IIHF World Championship Division I

IIHF World Championship Division I
Sport	Ice hockey
Founded	1951 (Pool B) 2001 (Division I)
No. of teams	12
Most recent champion(s)	Kazakhstan (Group A) South Korea (Group B)
Most championship(s)	Poland/Italy (7)
Official website	IIHF.com

The IIHF World Championship Division I is an annual sports event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation. The divisional championship is played in two groups.

From 2001 until 2011 the two national teams that lost the relegation round at the IIHF World Championship were relegated to Division I for the following year's World Championships. At the Division I Championship, the winner of each group was promoted to the following year's IIHF World Championship, while the loser of each group was relegated to the Division II. Beginning in 2012, the last place team from each group in the world championship is relegated to Division I A, to be replaced by first and second place in Division I A. Sixth place in I A is relegated (now) to group I B, replaced by its winner, while sixth in I B is relegated to Division II.

The Division I World Championship was formed in 2001 from Pool B and the top four Pool C teams. Beginning in 2012 the two groups became tiered rather than parallel. Group A teams were the nations who either were relegated from the World Championship, or placed 2nd and 3rd in their 2011 groups. Group B was formed from the 4th and 5th placed teams, as well as the teams promoted from Division II. Japan qualified for group A because the IIHF council voted unanimously to allow Japan to maintain their seeded position (3rd) in their respective tournaments for 2012.

Division I

Group A

National Team	Ranking^	In 2013
Italy	18th	Elite Division
Kazakhstan	17th	Elite Division
Japan	21st	Division I Group A
Ukraine	20th	Division I Group A
Hungary	19th	Division I Group A
Poland	24th	Division I Group B

Group B

Was played in Eindhoven, Netherlands, from 13 to 19 April 2015.

National Team	Ranking^	In 2013
South Korea	23rd	Division I Group A
Croatia	28th	Division I Group B
Lithuania	26th	Division I Group B
Great Britain	22nd	Division I Group B
Netherlands	25th	Division I Group B
Estonia	29th	Division II Group A

^ – World Ranking

Results

Year	Promoted		Relegated
	To Top Division	To Division I A	To Division I B	To Division II
2001	Poland, Slovenia			Lithuania, Estonia
2002	Belarus, Denmark			South Korea, China
2003	Kazakhstan, France			Lithuania, Croatia
2004	Belarus, Slovenia			Belgium, South Korea
2005	Norway, Italy			China, Romania
2006	Germany, Austria			Israel, Croatia
2007	France, Slovenia			China, Romania
2008	Hungary, Austria			Estonia, South Korea
2009	Italy, Kazakhstan			Romania, Australia
2010	Slovenia, Austria			Croatia, Serbia
2011	Italy, Kazakhstan			Spain, Estonia
2012	Slovenia, Austria	South Korea	Ukraine	Australia
2013	Italy, Kazakhstan	Ukraine	Great Britain	Estonia
2014	Slovenia, Austria	Poland	South Korea	Romania
2015	Kazakhstan, Hungary	South Korea	Ukraine	Netherlands

Pool B

Champions 1951–2000

Year	National team
1951	Italy
1952	Great Britain
1953	Italy
1955	Italy
1956	East Germany
1959	Romania
1961	Norway
1962	Japan
1963	Norway
1965	Poland
1966	West Germany
1967	Poland
1969	East Germany
1970	United States
1971	Switzerland
1972	Poland
1973	East Germany
1974	United States
1975	East Germany
1976	Romania
1977	East Germany
1978	Poland
1979	Netherlands
1981	Italy
1982	East Germany
1983	United States
1985	Poland
1986	Switzerland
1987	Poland
1989	Norway
1990	Switzerland
1991	Italy
1992	Austria
1993	Great Britain
1994	Switzerland
1995	Slovakia
1996	Latvia
1997	Belarus
1998	Ukraine
1999	Denmark
2000	Germany

Summary of participation

54 championships

• Division I teams (2001–present) are ranked one through twelve, with this chart assessing gold, silver, and bronze to the nations who ranked 17th, 18th, and 19th overall.

Team	Times	First	Last	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total	Best finish (first/last)	Hosted
Australia	3	1962	2012	0	0	0	0	5th (1962)	0
Austria	32	1951	2014	3	7	5	15	1st (1992/2010)	5
Belgium	5	1951	2004	0	0	1	1	3rd (1956)	1
Belarus	4	1996	2004	2	1	1	4	1st (1997/2002)	0
Bulgaria	4	1970	1993	0	0	0	0	5th (1992)	0
China	10	1979	2007	0	0	0	0	6th (1982)	1
Croatia	8	2001	2015	0	0	0	0	8th (2001/2014)	1
Denmark	14	1949	2002	1	1	0	2	1st (1999)	2
Spain	1	2011	2011	0	0	0	0	10th (2011)	0
Estonia	12	1998	2015	0	0	1	1	3rd (1998)	1
France	18	1951	2007	0	3	4	7	2nd (1951/2007)	4
Great Britain	27	1952	2015	2	3	2	7	1st (1952/1993)	0
East Germany	14	1956	1990	6	1	3	10	1st (1956/1982)	1
Germany	9	1965	2006	3	2	2	7	1st (1966/2006)	1
Hungary	23	1959	2015	0	3	4	7	2nd (1959/2015)	5
Israel	1	2006	2006	0	0	0	0	12th (2006)	0
Italy	26	1951	2015	5	7	3	15	1st (1951/1991)	2
Japan	22	1962	2015	1	2	2	5	1st (1962)	4
Kazakhstan	11	1997	2015	5	2	1	8	1st (2003/2015)	0
South Korea	8	2002	2015	0	0	0	0	5th (2013)	1
Latvia	3	1994	1996	1	2	0	3	1st (1996)	0
Lithuania	12	2001	2014	0	0	1	1	3rd (2006)	2
Netherlands	37	1951	2015	1	1	3	5	1st (1979)	6
Norway	27	1956	2005	4	4	4	12	1st (1963/2005)	2
Poland	37	1961	2015	6	7	6	19	1st (1965/1987)	5
Romania	29	1959	2014	2	2	2	6	1st (1959/1976)	3
Serbia	1	2010	2010	0	0	0	0	11th (2010)	0
Slovenia	10	1998	2014	5	2	1	8	1st (2001/2014)	5
Switzerland	23	1961	1997	4	5	4	13	1st (1971/1990)	5
Slovakia	1	1995	1995	1	0	0	1	1st (1995)	1
Ukraine	8	1998	2015	1	0	2	3	1st (1998)	2
United States	5	1970	1983	3	2	0	5	1st (1970/1983)	1
Yugoslavia	21	1951	1992	0	1	3	4	2nd (1974)	5

• ^ Note 1. The Federal Republic of Germany competed as West Germany from 1953 until 1990.
• ^ Note 2. Czechoslovakia, Sweden, and Finland each hosted this level on one occasion each.

See also

• Ice Hockey World Championships
• IIHF World Championship Division II
• IIHF World Championship Division III

External links

• 2010 IIHF Championship Program on iihf.com

References

• Duplacey, James (1998). Total Hockey: The official encyclopedia of the National Hockey League. Total Sports, 498–528. ISBN 0-8362-7114-9. 
• Podnieks, Andrew (2010). IIHF Media Guide & Record Book 2011. Moydart Press. 

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