It all started in Les Avants, 1910

The first LIHG-organised games were played in Berlin, Germany, on November 3-5, 1908. The first LIHG European Championship was played in the Swiss winter resort of Les Avants on January 10-12, 1910. Great Britain won the championship. The 1920 Olympic Summer Games in Antwerp, Belgium, hosted the first international tournament with North American participation. The first IIHF World Championship outside the Olympics took place in Chamonix, France, Berlin, Germany, and Vienna, Austria, in 1930.

The European Championship, as a separate tournament, existed from 1910 to 1932. A European champion was crowned as part of the IIHF World Championship and the Olympic Winter Games between 1928 and 1991. As of 1992, the title ceased to exist in international ice hockey.
The 1977 IIHF World Championship was the first where professional players from the National Hockey League were allowed to participate. The first time the NHL took a5 break in its schedule for the Olympic Winter Games was for Nagano 1998.
Until 1972 - the first time the IIHF World Championship and the Olympic ice hockey tournament were played separately in the same year - the Olympic medals and World Championship medals were awarded for the same results. In the Olympic years 1980, 1984 and 1988, there were no World Championships played. As of 1992, the Olympic ice hockey tournament and the World Championships are again held as separate events in an Olympic year.

Copyright IIHF. All rights reserved. Terms and Conditions