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IIHF Men's World Hockey Championships
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World Championships Photo The 1999 World Championship held in Lillehammer, Norway, saw the Czech Republic continue their recent success on the global stage. Just like their Olympic triumph of 1998, the Czech Republic defeated Canada in the Semi-Finals with a shootout goal before advancing to the finals. The Czechs faced Finland for the world title, and beat them in dramatic fashion with an overtime goal by Jan Hlavac. The Czech team defeated the Finns 3-1 in the first game of the final series. Finland turned the tables in game two as the Czech's fell 4-1. With the series tied at two games apiece, the teams headed into a sudden-death overtime where Hlavac ended it for the Czech Republic.

The Semi-Finals featured tight battles, as both series would require extra time to decide a victor. The Czech Republic disposed of the Canadians, while Sweden battled their rivals from Finland. Led by the strong play of Saku Koivu, Finland took the first game 3-1, but Sweden would double Finland 2-1, thanks to Jorgen Jonsson's two goals. The two teams headed to overtime where Marko Tuomainen dashed Sweden's hopes with an unassisted marker.

Though Finland didn't win the championship, the strong individual efforts of two of their players were recognized. Center Saku Koivu was named the best forward and led the tournament in scoring with 16 points in nine games; while linemate Teemu Selanne was awarded the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. For the second year in a row, Czech defender Frantisek Kucera was named the best defenseman while Swedish goaltender Tommy Salo got the nod as the top goalkeeper after being narrowly edged out for that same honour the previous year by Ari Sulander of Finland.

1999 Lillehammer, Oslo, Hamar Summary
Click on a team below to see its roster and stats.
Rank Country Games Wins Losses Ties Points GDF GF GA
1 Czech Republic 10 7 3 0 14      
2 Finland 10 7 2 1 15      
3 Sweden 9 7 2 0 14      
4 Canada 9 6 3 0 12      
5 Russia 6 2 1 3 7      
6 USA 6 3 3 0 6      
7 Slovakia 6 2 3 1 5      
8 Switzerland 6 2 4 0 4      
9 Belarus 6 4 1 1 9      
10 Austria 6 3 3 0 6      
11 Latvia 6 2 4 0 4      
12 Norway 6 1 5 0 2      
13 Italy 3 0 3 0 0      
14 Ukraine 3 0 3 0 0      
15 France 3 0 3 0 0      
16 Japan 3 0 3 0 0      

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