The 1978 Ice Hockey World Championships took place in Prague, Czechoslovakia from 26 April to 14 May. Held at the Sportovní hala ČSTV in the capital city, it was the sixth time Czechoslovakia hosted the competition. Eight teams took part, with each team playing each other once in the first round, and then the four best teams meeting in a new round. This was the 45th World Championships, and also the 56th European Championships. The USSR won for the 15th time, narrowly defeating the incumbent Czechoslovaks.
On the final day, there was essentially a gold medal game, and a bronze medal game. The Soviets played the Czechoslovaks and needed to win by at least two to win the Championship. They took a three nothing lead, and hung to win by two, capturing gold by being even head-to-head with the Czechoslovaks, but having a cumulative two goal advantage against everyone else. Canada and Sweden came into the final game even, so the winner would claim the bronze. Pat Hickey scored with a minute left in the game to give Canada a three to two victory, and the medal.
Because of the allowance of professionals from the NHL into the tournament, a peculiar (and new) situation arose during this year's tournament. The Minnesota North Stars had players representing Canada (2), Sweden (3), and the United States (4).
World Championship Group A (Czechoslovakia)
First round
Pos
Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
1
Czechoslovakia
7
7
0
0
44
15
+29
14
2
Soviet Union
7
6
0
1
46
23
+23
12
3
Canada
7
4
0
3
32
26
+6
8
4
Sweden
7
4
0
3
35
21
+14
8
5
West Germany
7
2
1
4
23
35
−12
5
6
United States
7
1
1
5
25
42
−17
3
7
East Germany
7
1
1
5
13
45
−32
3
8
Finland
7
1
1
5
23
34
−11
3
Source: [citation needed]
26 April
Sweden
6–2
West Germany
26 April
Czechoslovakia
8–0
East Germany
26 April
Soviet Union
9–5
United States
27 April
Finland
6–4
Canada
27 April
Soviet Union
7–4
West Germany
27 April
Sweden
5–1
United States
28 April
Czechoslovakia
6–4
Finland
28 April
Canada
6–2
East Germany
29 April
Sweden
10–1
East Germany
29 April
Czechoslovakia
8–2
West Germany
30 April
Canada
7–2
United States
30 April
Soviet Union
6–3
Finland
1 May
Canada
6–2
West Germany
1 May
Soviet Union
10–2
East Germany
2 May
Czechoslovakia
8–3
United States
2 May
Sweden
6–1
Finland
3 May
West Germany
7–4
United States
3 May
East Germany
4–3
Finland
4 May
Czechoslovakia
5–0
Canada
4 May
Soviet Union
6–1
Sweden
5 May
West Germany
5–3
Finland
5 May
United States
7–3
East Germany
6 May
Czechoslovakia
6–4
Soviet Union
6 May
Canada
7–5
Sweden
7 May
East Germany
1–1
West Germany
7 May
Finland
3–3
United States
8 May
Czechoslovakia
3–2
Sweden
8 May
Soviet Union
4–2
Canada
Final Round 1–4 place
Pos
Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
1
Soviet Union
10
9
0
1
61
26
+35
18
2
Czechoslovakia
10
9
0
1
54
21
+33
18
3
Canada
10
5
0
5
38
36
+2
10
4
Sweden
10
4
0
6
39
37
+2
8
Source: [citation needed]
10 May
Soviet Union
5–1
Canada
10 May
Czechoslovakia
6–1
Sweden
12 May
Czechoslovakia
3–2
Canada
12 May
Soviet Union
7–1
Sweden
14 May
Canada
3–2 (1–1, 1–1, 1–0)
Sweden
Sportovní hala ČSTV, Prague Attendance: 14,500
14 May
Soviet Union
3–1 (1–0, 1–0, 1–1)
Czechoslovakia
Sportovní hala ČSTV, Prague Attendance: 14,500
Vladislav Tretiak
Goalies
Jiří Holeček
Helmuts Balderis
1–0
Vladimir Petrov
2–0
Vladimir Golikov
3–0
3–1
Ivan Hlinka
Consolation round 5–8 place
Pos
Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
5
West Germany
10
3
3
4
35
43
−8
9
6
United States
10
2
2
6
38
58
−20
6
7
Finland
10
2
2
6
37
44
−7
6
8
East Germany
10
1
3
6
20
57
−37
5
Source: [citation needed]
East Germany was relegated to Group B.
9 May
Finland
4–4
West Germany
9 May
United States
5–5
East Germany
11 May
West Germany
0–0
East Germany
11 May
United States
4–3
Finland
13 May
West Germany
8–4 (2–1, 1–1, 5–2)
United States
Sportovní hala ČSTV, Prague Attendance: 10,000
13 May
Finland
7–2 (3–1, 4–0, 0–1)
East Germany
Sportovní hala ČSTV, Prague Attendance: 9,500
World Championship Group B (Yugoslavia)
Played in Belgrade 17–26 March.
