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2008 IIHF World Championship
Official logo
Tournament details
Host nation  Canada
Dates May 2 – May 18
Teams 16
Venue(s) 2 (in 2 host cities)
Champions  Russia (2/241 titles)
Tournament statistics
Games played 54
Goals scored 357  (6.61 per game)
Attendance 477,040  (8,834 per game)
Scoring leader(s) Flag of Canada Dany Heatley (20 pts)
MVP Flag of Canada Dany Heatley

Infobox last updated on: May 18, 2008.
See also: 2008 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships

The 2008 IIHF World Championship was played between May 2 and May 18, 2008 in the Canadian cities of Halifax (Nova Scotia) and Quebec City (Quebec). The two venues were the Halifax Metro Centre and the Colisée Pepsi. The tournament was won by Russia which claimed its first gold medals since 1993.

It was the 72nd IIHF World Championship event, and was run by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It was the first time the final tournament is held in a non-European country since 1962, when it was held in Colorado, USA. The IIHF wanted to celebrate the federation's 100th anniversary by holding the tournament in the country where ice hockey was born. The tournament was also included as part of the celebrations of Quebec City's 400th anniversary.

The tournament served as the last and most important stage in selecting nine automatic qualifiers for the men's hockey competition at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, a process that uses the IIHF World Ranking standings after the tournament.2

On May 8, 2007, the IIHF announced it "will also formalize the Triple Gold Club by awarding commemorative medals to the 19 players who have won the three most prestigious championships in world hockey: Olympic gold, Stanley Cup, and World Championship gold. The ceremony will take place in Canada during the 2008 World Championship."3

There were two changes in the format compared to earlier years. Because of the distance between Halifax and Quebec City, the quarter-finals were played within the group, instead of crossing over which has happened since 2000. The relegation round was different too, as it consisted of two best-of-three series instead of a round robin series between four teams.

For the first time in 40 years, the matches were played on smaller, NHL size rinks, 200 ft × 85 ft (roughly 61 m × 26 m), compared to the IIHF standard which is 200 ft × 98.5 ft (roughly 61 m × 30 m).

Contents

Participating teams

See also: 2008 IIHF World Championship rosters
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D

Rules

For standing purposes, points shall be awarded as follows:

  • 3 points for a win in regulation time
  • 2 points for a win in overtime or in shootout
  • 1 point for a loss in overtime or in shootout
  • No points for a loss in regulation time

If a game is tied after regulation time, a five-minute four-on-four sudden-death overtime session is played followed by a three-player shootout if necessary. Exceptions: Quarter finals, Semi final and Bronze Medal overtime session are 10 minutes and Gold Medal game overtime session is 20 minutes.

If teams are tied in a standing based on points, the following tie-breakers are applied: 1) The most points earned in direct games involving tied teams. 2) The best goal differential in direct games involving tied teams. 3) The most goal scored in direct games involving tied teams. 4) Follow steps 1, 2 and 3 with games involving the highest non-tied team in the same group. 5) Repeat step 4 with games involving the second highest non-tied team in the same group. 6) Continue this process with all non-tied team games.4

Preliminary Round

Sixteen participating teams were placed in the following four groups.5 After playing a round-robin, the top three teams in each group advanced to the Qualifying Round while the last team competed in the relegation round.

     Team advanced to the Qualifying Round
     Team sent to compete in the Relegation Round

Group A

Team GP W OTW OTL L GF GA DIF PTS
 Switzerland 3 3 0 0 0 10 4 6 9
 Sweden 3 2 0 0 1 17 9 8 6
 Belarus 3 1 0 0 2 9 9 0 3
 France 3 0 0 0 3 2 16 -14 0

All times are local (UTC-4).

May 3, 2008 Belarus  5 – 6  Sweden Colisée Pepsi, Quebec City, Quebec
May 3, 2008 Switzerland  4 – 1  France Colisée Pepsi, Quebec City, Quebec
May 5, 2008 Switzerland  2 – 1  Belarus Colisée Pepsi, Quebec City, Quebec
May 5, 2008 Sweden  9 – 0  France Colisée Pepsi, Quebec City, Quebec
May 7, 2008 Sweden  2 – 4  Switzerland Colisée Pepsi, Quebec City, Quebec
May 7, 2008 France  1 – 3  Belarus Colisée Pepsi, Quebec City, Quebec

Group B

Team GP W OTW OTL L GF GA DIF PTS
 Canada 3 3 0 0 0 17 5 12 9
 United States 3 2 0 0 1 13 6 7 6
 Latvia 3 1 0 0 2 3 11 -8 3
 Slovenia 3 0 0 0 3 2 13 -11 0

All times are local (UTC-3).

May 2, 2008 Canada  5 – 1  Slovenia Metro Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia
May 2, 2008 United States  4 – 0  Latvia Metro Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia
May 4, 2008 Latvia  0 – 7  Canada Metro Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia
May 4, 2008 United States  5 – 1  Slovenia Metro Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia
May 6, 2008 Canada  5 – 4  United States Metro Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia
May 6, 2008 Slovenia  0 – 3  Latvia Metro Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Group C

Team GP W OTW OTL L GF GA DIF PTS
 Finland 3 2 1 0 0 11 5 6 8
 Norway 3 1 0 1 1 6 10 -4 4
 Germany 3 1 0 0 2 7 10 -3 3
 Slovakia 3 1 0 0 2 9 8 1 3

All times are local (UTC-3).

May 3, 2008 Germany  1 – 5  Finland Metro Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia
May 3, 2008 Slovakia  5 – 1  Norway Metro Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia
May 5, 2008 Finland  3 – 2 OT  Norway Metro Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia
May 5, 2008 Slovakia  2 – 4  Germany Metro Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia
May 7, 2008 Finland  3 – 2  Slovakia Metro Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia
May 7, 2008 Norway  3 – 2  Germany Metro Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Group D

Team GP W OTW OTL L GF GA DIF PTS
 Russia 3 2 1 0 0 16 6 10 8
 Czech Republic 3 2 0 1 0 16 9 7 7
 Denmark 3 1 0 0 2 9 11 -2 3
 Italy 3 0 0 0 3 5 20 -15 0

All times are local (UTC-4).

May 2, 2008 Denmark  2 – 5  Czech Republic Colisée Pepsi, Quebec City, Quebec
May 2, 2008 Russia  7 – 1  Italy Colisée Pepsi, Quebec City, Quebec
May 4, 2008 Czech Republic  4 – 5 OT  Russia Colisée Pepsi, Quebec City, Quebec
May 4, 2008 Italy  2 – 6  Denmark Colisée Pepsi, Quebec City, Quebec
May 6, 2008 Russia  4 – 1  Denmark Colisée Pepsi, Quebec City, Quebec
May 6, 2008 Czech Republic  7 – 2  Italy Colisée Pepsi, Quebec City, Quebec

Qualifying Round

The top three teams in the standings of each group of the Preliminary Round advance to the Qualifying Round, and are placed in two groups: teams from Groups A and D compete in Group E, while teams from Groups B and C compete in Group F.

Each team is to play three games in this round, one against each of the three teams from the other group with which they have been paired. These three games, along with the two games already played against the other two advancing teams from the same group in the Preliminary Round, will count in the Qualifying Round standings.

The top four teams in both groups E and F to advance in Quarter-Finals.4

     Team advanced to the Playoff Round