The 1987 Ice Hockey World Championships was the 52nd such event hosted by the International Ice Hockey Federation. It was also the 63rd European Championships. Teams representing 28 countries participated in four levels of competition.
In the Division A Championship held 17 April to 3 May in Vienna, Austria, each team played each other once in the preliminary round. The four best placed teams then played each other once in a championship round and, unlike the relegation round, the first round of results were not counted. Sweden won the gold medal for the fourth time and the Soviet Union won their 25th European title. In the European Championships, only the games of the first round between European teams counted. Switzerland was demoted to Division B.
Sweden's victory was a controversial one. The Germans had beaten both Canada and Finland when it was revealed that forward Miroslav Sikora had played for the Polish junior team in 1977. He was suspended, and the IIHF stripped West Germany of their two wins. The Germans took the matter to court, stating that they had been granted permission. Though Sikora remained suspended, the IIHF reinstated the two victories.[1][2] If the courts had not intervened, Finland would have replaced Sweden in the medal round.[3][4] Additionally, the Swedes earned the Gold over the Soviets by goal differential when the Soviets had gone undefeated and the Swedes had lost three preliminary round games. This led to further discussion of a change of format. The IIHF's account of the finale states that, "Sweden won thanks to an inflated score against Canada,"[5] however Sweden only needed to win by two (the same margin that the Czechoslovaks beat Canada by) for the Gold. In reality, the Soviets had to come from behind to capture Silver and deprive the Czechoslovaks of the Gold, and the Swedes winning by more than two ensured that the Czechoslovaks could not play to a tie and capture Gold.[6]
Promotion and relegation was effective for 1989 as the IIHF did not run a championship in Olympic years at this time. Nations that did not participate in the Calgary Olympics were invited to compete in the final Thayer Tutt Trophy.
Played in Canazei 26 March to 5 April. The top three teams earned Olympic berths, and the fourth place team played off against the Group C winner to join them.[3]
Played in Copenhagen, Herlev and Hørsholm 20–29 March. In addition to being promoted, the winner played off against the fourth placed Group B team for the final Olympic berth.[3]
^ abcJapan, Denmark, and Romania were tied with 2 head-to-head points each, and were ranked on head-to-head goal difference: Japan (+4), Denmark (0), and Romania (–4)
Both Japan and Denmark were promoted to Group B. On the final day, if either Romania or Yugoslavia had won, they would have been promoted, but they tied each other. Belgium was relegated to Group D, and later Romania chose to compete in Group D as well, for financial reasons.[8]
