Host country Finland Venue(s) 3 (in 3 host cities) Runner-up Sweden | Teams 16 Champions Canada (16th title) | |
Dates April 26, 2003 (2003-04-26) - May 11, 2003 (2003-05-11) | ||
The 2003 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships were held in Helsinki, Turku and Tampere in Finland from April 26 to May 11. Canada won the gold medal, beating Sweden 3–2 in the final.
Contents
In the quarterfinal between Sweden and Finland, the Swedes completed an outstanding comeback. Being down 5–1 7 minutes into the second period, Sweden decided to change goaltender from Tommy Salo to Mikael Tellqvist. After the change, the Swedes scored 3 goals in the same period to reduce the lead to 5–4. In the third period, Peter Forsberg scored a famous goal to tie the game up, when he skated from the Swedes' zone all the way to Finland's offensive zone, scoring on a wrap around. Later in the same period, Per Johan Axelsson scored the game-winning goal to win the game 6–5 for the Swedes.
The final game and the championship title was decided by Anson Carter’s goal in overtime which needed to be reviewed by the video goal judge who needed five minutes to confirm the goal was good and the gold went to Canada.
Relegation round
Japan avoids relegation by defeating South Korea 4-1 in the Far East Qualification of the 2004 World Championship.
Belarus and Slovenia are demoted to Division I at the 2004 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships.
Group A
Played at Budapest, Hungary April 15–21
Group B
Played at Zagreb, Croatia April 13–20
France and Kazakhstan are promoted to the 2004 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships, Croatia and Lithuania are demoted to Division II.
Group A
Played at Seoul, South Korea, April 5–12
Group B
Played at Sofia, Bulgaria, March 24–30
Belgium and South Korea are promoted to Division I, Iceland and Mexico are demoted to Division III.
Division III
Played at Auckland, New Zealand April 3–6
Luxembourg and New Zealand are promoted to Division II.