1997 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships

The 1997 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships was the 61st such event sanctioned by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). Teams representing 36 countries participated in several levels of competition, while three other teams competed in an exhibition tournament to gain experience before joining on an official basis in the 1998 competition. The competition also served as qualifications for group placements in the 1998 competition.
The top Championship Group tournament took place in Finland from 26 April to 14 May 1997, with matches played in Helsinki, Tampere and Turku. Twelve teams took part, with the first round being split into two teams of six, and the six best teams going to a further group stage. Canada beat Sweden in the final game, best of three, where they won 2–1 in games, and became world champions for the 21st time.
== World Championship Group A (Finland) ==
=== First round ===
=== Group 1 ===
=== Group 2 ===
=== Second Round 1–6 Place ===
Teams that had played each other in the first round carried those results forward. First and second place played off for gold, third and fourth for bronze.
=== Consolation Round 7–12 Place ===
Teams that had played each other in the first round carried those results forward. Last place was not relegated to Group B, instead they had to play against three qualifiers from Group B for the last two openings in the 1998 Group A tournament. This was Germany's lowest finish since 1965.
Norway was sent to 1998 Group A Qualifier.
=== Final round ===
=== Match for third place ===
=== Final ===
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==World Championship Group B (Poland)==
Played 12–21 April in Katowice (Spodek) and Sosnowiec (Stadion Zimowy). With the announcement that Group A would be expanding from twelve to sixteen nations, Group B would also undergo significant changes. The winner and next year's host (Switzerland) were promoted. In addition, the remaining three best teams would win the opportunity to play in a qualifying tournament against the last place team from Group A, where the top two would be included in the Group A tournament.Summary at Passionhockey.com
Belarus, as winner, was promoted to Group A. Switzerland, as host, was also promoted to Group A. Kazakhstan, Austria, and Poland were all promoted to the Qualifying tournament for Group A, along with Norway. No one was relegated.
==World Championship Group C (Estonia)==
Played 22–28 March in Tallinn and Kohtla-Järve. Along with the expansion of Group A, a provision was made to allow the best "Far East" team to qualify directly. Beginning in 1999 there would be a tournament to decide who that would be. But for now, the top placing "Far East" hockey nation was able to proceed directly from Group C to Group A. For this year, as well, promotion to Group B was available to the top three European teams, and there was no relegation.
=== First round ===
=== Group 1 ===
=== Group 2 ===
=== Final Round 21–24 Place ===
Japan was promoted to Group A as the "Far East Qualifier", Ukraine, Slovenia, and Estonia were all promoted to Group B.
=== Consolation Round 25–28 Place ===
==World Championship Group D (Andorra)==
Played 7–14 April in Canillo. With Group A expansion, four nations were promoted to Group C.
=== First round ===
=== Group 1 ===
Croatia and South Korea were promoted to Group C.
=== Group 2 ===
Spain and Yugoslavia were promoted to Group C.
=== Final Round 29–32 Place ===
=== Consolation Round 33–36 Place ===
==Unofficial Group E==
Three men's teams that were going to be included in Group D in 1998 played a tournament in Ankara Turkey from 19 to 24 February 1997.
==Ranking and statistics==
===Tournament Awards===
*Best players selected by the directorate:
**Best Goaltender: Tommy Salo
**Best Defenceman: Rob Blake
**Best Forward: Michael Nylander
*Media All-Star Team:
**Goaltender: Tommy Salo
**Defence: Rob Blake, Teppo Numminen
**Forwards: Michael Nylander, Martin Procházka, Vladimír Vůjtek
===Final standings===
The final standings of the tournament according to IIHF:
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4 	
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6 	
7 	
8 	
9 	
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11 	
12 	
===Scoring leaders===
List shows the top skaters sorted by points, then goals.
Player 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Martin Procházka	9 	7	7	14	+10	4 	F
Vladimír Vůjtek 	8 	7	7	14	+11	31	F
Michael Nylander	11	6	5	11	+1 	6 	F
Pavel Patera 	9 	3	8	11	+8 	4 	F
Roger Dubé 	8 	7	3	10	−10	2 	F
Oleg Znaroks 	8 	3	7	10	−4 	6 	F
Gates Orlando 	8 	5	4	9 	−1 	14	F
Bruno Zarrillo 	8 	5	4	9 	−1 	4 	F
Harijs Vītoliņš 	8 	4	5	9 	−3 	4 	F
Travis Green 	11	3	6	9 	+2 	12	F
Source: 
===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 	 	 	 	 	
Jarmo Myllys 	357	10	1.68	.938	1
Artūrs Irbe 	300	10	2.00	.930	1
Roman Čechmánek 	479	17	2.13	.929	0
Maxim Mikhailovsky	359	12	2.01	.929	0
Mike Rosati 	239	12	3.01	.925	0
Source: 
==See also==
* 1997 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships
* 1997 IIHF Women's World Championship
==Citations==
==References==
*Complete results
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Category:IIHF Men's World Ice Hockey Championships
World
1997
Category:1996–97 in Polish ice hockey
Category:International ice hockey competitions hosted by Poland
Category:International ice hockey competitions hosted by Estonia
Category:1996–97 in Estonian ice hockey
Category:1996–97 in European ice hockey
Category:International ice hockey competitions hosted by Andorra
Category:International ice hockey competitions hosted by Turkey
Men's World Championships