The 1963 Ice Hockey World Championships was the 30th edition of the Ice Hockey World Championships. The tournament was held in Stockholm, Sweden from March 7 to March 17, 1963. The Soviet Union won the tournament for the third time, starting their roll of nine straight championships. For the Soviets it was also their seventh European title.
A new tie-breaking method was introduced and was effective for this World Championship only: Any tie on points for a medal place would be decided according to goal differential involving only the top five placed nations. If a tie for a medal place continued among only two teams, the second step was to award the superior medal to the winner of the game played between the two. The purpose of the change was to lessen the incentive for top teams to run up the score on weaker teams. This formula was immediately called upon to decide the medals and greatly magnified the drama on the final day, as the Soviets won the gold by a one-goal margin (+8 to +7), rather than a seven-goal margin (+41 to +34) under the previous system.
Heading into the last day, the Swedes were two points ahead of the Soviets, having defeated them 2–1; Sweden was +8 on the first tiebreaker while the Soviets were +6. The first game of the day was East Germany vs U.S.A., seemingly a game of small significance—but an American win would propel them into fifth place, displacing Finland, and would give Sweden +19 on the first tiebreaker (due to Sweden's 17–2 win over the Americans) while the Soviets would have +10. An American shot hit the East German crossbar with three seconds left in the game, and it ended 3-3. The four-way tie for fifth place was resolved according to goal difference among all teams in the group. Sweden's edge on the first tiebreaker remained +8 to +6.
Next up was Sweden vs. Czechoslovakia. The Swedes needed a single point to clinch the gold, but Czechoslovakia won 3–2 to clinch the bronze. The last game of the tournament between the Soviet Union and Canada would then decide gold and silver, with the loser of the game placing fourth. Sweden's tiebreaker edge over the Soviets was now +7 to +6. The Soviets needed to win by more than one goal to take the gold. A one-goal margin would clinch the gold for Sweden, winners of the head-to-head game. Canada needed a win to take the silver. In the end, everything went the Soviets' way on the final day, as they prevailed 4–2 on Sweden's home ice.
A record twenty-one nations participated, at three levels, with most nations returning to the group where they played in 1961. This meant that the unfortunate Norwegians, despite defeating and placing higher than West Germany in 1962, returned to the 'B' pool. Even in the neutral site of Sweden, there was still a political incident. Unlike in 1961, the two German nations ended up playing their game against each other, with the West winning. Following the game when the winners flag was raised, the East Germans refused to acknowledge it, and were suspended for three months following their final game.
The North American entries were historically poor. The Trail Smoke Eaters, representing Canada, finished out of the medals for the first time. It would be the last time that an Allan Cup champion would be selected to represent Canada. The Americans lost to everyone except the two German teams, finishing last.
World Championship Group A (Sweden)
Final Round
Pos
Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
1
Soviet Union
7
6
0
1
50
9
+41
12
2
Sweden
7
6
0
1
44
10
+34
12
3
Czechoslovakia
7
5
1
1
41
16
+25
11
4
Canada
7
4
1
2
46
23
+23
9
5
Finland
7
1
1
5
20
35
−15
3
