2004 IIHF Men's InLine Hockey World Championship
The 2004 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships was the 9th such event hosted by the International Ice Hockey Federation. It took place between July 10 and July 17, 2004. Tournament Format. The preliminary round will be played in 4 groups (A-D) with 4 teams each. The groups A and B form the Top Division, the groups C and D form Division I. The two last-placed teams of the groups A and B and the two first-placed teams of the groups C and D play for 4th place in  group A and B to participate in the Top Division playoffs. The losers of those games play as first placed teams in group C and D to participate in the Division I playoffs. Playoffs starting with the quarterfinals and placement games will be played both in the Top Division and in Division I. All games in the preliminary round and in the playoffs will be played with 5-minute sudden-death overtime and a penalty shootout in case of a tie. The final games will be played with a 12- minute sudden-death overtime, followed by a penalty shootout competition  in case of a tie. Teams will be awarded points on the following system: Participating teams. "Groups are based on the results of the previous World Championships and Qualifying Series" Top Division. Preliminary Round. Group A. "Group loser sent to compete in qualification round" Group B. "Group loser sent to compete in qualification round" Play-off round. Quarter-finals. Ranking and statistics. Final standings. The final standings of the tournament according to IIHF: Division I. Qualification. European Zone. Played in Loverval, Belgium Southern Hemisphere Zone. Played in South Africa Asian Zone. Played in Taiwan European-Asian Final. Played in Bad  Tölz, Germany Preliminary Round. Group C. "Group Winner sent to compete in qualification round" Group B. "Group winner sent to compete in qualification round" Play-off round. Quarter-finals. Ranking and statistics. Final standings. The final standings of the tournament according to IIHF: