The 1974 Ice Hockey World Championships were the 41st Ice Hockey World Championships

Ice Hockey World Championships

The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation . First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics, it is the sport's highest profile annual international tournament. The IIHF was created in 1908 while the European...

 and the 52nd European Championships in ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

. The tournament took place in Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 from 5 April to 20 April and the games were played in the capital, Helsinki

Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

. Six teams took part in the main tournament, all playing each other twice. The Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 won the world championships for the 13th time, and also won their 16th European title. For the first time in ice hockey World Championship history, two players were suspended for doping

Doping (sport)

The use of performance-enhancing drugs in sport is commonly referred to by the term "doping", particularly by those organizations that regulate competitions. The use of performance enhancing drugs is mostly done to improve athletic performance. This is why many sports ban the use of performance...

. They were the Swede Ulf Nilsson and the Finn Stig Wetzell

Stig Wetzell

Stig Wetzell is a retired professional ice hockey player who played in the SM-liiga. He played for HJK and HIFK.-Playing career:...

 who tested positive for the forbidden substance ephedrine

Ephedrine

Ephedrine is a sympathomimetic amine commonly used as a stimulant, appetite suppressant, concentration aid, decongestant, and to treat hypotension associated with anaesthesia....

. Both players were suspended for the rest of the tournament. Nilsson tested positive after Sweden's game against Poland, which Sweden won 4-1. The game was awarded to Poland as a 5-0 walkover. The Finn, Wetzell, tested positive after Finland's match against Czechoslovakia, which Finland won 5-2, which was also awarded to Czechoslovakia as a 5-0 walkover.

World Championship Group A (Finland)

	Team	Games	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points difference	Points
1		10	9	0	1	64 - 18	18
2		10	7	0	3	57 - 20	14
3		10	5	1	4	38 - 24	11
4		10	4	2	4	34 - 39	10
5		10	1	2	7	22 - 64	4
6		10	1	1	8	19 - 82	3

East Germany was very unlucky to be relegated to Group B, Poland's only win was the awarded default for a doping violation against Sweden.

World Championship Group B (Yugoslavia)

Played in Ljubljana

Ljubljana

Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...

 March 21-30.

	Team	Games	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points difference	Points
7		7	7	0	0	40 - 14	14
8		7	4	2	1	41 - 27	10
9		7	5	0	2	34 - 28	10
10		7	4	0	3	31 - 31	8
11		7	2	1	4	33 - 37	5
12		7	2	1	4	30 - 29	5
13		7	1	1	5	18 - 31	3
14		7	0	1	6	12 - 42	1

The USA was promoted to Group A, and bothe Norway and Austria were relegated to Group C.

World Championship Group C (France)

Played in Grenoble

Grenoble

Grenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère...

, Gap

Gap

-General:* Gap , a spacing between large trees in a forest* Gap , a mountain pass, often carved by a river* Gap year, a prolonged period between a life stage-Places:* Gap, Hautes-Alpes, France* Gap, Pennsylvania, United States...

 and Lyon

Lyon

Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....

, March 8-17. This was North Korea

North Korea

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...

's first World Championship.

	Team	Games	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points difference	Points
15		7	6	0	1	63 - 04	12
16		7	5	1	1	42 - 11	11
17		7	4	1	2	39 - 18	9
18		7	3	3	1	28 - 22	9
19		7	4	0	3	34 - 25	8
20		7	1	2	4	16 - 38	4
21		7	1	0	6	13 - 74	2
22		7	0	1	6	12 - 65	1

Switzerland and Italy were promoted to Group B.

World Championship medal table

1974 World Championships	Country
Gold
Silver
Bronze
4
5
6

European Championship medal table

1974 European Championships	Country
Gold
Silver
Bronze
4
5
6