The IIHF has released a new microsite for the 2015 World Championship in Prague and Ostrava, Czechia, iihfworlds2015.com, and with it released the full schedule for the World Championship in May.
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🇸🇪 Bäckström To Receive 2014 Olympic Silver Medal
One of the most intriguing story lines of the 2014 Gold Medal Game between Canada and Sweden, in which Canada won 3-0 to win its second straight Olympic Gold and retain the International Hockey Lineal Championship, was not the players in the game, but the one player who was not in the game: Nicklas Bäckström.
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IHLC Results – 🇺🇸 United States 3-0 Czechia 🇨🇿 – 09 Aug 2014
🇺🇸 United States 3-0 Czechia 🇨🇿
National Junior Evaluation Camp
Olympic Center, Lake Placid 🇺🇸
Saturday, 09 August 2014
BOXSCORE
1st Period
10:13 – 🇺🇸 PEN – Milano, roughing
10:13 – 🇨🇿 PEN – Mašín, roughing
10:51 – 🇺🇸 GOAL – Motte (Collins, Butcher)
11:09 – 🇺🇸 PEN – Downing, roughing
18:56 – 🇺🇸 PEN – Carlo, interference
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2015 Women’s World Championship Groups Announced
Some more details on the 2015 Worlds in Malmö have been released – the all-important groupings! The teams break down as follows (current IIHF rankings in parentheses):
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2015 World Championship Groups Announced
Some more details on the 2015 Worlds in Prague and Ostrava have been released – the all-important groupings! The teams break down as follows (current IIHF rankings in parentheses):
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2014 Four Nations Cup Schedule Announced
As reported by Hockey Canada, the schedule for the 2014 Four Nations Cup at the Interior Savings Centre in Kamloops, British Columbia has been announced. Canada will be looking to defend not only its Gold from the 2013 tournament in Lake Placid, New York, but also the IHLC that they captured from the United States at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
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2014-15 Euro Hockey Tour – Format Change
As reported by EuroHockey.com, there will be changes this year to the annual Euro Hockey Tour between the four European hockey powerhouses – Russia, Sweden, Finland and Czechia. Continue reading
IHLC Results – 🇺🇸 United States 9-1 Finland 🇫🇮 – 07 Aug 2014
🇺🇸 United States 9-1 Finland 🇫🇮
National Junior Evaluation Camp
Olympic Center, Lake Placid 🇺🇸
Thursday, 07 August 2014
BOXSCORE
1st Period
02:07 – 🇺🇸 PEN – Hayden, holding
05:04 – 🇺🇸 GOAL – Tuch (Eichel, Milano)
17:22 – 🇺🇸 GOAL – Motte (Eichel, Tuch)
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IHLC Team Profiles – 🇺🇸 United States (Men’s)
🇺🇸 UNITED STATES (USA) Men’s National Ice Hockey Team (1920-)
66 wins, 32 reigns, 73 games with IHLC – ranked 7th
current IHLC title holders (since 24 May 2025)
One of the original contenders for the IHLC, the United States has provided some of the most shocking upsets and wildest games in IHLC history, including the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, the 1960 Olympic “Forgotten Miracle,” and of course, the legendary 1980 “Miracle On Ice.” Team USA has been a rare consistent IHLC force in the 100+ years of the title, regularly putting forth competitive teams, and holding nearly thirty IHLC titles to show for it since their first win in 1933, being a consistent threat at all levels of international hockey, backed by some of the top names in the NHL.
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IHLC Team Profiles – 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan (Women’s)
🇰🇿 KAZAKHSTAN (KAZ) Women’s National Ice Hockey Team (1995-)
While the Kazakh women’s team has emerged as one of the top women’s teams in Asia, they have competed just once for the IHLC in 2005, being crushed 13-0 by Canada. Now playing in Division I, they will surely be pushing hard to compete again on the championship stage.
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IHLC Team Profiles – 🇩🇪 Germany (Women’s)
🇩🇪 GERMANY (GER) Women’s National Ice Hockey Team (1991-)
played as WEST GERMANY (FRG), 1988-90
First competing as West Germany at the inaugural World Championship in 1990, the German women’s team has so far been unable to capture the IHLC in nine attempts – however, they are continuing to improve, competing for the IHLC as recently as 2009, and finishing as good as fifth in both their latest World Championship (2013) and Olympic Games (2006).
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IHLC Team Profiles – 🇨🇳 China (Men’s)
🇨🇳 CHINA (CHN) Men’s National Ice Hockey Team (1972-)
An emerging hockey nation just by virtue of its sheer size, the Chinese men’s team will look to replicate the success of the women’s side before the 2022 Olympics in Beijing. With the world watching, China had a respectable appearance at their first Olympics, showing that there is great potential for homegrown talent to flourish in China. Continue reading
IHLC Team Profiles – 🇮🇹 Italy (Women’s)
🇮🇹 ITALY (ITA) Women’s National Ice Hockey Team (1993-)
Italy only emerged in the IHLC landscape as hosts of the 2006 Olympics in Turin, narrowly missing a chance to play for the IHLC after the title left their group before the Games began. But their opportunity came up two decades later, when hosting the 2026 Games in Milan, getting their first crack at the title as they continue to climb up the women’s hockey ranks.
