Ice Hockey Wiki
Register
Advertisement
IIHF World Women Championships
Sport Ice hockey
Founded [[1990]]
No. of teams 8 in the Top Division
12 in Division I
16 Division II
Most recent champion(s) Flag of the United States United States of America
Official website IIHF.com

The IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship is the premier international tournament in women's ice hockey. It is governed by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). Canada is the most successful nation with ten world titles followed by the United States with six.

The official world competition was first held in 1990, with four more championships held in the 90's.[1] Beginning in 1989, and in years that there was no world tournament held, there were European Championships and in 1995 and 1996 a Pacific Rim Championship. As part of an effort to improve competition, the IIHF decided to hold Women's Championships in Olympic years, starting in 2014, but not at the top level.[2]

Structure and Qualification[]

The women's tournament began as an eight team tournament featuring Canada, the USA, the top five from the 1989 European championships, and one Asian qualifier. The same formula was used for 1992, 1994 and 1997, but changed following the Nagano Olympics. The best five from the Olympic tournament were qualified for 1999, followed by the best three from qualification rounds during the Olympic year. The championship became a yearly tournament beginning in 1999 with promotion and relegation with lower ranked nations. Remaining nations play in groups of (now) six nations, with as many as five tiers.

Championship Format[]

Initially the tournament was an eight team tournament divided into two groups. The top two from each group played off for the gold, and beginning in 1999 the bottom two played off to determine placement and relegation. On four occasions the tournament was played with nine nations, using three groups of three. In this format first place from each group continued on to play for gold, second place from each group played for placement and an opportunity to still play for bronze, and the third place teams played off to determine relegation. Beginning in 2011 the eight team tournament changed its playoff structure to include a quarterfinal round as well. Currently the top four placed nations from the previous championship begin in Group A, where the top two teams go directly to the semi-finals, the bottom two go to the quarter-finals to face the top two finishers from Group B. The bottom two from Group B then play each other in a best of three to determine relegation.

Lower Divisions[]

By 2003 the lower tiers were formalized into tiered groups of six, called Division I, Division II, and Division III with promotion for the top team in each and relegation for the bottom team. By 2009 it had grown up to Division V, but in 2012 the titles were changed to match the men's tournaments; Division I became IA, Division II became IB, Division III became IIA, Division IV became IIB, and Division V became IIB Qualification. Promotion and relegation remained the same after the title changes.

Rules and eligibility[]

See also: Ice hockey rules

The rules of play are essentially the same as the men's with one key difference: body checking. Checking was allowed in the first championship but has been assessed as a minor penalty since. To be eligible players must be under the jurisdiction of the governing body they are representing and must be a citizen of that country. Additionally the player must be eighteen years old, or sixteen with a medical waiver, in the season the tournament takes place.[3]

Tournaments[]

