1986 Ice Hockey World Championships

The 1986 Ice Hockey World Championships took place in the Soviet Union from April 12 to April 28. The games were held at two big arenas, the Luzhniki Palace of Sports and the CSKA Ice Palace in Moscow. Eight teams competed, playing each other once in the first round. The top four teams then played each other again to decide the final rankings, while the bottom four teams played to avoid being moved down to a lower league.

This event was the 51st Ice Hockey World Championships and also the 62nd ice hockey European Championships. The Soviet Union won the World Championship for the 20th time and also claimed their 24th European Championship title. The team from Czechoslovakia, who were the defending champions, finished in fifth place, which was their worst performance since 1937 and their first time not winning a medal since 1967.

During these championships, future star Brett Hull made his first appearance representing the United States in international hockey. If he had been invited by Canadian coach Dave King, he might have played for Canada instead. However, he chose to accept the offer from American coach Dave Peterson and played for the U.S. team during this important tournament.

World Championship Group A (Soviet Union)

The 1986 Ice Hockey World Championships happened in the Soviet Union from April 12 to April 28. The games were played in Moscow at two arenas: the Luzhniki Palace of Sports and the CSKA Ice Palace. Eight teams joined in, and each team played against every other team once.

After the first round, the top four teams played each other again to decide the final rankings, while the other four teams played among themselves. Poland needed to win by at least four goals on the last day but only managed a tie, so they were moved down to a lower group.

World Championship Group B (Netherlands)

The games were held in Eindhoven from March 20 to 29. Switzerland did very well this year and moved up to a better group, only losing one game that didn’t matter for their standing. On the last day, four teams were in danger of moving down to a lower group.

Depending on the results, two teams from Austria, Japan, the Netherlands, and Yugoslavia could move down. Yugoslavia played Japan first, and Japan lost badly, which meant they would move down. Then Italy beat France, which kept Austria safe. The Netherlands played Austria last, and if they won, they would stay up. Unfortunately for Yugoslavia, the Netherlands won, so Yugoslavia and Japan moved down to a lower group.

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Switzerland was promoted to Group A. Yugoslavia and Japan were relegated to Group C.

World Championship Group C (Spain)

The World Championship Group C took place in Puigcerda from 23 March to 1 April. This year, the group had ten teams split into two smaller groups of five. The top two teams from each small group played to decide the first place, while the third and fourth place teams played to decide positions five through eight. The last two teams in each group moved down to Group D.

In Group 1, South Korea was moved to Group D. In Group 2, Australia was also moved to Group D. In the final round, Norway and China were promoted to Group B.

Ranking and statistics

The tournament awarded top players chosen by the directorate and named a Media All-Star Team. Peter Lindmark from Sweden was named the best goaltender, Viacheslav Fetisov from the Soviet Union was the best defenceman, and Vladimir Krutov from the Soviet Union was the best forward. The Media All-Star Team also included Lindmark as goaltender, Fetisov and Alexei Kasatonov as defencemen, and Krutov, Igor Larionov, and Sergei Makarov as forwards.

The final standings of the tournament and the European championships are shown in tables, along with the top scorers and leading goaltenders based on save percentage.