1976 Ice Hockey World Championships

The 1976 Ice Hockey World Championships were the 43rd Ice Hockey World Championships and the 54th European Championships in ice hockey. The tournament happened in Poland from April 8 to April 25, with games in Katowice. Eight teams played, first facing each other once, then the top four teams competed for medals while the bottom four played to stay in the top group.

A big change this year allowed professional players from leagues like the NHL and WHA to join. Only the United States used this rule, bringing back eight players from the Minnesota North Stars and Minnesota Fighting Saints. Some teams, like the USSR, had already used professionals but listed them as military members.

The Czechoslovakia national ice hockey team won the championship by winning nine games without a loss, earning their fourth title. The defending champions, the USSR, came second after an unexpected loss to host team Poland. Sweden took the bronze medal by beating the United States 7–3 in the final round.

World Championship Group A (Poland)

The 1976 Ice Hockey World Championships happened in Poland. The games were played in a city called Katowice from April 8 to April 25. Eight teams competed, and they played each other once in the first round.

East Germany was moved down to a lower group. Poland was also moved down to make space for Canada to come back to the top group.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Czechoslovakia	7	7	0	0	54	7	+47	14
2	Soviet Union	7	5	0	2	37	15	+22	10
3	Sweden	7	4	0	3	22	18	+4	8
4	United States	7	3	1	3	19	23	−4	7
5	Poland	7	2	1	4	21	36	−15	5
6	West Germany	7	2	0	5	19	35	−16	4
7	Finland	7	1	2	4	17	29	−12	4
8	East Germany	7	2	0	5	11	37	−26	4

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Czechoslovakia	10	9	1	0	67	14	+53	19
2	Soviet Union	10	6	1	3	50	23	+27	13
3	Sweden	10	6	0	4	36	29	+7	12
4	United States	10	3	1	6	24	42	−18	7

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
5	Finland	10	2	4	4	35	41	−6	8
6	West Germany	10	3	2	5	26	41	−15	8
7	Poland	10	3	2	5	32	47	−15	8
8	East Germany	10	2	1	7	19	52	−33	5

World Championship Group B (Switzerland)

The games took place in Aarau and Bienne from 18 to 27 March.

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Romania moved up to Group A, while both Italy and Bulgaria moved down to Group C.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
9	Romania	7	5	1	1	40	23	+17	11
10	Japan	7	5	0	2	34	17	+17	10
11	Norway	7	4	0	3	29	21	+8	8
12	Switzerland	7	4	0	3	25	28	−3	8
13	Yugoslavia	7	4	0	3	37	26	+11	8
14	Netherlands	7	3	0	4	22	30	−8	6
15	Italy	7	2	1	4	23	41	−18	5
16	Bulgaria	7	0	0	7	23	47	−24	0

World Championship Group C (Poland)

The 1976 Ice Hockey World Championship Group C took place in Gdańsk from March 8 to March 13.

Both Austria and Hungary moved up to Group B after this event.

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
17	Austria	4	4	0	0	38	9	+29	8
18	Hungary	4	3	0	1	30	9	+21	6
19	France	4	2	0	2	14	18	−4	4
20	Denmark	4	1	0	3	16	24	−8	2
21	Great Britain	4	0	0	4	6	44	−38	0

Ranking and statistics

The 1976 Ice Hockey World Championships had special awards for top players. The directorate chose the best goaltender, defenceman, and forward, all from Czechoslovakia. These players were Jiří Holeček as the best goaltender, František Pospíšil as the best defenceman, and Vladimír Martinec as the best forward.

A Media All-Star Team was also selected, including Jiří Holeček as goaltender, František Pospíšil and Mats Waltin from Sweden as defence players, and Valeri Kharlamov from the Soviet Union, Vladimír Martinec, and Milan Nový from Czechoslovakia as forwards.

The final standings for the tournament and the European championships were recorded by the IIHF.

1976 IIHF World Championship winners
Czechoslovakia 4th title

	Czechoslovakia
	Soviet Union
	Sweden
4	United States
5	Finland
6	West Germany
7	Poland
8	East Germany

	Czechoslovakia
	Sweden
	Soviet Union
4	West Germany
5	Poland
6	Finland
7	East Germany