Hockey: history and development
Ice Hockey – a team game on ice, with the participation of two teams competing with each other. Each team on the field is 6 players: one goalkeeper, two defenders and three attackers. Game consists of three periods, the duration of each of them are 20 minutes.
The story of this game originated in Canada, despite the fact that some Dutch paintings of the XVI century show a group of people playing ice on the ice like a hockey game. Some sources say it originated in Montreal. But others argue that the birthplace of hockey is considered to be Ontario. The exact year of the appearance of the sport remains unknown.
In the middle of the XVIII century, the British Empire won over Canada in France and brought to the continent of field hockey, which is not caught because of the cool weather. For centuries, residents of Canada’s favorite winter sports. March 3, 1875 in Montreal, the first hockey game.
World Cup in ice hockey
World Championships have a special place in the history of ice hockey. For the first time, the tournament was held in 1920. The event was organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation. In 1920, 1924 and 1928, the years of the World Cup were only held as part of the Olympics, but the tournament became an annual event since 1930. The exception was the period from 1940 to 1946, the year it was World War II.
Ice hockey World Cup held in two stages. First, the team played in the group stage to identify those who will be released in the play-off round. All participation in the tournament 16 national teams. They are divided into two groups of 8 teams each. In the second phase of the competition are four teams from each group.
In the group meet at once to collect. In the entire history of the World Cup on hockey has changed the rules of the competition only once. It happened in 2007, when it was decided to perform the puck thrown five minutes of overtime when most of the time the game ends in a draw. If the overtime winner is not revealed, punched balls. Before that tied score was valid.
Playoff Round consists of three levels: the quarter-finals, semi-finals and a match for the third place (final). Only one session was held at each level. In the match for third place, teams converge who lost in the 1/2 final. If a draw score, OT plays a duration of 20 minutes in the final. If a draw in the early stages of the playoffs, the duration of the extension is 10 minutes.
The winners of the World Cup before the start of World War II
The first world champion in the history of ice hockey was the team from Canada, who defeated the United States team in the 1920s final. Four years later the current showdown persons were the same teams and again Canadians could win. In 1928, Canada won its third gold Sweden by victory.
From 1930 to 1932, the team side of Keilplatte won 3 tournaments in a row, twice winning the final against the Germans and the Americans. In 1933, the US team was able to take revenge on their northern neighbors and won the first gold medal for themselves. And for the first time, the Canadian has failed to become world champion.
From 1934 to 1939, Team Canada won 5 out of 6 tournaments. First, the “red-white” revealed the debts of the US teams, then beat the Swiss. In 1936, the United Kingdom took the title of World Champion Canada, but the founders of fashion in hockey he returned after only one season to beat the final of the very British away.
World Cup between 1947 and 1954
The first postwar world champion ice hockey team became Czechoslovakia beating Sweden in home tournament. The competition was held in 1947 and was the first in the history of the ice hockey championship that played in the final Canadian hockey player. In the next two finals played the Canadians and the Czechs. In 1948 he won the representatives of North America, and in 1949 – the Europeans.
In 1950, 1951 and 1952 again won only Canadians, who have beaten the US, Sweden and the United States again each. In 1953, the first victory in the tournament produced Swedish national team to win the final of the Germans.
The advent of the World Cup team of the USSR
In 1954, it was one of the most important events in the history of ice hockey. World Cup team won the Soviet Union to defeat the pioneers of the hockey final. From that moment on, the players of the USSR began to hold highs in the World Cup every year.
A year later, Soviet athletes won second place, in 1956, were again world champion. Since 1957, within three years of the USSR national team three times became silver medalist, and then two more World Championships Soviet Union in third place. In these years we became the masters of Americans and Canadians. In 1962 the tournament was won by the Swedes who have been world champion three times.
Hegemony USSR
Since 1963 more than 9 years of the Soviet Union teams won every single World Cup. In all this time in the finals participants Soviet team had only the Swedes and Czechs. 9 years on the podium were only four teams: the Soviet Union, Sweden, Czechoslovakia and Canada. The North American national team has won three bronze medals in the period from 1966 to 1968. In 1972, Czech ice hockey player was able to break the hegemony of the Soviet Union, leaving them in their last home win against the World Cup hosts. But moving the Soviet Union from the first place it was only for a year. Already at the 1973 World Cup in Moscow, Soviet ice hockey players became world champion again. They repeated their performance in 1974 and 1975 twice to defeat the team of Czechoslovakia.
After this doubles at the World Cup Czechoslovakia triumphs. But since 1978, the Soviet Union did not give anyone the gold of the World Championships for 5 years. From 1985 to 1992 twice the gold medal created to win the team of the USSR, three times – the Swede and once the victory was celebrated hockey team of Czechoslovakia.
World Cup of the last 25 years
After the collapse of the Soviet Union for the first World Cup tournament in 1992, the Russians were the year in which they lost the stage in the quarterfinals. A year later the Russian team was defeated champion of Sweden in the final.
One year later, Team Canada won its first gold medal in 33 years. In 1995, the first time were champions Finns. In 1996 and in the period from 1999 to 2001, the tournament was won by the Czechs. Between their first and second gold medal triumphs we won the Canadians and Swedes. In 2002 won the first in the history, the title Slovaks.
In the last 15 years, won five times the championship worlds Canadians, 4 times winner of the tournament the Russians were, after the Finns celebrated with the Czechs victory and three gold back home Swedish hockey players. It’s Sweden’s national team which is reigning champions on hockey.
FM statistics
The Czech Republic / Czechoslovakia and Sweden are the most common participants of the tournament for all hockey history. They participated in 75 competitions. In second place is the Canadian with 70 queries of the Hockey World Cup. 3-4 places are shared by teams from the USA and Finland, who have played 68 tournaments.
The largest number of world champion on hockey in the history of the competition was the Russian team (given the performance of the USSR) – 27 first places. The second line is Team Canada with 26 gold awards in the asset. But all medals North Americans more – 49 against 46 in Russia (based on medals of the USSR).
World Hockey Championship: history of meetings between the USSR and Canada Games between Canada and the Soviet Union became classics not only in the world of ice hockey, but all sports. They met for the first time in the 1954 World Cup final. Soviet hockey player beaten with a score of 7-2 of his famous rival.
In 1972, the USSR national team put against the Canadians a team that consisted solely of professional ice hockey. It’s from this year an irreconcilable hatred between the hockey team began. Unfortunately, Canada has ceased to show good results when they dominate world hockey. Since 1954 only 5 times these teams meet in the final. Canadians have won three times and twice the success enjoyed hockey players of the USSR.
World Hockey Championship: history of meetings between Russia and Canada After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia became the legal successor to the USSR, and the confrontation between the two hockey nations moved to a new level. The team first came together on the ice at the 1992 World Cup when the Russians won 6-4. A year later, Canadians even gets beat by the Russian team with a score of 3-1 in the group, but lost in the semifinals. At the 1994 World Cup, Canada triumphed again, and was again recorded on the scoreboard showing the 3-1.
In the years 1995 and 1996 at the World Cup, the Russians defeated, but after that the next victory fans of the Russian team had to wait until 2008. Conducting in 2015 in the World Cup finals in Prague, the Canadian defeated in the final of the Russian team with a score of 6-1. World Cup 2017 “red-white” met with the Russian team in the semifinals and beat them 4-2.