1981 Ice Hockey World Championships
The 1981 Ice Hockey World Championships took place in Sweden between 12–26 April 1981, with games being played in the arenas of Scandinavium in Gothenburg and Johanneshovs isstadion in Stockholm. Eight teams took part, first splitting into two groups of four, with the best two from each group advancing to the final group. These teams then play each other in the final round. This was the 47th World Championships, and also the 58th European Championships. The Soviet Union became World Champions for the 17th time, and also won their twentieth European title. Don Cherry commented, "This is the best Russian team I've ever seen."
The Dutch team had won Group C and Group B in successive years to play in this tournament, but did not fare well. Their best game was a narrow one goal loss to the Americans, a goal scored on a penalty shot by Dave Christian with eleven seconds left. It was their first appearance at the top level since 1950 and they have not returned since.First Round
Group 1
Group 2
Final Round
Consolation Round
The Netherlands were relegated to Group B.World Championship Group B (Italy)
Played in Urtijëi March 20–29. The hosts went undefeated to win, led by former Pittsburgh Penguin and Edmonton Oiler Wayne Bianchin and backstopped by former Oiler Jim Corsi.
| Team | Games | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points difference | Points |
| 9 | | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 38 - 18 | 13 |
| 10 | | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 49 - 25 | 11 |
| 11 | | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 28 - 20 | 10 |
| 12 | | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 37 - 25 | 9 |
| 13 | | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 25 - 30 | 4 |
| 14 | | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 21 - 39 | 4 |
| 15 | | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 23 - 44 | 3 |
| 16 | | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 18 - 38 | 2 |
Italy was promoted to Group A, both Yugoslavia and Japan were relegated to Group C.World Championship Group C (China PR)
Played in Beijing March 6–15.
| Team | Games | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points difference | Points |
| 17 | | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 43 - 05 | 14 |
| 18 | | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 46 - 14 | 12 |
| 19 | | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 38 - 22 | 9 |
| 20 | | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 36 - 27 | 7 |
| 21 | | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 48 - 36 | 6 |
| 22 | | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 22 - 32 | 6 |
| 23 | | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 18 - 66 | 2 |
| 24 | | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 11 - 60 | 0 |
Both Austria and China were promoted to Group B.Ranking and statistics
Tournament Awards
The final standings of the tournament according to IIHF:
The final standings of the European championships according to IIHF:
The fanfare for the Championships was written by Benny Andersson in 1981. It was later used as the jingle/opening theme for the television special Dick Cavett Meets ABBA aired later in 1981. Reference - Palm, Carl Magnus: ABBA - The Complete Recordings Sessions, page 106. Verulam Publishing Ltd...Citations
