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IIHF Men's World Hockey Championships
World Championships Artifact
World Championships Photo The 1955 World Championship was rotated among four cities - Krefeld, Dusseldorf, Cologne and Dortmund - and featured nine teams in the main pool. A problem arose before the championship when a passport check showed that 10 Canadian players listed hockey as their occupation. Vees president Clem Bird was quick to point out that all of these players had resumed their amateur status two years before. Canada refused to take the Soviets lightly this year, studying the style of their play and sending scouts to observe the USSR's exhibition games. Anxious to restore Canada's prestige as the best hockey nation in the world following the Soviet victory at Stockholm the year before, the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association named the Allan Cup champion Penticton Vees to represent the country at the 1955 World Championship in West Germany. The Vees, with three brothers - Grant, Bill and Dick Warwick in their lineup - took the assignment very seriously, shutting out the Soviets 5-0 on the final day to grab the gold medal. Ivan McLelland recorded the shutout for the Penticton club, which led 1-0 at the end of the first period and 3-0 heading into the third. Bill Warwick and Mike Shabaga each scored two goals. The legendary Foster Hewitt did the play-by-play, which was transmitted back to Canada to thousands of happy fans. While the Soviets took the silver, the bronze went to Czechoslovakia, which lost only to the gold and silver medalists. The Czechoslovaks, led by sharpshooters Vlastmil Bubnik and Vladimir Zabrodsky, scored 63 goals in the tournament, just three fewer than Canada. The Soviets, meanwhile, managed only 39.
1955 Krefeld Summary
Click on a team below to see its roster and stats.
Rank Country Games Wins Losses Ties Points GDF GF GA
1 Canada 8 8 0 0 16      
2 USSR 8 7 1 0 14      
3 Czechoslovakia 8 5 2 1 11      
4 USA 8 4 2 2 10      
5 Sweden 8 3 3 2 8      
6 West Germany 8 2 6 0 4      
7 Poland 8 2 5 1 5      
8 Switzerland 8 1 7 0 2      
9 Finland 8 1 7 0 2      

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