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IIHF Men's World Hockey Championships
World Championships Artifact
World Championships Photo The 1972 tournament was held in April and marked the first time the World and European Championships were conducted independently of the Olympics. This represented the first step in bringing Canada back to the World Championship, because the separation from the Olympics made it possible to consider the participation of professional players. The Soviet squad was led by someone other than longtime coaches Arkady Chernyshov and Anatoly Tarasov. Vsevolod Bobrov made his international coaching debut at this time. Czechoslovakia's third World Championship equaled Sweden in this regard and snapped the Soviet win streak, which had reached 10 World and Olympic victories in a row. Heading into the final day of action against the Soviet Union, the Czechoslovaks needed only a tie on home ice in Prague to clinch the World Championship gold medal. Just for good measure the Czechoslovaks, who had tied the Soviets 3-3 in the first round, defeated them this time 3-2. The championship helped atone for Czechoslovakia's third-place finish in the Olympics behind the Soviet Union and United States at Sapporo two months earlier. The Soviets took the silver medal and Sweden the bronze. Outstanding players of the championship were Czechoslovak captain Frantisek Pospisil on defence, winger Alexander Maltsev of the Soviet Union and Finnish goalie Jorma Valtonen. It was during this tournament that final arrangements were made for the historic Summit Series between the USSR and Canada's NHL professionals later that year.
1972 Prague Summary
Click on a team below to see its roster and stats.
Rank Country Games Wins Losses Ties Points GDF GF GA
1 Czechoslovakia 10 9 0 1 19      
2 USSR 10 7 1 2 16      
3 Sweden 10 5 4 1 11      
4 Finland 10 4 6 0 8      
5 West Germany 10 2 8 0 4      
6 Switzerland 10 1 9 0 2      

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