Following the 15 year coaching tenure of Viktor Tikhonov, former international star Boris Mikhailov took over behind the bench and led Russia to the gold medal at the 1993 tournament in Germany. The Czech Republic made its first appearance at the championship, replacing Czechoslovakia.
Andrei Trefilov starred in goal as Russia defeated Sweden 3-1 in the gold medal game. Russia had lost 5-2 to the Swedes and placed only third in its group in the preliminary round before defeating West Germany 5-1 in the quarterfinals and Canada 7-4 in the semifinals. Canada had topped the Russians 3-1 in the preliminary round. In order to qualify for the final, Sweden had to get past the Czech Republic in a shoot-out. The bronze medal went to Czechoslovakia as a result of a 5-1 conquest of Canada. Canada's Eric Lindros, who led the tournament in goals with 11 and points with 17, was named to the first all-star team at centre.
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