Greatest IIHF World Championship upsets?
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Yeah, it was in Finland. Losing 5-6 to Sweden like that would've been awful on its own but on top of that it got us eliminated in the quarter finals. Selanne went pretty much nuts in the dressing room after.
Probably because it's IIHF Worlds thread and that game happened at Olympics. Otherwise one of the biggest upsets in history IMO.
Uncle Rotter
Registered User
AstrophysicalJet
Registered User
These come to mind:
Denmark - Slovakia 2010 WC. Denmark Blank Slovaks 6-0
Denmark - Finland 2010 WC. Denmark stun the Finss 4-1
Denmark - USA 2010 WC. Denmark beat the US narrowly 2-1
Denmark - USA 2003WC Denmarks first top level WC. Denmark shock with a 5-2 win
Denmark - Canada 2003WC - 2-2 Draw.
Denmark - Czech 2016WC - 2-1 Denmark SO.
Denmark - Czech 2014WC - 4-3 Denmark SO.
Denmark - Slovakia 2010 WC. Denmark Blank Slovaks 6-0
Denmark - Finland 2010 WC. Denmark stun the Finss 4-1
Denmark - USA 2010 WC. Denmark beat the US narrowly 2-1
Denmark - USA 2003WC Denmarks first top level WC. Denmark shock with a 5-2 win
Denmark - Canada 2003WC - 2-2 Draw.
Denmark - Czech 2016WC - 2-1 Denmark SO.
Denmark - Czech 2014WC - 4-3 Denmark SO.
BruinLVGA
Just got me a Beretta 92XI Squalo!
Back to upsets , I think Swiss 4th place in 1998 can be viewed as upset because the year before they played in Division 1 (back then B pool).
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BruinLVGA
Just got me a Beretta 92XI Squalo!
Big time. I was actually there watching a couple of games too! It actually gave stability to the Swiss national team performance from then on, culminating with the silver in Sweden in 2013.
By the way, do you know who the coach of that team was? Ralph Krüger, the same guy they had coaching Team Europe at the World Cup. He is a great motivator and especially perfect for teams with young players (yeah I know that wasn't the case with Team Europe...). I never understood why Edmonton let him go.
Yup, it was big year for Krueger, few months earlier his Feldkirch beat Dynamo Moscow 5:3 to claim champions hockey league title (European hockey league then).
BruinLVGA
Just got me a Beretta 92XI Squalo!
Yeah I remember when that Austrian team won it, everybody in Switzerland was stunned. Still feel the same when Zurich also did it by beating Metallurg Magnitogorsk in 2009 (if I remember well).
Uncle Rotter
Registered User
They went 2-6-1 playing at home. If France doesn't beat the US, they would have been playing for 9th place.
BruinLVGA
Just got me a Beretta 92XI Squalo!
Way to go to try to spin things with a negative bias:
1. A team that hasn't seen pool A action for eons was able to get to play for a medal. This is exceptional success and it should be an easy enough concept to understand for anyone.
2. Switzerland's overall record was 2-5-1, not 2-6-1. They went 1-2-0 in the preliminary group, 1-1-1 in the medal qualifying group and 0-2-0 in the medal round.
3. In the qualifying group stage, in Switzerland's group, Switzerland was second by virtue of goals difference, as Russia won the group with a 3-0-0 record, while the remaining teams where 1-2-0.
4. The USA ended the tournament with a 1-4-1 record. They ended up in last spot (12th) OVERALL and were therefore relegated to pool B for the next year.
So France beating them 3-1 wasn't really an upset, seeing that in the tournament they were also beaten by Latvia (3-2 the score) and Italy (4-0 the score). In the relegation group (= against the worst teams), when permanence in pool A was at stake, the USA in 3 games had 2 losses (Italy, Latvia) and 1 tie (Germany) for a measly lone point that earned them dead last spot in the group, behind Germany with 2.
