# 2012 IIHF Women's World Championship

The 2012 IIHF World Women's Championships was the 14th such event hosted by the International Ice Hockey Federation and took place in Vermont, United States, at the Gutterson Fieldhouse in Burlington, and the Cairns Arena in South Burlington. The competition also served as qualifications for the 2013 competition, and the 2014 Olympics. The Top Division was contested between eight teams from April 7 to April 14, 2012, in Burlington and was hosted by USA Hockey.
Canada won their record-extending tenth title by defeating the three-time defending champions United States 5–4 in overtime. Caroline Ouellette scored the decisive goal. The Americans defeated the Canadians 9–2 in the group stage earlier in the tournament. The Swiss team, by finishing third, captured their first ever Women's World Championship medal.

## Top Division

The Top Division was contested between eight teams from April 7 to April 14, 2012. The event was hosted by USA Hockey in Burlington, Vermont. A new format was used where the top four ranked teams were placed in Group A and were automatically qualified for the final round, and played in the preliminary round was only used to determine seeding for the next round. The top two teams received a bye into the semifinals. Meanwhile, the next four teams played the preliminary round in Group B. The top two teams from Group B joined the others for the final round, while the bottom two team played a best-of-three series, with the loser being relegated next year.

### Rosters

Each team's roster for the 2012 IIHF Women's World Championship consisted of at least 15 skaters (forwards, and defencemen) and 2 goaltenders, and at most 20 skaters and 3 goaltenders. All eight participating nations, through the confirmation of their respective national associations, had to submit a roster by the first IIHF directorate meeting on 6 April 2012.

### Preliminary round

All times are local (Eastern Time Zone – UTC−4).

#### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | United States | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 2 | +27 | 9 | Semifinals |
| 2 | Canada | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 12 | +7 | 6 | Semifinals |
| 3 | Finland | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 18 | −11 | 3 | Quarterfinals |
| 4 | Russia | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 28 | −23 | 0 | Quarterfinals |

#### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Switzerland | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 6 | Quarterfinals |
| 2 | Sweden | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 5 | Quarterfinals |
| 3 | Germany | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 8 | −2 | 4 | Relegation round |
| 4 | Slovakia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 9 | −3 | 3 | Relegation round |

### Relegation round

Best of three.
All times are local (Eastern Time Zone – UTC−4).
* The third game of the relegation series was cancelled because Germany won both meetings and Slovakia is therefore relegated to the 2013 Division I A.

### Final round

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final |
| | | | A1 | United States | 10 | | | |
| A4 | Russia | 2 | B1 | Switzerland | 0 | | | |
| B1 | Switzerland | 5 | | | | A1 | United States | 4 |
| | | | | | | A2 | Canada | 5 |
| | | | A2 | Canada | 5 |
| A3 | Finland | 2 | A3 | Finland | 1 |
| B2 | Sweden | 1 | | | | Bronze medal game | Bronze medal game | Bronze medal game |
| | | | | | | A3 | Finland | 2 |
| | | | | | | B1 | Switzerland | 6 |
All times are local (Eastern Time Zone – UTC−4).

#### Final
### Final standings

| Rank | Team |
| | Canada |
| | United States |
| | Switzerland |
| 4 | Finland |
| 5 | Sweden |
| 6 | Russia |
| 7 | Germany |
| 8 | Slovakia |
* Relegated to the 2013 Division I A

### Statistics and awards
#### Scoring leaders

List shows the top 10 skaters sorted by points, then goals.
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Monique Lamoureux-Kolls | 5 | 7 | 7 | 14 | +9 | 6 |
| Kelli Stack | 5 | 5 | 8 | 13 | +6 | 2 |
| Brianna Decker | 5 | 4 | 6 | 10 | +13 | 6 |
| Amanda Kessel | 5 | 3 | 7 | 10 | +9 | 0 |
| Hayley Wickenheiser | 5 | 3 | 7 | 10 | +4 | 4 |
| Kendall Coyne | 5 | 4 | 5 | 9 | +10 | 0 |
| Jocelyne Lamoureux | 5 | 4 | 5 | 9 | +7 | 8 |
| Caroline Ouellette | 5 | 4 | 5 | 9 | +6 | 6 |
| Jayna Hefford | 5 | 3 | 6 | 9 | +7 | 4 |
| Gigi Marvin | 5 | 3 | 6 | 9 | +4 | 2 |
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalties In Minutes Source: IIHF.COM

