# 1990 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships

The 1990 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships was the 54th such event sanctioned by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), and at the same time served as the 65th Ice Hockey European Championships. Teams representing 28 countries participated in several levels of competition. The competition also served as qualifications for group placements in the 1991 competition.
The top Championship Group A tournament took place in Switzerland from 16 April to 2 May 1990, with games played in Bern and Fribourg. Eight teams took part, with each team playing each other once. The four best teams then played each other once more. The Soviet Union became world champions for the 22nd and last time, and Sweden won their tenth European title. In the European Championships, only matches between European teams in the first round were counted towards scoring.
Group B saw East Germany participate in the World Championships for the final time.

## World Championship Group A (Switzerland)
### First round

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Canada | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 36 | 16 | +20 | 13 |
| 2 | Sweden | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 29 | 11 | +18 | 12 |
| 3 | Soviet Union | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 38 | 12 | +26 | 11 |
| 4 | Czechoslovakia | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 28 | 18 | +10 | 8 |
| 5 | United States | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 23 | 37 | −14 | 6 |
| 6 | Finland | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 18 | 27 | −9 | 3 |
| 7 | Norway | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 19 | 45 | −26 | 3 |
| 8 | West Germany | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 11 | 36 | −25 | 0 |

### Final Round

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Soviet Union | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 1 | +14 | 6 |
| 2 | Sweden | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 12 | −1 | 3 |
| 3 | Czechoslovakia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 12 | −4 | 3 |
| 4 | Canada | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 16 | −9 | 0 |

### Consolation round

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 5 | United States | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 35 | 43 | −8 | 12 |
| 6 | Finland | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 29 | 32 | −3 | 6 |
| 7 | West Germany | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 19 | 42 | −23 | 3 |
| 8 | Norway | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 21 | 61 | −40 | 3 |
Norway needing to keep their final game within four goals, lost four to nothing to the Germans, and were relegated.
* Following the reunification of Germany, the Federal Republic of Germany ceased being referred to as West Germany and, starting in 1991, was simply referred to as Germany

## World Championship Group B (France)

Played in Lyon and Megève 29 March to 8 April.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 9 | Switzerland | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 30 | 14 | +16 | 12 |
| 10 | Italy | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 41 | 18 | +23 | 11 |
| 11 | Austria | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 30 | 14 | +16 | 10 |
| 12 | France | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 19 | 20 | −1 | 9 |
| 13 | East Germany | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 22 | 19 | +3 | 6 |
| 14 | Poland | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 25 | 25 | 0 | 6 |
| 15 | Japan | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 13 | 41 | −28 | 1 |
| 16 | Netherlands | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 14 | 43 | −29 | 1 |
Switzerland was promoted to Group A. The Netherlands would have been relegated but gained a reprieve when East Germany ceased to participate because of the reunification of Germany.

## World Championship Group C (Hungary)

Played in Budapest Hungary 28 March to 8 April.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 17 | Yugoslavia | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 57 | 16 | +41 | 15 |
| 18 | Denmark | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 55 | 14 | +41 | 14 |
| 19 | China | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 34 | 29 | +5 | 9 |
| 20 | Romania | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 36 | 27 | +9 | 9 |
| 21 | North Korea | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 27 | 35 | −8 | 8 |
| 22 | Bulgaria | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 31 | 38 | −7 | 8 |
| 23 | Hungary | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 33 | 28 | +5 | 5 |
| 24 | Belgium | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 16 | 67 | −51 | 2 |
| 25 | South Korea | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 22 | 57 | −35 | 2 |
Yugoslavia was promoted to Group B. Both Belgium and South Korea were reprieved from relegation as the reunification of Germany left Group B one team short, and Group D was shut down as there were not enough teams.

## World Championship Group D (Great Britain)

Played in Cardiff, Great Britain 20–25 March.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 26 | Great Britain | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 57 | 7 | +50 | 8 |
| 27 | Australia | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 34 | −24 | 2 |
| 28 | Spain | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 37 | −26 | 2 |
Great Britain was promoted to Group C.

## Ranking and statistics

* 1990 IIHF World Championship winners
* Soviet Union 22nd title

### Tournament Awards

* Best players selected by the directorate:
** Best Goaltender: Artūrs Irbe
** Best Defenceman: Mikhail Tatarinov
** Best Forward: Steve Yzerman
* Media All-Star Team:
** Goaltender: Dominik Hašek
** Defence: Viacheslav Fetisov, Mikhail Tatarinov
** Forwards: Andrei Khomutov, Robert Reichel, Steve Yzerman

### Final standings

The final standings of the tournament according to IIHF:
| | Soviet Union |
| | Sweden |
| | Czechoslovakia |
| 4 | Canada |
| 5 | United States |
| 6 | Finland |
| 7 | West Germany |
| 8 | Norway |

### European championships final standings

The final standings of the European championships according to IIHF:
| | Sweden |
| | Soviet Union |
| | Czechoslovakia |
| 4 | Finland |
| 5 | Norway |
| 6 | West Germany |

### Scoring leaders

List shows the top skaters sorted by points, then goals.
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM | POS |
| Steve Yzerman | 10 | 9 | 10 | 19 | +6 | 8 | F |
| Andrei Khomutov | 10 | 11 | 5 | 16 | +18 | 4 | F |
| Kent Nilsson | 10 | 10 | 2 | 12 | +12 | 6 | F |
| Robert Reichel | 10 | 5 | 6 | 11 | +4 | 4 | F |
| Håkan Loob | 10 | 4 | 7 | 11 | +10 | 10 | F |
| Theoren Fleury | 9 | 4 | 7 | 11 | +9 | 10 | F |
| Thomas Rundqvist | 10 | 3 | 8 | 11 | +9 | 6 | F |
| Mikhail Tatarinov | 10 | 3 | 8 | 11 | +23 | 20 | D |
| Gerd Truntschka | 10 | 4 | 6 | 10 | −1 | 15 | F |
| Viacheslav Fetisov | 8 | 2 | 8 | 10 | +20 | 8 | D |
Source:

### Leading goaltenders

Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage, who have played 50% of their team's minutes are included in this list.
| Player | MIP | GA | GAA | SVS% | SO |
| Artūrs Irbe | 316 | 5 | 0.95 | .950 | 2 |
| Jon Casey | 335 | 15 | 2.69 | .914 | 0 |
| Rolf Ridderwall | 419 | 16 | 2.29 | .911 | 1 |
| Dominik Hašek | 480 | 20 | 2.50 | .904 | 1 |
| Sakari Lindfors | 378 | 15 | 2.38 | .903 | 0 |
Source:

## Citations

* 1 2 3 1990 Summary at Passionhockey.com