# 2012 IIHF World Championship Division I

The 2012 IIHF World Championship Division I was an international Ice hockey tournament run by the International Ice Hockey Federation. Group A was contested in Ljubljana, Slovenia and Group B was contested in Krynica, Poland with both tournaments running from 15–21 April 2012.
In Group A both Austria and Slovenia were promoted back to the highest level after being relegated from there in 2011. Ukraine was relegated despite winning their final game against Japan. The Japanese, returning to play after a one-year absence, finished fourth attaining an overall placement of 20th. This is the highest they have placed since being relegated to this level in 2004 when the Asian qualifiers for the world championships ceased.
In Group B the South Koreans defeated Poland on the final day to earn promotion to Group A. For the Korean team, this assures them of the highest world championships placement in their history when they play in 2013. The host Poles did not trail a game until 8:21 left in their final match but could not equalize and ended up second. Australia and Romania, the two teams who had moved up from Division II for this year's tournament, faced off on the final day to determine relegation. Australia needed to win by two goals, but failed to do so, and finished last.

## Participants
### Group A

| Team | Qualification |
| Austria | Placed 15th in the Elite Division and were relegated in 2011. |
| Slovenia | Host, placed 16th in the Elite Division and were relegated in 2011. |
| Hungary | Placed 2nd in Division I Group A last year. |
| Great Britain | Placed 2nd in Division I Group B last year. |
| Japan | Did not participate in 2011 due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and was guaranteed a place in the 2012 tournament. |
| Ukraine | Placed 3rd in Division I B last year. |

### Group B

| Team | Qualification |
| South Korea | Placed 3rd in Division I Group A last year. |
| Poland | Host, placed 4th in Division I Group B last year. |
| Netherlands | Placed 4th in Division I Group A last year. |
| Lithuania | Placed 5th in Division I B last year. |
| Romania | Placed 1st in Division II B last year and was promoted. |
| Australia | Placed 1st in Division II A last year and was promoted. |

## Group A Tournament
### Standings

* Promoted to Elite Division for 2013
* Relegated to Division I B for 2013
| Team | GP | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GDF | PTS |
| Slovenia | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 9 | +8 | 15 |
| Austria | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 24 | 16 | +8 | 10 |
| Hungary | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 15 | 18 | −3 | 6 |
| Japan | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 14 | −1 | 6 |
| Great Britain | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 22 | −8 | 5 |
| Ukraine | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 16 | −4 | 3 |
All times are local (UTC+2).

### Statistics
#### Top 10 scorers

| Pos | Player | Country | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/− |
| 1 | Robert Dowd | Great Britain | 5 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 6 | 0 |
| 2 | Manuel Latusa | Austria | 5 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 2 | +1 |
| 3 | Colin Shields | Great Britain | 5 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 0 | −2 |
| 4 | Gregor Baumgartner | Austria | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 2 | +4 |
| 4 | Rok Ticar | Slovenia | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 4 | +4 |
| 6 | Olexander Pobyedonostsev | Ukraine | 5 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 | −1 |
| 7 | David Rodman | Slovenia | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 10 | +1 |
| 7 | Oleg Tymchenko | Ukraine | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | +2 |
| 7 | Marton Vas | Hungary | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0 | −2 |
| 10 | Raphael Herburger | Austria | 5 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 | +3 |
IIHF.com

#### Goaltending leaders

(minimum 40% team's total ice time)
| Pos | Player | Country | MINS | GA | Sv% | GAA | SO |
| 1 | Robert Kristan | Slovenia | 240:00 | 7 | 93.20 | 1.75 | 0 |
| 2 | Masahito Haruna | Japan | 159:31 | 7 | 91.57 | 2.63 | 1 |
| 3 | Yuta Narisawa | Japan | 150:00 | 6 | 90.91 | 2.40 | 0 |
| 4 | Bence Balizs | Hungary | 240:00 | 13 | 90.71 | 3.25 | 0 |
| 5 | Mykhailo Balaban | Ukraine | 157:40 | 7 | 88.33 | 2.66 | 0 |
IIHF.com

### Tournament awards

* Best players selected by the directorate:
** Best Goalkeeper: Robert Kristan
** Best Defenseman: Matthias Trattnig
** Best Forward: Manuel Latusa
IIHF.com

## Group B Tournament
### Standings

* Promoted to Division I A for 2013
* Relegated to Division II A for 2013
| Team | GP | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GDF | PTS |
| South Korea | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 10 | +14 | 14 |
| Poland | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 31 | 7 | +24 | 12 |
| Netherlands | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 13 | +8 | 10 |
| Romania | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 28 | −15 | 6 |
| Lithuania | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 27 | −18 | 3 |
| Australia | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 14 | 27 | −13 | 0 |
All times are local (UTC+2).

### Statistics
#### Top 10 scorers

| Pos | Player | Country | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/− |
| 1 | Marcin Kolusz | Poland | 5 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 0 | +8 |
| 2 | Leszek Laszkiewicz | Poland | 5 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 2 | +3 |
| 3 | Diederick Hagemeijer | Netherlands | 5 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 6 | −2 |
| 4 | Kim Won-jung | South Korea | 5 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 0 | +6 |
| 5 | Lee Yongjun | South Korea | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 2 | +2 |
| 5 | Damian Slabon | Poland | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 0 | +3 |
| 7 | Kevin Bruijsten | Netherlands | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 2 | −2 |
| 7 | Marco Postma | Netherlands | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | −1 |
| 9 | Sin Sangwoo | South Korea | 5 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 2 | +8 |
| 10 | Mikolaj Lopuski | Poland | 5 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 2 | +7 |
IIHF.com

#### Goaltending leaders

(minimum 40% team's total ice time)
| Pos | Player | Country | MINS | GA | Sv% | GAA | SO |
| 1 | Przemyslaw Odrobny | Poland | 239:10 | 4 | 94.20 | 1.00 | 2 |
| 2 | Eum Hyunseung | South Korea | 255:03 | 9 | 91.89 | 2.12 | 0 |
| 3 | Ian Meierdres | Netherlands | 303:39 | 13 | 91:33 | 2.57 | 0 |
| 4 | Mantas Armalis | Lithuania | 239:20 | 18 | 87.59 | 4.51 | 0 |
| 5 | Anthony Kimlin | Australia | 239:36 | 21 | 85.52 | 5.26 | 0 |
IIHF.com

### Tournament awards

* Best players selected by the directorate:
** Best Goalkeeper: Ian Meierdres
** Best Defenseman: Adam Borzecki
** Best Forward: Marcin Kolusz
IIHF.com