1950 Ice Hockey World Championships

1950 Ice Hockey World Championships

Tournament details
Host country	Great Britain
Dates	13–22 March
Teams	9
Venue(s)	Wembley Arena, Empress Hall and Harringay (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions	Canada (13th title)
Runner-up	United States
Third place	Switzerland
Fourth place	Great Britain
Tournament statistics
Matches played	27
Goals scored	302 (11.19 per match)
Attendance	127,700 (4,730 per match)
← 1949 1951 →

The 17th Ice Hockey World Championships and 28th European Championships were held from 13 to 22 March 1950 in London, England. Canada, represented by the Edmonton Mercurys, won its 13th World Championship. Highest ranking European team Switzerland finished third, winning its fourth European Championship. Defending World and European champion Czechoslovakia was absent from the tournament.

Officially, the defending champions Czechs did not arrive in London because two of their journalists did not receive their visas. However, based on lingering suspicions about the previous year's six disappearing players, and the defection of star Jaroslav Drobný, several players were arrested in Prague, while awaiting their delayed flight to the tournament. On 7 October 1950, the players appeared in court charged with espionage and were named, "state traitors." At issue was the claim that in 1948 several players on LTC Praha (comprising much of the national team) had discussed defection in Davos following the Spengler Cup. On that trip, Miroslav Slama and two other players did in fact defect, along with one of the heads of the delegation. All were convicted, with sentences ranging from eight months, to 15 years. Bohumil Modry, no longer a member of the national team, was the one to receive the fifteen-year sentence, as he was mysteriously cast as the "main figure" in the potential defection plan.

World Hockey Championships (in London, England)

In a format similar to the 1949 championships, in the initial round, the nine teams participating were divided into three groups with three teams each. In the second round, the top two teams in each group advanced to the medal pool (for positions 1 through 6) with the remaining three teams advancing to the consolation pool for places 7 through 9.

First Round

Group A

13 March 1950	London	Great Britain	–	France		9:0 (4:0,3:0,2:0)
14 March 1950	London	Norway	–	France		11:0 (7:0,2:0,2:0)
15 March 1950	London	Great Britain	–	Norway		2:0 (0:0,0:0,2:0)

Standings

Pos.	Team	G.P	Wins	Ties	Losses	Goals	Goal diff.	Pts.
1	Great Britain	2	2	0	0	11: 0	+11	4:0
2	Norway	2	1	0	1	11: 2	+ 9	2:2
3	France	2	0	0	2	0:20	-20	0:4

Group B

13 March 1950	London	Switzerland	–	Belgium		24:3 (5:1,7:1,12:1)
14 March 1950	London	Canada	–	Switzerland		13:2 (5:1,4:1,4:0)
15 March 1950	London	Canada	–	Belgium		33:0 (14:0,10:0,9:0)

Standings

Pos.	Team	G.P	Wins	Ties	Losses	Goals	Goal diff.	Pts.
1	Canada	2	2	0	0	46: 2	+44	4:0
2	Switzerland	2	1	0	1	26:16	+10	2:2
3	Belgium	2	0	0	2	3:57	-54	0:4

Group C

13 March 1950	London	Sweden	–	USA		8:3 (5:2,0:0,3:1)
14 March 1950	London	Sweden	–	Netherlands		10:0 (3:0,1:0,6:0)
15 March 1950	London	USA	–	Netherlands		17:1 (7:0,2:0,8:1)

Standings

Pos.	Team	G.P	Wins	Ties	Losses	Goals	Goal diff.	Pts.
1	Sweden	2	2	0	0	18: 3	+15	4:0
2	USA	2	1	0	1	20: 9	+11	2:2
3	Netherlands	2	0	0	2	1:27	-26	0:4

Consolation Round – places 7 to 9

20 March 1950	London	Belgium	–	France		8:1 (3:0,1:0,3:1)
21 March 1950	London	Netherlands	–	France		4:2 (1:0,3:1,0:1)
22 March 1950	London	Belgium	–	Netherlands		4:2 (2:1,1:0,1:1)

Standings

Pos.	Team	G.P	Wins	Ties	Losses	Goals	Goal diff.	Pts.
7	Belgium	2	2	0	0	11: 3	+ 8	4:0
8	Netherlands	2	1	0	1	6: 6	0	2:2
9	France	2	0	0	2	3:11	- 8	0:4

Final Round – places 1 to 6

17 March 1950	London	Great Britain	–	Norway		4:3 (1:0,2:2,1:1)
17 March 1950	London	Canada	–	Switzerland		11:1 (2:0,3:1,6:0)
17 March 1950	London	Sweden	–	USA		2:4 (1:0,1:2,0:2)
18 March 1950	London	Switzerland	–	Norway		12:4 (3:3,6:0,3:1)
18 March 1950	London	Canada	–	USA		5:0 (0:0,1:0,4:0)
18 March 1950	London	Great Britain	–	Sweden		5:4 (0:0,1:2,4:2)
20 March 1950	London	Great Britain	–	USA		2:3 (2:1,0:0,0:2)
20 March 1950	London	Canada	–	Norway		11:1 (3:0,4:1,4:0)
20 March 1950	London	Sweden	–	Switzerland		2:3 (2:1,0:0,0:2)
21 March 1950	London	USA	–	Switzerland		10:5 (3:0,1:3,6:2)
21 March 1950	London	Sweden	–	Norway		6:1 (2:0,3:0,1:1)
21 March 1950	London	Great Britain	–	Canada		0:12 (0:5,0:3,0:4)
22 March 1950	London	USA	–	Norway		12:6 (5:0,4:3,3:3)
22 March 1950	London	Great Britain	–	Switzerland		3:10 (1:4,2:3,0:3)
22 March 1950	London	Canada	–	Sweden		3:1 (1:0,2:0,0:1)

Standings

Pos.	Team	G.P	Wins	Ties	Losses	Goals	Goal diff.	Pts.
1	Canada	5	5	0	0	42: 3	+39	10: 0
2	USA	5	4	0	1	29:20	+ 9	8: 2
3	Switzerland	5	3	0	2	31:30	+ 1	6: 4
4	Great Britain	5	2	0	3	14:32	-18	4: 6
5	Sweden	5	1	0	4	15:16	- 1	2: 8
6	Norway	5	0	0	5	15:45	-30	0:10

Note: While the U.S. team technically placed second, Switzerland as the European Champion received the Silver Medal. The U.S. team received the Bronze medal for their second-place finish.

Final rankings – World Championship

Pos.	Team
1	Canada
2	USA
3	Switzerland
4	Great Britain
5	Sweden
6	Norway
7	Belgium
8	Netherlands
9	France

World Champion 1950
Canada

Team members

Edmonton Mercurys

Pos.	Country	Members
1	CAN	Leo Lucchini, Hassie Young, Ab Newsome, Billy Dawe, Harry Allen, Doug Macauley, Don Stanley, Bob Watt, Marsh Darling, Al Purvis, John Davies, Jimmy Kilburn, Pete Wright, Don Gauf, Robert David, Jack Manson, Wilbur Delaney; Trainer: Jimmy Graham

Final rankings – European Championships

Pos.	Team
1	Switzerland
2	Great Britain
3	Sweden
4	Norway
5	Belgium
6	Netherlands
7	France

European Champions 1950
Switzerland

References

• Complete results
• O'Coughlin, Seamus (2001). Squaw Valley Gold: American Hockey's Olympic Odessey. Writer's Showcase. pp. 148.