Czech Republic men's national ice hockey team in the context of "Russia men's national ice hockey team"

The Sweden men's national ice hockey team (Swedish: Sveriges herrlandslag i ishockey) is governed by the Swedish Ice Hockey Association. It is one of the most successful national ice hockey teams in the world and a member of the so-called "Big Six", the unofficial group of the six strongest men's ice hockey nations, along with Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia and the United States.

The team's nickname Tre Kronor, meaning "Three Crowns", refers to the emblem on the team jersey, which is found in the lesser national coat of arms of the Kingdom of Sweden. The first time this emblem was used on the national team's jersey was on 12 February 1938, during the World Championships in Prague.

The Czechoslovakia men's national ice hockey team was the national ice hockey team of Czechoslovakia, and competed from 1920 until 1992. The successor to the Bohemia national ice hockey team, which was a European power prior to World War I, the Czechoslovak national team first appeared at the 1920 Summer Olympics, two years after the creation of the state. In the 1940s, they established themselves as the best team in Europe, becoming the first team from the continent to win two World Championships (1947 and 1949). After the arrival of the Soviet Union on the international hockey scene in the 1950s, the Czechoslovaks regularly fought Sweden and Canada for silver and bronze medals, and sometimes beat the Soviets. In total, they won the gold medal six times.

Due to the split of the country Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the team was replaced in 1993 with the Czech and the Slovak national teams. The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) recognized the Czech national team as a successor of Czechoslovakia national team and kept it in the top group, while the Slovak national team was entered into the lowest level, Pool C, winning promotion in successive years to join the elite division in 1996.

Canada competed at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Canada has competed at every Winter Olympic Games.

Canada's biggest story at these games was the failure of the men's ice hockey team to win a medal. For the first time, Canada's best players (professional players from the National Hockey League) were able to compete at the Olympics, so Canadians had high expectations. The team lost its semi-final game to the Czech Republic when goaltender Dominik Hašek stopped all five shots he faced in the tie-breaking shootout. Canada then lost the bronze medal game to Finland.

The Finnish men's national ice hockey team, nicknamed Leijonat / Lejonen ("The Lions" in Finnish and Swedish), is governed by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association. Finland is one of the most successful national ice hockey teams in the world and a member of the so-called "Big Six", the unofficial group of the six strongest men's ice hockey nations, along with Canada, the United States, Czechia, Russia, and Sweden.

Finland won the world championship in 2022, their fourth title after 1995, 2011 and 2019. A duo of silver medals (1988, 2006) remained the country's best Olympic result until 2022 when the Finns achieved a breakthrough by winning their first Olympic gold after defeating Russia. At the Canada/World Cup, their best achievement is also a silver medal which they won in 2004.

The 2014 IIHF World Championship was hosted by Belarus in its capital, Minsk, held from 9 to 25 May 2014. Sixteen national teams were competing in two venues, the Minsk-Arena and Chizhovka-Arena. It was the first time Belarus hosted the tournament. The selection of Belarus to host this competition was the subject of much debate, with some politicians in the European Union and North America calling for the IIHF to move the tournament to another country.

Russia with a mix of NHL and KHL stars (unlike other nations, Russia comprised a squad close to their 2014 Olympic squad) remained undefeated throughout the championship. After losing on home-ice to Finland 1–3 earlier that year during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics Quarterfinals, the Russians rebounded by capturing the gold medal after defeating Finland 5–2 in the final. Sweden captured the bronze medal with a 3–0 victory over the Czech Republic. Host team Belarus made the playoffs for the first time since 2009, losing to Sweden 3–2 in the quarterfinal. Italy and Kazakhstan were relegated to Division I A. Prior to the championship, Divisions I to III had played their tournaments to establish the rank between teams of lower levels.