Host country Latvia Teams 16 Champions Sweden (8th title) | Dates May 5 – May 21 Venue(s) 2 (in 1 host city) Runner-up Czech Republic | |
 | ||
The 2006 Men's Ice Hockey Championships was held in May 2006 in Riga, Latvia. It was the 70th annual event, and was run by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).
Contents
- Nations
- Preliminary round
- Group A
- Group B
- Group C
- Group D
- Qualifying round
- Group E
- Group F
- Relegation round
- Group G
- Final standings
- Scoring leaders
- Leading goaltenders
- References
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.)
It was preceded two months earlier by the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, where ice hockey was also a major event.
In the gold medal game, Sweden won against the Czech Republic and thus became the first hockey team to win both the Winter Olympics and the 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.
Group A
All times local (UTC +3)
Group B
All times local (UTC +3)
Group C
All times local (UTC +3)
Group D
All times local (UTC +3)
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.
Group E
All times local (UTC+3)
Group F
All times local (UTC +3)
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.
Group G
All times local (UTC +3)
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.
Source: IIHF.com
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.
Source: IIHF.com