Year Host city Final Third place match
Champion Score Second place Third place Score Fourth place
1990 Flag of Canada Canada, Ottawa Flag of Canada
Canada
5–2 Flag of the United States
United States of America
Flag of Finland
Finland
6–3 Flag of Sweden
Sweden
1992 Flag of Finland Finland, Tampere Flag of Canada
Canada
8–0 Flag of the United States
United States of America
Flag of Finland
Finland
5–4 Flag of Sweden
Sweden
1994 Flag of the United States USA, Lake Placid Flag of Canada
Canada
6–3 Flag of the United States
United States of America
Flag of Finland
Finland
8–1 Flag of China
China
1997 Flag of Canada Canada, Kitchener Flag of Canada
Canada
4–3
(OT)
Flag of the United States
United States of America
Flag of Finland
Finland
3–0 Flag of China
China
1999 Flag of Finland Finland, Espoo/Vantaa Flag of Canada
Canada
3–1 Flag of the United States
United States of America
Flag of Finland
Finland
8–2 Flag of Sweden
Sweden
2000 Flag of Canada Canada, Mississauga Flag of Canada
Canada
3–2
(OT)
Flag of the United States
United States of America
Flag of Finland
Finland
7–1 Flag of Sweden
Sweden
2001 Flag of the United States USA, Minneapolis Flag of Canada
Canada
3–2 Flag of the United States
United States of America
Flag of Russia
Russia
2–1 Flag of Finland
Finland
2003 Flag of China China, Beijing Competition at top level was cancelled due to SARS outbreak in China
2004 Flag of Canada Canada, Halifax/Dartmouth Flag of Canada
Canada
2–0 Flag of the United States
United States of America
Flag of Finland
Finland
3–2 Flag of Sweden
Sweden
2005 Flag of Sweden Sweden, Linköping/Norrköping Flag of the United States
United States of America
1–0
(SO)
Flag of Canada
Canada
Flag of Sweden
Sweden
5–2 Flag of Finland
Finland
2007 Flag of Canada Canada, Winnipeg/Selkirk Flag of Canada
Canada
5–1 Flag of the United States
United States of America
Flag of Sweden
Sweden
1–0 Flag of Finland
Finland
2008 Flag of China China, Harbin Flag of the United States
United States of America
4–3 Flag of Canada
Canada
Flag of Finland
Finland
4–1 Flag of Switzerland
Switzerland
2009 Flag of Finland Finland, Hämeenlinna Flag of the United States
United States of America
4–1 Flag of Canada
Canada
Flag of Finland
Finland
4–1 Flag of Sweden
Sweden
2011 Flag of Switzerland Switzerland, Zürich/Winterthur Flag of the United States
United States of America
3–2
(OT)
Flag of Canada
Canada
Flag of Finland
Finland
3–2
(OT)
Flag of Russia
Russia
2012 Flag of the United States USA, Burlington Flag of Canada
Canada
5–4
(OT)
Flag of the United States
United States of America
Flag of Switzerland
Switzerland
6–2 Flag of Finland
Finland
2013 Flag of Canada Canada, Ottawa Flag of the United States
United States of America
3–2 Flag of Canada
Canada
Flag of Russia
Russia
2–0 Flag of Finland
Finland
2014 Competition not held at top level during 2014 Olympics
2015 Flag of Sweden Sweden, Malmö Flag of the United States
United States of America
7–5 Flag of Canada
Canada
Flag of Finland
Finland
4–1 Flag of Russia
Russia
2016 Flag of Canada Canada, Kamloops Flag of the United States
United States of America
1–0
(OT)
Flag of Canada
Canada
Flag of Russia
Russia
1–0
(SO)
Flag of Finland
Finland
2017 Flag of the United States USA, Plymouth Flag of the United States
United States of America
3–2
(OT)
Flag of Canada
Canada
Flag of Finland
Finland
8–0 Flag of Germany
Germany
2018 Competition not held at top level during 2018 Olympics
2019 Flag of Finland Finland, Espoo Flag of the United States
United States of America
2-1
(SO)
Flag of Finland
Finland
Flag of Canada
Canada
7-0
Flag of Russia
Russia
2020 Flag of Canada Canada, Halifax/Truro

Participation and medals[]

Nation Tournaments First Last Gold Silver Bronze Total Best finish (first/last)
Flag of Canada Canada 19 1990 2019 10 8 1 19 1st (1990/2012)
Flag of the United States United States of America 19 1990 2019 9 10 0 19 1st (2005/2019)
Flag of Finland Finland 19 1990 2019 0 1 12 13 2nd (2019)
Flag of Russia Russia 16 1997 2019 0 0 3 3 3rd (2001/2016)
Flag of Sweden Sweden 19 1990 2019 0 0 2 2 3rd (2005/2007)
Flag of Switzerland Switzerland 16 1990 2019 0 0 1 1 3rd (2012)
Flag of China China 11 1992 2009 0 0 0 0 4th (1994/1997)
Flag of Germany Germany 14 1990 2019 0 0 0 0 4th (2017)
Flag of Norway Norway 4 1990 1997 0 0 0 0 6th (1990/1994)
Flag of Kazakhstan Kazakhstan 4 2001 2011 0 0 0 0 6th (2009)
Flag of the Czech Republic Czech Republic 5 2013 2019 0 0 0 0 6th (2016)
Flag of Japan Japan 7 1990 2019 0 0 0 0 7th (2008/2015)
Flag of Slovakia Slovakia 2 2011 2012 0 0 0 0 7th (2011)
Flag of Denmark Denmark 1 1992 1992 0 0 0 0 7th (1992)
Flag of France France 1 2019 2019 0 0 0 0 10th (2019)

Awards[]

At most IIHF events, the tournament directorate awards the Best Forward, Best Defenceman, Best Goalkeeper and Most Valuable Player of each tournament. at the women's event, these awards have been handed out in some combination since the first tournament, with the exception of 1997, and the cancelled tournament in 2003.

See also[]

External links/sources[]


This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at IIHF World Women Championships. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA).


Advertisement