Pos
Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
9
Poland
7
6
1
0
51
19
+32
13
10
Japan
7
5
1
1
26
17
+9
11
11
Switzerland
7
4
1
2
42
32
+10
9
12
Romania
7
3
1
3
41
29
+12
7
13
Hungary
7
3
0
4
21
36
−15
6
14
Norway
7
2
1
4
29
34
−5
5
15
Italy
7
1
1
5
32
41
−9
3
16
Yugoslavia
7
1
0
6
14
48
−34
2
Source: [citation needed]
Undefeated Poland was promoted to Group A, and both Italy and Yugoslavia were relegated to Group C.
17 March
Italy
4–5
Japan
17 March
Switzerland
1–8
Poland
17 March
Romania
6–4
Norway
17 March
Yugoslavia
2–4
Hungary
18 March
Hungary
4–3
Norway
18 March
Yugoslavia
2–5
Poland
19 March
Romania
5–5
Italy
19 March
Japan
1–6
Switzerland
20 March
Hungary
1–2
Japan
20 March
Romania
3–7
Switzerland
20 March
Norway
4–9
Poland
20 March
Yugoslavia
3–12
Italy
21 March
Poland
7–2
Hungary
21 March
Yugoslavia
1–7
Norway
22 March
Japan
5–2
Romania
22 March
Italy
4–7
Switzerland
23 March
Hungary
0–8
Romania
23 March
Switzerland
6–6
Norway
23 March
Italy
2–12
Poland
23 March
Yugoslavia
1–6
Japan
25 March
Switzerland
12–5
Hungary
25 March
Norway
4–3
Italy
25 March
Poland
2–2
Japan
25 March
Yugoslavia
0–11
Romania
26 March
Norway
1–5
Japan
26 March
Italy
2–5
Hungary
26 March
Yugoslavia
5–3
Switzerland
26 March
Poland
8–6
Romania
World Championship Group C (Spain)
Played in the Canary Islands (Las Palmas) 10–19 March.
Pos
Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
17
Netherlands
7
6
1
0
74
17
+57
13
18
Austria
7
5
1
1
65
31
+34
11
19
Denmark
7
4
1
2
59
25
+34
9
20
China
7
4
0
3
47
30
+17
8
21
Bulgaria
7
3
1
3
27
30
−3
7
22
France
7
3
0
4
46
39
+7
6
23
Spain
7
1
0
6
26
84
−58
2
24
Belgium
7
0
0
7
13
101
−88
0
Source: [citation needed]
The Netherlands and Austria were both promoted to Group B. China and Denmark also ended up being promoted to alleviate a political situation between the Chinese and the South Koreans and to address the IIHF missing that Austria should have been disqualified for using Pentti Hyytiäinen.
10 March
China
8–4
France
10 March
Netherlands
18–3
Belgium
10 March
Austria
7–4
Denmark
10 March
Spain
2–7
Bulgaria
12 March
China
3–2
Denmark
12 March
Austria
9–7
France
12 March
Spain
11–4
Belgium
12 March
Bulgaria
0–8
Netherlands
13 March
China
12–1
Belgium
13 March
Denmark
7–6
France
13 March
Spain
0–19
Netherlands
13 March
Austria
3–3
Bulgaria
15 March
Bulgaria
10–3
Belgium
15 March
Netherlands
12–3
France
15 March
Austria
9–4
China
15 March
Spain
2–10
Denmark
16 March
Netherlands
3–3
Denmark
16 March
France
9–0
Belgium
16 March
Spain
4–14
Austria
16 March
China
2–4
Bulgaria
18 March
Austria
19–1
Belgium
18 March
Denmark
8–3
Bulgaria
18 March
Spain
3–13
France
18 March
China
4–6
Netherlands
19 March
Denmark
22–1
Belgium
19 March
Bulgaria
0–4
France
19 March
Austria
4–8
Netherlands
19 March
Spain
4–14
China
Ranking and statistics
1978 IIHF World Championship winners
Soviet Union 15th title
Tournament Awards
Best players selected by the directorate:
Best Goaltender: Jiří Holeček
Best Defenceman: Viacheslav Fetisov
Best Forward: Marcel Dionne
Media All-Star Team:
Goaltender: Jiří Holeček
Defence: Jiří Bubla, Viacheslav Fetisov
Forwards: Ivan Hlinka, Sergei Kapustin, Alexander Maltsev
Final standings
The final standings of the tournament according to IIHF:
Soviet Union
Czechoslovakia
Canada
4
Sweden
5
West Germany
6
United States
7
Finland
8
East Germany
European championships final standings
The final standings of the European championships according to IIHF:
Soviet Union
Czechoslovakia
Sweden
4
West Germany
5
East Germany
6
Finland
Citations
"Úspěšné vykročení našich". Rudé právo (in Czech). Prague. 27 April 1978. p. 8. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
Tie breaker
Tournament summary
Duplacey page 506
"Skončilo mistrovství světa a Evropy v ledním hokeji". Rudé právo (in Czech). Prague. 15 May 1978. p. 8. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
Group B and C summaries 1979
Pentti Hytiainen profile
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