2021 IIHF World Championship

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2021 IIHF World Championship
2021 IIHF World Championship logo.png
Tournament details
Host nation  Latvia
Dates 21 May – 6 June
Teams 16
Venue(s) 2 (in 1 host city)
Champions  Canada (27 titles)
Tournament statistics
Games played 64
Goals scored 324  (5.06 per game)
Attendance 934  (15 per game)
Scoring leader(s) Flag of Canada Connor Brown
MVP Flag of Canada Andrew Mangiapane

The 2021 IIHF World Championship (Latvian: 2021. gada Pasaules čempionāts hokejā) took place from 21 May to 6 June 2021.[1] It was originally to be co-hosted by Minsk, Belarus and Riga, Latvia, as the IIHF announced on 19 May 2017 in Cologne, Germany.[2] Their joint bid won by a very tight margin against the Finnish bid with the cities of Tampere and Helsinki.[2] On 18 January 2021 the IIHF decided to remove Belarus as a co-host due to the rising political unrest there.[3] On 2 February, the IIHF voted to confirm Latvia as the sole host for the 2021 IIHF World Championship.[4]

This tournament was notable for the number of upsets that occurred in the preliminary round, including Denmark and Belarus' victories over Sweden, Kazakhstan's victory over Finland, Slovakia's victory over Russia, and Latvia's victory over Canada.[5] Sweden did not qualify for the quarter-finals for the first time since the current format has been introduced.[6] On the other hand, Kazakhstan recorded their best World Championship result to date, finishing tenth, while only narrowly missing their first-ever play-off appearance.

Canada won their 27th title, after defeating Finland in the final in overtime. Canada was the first team in history to win gold despite losing four times during the tournament.[7] The United States won the bronze medal game, defeating Germany 6–1.[8]

Tournament

COVID-19 restrictions

Due to COVID-19 pandemic protocols, the tournament was initially held behind closed doors with no spectators. Prior to the beginning of the tournament, and against objections by Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš and Minister of Health Daniels Pavļuts, the Latvian parliament voted in favour of a notion ordering the government to develop a plan for allowing spectators who are either fully vaccinated or otherwise immune due to recent infection.[9]

Spectators were admitted beginning June 1, and were to present electronic verification that they have either been fully vaccinated no fewer than 14 days prior with the Janssen, Moderna, or Pfizer vaccine, been fully vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine, have received the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine between 22 and 90 days prior, or have recently recovered from COVID-19. Arēna Rīga was capped at 2,660 spectators, and the Olympic Sports Centre at 1,058. Face masks were mandatory.[10]

Belarus hosting controversy

Despite similar political opposition in 2014 when Belarus was the sole host of the IIHF World Championship, Belarus was to be the co-host for the 2021 Championship. However, in the wake of the ongoing 2020–2021 Belarusian protests, several political groups, politicians and international entities, including the European Parliament and Krišjānis Kariņš, the Prime Minister of Latvia, which was set to co-host the championship, protested tournament matches being held in Belarus, and called for the country to be stripped of co-hosting duties.[11][12][13][14][15][16] Several sponsors of the tournament reportedly threatened to withdraw from sponsoring the event if it took place in Belarus.[17][18][19]

On January 18, 2021, the IIHF, citing "safety and security issues," decided that the World Championship would not be played in Belarus.[3] Latvia would remain as a co-host for the time being, but the IIHF was considering whether to go with another site, due to COVID-19 constraints and the desirability for single-site travel. Both Denmark and Slovakia (the tournament hosts in 2018 and 2019, respectively) reportedly offered to step in as hosts.[3][20] An offer from Lithuania was declined by both the IIHF and the Latvian Ice Hockey Federation.[21]

Belarus flag controversy

Controversial flagpoles of the teams at the 2021 IIHF World Championship in Riga, with the Belarusian flag replaced.

On May 24, 2021, following the Ryanair Flight 4978 incident, Latvian officials replaced the Belarusian state flag in Riga with the former flag faced with the former coat of arms used by opposition groups, including at the 2021 IIHF World Championship display of flags, which was replaced by Mayor of Riga Mārtiņš Staķis and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia Edgars Rinkēvičs. As a result, Belarus expelled the entire Latvian embassy from their country.[22] The IIHF issued a statement protesting the replacement of the flag, and IIHF president René Fasel asked Riga's mayor to remove the IIHF name, flag and symbols from such sites, or to restore the flag, insisting that the IIHF is an "apolitical sports organization".[23] In response, Staķis said he would remove the IIHF flags.[24][25] On May 28, 2021, Belarus opened a criminal case against Staķis and Rinkēvičs, accusing them of fuelling "national enmity".[26]

Participants

Qualified as host

Automatic qualifier after the cancellation of the 2020 IIHF World Championship

1 Pursuant to a December 2020 ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on doping sanctions, Russian athletes and teams are 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 must compete as "neutral athlete[s]."[27] For IIHF tournaments, the Russian team will play under the name "Russian Olympic Committee" (ROC).[28] Instead of the Russian national anthem being played at the 2021 World Championship, Piano Concerto No. 1 by Pyotr Illych Tchaikovsky was played.[29]

Seeding

The seedings in the preliminary round are based on the 2020 IIHF World Ranking, as of the end of the 2019 IIHF World Championship, using the serpentine system with a swap between Canada and ROC to "accommodate special organizational needs".[30]

Group A

Group B

Mascot

Spiky the Hedgehog on the 2021 stamp of Latvia

The official mascot of the tournament was revealed in February 2020 by the IIHF. His name is Spiky the Hedgehog and he was voted by the fans in Belarus and Latvia. The hedgehog is a very popular animal in the hosting countries and it represents the fighting spirit and determination of the Belarus and Latvian national hockey teams.[31]

Preliminary round

The groups were announced on 20 May 2020.[30] The schedule was released on 5 February 2021.[32]

Group A

Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  ROC 7 5 1 0 1 28 10 18 17 Quarterfinals
2  Switzerland 7 5 0 0 2 27 17 10 15
3  Czech Republic 7 3 2 0 2 27 18 9 13
4  Slovakia 7 4 0 0 3 17 22 −5 12
5  Sweden 7 3 0 1 3 21 14 7 10
6  Denmark 7 2 1 1 3 13 15 −2 9
7  Great Britain 7 1 0 1 5 13 31 −18 4
8  Belarus 7 1 0 1 5 10 29 −19 4
21 May 2021
ROC  4–3  Czech Republic
Belarus  2–5  Slovakia
22 May 2021
Denmark  4–3  Sweden
Great Britain  1–7  ROC
Czech Republic  2–5  Switzerland
23 May 2021
Great Britain  1–2  Slovakia
Sweden  0–1  Belarus
Denmark  0–1  Switzerland
24 May 2021
Slovakia  3–1  ROC
Czech Republic  3–2 (OT)  Belarus
25 May 2021
Great Britain  2–3 (OT)  Denmark
Switzerland  0–7  Sweden
26 May 2021
ROC  3–0  Denmark
Belarus  3–4  Great Britain
27 May 2021
Switzerland  8–1  Slovakia
Sweden  2–4  Czech Republic
28 May 2021
Sweden  4–1  Great Britain
Denmark  5–2  Belarus
29 May 2021
Czech Republic  6–1  Great Britain
Switzerland  1–4  ROC
Slovakia  2–0  Denmark
30 May 2021
Belarus  0–6  Switzerland
Sweden  3–1  Slovakia
31 May 2021
Czech Republic  2–1 (GWS)  Denmark
ROC  3–2 (GWS)  Sweden
1 June 2021
Switzerland  6–3  Great Britain
Slovakia  3–7  Czech Republic
ROC  6–0  Belarus

Group B

Pos Team Pld W OTW OTL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  United States 7 6 0 0 1 21 8 13 18 Quarterfinals
2  Finland 7 4 2 1 0 19 10 9 17
3  Germany 7 4 0 0 3 22 14 8 12
4  Canada 7 3 0 1 3 19 18 1 10
5  Kazakhstan 7 2 2 0 3 22 18 4 10
6  Latvia (H) 7 2 0 3 2 15 16 −1 9
7  Norway 7 2 1 0 4 17 21 −4 8
8  Italy 7 0 0 0 7 11 41 −30 0
21 May 2021
Germany  9–4  Italy
Canada  0–2  Latvia
22 May 2021
Norway  1–5  Germany
Finland  2–1  United States
Latvia  2–3 (GWS)  Kazakhstan
23 May 2021
Norway  4–1  Italy
Kazakhstan  2–1 (GWS)  Finland
Canada  1–5  United States
24 May 2021
Latvia  3–0  Italy
Germany  3–1  Canada
25 May 2021
United States  3–0  Kazakhstan
Finland  5–2  Norway
26 May 2021
Kazakhstan  3–2  Germany
Canada  4–2  Norway
27 May 2021
United States  4–2  Latvia
Finland  3–0  Italy
28 May 2021
Kazakhstan  2–4  Canada
Latvia  3–4 (GWS)  Norway
29 May 2021
Italy  3–11  Kazakhstan
Norway  1–2  United States
Germany  1–2  Finland
30 May 2021
Italy  1–7  Canada
Finland  3–2 (OT)  Latvia
31 May 2021
United States  2–0  Germany
Norway  3–1  Kazakhstan
1 June 2021
Canada  2–3 (GWS)  Finland
Italy  2–4  United States
Germany  2–1  Latvia

