1974 Ice Hockey World Championships
# 1974 Ice Hockey World Championships

The 1974 Ice Hockey World Championships were the 41st Ice Hockey World Championships and the 52nd European Championships in ice hockey. The tournament took place in Finland from 5 to 20 April and the games were played in the capital, Helsinki. Six teams took part in the main tournament, all playing each other twice. The Soviet Union won the world championships for the 13th time, and also won their 16th European title.

The event was the second Ice Hockey World Championships hosted by Finland, and was organized by Harry Lindblad, president of the Finnish Ice Hockey Association.

For the first time in ice hockey World Championship history, two players were suspended for doping. They were the Swede Ulf Nilsson and the Finn Stig Wetzell who failed a drug test for the forbidden substance ephedrine. Both players were suspended for the rest of the tournament. Nilsson failed the test after Sweden's game against Poland, which Sweden won 4–1. The game was awarded to Poland as a 5–0 forfeit. The Finn, Wetzell, failed the test after Finland's match against Czechoslovakia, which Finland won 5–2, which was also awarded to Czechoslovakia as a 5–0 forfeit. The Finns were able to defeat Czechoslovakia again on the last day, which would have earned the Finns their first medal in history, if not for the points lost in the forfeited win.

## World Championship Group A (Finland)

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Soviet Union | 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 64 | 18 | +46 | 18 |
| 2 | Czechoslovakia | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 57 | 20 | +37 | 14 |
| 3 | Sweden | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 38 | 24 | +14 | 11 |
| 4 | Finland | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 34 | 39 | −5 | 10 |
| 5 | Poland | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 22 | 64 | −42 | 4 |
| 6 | East Germany | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 21 | 71 | −50 | 3 |

East Germany were very unlucky to be relegated to Group B, as Poland's only win was the awarded default for a doping violation against Sweden.

## World Championship Group B (Yugoslavia)

Played in Hala Tivoli, Ljubljana, SR Slovenia, SFR Yugoslavia 21–30 March.

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 7 | United States | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 14 | +26 | 14 |
| 8 | Yugoslavia | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 41 | 27 | +14 | 10 |
| 9 | West Germany | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 34 | 28 | +6 | 10 |
| 10 | Japan | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 31 | 31 | 0 | 8 |
| 11 | Netherlands | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 33 | 37 | −4 | 5 |
| 12 | Romania | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 30 | 29 | +1 | 5 |
| 13 | Norway | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 18 | 31 | −13 | 3 |
| 14 | Austria | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 12 | 42 | −30 | 1 |

The USA was promoted to Group A, and both Norway and Austria were relegated to Group C.

## World Championship Group C (France)

Played in Grenoble, Gap and Lyon, 8–17 March. This was North Korea's first World Championship.

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 15 | Switzerland | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 63 | 4 | +59 | 12 |
| 16 | Italy | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 42 | 14 | +28 | 11 |
| 17 | Bulgaria | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 39 | 18 | +21 | 9 |
| 18 | Hungary | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 38 | 22 | +16 | 9 |
| 19 | France | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 37 | 25 | +12 | 8 |
| 20 | China | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 15 | 38 | −23 | 3 |
| 21 | Australia | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 13 | 74 | −61 | 2 |
| 22 | North Korea | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 12 | 64 | −52 | 2 |

Switzerland and Italy were promoted to Group B.

## Ranking and statistics

* 1974 IIHF World Championship winners
* Soviet Union 13th title

### Tournament Awards

* Best players selected by the directorate:
   * Best Goaltender: Vladislav Tretiak
   * Best Defenceman: Lars-Erik Sjöberg
   * Best Forward: Václav Nedomanský
* Media All-Star Team:
   * Goaltender: Curt Larsson
   * Defence: Lars-Erik Sjöberg, Valeri Vasiliev
   * Forwards: Vladimír Martinec, Václav Nedomanský, Alexander Yakushev

### Final standings

The final standings of the tournament according to IIHF:

| | Soviet Union |
| - | - |
| | Czechoslovakia |
| | Sweden |
| 4 | Finland |
| 5 | Poland |
| 6 | East Germany |

### European championships final standings

The final standings of the European championships according to IIHF:

| | Soviet Union |
| - | - |
| | Czechoslovakia |
| | Sweden |
| 4 | Finland |
| 5 | Poland |
| 6 | East Germany |
