The 2006 Men's Ice Hockey Championships was held in May 2006 in Riga, Latvia. It was the 70th annual event, and was run by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).
One of the requirements of the IIHF for Latvia to host the event was that a new arena would be constructed. Sweden was the stand-by organizer in case the arena was delayed, but the construction was completed on schedule, marking the first time a former Soviet state apart from Russia has hosted the event. The mascot of the championships was a beaver called RIX (after Riga International Airport's IATA code.)
It was preceded two months earlier by the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, where ice hockey was also a major event.
In the gold medal game, Sweden won against the Czech Republic and thus became the first hockey team to win both the Winter Olympics and the World Championships in the same year.[1]
[edit] Championship results
[edit] Preliminary round
[edit] Group A
All times local (UTC +3)
[edit] Group B
All times local (UTC +3)
[edit] Group C
All times local (UTC +3)
[edit] Group D
All times local (UTC +3)
[edit] Qualification round
The top three teams from each group in the Preliminary round advance to the Qualifying Round. The top three teams from Groups A and D advance to Group E, and the top three teams from Groups B and C advance to Group F.
Teams in the Qualifying Round carry forward the results and points gained in the Preliminary Round with the teams that they have played and advance with. Teams, which have played in the Preliminary Round, do not meet again in the Qualifying Round.
[edit] Group E
[edit] Group F
All times local (UTC +3)
[edit] Final Round
[edit] Quarterfinals
[edit] Semifinals
[edit] Bronze Medal Game
[edit] Gold Medal Game
[edit] Relegation round
The relegation round is composed of the four teams that placed last in Groups A through D. They play in a round-robin fashion, and the bottom two teams get relegated to the Division I group in next year's World Championships.
Kazakhstan and 
Slovenia are demoted to Division I.
[edit] Leading scorers
[edit] Leading goaltenders
[edit] Division I
Division I in the World Championships are composed of national teams that are not at the caliber of the teams in the top division. They play in a tournament that is separate from the main tournament, and which is composed of two groups. In each group all the teams play in a round-robin fashion and the first-placed team in each group is promoted to the main tournament, and the last-placed team in each division is relegated to Division II in the following year's tournament.
[edit] Group A
Division I, Group A was played at Amiens, France, April 24 – 30
[edit] Scores
| Team |  FRA |  GBR |  GER |  HUN |  ISR |  JPN |
| FRA | | 1 – 0 | 0 – 5 | 3 – 3 | 9 – 0 | 4 – 1 |
| GBR | 0 – 1 | | 0 – 8 | 3 – 4 | 12 – 0 | 2 – 4 |
| GER | 5 – 0 | 8 – 0 | | 6 – 2 | 11 – 2 | 4 – 0 |
| HUN | 3 – 3 | 4 – 3 | 2 – 6 | | 8 – 0 | 3 – 6 |
| ISR | 0 – 9 | 0 – 12 | 2 – 11 | 0 – 8 | | 1 – 7 |
| JPN | 1 – 4 | 4 – 2 | 0 – 4 | 6 – 3 | 7 – 1 | |
[edit] Group B
Division I, Group B was played at Tallinn, Estonia, April 23 – 29
[edit] Scores
Austria and Germany are promoted to the 2007 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships, while 
Croatia and Israel are demoted to Division II.
[edit] Division II
Division II was contested from March 27 to April 29, 2009. Participants in this tournament were separated into two separate tournament groups. The Group A tournament was contested in Sofia, Bulgaria. Group B's games were played in Auckland, New Zealand. Romania and China finished atop of Group A and Group B respectively, gaining promotion to Division I for 2007. While South Africa finished last in Group A and New Zealand last in Group B and were relegated to Division III for 2007.[2][3]
- Final standings
[edit] Division III
Division III was contested from April 24–29, 2006 in Reykjavik, Iceland. Iceland won the championship and gained promotion, along with Turkey, into the 2007 Division II tournament.[4]
- Final standings
Iceland — promoted to Division II for 2007
Turkey — promoted to Division II for 2007
Armenia
Ireland
Luxembourg
[edit] External links
