# 2017 IIHF World Championship Division I

The 2017 IIHF World Championship Division I was an international ice hockey tournament run by the International Ice Hockey Federation. Group A was contested in Kyiv, Ukraine from 22 to 28 April 2017 and Group B in Belfast, United Kingdom from 23 to 29 April 2017. South Korea and Austria were promoted to the 2018 World Championship. It marked the first time South Korea had earned promotion to the top tier of the World Championship.

## Bids

There were two official bids to host Group A Championships.
* Austria
* Ukraine
** Kyiv
       Ukraine had never hosted these championships, however, they did host an Olympic Pre-Qualification round in 2012. The proposed arena was the Palace of Sports.
The decision on who hosts the tournament was decided on May 20, 2016. The bid from Ukraine gained a majority vote against the Austrian entry.
There were also two official bids to host Group B Championships.
* Estonia
** Tallinn
       Estonia last hosted these championships in 2006. The proposed arena was Tallinn Arena.
* United Kingdom
** Belfast
       The United Kingdom had never hosted these championships, however, they did play host to the IIHF Group B Championships in 1952, and again in 1993. The proposed arena was the Odyssey Arena.
The decision on who hosts the tournament was decided on May 20, 2016. The bid from the United Kingdom received 18 votes, whilst the Estonia bid received 7.

## Venues

| Group A | | Group B |
| Kyiv | KyivBelfast | Belfast |
| Palace of Sports Capacity: 7,000 | KyivBelfast | SSE Arena Capacity: 11,000 |

## Group A tournament
### Participants

| Team | Qualification |
| Hungary | Placed 15th in the Elite Division and was relegated. |
| Kazakhstan | Placed 16th in the Elite Division and was relegated. |
| Poland | Placed 3rd in Division I A the previous year. |
| Austria | Placed 4th in Division I A the previous year. |
| South Korea | Placed 5th in Division I A the previous year. |
| Ukraine | Placed 1st in Division I B the previous year and was promoted. |

### Match officials

7 referees and 7 linesmen were selected for the tournament.

### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Austria (P) | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 4 | +18 | 12 | 2018 IIHF World Championship |
| 2 | South Korea (P) | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 11 | +3 | 11 | 2018 IIHF World Championship |
| 3 | Kazakhstan | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 10 | +3 | 11 | |
| 4 | Poland | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 17 | −11 | 7 | |
| 5 | Hungary | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 14 | −6 | 3 | |
| 6 | Ukraine (H, R) | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 14 | −7 | 1 | Relegation to 2018 Division I B |
* 1 2 Kazakhstan 2–5 South Korea

### Results

All times are local (UTC+3).

### Awards and statistics
#### Awards

* Best players selected by the directorate:
** Best Goalkeeper: Bernhard Starkbaum
** Best Defenseman: Dominique Heinrich
** Best Forward: Nigel Dawes
Source: IIHF.com
* Media All-Stars:
** MVP: Thomas Raffl
** Goalkeeper: Bernhard Starkbaum
** Defenceman: Dominique Heinrich / Alex Plante
** Forwards: Nigel Dawes / Thomas Raffl / Konstantin Komarek
Source: IIHF.com

#### Scoring leaders

List shows the top skaters sorted by points, then goals.
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM | POS |
| Nigel Dawes | 5 | 5 | 4 | 9 | +5 | 0 | F |
| Konstantin Komarek | 5 | 4 | 5 | 9 | +10 | 0 | F |
| Brandon Bochenski | 5 | 2 | 5 | 7 | +3 | 4 | F |
| Thomas Raffl | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | +6 | 2 | F |
| Martin Schumnig | 5 | 0 | 6 | 6 | +8 | 0 | D |
| Brian Lebler | 5 | 4 | 1 | 5 | +7 | 4 | F |
| Ahn Jin-hui | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | +5 | 0 | F |
| Dominique Heinrich | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | +12 | 0 | D |
| Fabio Hofer | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | +7 | 2 | F |
| Lukas Haudum | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4 | +5 | 2 | F |
| Kim Ki-sung | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4 | +3 | 2 | F |
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalties in minutes; POS = Position Source: IIHF.com