So mentioning the USA losing to France like it was some sort of an anomaly and amazing event, is just laughable.
5. Switzerland played in the 2nd round in a group with top teams like Russia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
While the USA was getting their bottom handed to them by powerhouses such as Latvia and Italy, what did Switzerland do? They went 1-1-1 and got 2nd place in the group (Czech 5 points, Switzerland 3, Russia 3, Slovakia 1. Switzerland was 2nd because they had the first tie-breaker, that means they had beaten Russia, the team that was tied with them).
So you know what is the morale of all this? Switzerland, back then a pool B team really, played by the rules of the tournament like everyone else and freaking FULLY EARNED their right to play for a medal.
Mentioning that if team X hadn't lost to team Y, then team Z wouldn't have been playing for whatever is a very silly statement because: a) one game lost instead of won could have spelled a big difference in the outcome for the vast majority of the teams and b) using USA's loss to France, as an example of some unusual result in the 1998 IIHF WC, is a complete fail because the USA ended up dead last. Seeing how they played in the whole tournament, it would have been a surprise if they had beaten France.
PS: Seeing you are a Canadian... Switzerland did better than Canada too, seeing that Canada didn't even make the medal round. Until the medal round, Canada and Switzerland had a very similar record: Canada 3-2-1, Switzerland 2-3-1. This is the biggest hockey nation in the world vs a nation that had not seen action in Pool A hockey more than a couple of times in the past 25-30 years. Let that sink in.
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Seems like your memory of that tournament is a bit fuzzy.
It was a huge upset at the time, but Switzerland had played in the top pool in 1995, but missed on promotion in 96 and 97 (they got into the tournament thanks to being the home team and the expansion to 16 teams).
Switzerland lost three games in the medal round, two against Sweden and one against the Czech Republic, so 2-6-1 is correct.
It was Sweden who won the group. And this doesn't really contradict his point as France beating the US is what created the chance for a three way tie and the late drama is the game against France.
The US ended up 12th out of 16 and didn't play pool B in 1999 but had to go through a qualifying tournament in late 1998. And that loss against France in their 2nd game was certainly seen as a big upset at the time, they had not lost against Italy and Latvia yet.
Beating Russia was a huge upset but tying a Slovakian team that had nothing to play for in their last game wasn't as incredible as you make it sound. In 1998 Slovakia wasn't the top team it would be between 2000 and 2006.
It was a huge upset at the time, but Switzerland had played in the top pool in 1995, but missed on promotion in 96 and 97 (they got into the tournament thanks to being the home team and the expansion to 16 teams).
Switzerland lost three games in the medal round, two against Sweden and one against the Czech Republic, so 2-6-1 is correct.
It was Sweden who won the group. And this doesn't really contradict his point as France beating the US is what created the chance for a three way tie and the late drama is the game against France.
The US ended up 12th out of 16 and didn't play pool B in 1999 but had to go through a qualifying tournament in late 1998. And that loss against France in their 2nd game was certainly seen as a big upset at the time, they had not lost against Italy and Latvia yet.
Beating Russia was a huge upset but tying a Slovakian team that had nothing to play for in their last game wasn't as incredible as you make it sound. In 1998 Slovakia wasn't the top team it would be between 2000 and 2006.
BruinLVGA
Just got me a Beretta 92XI Squalo!
First of all, I looked at the info on Wikipedia because indeed a lot of time has passed and my memory doesn't remember the details (I actually saw two games in person at the 1998 WC).
I swear that the information in it changed since the time I checked. Stuff was changed (the most blatant thing is that in the preliminary group now it shows Sweden instead of Russia) & also added. I re checked your statements and they adhere 100% to how the page is now.
The point I was making is that Switzerland wasn't such a constant presence in pool A and hadn't been either in the past. That is confirmed also by you mentioning that they had last had a whiff of pool A three editions before. From that point of view, a 4th place is a great performance.
