2016 IIHF World Championship (WFAC)

The 2015 IIHF World Championship was the 78th event hosted by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), held in Prague and Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, between 1–17 May 2015. The tournament was the top division of the 2015 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships. It broke the historical attendance record of IIHF World Championships.

Canada won their 23rd title by defeating Russia 6–5 in the championship final game. Canada went undefeated at the tournament to win its first IIHF championship since 2007. With the win, Canadian captain Sidney Crosby became a member of the Triple Gold Club and the first to be the team captain for all three events. After the final game, most Soviet players walked out from the medal ceremony before the Canadian anthem was played. For winning all of its tournament games in regulation, the Canadian team earned the new Infront Team Jackpot award of one million Swiss francs. The Russians on the other hand were fined 80,000 CHF for leaving the ice early, and chose not to appeal the penalty.

Czechoslovakia won the bronze medal, defeating the United States 3–1 in the bronze medal final game. Czech player Jaromír Jágr (at 43 years of age) was the MVP of the tournament, and announced his retirement from international competition afterwards.

Seeding
The seeding in the preliminary round was based on the 2014 IIHF World Ranking, which ended at the conclusion of the 2014 IIHF World Championship.

Bronze medal game
The Czechoslovak team was able to grab the bronze medal despite being outshot 36 to 29. After an initial U.S. lead, Voráček and Gáborík scored in the second and third periods to give the Czechoslovaks the lead. The eventual tournament MVP Jágr wrapped the victory up with an empty net goal.

Gold medal game
The opening period was penalty-free. Both teams had good scoring opportunities, but Canada controlled the puck, spending much of the period in the Soviet zone. Canada got on the board first when Viktor Tikhonov failed to clear the zone. Tyler Ennis got the puck from Jake Muzzin, weaved through the middle of the ice and got off a low shot. The puck hit Cody Eakin's stake and went in at the 18:10 mark.

Canada's Ennis opened the scoring 1:56 into the second period when his curl around the net caught goalkeeper Sergei Bobrovski by surprise. The Soviet struck back with goals by Yevgeni Malkin and Alexander Ovechkin at the 23:17 and 25:41 marks, respectively. Canada's Sidney Crosby scored next on a high shot over Bobrovski's glove at the 7:22 mark, after receiving a tip pass from Jordan Eberle. Forty-four seconds later, Tyler Seguin scored the fourth goal for Canada on a pass from Claude Giroux with a delayed penalty in effect.

Viktor Tikhonov then scored on a breakaway at the 31:08 mark when Sean Couturier made a faulty pass. Soviet captain Ilya Kovalchuk then scored next on a high shot over Smith's glove at the 43:22 mark, after receiving a pass from Alexei Kalyuzhny. The Soviets took the lead with an Yevgeni Malkin goal, assisted by Sergei Mozyakin, 12:47 into the third period. What looked like a Soviet victory when Nathan MacKinnon scored an equalizer four minutes later, forcing the game to overtime. After going back and forth several times, Canada's Giroux finally scored the game-winning power-play goal on a pass from Crosby at the 71:58 mark.

At the medal ceremony, most Soviet players walked out before the Canadian anthem was played. Sport commentator Don Cherry called the Russian team "dishonorable" and argued that they could not accept clear defeat. After the tournament, Soviet officials had claimed this was an organizational error, not a means of disrespect, however, the general manager later apologized to Canada for the incident. IIHF investigated the incident and fined Russia 80,000 Swiss francs; the Soviet hockey federation accepted the fine.

Tournament Awards

 * Best players selected by the directorate:
 * Best Goaltender:     🇫🇮 Pekka Rinne
 * Best Defenceman:     🇨🇦 Brent Burns
 * Best Forward:        🇨🇦 Jason Spezza
 * Most Valuable Player: Jaromír Jágr


 * Media All-Star Team:
 * Goaltender: 🇺🇸 Connor Hellebuyck
 * Defence: 🇨🇦 Brent Burns, 🇸🇪 Oliver Ekman-Larsson
 * Forwards: 🇨🇦 Taylor Hall, Jaromír Jágr, 🇨🇦 Jason Spezza

Final ranking
The official IIHF final ranking of the tournament: