2021 IIHF World Championship

The 2021 IIHF World Championship took place from 21 May to 6 June 2021. It was originally planned to be co-hosted by Minsk, Belarus and Riga, Latvia. However, because of political problems and health concerns, Belarus was removed as a host, and Latvia became the sole host.

The tournament had many surprising results, with teams like Denmark, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Slovakia, and Latvia winning against stronger teams. Sweden did not make it to the quarter-finals for the first time in the current format. Kazakhstan had their best performance ever, finishing tenth.

Canada won their 27th title, tying the record, by beating Finland in the final. The United States won the bronze medal by defeating Germany 6–1.

Venues

The Minsk Arena was supposed to be used for the Championship.

COVID-19 restrictions

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament started with no fans allowed. Later, the rules changed so that people could attend if they had proof they were fully vaccinated or had recently recovered from the virus. Only a few people were allowed at each venue, and everyone had to wear masks.

Belarus hosting controversy

Belarus was planned to be a co-host, but because of big protests there, many people said it wasn't safe to hold games there. On January 18, 2021, the IIHF decided not to use Belarus as a host. Latvia stayed on as a host, but the IIHF looked for another place to hold the games because of COVID-19 and travel concerns.

Belarus flag controversy

After an airplane incident, Latvian officials changed the flag from Belarus to one used by opposition groups. This led to some tensions between the two countries.

Participants

Qualified as host

• Latvia

Automatic qualifier after the cancellation of the 2020 IIHF World Championship

• Belarus (originally co-host)
• Canada
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Finland
• Germany
• Great Britain
• Italy
• Kazakhstan
• Norway
• ROC¹
• Slovakia
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• United States

¹ Due to a decision in December 2020, Russian athletes could not compete under the Russian flag or use the Russian national anthem at events until 16 December 2022. For these tournaments, the Russian team competed as the "Russian Olympic Committee" (ROC). Instead of the Russian national anthem, Piano Concerto No. 1 by Pyotr Illych Tchaikovsky was played at the 2021 World Championship.

Seeding

The groups for the start of the tournament were decided using rankings from the previous year’s competition. They used a special method called the serpentine system, and made an exception to swap the positions of Canada and ROC to help with organizing the event.

Rosters

Each team in the 2021 IIHF World Championship needed to have at least 15 skaters, which include forwards and defencemen, and 2 goaltenders. The most they could have was 25 skaters and 3 goaltenders. All 16 teams had to give a longer list of players two weeks before the tournament started and then give their final list of players just before the tournament began.

Match officials

Eighteen referees and linesmen were announced on 7 April 2021.

Mascot

The official mascot for the 2021 IIHF World Championship was revealed in February 2020. The mascot is named Spiky the Hedgehog and was chosen by fans in Belarus and Latvia. Hedgehogs are popular animals in these countries and represent the strong spirit and determination of the Belarus and Latvian national hockey teams.

Preliminary round

The groups for the 2021 IIHF World Championship were announced on 20 May 2020, and the schedule was released on 5 February 2021.

Group A

Source: IIHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best-ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament
Notes:

Group B

Source: IIHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament.
(H) Host
Notes:

Playoff round

In the playoff round of the 2021 IIHF World Championship, teams were matched based on their positions in the early rounds. The top team from each group played against the fourth-place team from the other group, and the second-place teams played the third-place teams.

The semi-final matchups were decided by a set of rules: first by group position, then by points earned, goal differences, goals scored, and finally by the teams' original seeding before the tournament began. The highest-ranked semi-finalist faced the lowest-ranked one, and the second and third-ranked teams played each other.

Bracket

Final

Final standings

Source: IIHF
Rules for classification: 1) position in the group; 2) number of points; 3) goal difference; 4) goals scored; 5) seeding before tournament.
(H) Host

Statistics

This section shows the top players from the 2021 IIHF World Championship. The first table lists the best skaters based on their points and goals. The second table shows the top goaltenders (goalies) based on how well they saved shots.

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalties in Minutes; POS = Position
Source: IIHF.com

TOI = time on ice (minutes:seconds); SA = shots against; GA = goals against; GAA = goals against average; Sv% = save percentage; SO = shutouts
Source: IIHF.com

Awards

The awards for the 2021 IIHF World Championship were announced on June 6, 2021.

Broadcasting rights

These are the broadcasters for the tournament.