1953 Ice Hockey World Championships

The 1953 Ice Hockey World Championships were the 20th World Championships and the 31st European Championships in ice hockey. The tournament took place between March 7 and March 15, 1953, in Basel and Zurich, Switzerland. Sweden won their first World Championship title and their seventh European Championship title.

1953 Ice Hockey World Championships
Tournament details
Host country  Switzerland
Dates7–15 March
Teams4
Final positions
Champions  Sweden (1st title)
Runner-up  West Germany
Third place   Switzerland
Fourth place Italy
Tournament statistics
Matches played6
Goals scored64 (10.67 per match)
Attendance53,000 (8,833 per match)
← 1952
1954 →

This was the first world championship tournament with only European teams; on January 12, 1953, Canadian Amateur Hockey Association president W. B. George stated Canada would not be sending a team to the 1953 World Championships. He told the press: "Every year we spend C$10,000 to send a Canadian hockey team to Europe to play 40 exhibition games. All these games are played to packed houses that only enrich European hockey coffers. In return we are subjected to constant, unnecessary abuse over our Canadian style of play".[1][2][3]

Also absent were the Soviet Union; it was hoped that the USSR would participate but they did not, but they sent observers, including coach Anatoli Tarasov, to scout the tournament. It is believed that injuries to their star players, including Vsevolod Bobrov, was the reason behind the decision.[3]

Czechoslovakia were withdrawn from the tournament by General František Janda, the Chairman of the State Committee for the Physical Education and Sport, who ordered the team home when it became obvious their President, Klement Gottwald, was going to die from pneumonia he contracted at Stalin's funeral. Gottwald died the next day, March 14, 1953; subsequently, the team was disqualified, with their results being deleted from the records and their remaining games cancelled.[3]

World Championships Group A (Switzerland)
Date Matches A World Championships 1953 Result Period.
7 March  Czechoslovakia vs.  West Germany 11–2 (annulled) 4–1, 5–0, 2–1
7 March   Switzerland vs.  Sweden 2–9 1–2, 1–5, 0–2
8 March   Switzerland vs.  Czechoslovakia 4–9 (annulled) 0–4, 1–2, 3–3
8 March  Sweden vs.  West Germany 8–6 4–1, 3–3, 1–2
10 March  Sweden vs.  Czechoslovakia 5–3 (annulled) 5–1, 0–1, 0–1
10 March  West Germany vs.   Switzerland 2–3 0–1, 2–1, 0–1
12 March  Sweden vs.   Switzerland 9–1 5–1, 1–0, 3–0
12 March  West Germany vs.  Czechoslovakia 4–9 (annulled) 2–4, 1–2, 1–3
13 March  Czechoslovakia vs.   Switzerland Cancelled
13 March  West Germany vs.  Sweden 2–12 0–2, 1–5, 1–5
15 March  Czechoslovakia vs.  Sweden Cancelled
15 March   Switzerland vs.  West Germany 3–7 2–4, 0–1, 1–2

Table
PlaceTeamGPWLTGFGAPts
1 Sweden440038–118
2 West Germany413017–262
3  Switzerland41309–272
NC Czechoslovakia0000000

World Championships Group B (Switzerland)

Also participating was a Swiss 'B' team who (if their games counted) would have finished third.[4]

Date Matches B World Championships 1953 Result Period.
7 March  Italy vs.  Austria 9–5 3–1, 4–3, 2–1
7 March   Switzerland B vs.  Great Britain 1–3 1–0, 0–1, 0–2
8 March  Austria vs.  Netherlands 5–3 2–0, 2–3, 1–0
8 March   Switzerland B vs.  France 7–1 4–1, 1–0, 2–0
10 March  Great Britain vs.  Netherlands 8–4 4–2, 1–2, 3–0
10 March   Switzerland B vs.  Italy 1–2 1–0, 0–0, 0–2
11 March  Austria vs.  France 8–1 2–1, 2–0, 4–0
11 March  Italy vs.  Netherlands 7–0 4–0, 1–0, 2–0
12 March  Great Britain vs.  France 8–3 3–0, 3–1, 2–2
13 March  Great Britain vs.  Austria 3–0 1–0, 1–0, 1–0
13 March   Switzerland B vs.  Netherlands 7–5 1–1, 5–2, 1–2
14 March  Italy vs.  France 5–2 2–1, 1–0, 2–1
14 March   Switzerland B vs.  Austria 8–2 2–0, 1–1, 5–1
15 March  Netherlands vs.  France 8–3 4–1, 2–1, 2–1
15 March  Italy vs.  Great Britain 3–2 3–0, 0–0, 0–2

Table
Place Team GP W D L GF GA Pts
4 Italy550026–1010
5 Great Britain540124–118
NC  Switzerland B530224–136
6 Austria520320–244
7 Netherlands510420–302
8 France500510–360

Citations
  1. "1953 Men's World Hockey Championships". Legends of Hockey. Hockey Hall of Fame. 2013. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  2. "Senior Hockey and the Allan Cup – Part 2". Hockey Central. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  3. Duplacey P. 503
  4. Summary

References
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