2006 IIHF World Championship
The 2006 IIHF World Championship was held in between 5–21 May 2006 in Riga, Latvia. It was the 70th annual event, and was run by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). One of the requirements of the IIHF for Latvia to host the event was that a new arena would be constructed. Sweden was the stand-by organizer in case the arena was delayed, but the construction was completed on schedule, marking the first time a former Soviet state apart from Russia has hosted the event. The mascot of the championships was a beaver called RIX  (after Riga International Airport's IATA code.) Sweden shut out the Czech Republic 4-0 in the Gold Medal Game to win the IIHF World Championships. Sweden had won the 2006 Winter Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Gold 3-2 versus Finland in Turin, Italy two months earlier. They therefore became the first hockey team to win both the Winter Olympics and the IIHF World Championships in the same year. Nations. The following 16 nations qualified for the elite-pool tournament – 13 nations from Europe, two nations from North America and one nation from Asia are represented. Preliminary round. Sixteen  participating teams were placed in the following four groups. After playing a round-robin, the top three teams in each group advanced to the Qualifying Round. The last team in each group competed in the Relegation Round. Groups A and D were played in Kloten, groups B and C in Berne. Qualifying round. The top three teams from each group in the Preliminary round advance to the Qualifying Round. The top three teams from Groups A and D advance to Group E, and the top three teams from Groups B and C advance to Group F. Teams in the Qualifying  Round carry forward the results and points gained in the Preliminary Round with the teams that they have played and advance with. Teams, which have played in the Preliminary Round, do not meet again in the Qualifying Round. Relegation round. The relegation round is composed of the four teams that placed last in Groups A through D. They play in a round-robin fashion, and the bottom two teams get relegated to the Division I group in next year's World Championships. Ranking and statistics. Final standings. The final standings of the tournament according to IIHF: Scoring leaders. List shows  the top skaters sorted by points, then goals. If the list exceeds 10 skaters because of a tie in points, all of the tied skaters are left out. 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.