#### Goaltending leaders

Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage, who have played at least 40% of their team's minutes, are included in this list.
| Player | TOI | GA | GAA | SA | Sv% | SO |
| Bernhard Starkbaum | 299:05 | 4 | 0.80 | 137 | 97.08 | 3 |
| Eduard Zakharchenko | 242:32 | 9 | 2.23 | 158 | 94.30 | 0 |
| Przemysław Odrobny | 260:42 | 9 | 2.07 | 124 | 92.74 | 1 |
| Matt Dalton | 269:36 | 10 | 2.23 | 133 | 92.48 | 0 |
| Vitali Kolesnik | 301:39 | 10 | 1.99 | 128 | 92.19 | 1 |
TOI = Time on ice (minutes:seconds); SA = Shots against; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; Sv% = Save percentage; SO = Shutouts Source: IIHF.com

## Group B tournament
### Participants

| Team | Qualification |
| Japan | Placed 6th in Division I A and was relegated. |
| Great Britain | Host, Placed 2nd in Division I B the previous year. |
| Lithuania | Placed 3rd in Division I B the previous year. |
| Croatia | Placed 4th in Division I B the previous year. |
| Estonia | Placed 5th in Division I B the previous year. |
| Netherlands | Placed 1st in Division II A the previous year and was promoted. |

### Match officials

4 referees and 7 linesmen were selected for the tournament.

### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Great Britain (H, P) | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 5 | +27 | 15 | Promoted to 2018 Division I A |
| 2 | Japan | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 11 | +11 | 12 | |
| 3 | Lithuania | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 12 | +6 | 9 | |
| 4 | Estonia | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 20 | −9 | 6 | |
| 5 | Croatia | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 14 | 17 | −3 | 3 | |
| 6 | Netherlands (R) | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 38 | −32 | 0 | Relegation to 2018 Division II A |

### Results

All times are local (UTC+1).

### Awards and statistics
#### Awards

* Best players selected by the directorate:
** Best Goalkeeper: Yutaka Fukufuji
** Best Defenseman: Ben O'Connor
** Best Forward: Colin Shields
Source: IIHF.com

#### Scoring leaders

List shows the top skaters sorted by points, then goals.
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM | POS |
| Daisuke Obara | 5 | 5 | 5 | 10 | +7 | 4 | F |
| Robert Dowd | 5 | 4 | 4 | 8 | +6 | 4 | F |
| Colin Shields | 5 | 4 | 4 | 8 | +9 | 2 | F |
| Evan Mosey | 5 | 3 | 5 | 8 | +10 | 2 | F |
| Borna Rendulić | 5 | 3 | 5 | 8 | +1 | 16 | F |
| Robert Rooba | 5 | 4 | 3 | 7 | −4 | 25 | F |
| Yushiroh Hirano | 5 | 1 | 6 | 7 | +7 | 2 | F |
| Matthew Myers | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | +6 | 4 | F |
| David Clarke | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | +5 | 2 | F |
| Andrei Makrov | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 10 | F |
| Hiroki Ueno | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | +6 | 4 | F |
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalties in minutes; POS = Position Source: IIHF.com

#### Goaltending leaders

Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage, who have played at least 40% of their team's minutes, are included in this list.
| Player | TOI | GA | GAA | SA | Sv% | SO |
| Stephen Murphy | 120:00 | 1 | 0.50 | 33 | 96.97 | 1 |
| Ben Bowns | 180:00 | 4 | 1.33 | 82 | 95.12 | 1 |
| Yutaka Fukufuji | 280:04 | 11 | 2.36 | 140 | 92.14 | 0 |
| Artur Pavliukov | 287:42 | 12 | 2.50 | 136 | 91.18 | 1 |
| Villem-Henrik Koitmaa | 234:24 | 14 | 3.58 | 135 | 89.63 | 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