Also his point that inferring to France beating the USA as some sort of miracle, is just bonkers, because the USA ended up 12th overall. So beating them, in that edition, wasn't that difficult. This is a fact, even if when they lost to France that wasn't known yet for obvious reasons.
Furthermore, saying 1 game could have made a huge difference, means little because in those short tournaments it is always like that anyway.
All in all, thanks to that Wikipedia page having been changed, a lot of details of my statements had to be revised, but the jest, the message still stand.
GX
Registered User
- Dec 28, 2011
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Twice. In 2000 and 2003.
2000 is clearly an upset, but doesn't deserve a mention in comparison to other games in this thread. I mean, the game has a special place in Latvian fan hearts, but Russians had a disastrous tournament (11th place), despite have an All-Star line-up on home ice.
2003 is often forgotten, yet is a bigger upset than the 2000 game. Latvians won 2:1 during the qualifying round.
JackSlater
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- Apr 27, 2010
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BruinLVGA
Just got me a Beretta 92XI Squalo!
Dude, I am telling you what I have seen. Unless I had a seizure, that's what I saw. I am the kind of guy that quadruple checks everything, I visited that page 4-5 times before.
JackSlater
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- Apr 27, 2010
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_IIHF_World_Championship
At the bottom of the page it says: "This page was last modified on 16 June 2016, at 03:44."
It may be time to see your doctor.
jj cale
Registered User
GotTheMovesLikeJagr
Registered User
From a Norwegian perspective, these World Championship upsets come to mind:
1 May 2000: Canada 3 – 4 Norway
Before Roy Johansen became our head coach in 2001, this tournament was arguably our best since being promoted for the first time in modern times in 1990 (with 1996 being another relatively good year), as we beat Canada for the first time and also advanced to the second round.
Sjur Robert Nilsen scored the first goal of the match at 22:06, but Patrick Traverse tied the game four minutes later at 26:10. Norway again took the lead 17 seconds later by a goal by Trond Magnussen. Todd Bertuzzi tied the game again at 37:12 and 32 seconds later Steve Sullivan put Canada ahead for the first time in the game. Marius Trygg tied the game for Norway one and a half minute later. Tore Vikingstad became the hero for Norway when he scored a powerplay goal at 48:49. While Canada pulled their goalie (Fred Brathwaite) in the last minutes, Norway eventually won the match.
Goals Canada:
26:10 – Patrick Traverse (Brad Isbister)
37:12 – Todd Bertuzzi (Brendan Morrison)
37:44 – Steve Sullivan
Goals Norway:
22:06 – S. Nilsen (Mats Trygg)
26:27 – T. Magnussen (P.-Ã…. Skrøder, M. Knold)
39:17 – Marius Trygg (Mats Trygg, O. E. Dahlstrøm) (PP1)
48:49 – Tore Vikingstad (Trond Magnussen) (PP1)
11 May 2010: Czech Republic 2 – 3 Norway
Somewhat forgotten as Denmark overall created more upsets this year, but Norway did manage to beat the Czechs for the first time in this tournament, and we advanced to the second round (where we had some ugly defeats, partly due to suspensions on goalie PÃ¥l Grotnes (due to a fight in the preliminary round game against France) and captain Tommy Jakobsen (accidentally skating into a ref in the 1–12 defeat to Canada, for which he received a game misconduct for unsportsmanlike conduct).
Anyways: the Czechs dominated the game, but Norway had the best chances in the first period, scoring on one of them: Patrick Thoresen came to a sudden stop and fired a perfect pass to Mats Zuccarello in the high slot, and he ripped a wrist shot over the shoulder of goalie Ondřej Pavelec, who was clearly surprised by the velocity and accuracy of the drive.
Second period started pretty slow, but the Czechs got a 5-on-3 and exploited that by a goal from Jágr. The Czechs then dominated the game again until Anders Fredriksen tipped in a lazy wrist shot from Lars Løkken Østli that beat Pavelec.
The Norwegians went up to a two-goal lead at 44:23. They cleared the puck from their own end, and Mathis Olimb near center ice made a sweeping backhand pass to Anders Bastiansen while falling to the ice along the boards. Bastiansen outwaited Pavelec and fired.
Jágr scored a second goal at 53:09, but to no use. Despite heavy Czech pressure, Norway won the match.
As a half Norwegian and half Czech, this game was both great and bad at the same time.
Goals Czech Republic:
27:56 – JaromÃr Jágr (Michal RozsÃval, Jakub Klepiš) (PP2)
53:09 – Jágr (Karel Rachůnek)
Goals Norway:
12:09 – Mats Zuccarello (Patrick Thoresen, Tommy Jakobsen)
30:13 – Anders Fredriksen (Lars Løkken Østli, Thoresen)
44:23 – Anders Bastiansen (Mathis Olimb, Lars Erik Spets)
29 April 2011: Sweden 4 – 5 GWS Norway
On this day, we finally beat our rival (and big brother) Sweden! This upset was if anything more miraculous than the one against the Czechs the year before. Norway missed several of our best players (which is even more critical for smaller countries like us): Zuccarello (broken hand in an AHL playoff game), Thoresen (tired after KHL playoffs), Holøs (arrived late from play with the Colorado Avalanche due to bad weather), Vikingstad (retired from international play), Tommy Jakobsen (same) and Mats Trygg (opted out). To make matters worse, our starting goaltender Pål Grotnes got injured during practice, so our backup goalie Lars Haugen (who had struggled to get ice time in the Norwegian league) was chosen.
It was a back-and-forth game. Sweden went up 3–1 in the first period, but Norway fought back and at the end it was 4–4 after 60 minutes. The overtime went scoreless and so it went into a shootout; Per-Ã…ge Skrøder and Mathis Olimb scored for Norway, while Eriksson was pokechecked by Haugen and Patrik Berglund was blocked.
Norway eventually reached the quarterfinal, where they lost to the eventual gold medal winner Finland. This was our second best tournament in modern times, only beat by the tournament in 2012 in which we overall played better and almost everything went our way.
Goals Norway:
08:06 – Martin Røymark (Mads Hansen, Morten Ask) (PP1)
21:00 – Ask (Mathis Olimb) (PP1)
33:45 – Marius Holtet (Anders Bastiansen, Per-Ã…ge Skrøder) (PP1)
55:06 – Bastiansen (M. Olimb, Lars Erik Spets)
Skrøder – Goal
M. Olimb – Goal
Shootout:
Goals Sweden:
06:21 – Loui Eriksson (Robert Nilsson)
11:41 РPatrik Berglund (Martin Th̦rnberg)
15:01 – Berglund (David Petrasek, Magnus Pääjärvi-Svensson) (PP1)
49:37 – Eriksson (Nilsson) (PP1)
Eriksson – Miss
Berglund – Miss
In the unsure/"almost" category:
13 May 2012: Germany 4 – 12 Norway
On a normal day, Norway and Germany are about equally good, and the winner of this match would decide which of the two countries would advance to the quarterfinal. What happened on this day, however, nobody knows.
Norway was on fire that evening, and scored on pretty much any chance they had. Norway noted a hattrick and 3 assists. We eventually reached the quarterfinal, where we lost 2–5 to gold medal winner Russia (after initially managing to keep a 2–2 tie after 40 minutes).
Probably the funniest Norway match I have watched.
