The 2022 IIHF World Championship was hosted by Finland from 13 to 29 May 2022, as the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) announced on 19 May 2017 in Cologne, Germany.[1] The host cities of the World Championships were Tampere and Helsinki, of which Tampere's brand-new Nokia Arena served as the main venue of the games.[2]
Finland defeated Canada 4–3 in overtime in the gold medal game for their fourth title and their first medal ever won on home ice.[8] This marked the first time since the introduction of the playoff round in 1992 that the same two teams met in the gold medal game three tournaments in a row.[9] Czechia won the bronze medal, their first medal since 2012, after an 8–4 win over the United States.[10]
The tournament saw multiple historic upsets: Austria's first victory against Czechia, and Denmark's first victory against Canada.[11][12] In addition, it suffered from the lowest attendance in two decades, excluding the 2021 tournament played without audience; some attribute this to the absence of Russia.[13]
1 Pursuant to a December 2020 ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on doping sanctions, Russian athletes and teams were prohibited from competing under the Russian flag or using the Russian national anthem at any Olympic Games or world championships through 16 December 2022, and could only compete as "neutral athlete[s]."[15] For IIHF tournaments, the Russian team was to play under the name "ROC".[16] Instead of the Russian national anthem being played at the 2021 World Championship, Piano Concerto No.1 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was to be played.[17] 2 However, on 28 February 2022, the IIHF decided to expel ROC and Belarus from the tournament due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[5] 3 Austria and France replaced Russia and Belarus.[18]
Each team's roster consisted of at least 15 skaters (forwards, and defencemen) and 2 goaltenders, and at most 22 skaters and 3 goaltenders. All 16 participating nations, through the confirmation of their respective national associations, had to submit a "Long List" no later than two weeks before the tournament, and a final roster by the Passport Control meeting prior to the start of the tournament.
Match officials
Tampere light rail advertising the 2022 World ChampionshipsMiracleo, the official mascot
16 referees and linesmen were announced on 12 May 2022.[21]
Referees
Linesmen
Jeff Ingram
Fraser Lawrence
Robin Šír
Mads Frandsen
Lassi Heikkinen
Kristian Vikman
Pierre Dehaen
Marian Rohatsch
Andris Ansons
Roy Stian Hansen
Peter Stano
Mikael Nord
Linus Öhlund
Miroslav Stolc
Sean MacFarlane
Jake Rekucki
Elias Seewald
Maxime Chaput
Nathan van Oosten
Josef Špůr
Andreas Krøyer
Tommi Niittylä
Hannu Sormunen
Nicolas Constantineau
Jonas Merten
Daniel Beresford
Dāvis Zunde
Šimon Synek
Emil Yletyinen
David Obwegeser
Nick Briganti
Jake Davis
Preliminary round
The groups were announced on 7 June 2021,[22] with the schedule being revealed on 18 August 2021.[23]
Source: IIHF Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament. (R) Relegated Notes:
Source: IIHF Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament. (H) Host; (R) Relegated Notes:
Source: IIHF Rules for classification: 1) position in the group; 2) number of points; 3) goal difference; 4) goals scored; 5) seeding before tournament.[24] (H) Host
Statistics
Nokia Arena's commentator seats
Scoring leaders
List shows the top skaters sorted by points, then goals.
TOI = time on ice (minutes:seconds); SA = shots against; GA = goals against; GAA = goals against average; Sv% = save percentage; SO = shutouts
Source: IIHF.com
