of the sport remains unknown.

In the middle of the XVIII century, the British Empire won over Canada in France and brought to the continent of field hockey, which is not caught on because of the cool weather. For centuries, the inhabitants of Canada's preferred winter sports. March 3, 1875 in Montreal, the first hockey match.

Hockey Ice Hockey World Championship

World championships have a special place in the history of hockey. For the first time the tournament was held in 1920. The event was organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation. In 1920, 1924 and 1928, the years of the world championship was held only in the framework of the Olympic Games, but the tournament became an annual event since 1930. The exception was the period from 1940 to 1946, the year when there was the Second World War.

Ice Hockey World Championship is held in two stages. At first the team played in the group stage, to identify those who will be released in the play-off round. All participate in the tournament 16 national teams. They are divided into two groups of 8 teams. In the second stage of the competition are four teams from each group.

In the group collecting meet with each other once. In the entire history of the world championship on hockey has changed the rules of the competition only once. It happened in 2007, when it was decided to carry out a five-minute overtime to thrown back the puck, if most of the time the match ends in a draw. If the overtime winner is not revealed, punched bullets. Before that tied score was valid.

playoff round consists of three stages: the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and a match for the third place (final). At each stage held only one meeting. In the match for third place converge teams that lost in the 1/2 finals. If a tie score OT plays a duration of 20 minutes in the final. If a draw in the early stages of the playoffs, the duration of the extra time is 10 minutes.

The winners of the World Championships before the start of World War II

The first world champion in the history of ice hockey was the team of Canada, which has beaten in the final of 1920 the United States team. Four years later the current showdown persons were those same teams and again Canadians were able to win. In 1928, Canada won its third gold by defeating Sweden.

From 1930 to 1932 the team page of the wedge plate won 3 tournaments in a row, winning the final match against the Germans and the Americans twice. In 1933, the US team was able to take revenge is, their northern neighbors and won the first gold medal for himself. And for the first time, Canadians have failed to become world champions.

In the period from 1934 to 1939, Team Canada won 5 out of 6 tournaments. First, the "red-white" returned the debt of the US team, then beat the Swiss. In 1936, the United Kingdom took away the title of world champions Canada, but the founders of fashion in hockey returned it themselves after only a season, beating in the finals of the very British.

World Championships between 1947 and 1954

The first post-war world champion ice hockey team became Czechoslovakia, who beat Sweden in the home tournament. The competition was held in 1947 and was the first in the history of ice hockey championship, which in the final played Canadian hockey players. In the next two finals played the Canadians and the Czechs. In 1948 he won the representatives of North America, and in 1949 - the Europeans.

In 1950, 1951 and 1952 again won only Canadians who have beaten the US, Sweden and the United States again, respectively. In 1953, the first victory in the tournament produced Swedish national team, winning the final of the Germans.

The advent of the World Cup team of the USSR

In 1954, there was one of the most important events in the history of hockey. World Cup team won the Soviet Union in defeating the pioneers of hockey final. From that moment the players of the USSR began to annually hold high places at the world championships.

A year later, Soviet athletes won the second place, in 1956, became world champions again. Since 1957, within three years of the USSR national team three times became silver medalist, and then two more world championships Soviet Union ranked third. In those years we became the champions of Americans and Canadians. In 1962, the tournament was won by the Swedes, who have been world champions three times.

Soviet hegemony of

Since 1963, over 9 years of the Soviet Union team won every single world championships. In all that time in the finals contenders Soviet team had only the Swedes and Czechs. 9 years on the podium were only four teams: the Soviet Union, Sweden, Czechoslovakia and Canada. The national team of North American has won three bronze medals in the period from 1966 to 1968. In 1972, Czechoslovak ice hockey players were able to break the hegemony of the Soviet Union, beating them in the final home to host the World Cup. But the Soviet Union to move from the first place it was only for one year. Already at the World Cup in 1973 in Moscow, Soviet hockey players again become world champions. They repeated their achievement in 1974 and 1975, twice defeating the team of Czechoslovakia.

After that double at the world championships triumph Czechoslovakia. But since 1978, the Soviet Union did not give anyone the gold of the world championships for 5 years. From 1985 to 1992, the gold medal twice managed to win the team of the USSR, three times - the Swedes and once the victory was celebrated hockey team Czechoslovakia.

World Championships the past 25 years,

After the collapse of the Soviet Union for the first World Cup tournament in 1992 the Russians was the year in which they lost in the quarter-finals stage. A year later the Russian team became world champion by defeating Sweden in the final.

A year later, Team Canada was able to win his first gold medal in 33 years. In 1995, the first time champions were Finns. In 1996 and in the period from 1999 to 2001, winning the tournament scored the Czechs. Between their first and second gold medal triumphs we were able to win the Canadians and Swedes. In 2002, the first in its history, won the title Slovaks.

Over the past 15 years, five times won the championship worlds Canadians, 4 times winner of the tournament became the Russians, once the Finns with the Czechs celebrated the victory and three gold back home Swedish hockey players. It is Sweden's national team is the reigning champion on hockey.

Statistics World Cup

The Czech Republic / Czechoslovakia and Sweden are the most frequent participants of the tournament for all the hockey history. They took part in 75 competitions. In second place are the Canadians with 70 visits to the hockey world championship. 3-4 places are shared by teams of the United States and Finland, which have played 68 tournaments.

The greatest number of times world champion on hockey in the history of the competition became the Russian team (given the performance of the USSR) - 27 first places. The second line is the Team Canada with 26 gold awards in the asset. But all medals North Americans more - 49 against 46 in Russia (based on medals of the USSR).

Ice Hockey World Championship: the history of meetings between the USSR and Canada

Matches between Canada and the Soviet Union became classics not only of the world of hockey, but all sports. They first met in the World Cup 1954 final match. Soviet hockey players defeated with a score of 7-2 of his famous rivals.

In 1972, the USSR national team against the Canadians put up a team that consisted solely of professional hockey. It is from this year began an implacable hatred between the hockey team. The Soviet Union began Unfortunately, Canada has ceased to show good results when dominate world hockey. Since 1954, only 5 times these teams met in the finals. Canadians have won three times and double the success enjoyed hockey players of the USSR.

Ice Hockey World Championship: Russia's history of meetings and Canada

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia became the legal successor of the USSR, and the confrontation between the two hockey nations moved to a new level. the team first came together on the ice at the World Cup in 1992, when the Russians won by 6-4. A year later, Canadians get even by beating the Russian team with a score of 3-1 in the group, but lost in the semifinals. At the 1994 World Cup, Canada triumphed again, and was again on the scoreboard recorded the 3-1.

In 1995 and 1996, at the world championships defeated the Russians, but had to wait until 2008, after the next victory Fans of the Russian team. In 2015, in the world championship final, conducting in Prague, the Canadians defeated in the finals of the Russian team with a score of 6-1. World Cup-2017 "red-white" met with the Russian team in the semi-final stage and beat them 4-2.