Goals Germany:
38:25 – Patrick Reimer (Philip Gogulla, Christoph Schubert)
41:01 – Justin Krueger (Gogulla)
46:27 РMarcus Kink (Kevin Lavall̩e)
57:17 – Christopher Fischer (Kai Hospelt, Gogulla) (PP2)
Goals Norway:
00:20 – Patrick Thoresen (Mads Hansen, Per-Ã…ge Skrøder)
01:28 – Thoresen (Marius Holtet) (PP1)
05:07 – Martin Røymark (Holtet)
23:16 – Lars Erik Spets (Mathis Olimb, Anders Bastiansen)
24:12 – Juha Kaunismäki (Morten Ask, Ken-André Olimb)
27:52 – Jonas Holøs (Thoresen, Ask) (PP1)
32:07 – Thoresen (Ask, Henrik Solberg)
33:24 – Skrøder (M. Olimb, Ask) (PP1)
34:07 – Mats Trygg (Thoresen, Hansen) (PP1)
40:44 – Skrøder (Thoresen, Hansen)
43:15 – Hansen (Bastiansen, Kaunismäki)
52:05 – Trygg (Hansen)
1 May 2000: Canada 3 – 4 Norway
Before Roy Johansen became our head coach in 2001, this tournament was arguably our best since being promoted for the first time in modern times in 1990 (with 1996 being another relatively good year), as we beat Canada for the first time and also advanced to the second round.
Sjur Robert Nilsen scored the first goal of the match at 22:06, but Patrick Traverse tied the game four minutes later at 26:10. Norway again took the lead 17 seconds later by a goal by Trond Magnussen. Todd Bertuzzi tied the game again at 37:12 and 32 seconds later Steve Sullivan put Canada ahead for the first time in the game. Marius Trygg tied the game for Norway one and a half minute later. Tore Vikingstad became the hero for Norway when he scored a powerplay goal at 48:49. While Canada pulled their goalie (Fred Brathwaite) in the last minutes, Norway eventually won the match.
Goals Canada:
26:10 – Patrick Traverse (Brad Isbister)
37:12 – Todd Bertuzzi (Brendan Morrison)
37:44 – Steve Sullivan
Goals Norway:
22:06 – S. Nilsen (Mats Trygg)
26:27 – T. Magnussen (P.-Ã…. Skrøder, M. Knold)
39:17 – Marius Trygg (Mats Trygg, O. E. Dahlstrøm) (PP1)
48:49 – Tore Vikingstad (Trond Magnussen) (PP1)
11 May 2010: Czech Republic 2 – 3 Norway
Somewhat forgotten as Denmark overall created more upsets this year, but Norway did manage to beat the Czechs for the first time in this tournament, and we advanced to the second round (where we had some ugly defeats, partly due to suspensions on goalie PÃ¥l Grotnes (due to a fight in the preliminary round game against France) and captain Tommy Jakobsen (accidentally skating into a ref in the 1–12 defeat to Canada, for which he received a game misconduct for unsportsmanlike conduct).
Anyways: the Czechs dominated the game, but Norway had the best chances in the first period, scoring on one of them: Patrick Thoresen came to a sudden stop and fired a perfect pass to Mats Zuccarello in the high slot, and he ripped a wrist shot over the shoulder of goalie Ondřej Pavelec, who was clearly surprised by the velocity and accuracy of the drive.
Second period started pretty slow, but the Czechs got a 5-on-3 and exploited that by a goal from Jágr. The Czechs then dominated the game again until Anders Fredriksen tipped in a lazy wrist shot from Lars Løkken Østli that beat Pavelec.
The Norwegians went up to a two-goal lead at 44:23. They cleared the puck from their own end, and Mathis Olimb near center ice made a sweeping backhand pass to Anders Bastiansen while falling to the ice along the boards. Bastiansen outwaited Pavelec and fired.
Jágr scored a second goal at 53:09, but to no use. Despite heavy Czech pressure, Norway won the match.
As a half Norwegian and half Czech, this game was both great and bad at the same time.