Playoff round

Pairings

Quarter-finalists were paired according to their positions in the groups: the first-place team in each preliminary-round group played the fourth-place team of the other group, while the second-place team played the third-place team of the other group.[33]

Semi-finalists are paired according to their seeding after the preliminary round, which is determined by the following criteria: 1) position in the group; 2) number of points; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored for; 5) seeding number entering the tournament. The best-ranked semi-finalist plays against the lowest-ranked semi-finalist, while the second-best-ranked semi-finalist plays the third-best-ranked semi-finalist.[33]

Rank Team Grp Pos Pts GD GF Seed
1  United States B 1 18 +13 21 6
2  ROC A 1 17 +18 28 2
3  Finland B 2 17 +9 19 3
4  Switzerland A 2 15 +10 27 8
5  Czech Republic A 3 13 +9 27 5
6  Germany B 3 12 +8 22 7
7  Slovakia A 4 12 −5 17 9
8  Canada B 4 10 +1 19 1

Quarterfinals

Switzerland vs Germany

3 June 2021
16:15 		Switzerland  2–3 GWS
(1–0, 1–1, 0–1)
(OT: 0–0)
(SO: 0–1) 		 Germany Olympic Sports Centre, Riga

United States vs Slovakia

3 June 2021
16:15 		United States  6–1
(3–0, 1–1, 2–0) 		 Slovakia Arena Riga, Riga

ROC vs Canada

3 June 2021
20:15 		ROC  1–2 OT
(0–0, 1–0, 0–1)
(OT: 0–1) 		 Canada Olympic Sports Centre, Riga

Finland vs Czech Republic

3 June 2021
20:15 		Finland  1–0
(0–0, 1–0, 0–0) 		 Czech Republic Arēna Rīga, Riga

Semifinals

United States vs Canada

5 June 2021
14:15 		United States  2–4
(1–1, 0–1, 1–2) 		 Canada Arēna Rīga, Riga

Finland vs Germany

5 June 2021
18:15 		Finland  2–1
(2–0, 0–1, 0–0) 		 Germany Arēna Rīga, Riga

Bronze medal game

6 June 2021
15:15 		United States  6–1
(1–0, 4–0, 1–1) 		 Germany Arēna Rīga, Riga

Final

6 June 2021
20:15 		Finland  2–3 OT
(1–0, 0–1, 1–1)
(OT: 0–1) 		 Canada Arena Riga, Riga

References

  1. ↑ "Welcome to Minsk & Riga in 2021". IIHF.com. 22 June 2020. https://www.iihf.com/en/events/2021/wm/news/19621/welcome-to-minsk-riga-in-2021. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Merk, Martin (19 May 2017). "To Minsk & Riga in 2021!". IIHF.com. http://www.iihfworlds2017.com/en/news/to-minsk-riga-in-2021/. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "IIHF to move 2021 World Championship". IIHF.com. 18 January 2021. https://www.iihf.com/en/events/2021/wm/news/24134/iihf_to_move_2021_world_championship. 
  4. ↑ "Latvia confirmed as Worlds host". IIHF.com. 2 February 2021. https://www.iihf.com/en/events/2021/wm/news/24333/latvia_confirmed_as_worlds_host. 
  5. ↑ Ellis, Steven. "World Championship Roundup: Upsets Galore in Crazy Sunday". https://www.si.com/hockey/news/world-championship-roundup-upsets-galore-in-crazy-sunday. 
  6. ↑ "IIHF - Sweden dumped out in group stage" (in en). https://www.iihf.com/en/events/2021/wm/news/26131/sweden_dumped_out_in_group_stage. 
  7. ↑ "Canada wins "little miracle" gold". IIHF.com. 6 June 2021. https://www.iihf.com/en/events/2021/wm/news/26359/can_fin_gold. 
  8. ↑ "U.S. defeats Germany for bronze". IIHF.com. 6 June 2021. https://www.iihf.com/en/events/2021/wm/news/26345/game-63-usa-ger-bmg. 
  9. ↑ "Latvian Parliament votes to allow fans at IIHF World Championship". https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1108057/ice-hockey-world-championship. 
  10. ↑ "Spectators to be allowed into ice hockey arenas from June 1st" (in en). https://eng.lsm.lv/article/culture/sport/spectators-to-be-allowed-into-ice-hockey-arenas-from-june-1st.a406479/. 
  11. ↑ "EU Parliament's letter on BELARUS to the IIHF". https://violavoncramon.eu/2020/12/23/eu-parliaments-letter-on-belarus-to-the-iihf/. 
  12. ↑ Situation in Belarus. European Parliament resolution of September 17 2020 on the situation in Belarus(2020/2779(RSP))
  13. ↑ "Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation". https://bssf.team/en/. 