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IHLC Team Profiles – 🇷🇺 Russia (Men’s)
🇷🇺 RUSSIA (RUS) Men’s National Ice Hockey Team (1992-)
played as SOVIET UNION (URS), 1951-91
played at Olympics as UNIFIED TEAM (EUN), 1992; OLYMPIC ATHLETES FROM RUSSIA (OAR), 2018; RUSSIAN OLYMPIC COMMITTEE (ROC), 2022
played at World Championships as RUSSIAN OLYMPIC COMMITTEE (ROC), 2021-22
476 wins, 74 reigns, 518 games with IHLC – ranked 1st
IHLC last held 19 December 2021
For the all-time leader in men’s IHLC victories, it is remarkable that the Russian team, first playing as the Soviet Union, did not compete for the IHLC until 1954, 49 years after the championship was established. But The Red Machine dominated international hockey for nearly four decades, setting records for IHLC wins, games played, and undefeated streaks, only occasionally being dethroned by the likes of spoilers played by Canada, the United States or Czechoslovakia. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Russian team that emerged has still played among the best of the IHLC, capturing dozens of IHLC titles since 1991.
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IHLC Team Profiles – 🇧🇾 Belarus (Men’s)
🇧🇾 BELARUS (BLR) Men’s National Ice Hockey Team (1992-)
6 wins, 5 reigns, 6 games with IHLC – ranked 13th
IHLC last held 17 December 2016
Belarus entered the world stage in 1992, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, needing five years to reach the Top Division of the World Championship. Six years following their creation, they first competed for the IHLC at the 1998 Nagano Olympics. The Bisons would win only their second ever IHLC game in one of the biggest international hockey upsets in history, knocking Sweden from the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. Since then, Belarus has won the IHLC a handful of times, and hosted their first major tournament with the 2014 IIHF World Championship in Minsk.
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IHLC Team Profiles – 🇫🇮 Finland (Women’s)
🇫🇮 FINLAND (FIN) Women’s National Ice Hockey Team (1988-)
4 wins, 4 reigns, 4 games with IHLC – ranked 4th
IHLC last held 09 November 2011
The Finnish squad has been on the world stage since the beginning of international women’s hockey, first competing at the 1990 World Championship. While the Finns are one of the five nations to ever hold the women’s IHLC, and are a mainstay of the annual Four Nations Cup, they have only won four IHLC games, holding the title for a single game in each reign. However, with women’s hockey getting more competitive every day, look for the Naisleijonat to become a more dominant player on the world stage.
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IHLC Team Profiles – 🇵🇱 Poland (Junior)
🇵🇱 POLAND (POL) Men’s Junior National Ice Hockey Team (1976-)
Poland was a participant at the first World Junior Championship in 1977 (finishing last), playing in the Top Division five more times before being relegated in 1997. Since then they have remained largely in Division I (despite a few drops to Division II), looking to crawl back up into the higher echelons of the tournament.
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IHLC Team Profiles – 🇯🇵 Japan (Women’s)
🇯🇵 JAPAN (JPN) Women’s National Ice Hockey Team (1987-)
Japan played at the inaugural Women’s World Tournament in 1987, losing their first IHLC game to Canada 11-0, emerging as an early IHLC contender, competing against the U.S., Canada and China in the 1995 and 1996 Pacific Rim Championships, and a handful of World Championship appearances in the 1990s. They finished sixth on home ice at the 1998 Olympics, and have since become a regular fixture at the Women’s World Championship in the modern era.
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IHLC Team Profiles – 🇮🇹 Italy (Men’s)
🇮🇹 ITALY (ITA) Men’s National Ice Hockey Team (1924-)
1 win, 1 reign, 1 game with IHLC – ranked 23rd
IHLC last held 13 May 2014
A surprising new force on the international hockey front, Italy stunned the hockey world by upsetting France (and winning their first IHLC) at the 2014 World Championship, 90 years after the Azzurri established a hockey team, and 80 years after their first IHLC tilt versus Switzerland. While Italy has always been a competitor towards the bottom of the Championship group on the world stage, Italy is now emerging as a more serious threat after an embarrassing performance as host at the 2006 Olympics in Turin.
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IHLC Team Profiles – 🇨🇦 Canada (Women’s)
🇨🇦 CANADA (CAN) Women’s National Ice Hockey Team (1987-)
274 wins, 45 reigns, 279 games with IHLC – ranked 1st
IHLC last held 13 April 2025
Canada’s women’s team, like their male counterparts, have largely dominated women’s hockey in its infancy, leading international squads in the number of World Championship and Olympic Gold Medals, in addition to being the all-time leader in IHLC wins, reigns, games and days as champion. Ever since kicking off the 1987 Women’s World Tournament, Canada has been nearly unstoppable, only in recent years being matched by their American counterparts, leading to some ultra-competitive instant classic tilts against Team USA, along with interesting games against emerging nations.
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International Hockey Lineal Championship 