The 2003 IIHF World Championship was held between April 26 and May 11, 2003 in Helsinki, Tampere and Turku, Finland. It was the 67th annual event, and was run by the International Ice Hockey Federation. Canada won the gold medal after defeating Sweden 3–2 in a tightly fought final. Over 14 minutes into the overtime, Canadian forward Anson Carter beat Swedish goaltender Mikael Tellqvist with a wraparound goal. The goal was contested for several minutes before replays confirmed that Tellqvist had stopped the puck behind the goal line. It was Canada's first World Championship win in five years. Sweden surrendered five consecutive goals against Finland in their quarterfinal to trail 5–1 seven minutes into the second period, at which point Swedish goaltender Tommy Salo was swapped for Mikael Tellqvist. This proved to be the Swedish team's necessary wake-up call as the Swedes went on to score five unanswered goals before the end of regulation and ultimately win the game 6–5.
Qualification Tournament
The Far Eastern Qualification was played as a single game during the 2003 Asian Winter Games on February 4, 2003 in Hachinohe, Japan. South Korea had opted to not play as they believed it more beneficial to focus on training and developing for their Division II tournament. During the games Japan also beat the Koreans eleven to two in the semi-finals.
Team
GP
W
T
L
GF
GA
PTS
1
1
0
0
15
0
2
1
0
0
1
0
15
0
All times local
Venues
Final tournament
First round
In the First Round, the top 3 teams from each group progressed to the Second Round, whilst the last placed team progressed to the Consolation Round.
Group A
Team
GP
W
T
L
GF
GA
PTS
3
3
0
0
22
5
6
3
2
0
1
9
8
4
3
1
0
2
9
13
2
3
0
0
3
6
20
0
All times local
Group B
Team
GP
W
T
L
GF
GA
PTS
3
3
0
0
14
5
6
3
2
0
1
9
7
4
3
1
0
2
8
14
2
3
0
0
3
4
9
0
All times local
Group C
Team
GP
W
T
L
GF
GA
PTS
3
3
0
0
12
2
6
3
2
0
1
6
5
4
3
1
0
2
6
9
2
3
0
0
3
1
9
0
All times local
Group D
Team
GP
W
T
L
GF
GA
PTS
3
3
0
0
15
4
6
3
2
0
1
18
3
4
3
1
0
2
8
15
2
3
0
0
3
4
23
0
All times local
Second round
In the Second Round, the top 4 teams from each group progressed to the Final Round, whilst the bottom 2 teams are eliminated.
Group E
Tables and scores below include meetings between teams during the First Round.
Team
GP
W
T
L
GF
GA
PTS
5
4
1
0
27
9
9
5
4
1
0
22
7
9
5
2
1
2
18
10
5
5
2
1
2
11
11
5
5
1
0
4
9
27
2
5
0
0
5
8
31
0
Group F
Tables and scores below include meetings between teams during the First Round.
Žigmund Pálffy
Teemu Selänne
Dany Heatley
Mats Sundin
Martin Straka
Oliver Jonas
Marco Bührer