6
East Germany
7
1
1
5
16
43
−27
3
7
West Germany
7
1
1
5
18
56
−38
3
8
United States
7
1
1
5
21
64
−43
3
Source: [citation needed]
7 March
Czechoslovakia
10–1
West Germany
7 March
Finland
1–6
Soviet Union
7 March
Sweden
5–1
East Germany
8 March
West Germany
0–6
Canada
8 March
Finland
11–3
United States
8 March
Sweden
2–1
Soviet Union
9 March
Canada
11–5
East Germany
9 March
Czechoslovakia
10–1
United States
10 March
West Germany
3–15
Soviet Union
10 March
Czechoslovakia
8–3
East Germany
10 March
Sweden
4–0
Finland
11 March
Finland
4–4
West Germany
11 March
Canada
10–4
United States
12 March
Soviet Union
12–0
East Germany
12 March
Canada
4–4
Czechoslovakia
12 March
Sweden
17–2
United States
13 March
East Germany
1–0
Finland
13 March
Sweden
10–2
West Germany
14 March
West Germany
4–8
United States
14 March
Czechoslovakia
1–3
Soviet Union
14 March
Finland
2–12
Canada
15 March
Soviet Union
9–0
United States
15 March
Czechoslovakia
5–2
Finland
15 March
Sweden
4–1
Canada
16 March
West Germany
4–3
East Germany
17 March
United States
3–3
East Germany
17 March
Sweden
2–3
Czechoslovakia
17 March
Soviet Union
4–2
Canada
World Championship Group B (Sweden)
Final Round
Pos
Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
9
Norway
6
5
0
1
35
15
+20
10
10
Switzerland
6
4
1
1
28
10
+18
9
11
Romania
6
4
1
1
29
17
+12
9
12
Poland
6
4
0
2
52
13
+39
8
13
Yugoslavia
6
2
0
4
23
49
−26
4
14
France
6
1
0
5
14
38
−24
2
15
Great Britain
6
0
0
6
8
47
−39
0
Source: [citation needed]
7 March
Switzerland
8–0
Great Britain
7 March
Romania
4–3
Poland
8 March
Norway
8–2
France
8 March
Switzerland
8–1
Yugoslavia
8 March
Romania
8–1
Great Britain
9 March
Poland
6–2
Norway
9 March
Yugoslavia
7–3
France
10 March
Switzerland
4–4
Romania
10 March
Poland
10–0
Great Britain
11 March
Switzerland
5–0
France
11 March
Romania
7–4
Yugoslavia
11 March
Norway
9–2
Great Britain
12 March
Poland
10–1
France
12 March
Norway
7–3
Yugoslavia
13 March
Switzerland
2–1
Poland
14 March
Romania
5–0
France
14 March
Yugoslavia
4–2
Great Britain
14 March
Norway
4–1
Switzerland
16 March
Poland
22–4
Yugoslavia
16 March
France
8–3
Great Britain
16 March
Norway
5–1
Romania
World Championship Group C (Sweden)
Final Round
Pos
Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
16
Austria
5
5
0
0
62
7
+55
10
17
Hungary
5
4
0
1
57
12
+45
8
18
Denmark
5
3
0
2
22
31
−9
6
19
Bulgaria
5
1
1
3
19
22
−3
3
20
Netherlands
5
1
1
3
21
34
−13
3
21
Belgium
5
0
0
5
8
83
−75
0
Source: [citation needed]
7 March
Hungary
25–1
Belgium
7 March
Austria
13–2
Denmark
8 March
Bulgaria
3–3
Netherlands
9 March
Austria
3–1
Hungary
10 March
Bulgaria
7–3
Belgium
10 March
Denmark
4–1
Netherlands
11 March
Austria
13–2
Netherlands
12 March
Hungary
10–3
Denmark
12 March
Austria
30–0
Belgium
13 March
Denmark
5–4
Bulgaria
13 March
Netherlands
13–1
Belgium
14 March
Austria
3–2
Bulgaria
15 March
Hungary
13–2
Netherlands
15 March
Denmark
8–3
Belgium
16 March
Hungary
8–3
Bulgaria
Ranking and statistics
1963 IIHF World Championship winners
Soviet Union
Tournament awards
Best players selected by the directorate:
Best Goaltender: Seth Martin
Best Defenceman: Roland Stoltz
Best Forward: Miroslav Vlach
Media All-Star Team:
Goaltender: Kjell Svensson
Defence: Alexander Ragulin, Harry Smith
Forwards: Hans Mild, Addie Tambellini, Miroslav Vlach
Final standings
The final standings of the tournament according to IIHF:
Soviet Union
Sweden
Czechoslovakia
4
Canada
5
Finland
6
East Germany
7
West Germany
8
United States
European championships final standings
The final standings of the European championships according to IIHF:
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