#### Leading goaltenders

Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage, who have played 40% of their team's minutes are included in this list.
| Player | TOI | SA | GA | GAA | Sv% | SO |
| Sara Grahn | 120:01 | 54 | 3 | 1.50 | 94.44 | 0 |
| Florence Schelling | 228:23 | 183 | 14 | 3.68 | 92.35 | 0 |
| Zuzana Tomčíková | 304:43 | 177 | 14 | 2.76 | 92.09 | 0 |
| Kim Martin | 179:48 | 60 | 5 | 1.67 | 91.67 | 0 |
| Viona Harrer | 185:00 | 82 | 7 | 2.27 | 91.46 | 0 |
TOI = Time on ice (minutes:seconds); SA = Shots against; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; Sv% = Save percentage; SO = Shutouts Source: IIHF.com

#### Tournament Awards

* Media All-Stars
** Goaltender: Florence Schelling (SUI)
** Defense: Gisele Marvin (USA), Laura Fortino (CAN)
** Forwards: Monique Lamoureux-Kolls (USA), Kelli Stack (USA), Hayley Wickenheiser (CAN)
* Best players selected by the directorate:
** Best Goaltender: Florence Schelling (SUI)
** Best Defenceman: Jenni Hiirikoski (FIN)
** Best Forward: Kelli Stack (USA)

## Division I
### Division I A

The Division I A tournament was played in Ventspils, Latvia, from March 25 to 31, 2012.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Czech Republic | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 8 | +11 | 12 | Promoted to the 2013 Top Division |
| 2 | Norway | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 7 | +13 | 11 | |
| 3 | Japan | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 10 | +5 | 9 | |
| 4 | Austria | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 18 | −2 | 6 | |
| 5 | Latvia (H) | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 20 | −15 | 5 | |
| 6 | Kazakhstan | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 19 | −12 | 2 | Relegated to the 2013 Division I B |

### Division I B

The Division I B tournament was played in Hull, Great Britain, from April 9 to 15, 2012.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Denmark | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 31 | 6 | +25 | 12 | Promoted to the 2013 Division I A |
| 2 | China | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 8 | +13 | 12 | |
| 3 | France | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 9 | +13 | 12 | |
| 4 | Great Britain (H) | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 17 | −7 | 3 | |
| 5 | Netherlands | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 34 | −27 | 3 | |
| 6 | Italy | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 22 | −17 | 3 | Relegated to the 2013 Division II A |

## Division II
### Division II A

The Division II A tournament was played in Maribor, Slovenia, from March 25 to 31, 2012.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | North Korea | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 7 | +26 | 15 | Promoted to the 2013 Division I B |
| 2 | Hungary | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 6 | +20 | 12 | |
| 3 | Australia | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 12 | −1 | 9 | |
| 4 | New Zealand | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 23 | −11 | 6 | |
| 5 | Slovenia (H) | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 18 | −11 | 2 | |
| 6 | Croatia | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 27 | −23 | 1 | Relegated to the 2013 Division II B |

### Division II B

The Division II B tournament was played in Seoul, South Korea, from March 10 to 16, 2012.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion |
| 1 | Poland | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 6 | +32 | 14 | Promoted to the 2013 Division II A |
| 2 | Spain | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 5 | +17 | 12 | |
| 3 | South Korea (H) | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 8 | +8 | 9 | |
| 4 | Iceland | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 15 | −4 | 7 | |
| 5 | Belgium | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 12 | −5 | 3 | |
| 6 | South Africa | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 52 | −48 | 0 | |