Goals Czech Republic:
27:56 – JaromÃr Jágr (Michal RozsÃval, Jakub Klepiš) (PP2)
53:09 – Jágr (Karel Rachůnek)
Goals Norway:
12:09 – Mats Zuccarello (Patrick Thoresen, Tommy Jakobsen)
30:13 – Anders Fredriksen (Lars Løkken Østli, Thoresen)
44:23 – Anders Bastiansen (Mathis Olimb, Lars Erik Spets)
29 April 2011: Sweden 4 – 5 GWS Norway
On this day, we finally beat our rival (and big brother) Sweden! This upset was if anything more miraculous than the one against the Czechs the year before. Norway missed several of our best players (which is even more critical for smaller countries like us): Zuccarello (broken hand in an AHL playoff game), Thoresen (tired after KHL playoffs), Holøs (arrived late from play with the Colorado Avalanche due to bad weather), Vikingstad (retired from international play), Tommy Jakobsen (same) and Mats Trygg (opted out). To make matters worse, our starting goaltender Pål Grotnes got injured during practice, so our backup goalie Lars Haugen (who had struggled to get ice time in the Norwegian league) was chosen.
It was a back-and-forth game. Sweden went up 3–1 in the first period, but Norway fought back and at the end it was 4–4 after 60 minutes. The overtime went scoreless and so it went into a shootout; Per-Ã…ge Skrøder and Mathis Olimb scored for Norway, while Eriksson was pokechecked by Haugen and Patrik Berglund was blocked.
Norway eventually reached the quarterfinal, where they lost to the eventual gold medal winner Finland. This was our second best tournament in modern times, only beat by the tournament in 2012 in which we overall played better and almost everything went our way.
Goals Norway:
08:06 – Martin Røymark (Mads Hansen, Morten Ask) (PP1)
21:00 – Ask (Mathis Olimb) (PP1)
33:45 – Marius Holtet (Anders Bastiansen, Per-Ã…ge Skrøder) (PP1)
55:06 – Bastiansen (M. Olimb, Lars Erik Spets)
Skrøder – Goal
M. Olimb – Goal
Shootout:
Goals Sweden:
06:21 – Loui Eriksson (Robert Nilsson)
11:41 РPatrik Berglund (Martin Th̦rnberg)
15:01 – Berglund (David Petrasek, Magnus Pääjärvi-Svensson) (PP1)
49:37 – Eriksson (Nilsson) (PP1)
Eriksson – Miss
Berglund – Miss
In the unsure/"almost" category:
13 May 2012: Germany 4 – 12 Norway
On a normal day, Norway and Germany are about equally good, and the winner of this match would decide which of the two countries would advance to the quarterfinal. What happened on this day, however, nobody knows.
Norway was on fire that evening, and scored on pretty much any chance they had. Norway noted a hattrick and 3 assists. We eventually reached the quarterfinal, where we lost 2–5 to gold medal winner Russia (after initially managing to keep a 2–2 tie after 40 minutes).
Probably the funniest Norway match I have watched.
Goals Germany:
38:25 – Patrick Reimer (Philip Gogulla, Christoph Schubert)
41:01 – Justin Krueger (Gogulla)
46:27 РMarcus Kink (Kevin Lavall̩e)
57:17 – Christopher Fischer (Kai Hospelt, Gogulla) (PP2)
Goals Norway:
00:20 – Patrick Thoresen (Mads Hansen, Per-Ã…ge Skrøder)
01:28 – Thoresen (Marius Holtet) (PP1)
05:07 – Martin Røymark (Holtet)
23:16 – Lars Erik Spets (Mathis Olimb, Anders Bastiansen)
24:12 – Juha Kaunismäki (Morten Ask, Ken-André Olimb)
27:52 – Jonas Holøs (Thoresen, Ask) (PP1)
32:07 – Thoresen (Ask, Henrik Solberg)
33:24 – Skrøder (M. Olimb, Ask) (PP1)
34:07 – Mats Trygg (Thoresen, Hansen) (PP1)
40:44 – Skrøder (Thoresen, Hansen)
43:15 – Hansen (Bastiansen, Kaunismäki)
52:05 – Trygg (Hansen)