  14. ↑ "Leuchanka joins calls for IIHF to strip Belarus of World Championship co-hosting rights". https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1102138/belarus-leuchanka-letter-to-iihf. 
  15. ↑ "Ice Hockey: Belarus must meet 'specific requirements' to host World Championship". Deutsche Welle. 14 January 2021. https://www.dw.com/en/ice-hockey-belarus-must-meet-specific-requirements-to-host-world-championship/a-56224501. 
  16. ↑ "Karins still does not see it possible for Minsk to host 2021 Hockey World Championship". 12 January 2021. https://www.baltictimes.com/karins_still_does_not_see_it_possible_for_minsk_to_host_2021_hockey_world_championship/. 
  17. ↑ "Ice hockey sponsors threaten contract cancellation if championship stays in Belarus". 18 January 2021. https://insidersport.com/2021/01/18/ice-hockey-sponsors-threaten-contract-cancellation-if-championship-stays-in-belarus/. 
  18. ↑ "'Nivea' has refused to sponsor a world hockey championship in Belarus". https://www.worldin.news/51274/2021/01/nivea-has-refused-to-sponsor-a-world-hockey-championship-in-belarus.html. 
  19. ↑ "ŠKoda Refused to Sponsor the 2021 World Ice Hockey Championship if It Is Held in Belarus". https://charter97.org/en/news/2021/1/16/407807/. 
  20. ↑ "IIHF won't hold men's worlds in Belarus". TSN. 18 January 2021. https://www.tsn.ca/international-ice-hockey-federation-will-not-hold-2021-ice-hockey-world-championship-in-belarus-1.1578987. 
  21. ↑ "Lithuania offers Latvia to co-host 2021 World Ice Hockey Championship". 20 January 2021. https://bnn-news.com/lithuania-offers-latvia-to-co-host-2021-world-ice-hockey-championship-221043. 
  22. ↑ "Belarus and Latvia expel diplomats in ice hockey flag furor". 25 May 2021. https://www.dw.com/en/belarus-and-latvia-expel-diplomats-in-ice-hockey-flag-furor/a-57648894. 
  23. ↑ "Latvia and hockey body spar over Belarus opposition flag". 25 May 2021. https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210525-latvia-and-hockey-body-spar-over-belarus-opposition-flag. 
  24. ↑ "Ice Hockey Federation boss Fasel unhappy with Belarus flag switch". 25 May 2021. https://eng.lsm.lv/article/culture/sport/ice-hockey-federation-boss-fasel-unhappy-with-belarus-flag-switch.a406087/. 
  25. ↑ "Latvia removes ice hockey body's banner in row over Belarus flag swap". 25 May 2021. https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/ice-hockey-federation-criticises-latvian-officials-over-belarus-flag-swap-2021-05-25/. 
  26. ↑ "Belarus opens criminal case against Latvian officials over ice hockey flag swap -Belta". 28 May 2021. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-belarus-politics-icehockey/belarus-opens-criminal-case-against-latvian-officials-over-ice-hockey-flag-swap-belta-idUSKCN2D91IY. 
  27. ↑ Wamsley, Laurel; Kennedy, Merrit (17 December 2020). "Russia Gets Its Doping Ban Reduced But Will Miss Next 2 Olympics". https://www.npr.org/2020/12/17/947504052/russia-suspended-from-next-2-olympic-games-over-anti-doping-violations. 
  28. ↑ "New jersey for Russians". 2 May 2021. https://www.iihf.com/en/events/2021/wm/news/25249/new_jersey_for_russians. 
  29. ↑ "IIHF chief Fasel confirms Tchaikovsky music as Russia's anthem at 2021 World Championship". 29 April 2021. https://tass.com/sport/1285017. 
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 "Groups for Belarus/Latvia 2021". iihf.com. 20 May 2020. https://www.iihf.com/en/news/19298/groups-for-minsk-riga-2021. 
  31. ↑ "Program semifinále a finále MS v hokeji 2021 | Rozpis zápasů play off". https://www.sport.cz/hokej/ms-2021/clanek/2046364-ms-hokej-program-skupiny-tabulka.html. 
  32. ↑ "Latvia opens Worlds vs. Canada". IIHF.com. 5 February 2021. https://www.iihf.com/en/events/2021/wm/news/24408/latvia_opens_worlds_vs_canada. 
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named TournamentFormat

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