Ice Hockey World Championships in the context of "Soviet national ice hockey team"

The Canada men's national ice hockey team (popularly known as Team Canada; French: Équipe Canada) is the ice hockey team representing Canada internationally. The team is overseen by Hockey Canada, a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation. From 1920 until 1963, Canada's international representation was by senior amateur club teams. Canada's national men's team was founded in 1963 by Father David Bauer as a part of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association, playing out of the University of British Columbia.The nickname "Team Canada" was first used for the 1972 Summit Series and has been frequently used to refer to both the Canadian national men's and women's teams ever since.

Canada is the leading national ice hockey team in international play, having won the 1972 Summit Series against the Soviet Union, a record four Canada Cups dating back to 1976, a record two World Cups of Hockey, a record nine Olympic gold medals, and a record 28 World Championship titles.

The United States men's national ice hockey team also known as Team USA, represents the United States in men's international ice hockey. The team is controlled by USA Hockey, the governing body for organized ice hockey in the United States. As of May 2025, the team is ranked 1st in the IIHF World Rankings.

The U.S. captured gold medals at the 1960 and 1980 Olympics, and earned silver medals more recently at the 2002 and 2010 Olympics. At the best-on-best professional level outside of the Olympics, Team USA has won the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, defeating Canada in the finals. Most recently, the U.S. claimed a historic gold at the World Championships in 2025—its first IIHF Worlds title since 1933 and its third recognized world title overall when including the 1960 Olympic gold that the IIHF also recognizes as a World Championship.

The France men's national ice hockey team has participated in the IIHF European Championships, the IIHF World Hockey Championships and the Olympic Games. As of 2016, it is ranked 14th in the world in the IIHF World Rankings. The team is overseen by the Fédération Française de Hockey sur Glace. Notable recent wins include upsets against Russia at the 2013 IIHF World Championship, Canada at the 2014 IIHF World Championship, and a triumphant 5–1 over Finland as the tournament host of 2017 IIHF World Championship.

Patrick Francheterre coached the national team in 1985 and 1986, then managed the team from 1993 to 1997 and from 2004 to 2014, and received the Paul Loicq Award in 2017.

The IIHF Hall of Fame is a hall of fame operated by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It was founded in 1997, and has resided at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto since 1998. Prior to 1997, the IIHF housed exhibits at the International Hockey Hall of Fame in Kingston, Ontario. Inductions are made annually at the medal presentation day of the Ice Hockey World Championships. As of 2025, the IIHF has inducted 261 members.

Lars Gunnar Raldo "Lasse" Björn (16 December 1931 – 14 August 2024) was a Swedish ice hockey player. As a defenceman, he played 216 games for the Sweden men's national team and participated in nine Ice Hockey World Championships and three Winter Olympics. He won nine Swedish ice hockey championships with Djurgårdens IF, who retired jersey number 12 in his honor. He was inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame in 1998.

Karl-Sören "Kalle" Hedlund (January 28, 1938 – September 26, 2021) was a Swedish ice hockey forward. He was known for being a member of the "Mosquito Line" on Skellefteå AIK together with Anders Andersson and Eilert Määttä. While both Andersson and Määttä won World Championships gold, Kalle's highest accolade was a bronze medal in 1958.

Yngve Johansson (21 January 1929 – 2002) was a Swedish ice hockey player. He was part of the Djurgården Swedish champions' team of 1954, 1955, 1958, 1959, 1959, and 1962.

He played two World Championship tournaments for Team Sweden, in 1955 and 1959, with Sweden placing 5th both times.

Erik Ronald Pettersson (16 April 1935 – 6 March 2010) was a Swedish ice hockey player. He played 252 international games for Sweden between 1955 and 1967, including thirteen World Championships and three Olympic Games. Between 1951 and 1967 Pettersson played for Surahammars IF, Södertälje SK and Västra Frölunda IF. He won the Swedish championship twice, in 1956 with Södertälje and in 1965 with Västra Frölunda. He won Guldpucken in 1959–60 as the most valuable player in Swedish Championship playoffs.

After suffering a career-ending injury in 1967, Pettersson took on the role as head coach for the Swedish national junior team from 1968 to 1974, the Swedish national senior team from 1974 to 1976, and the Norwegian national men's team from 1978 to 1981. He was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2004, and his jersey #14 was retired by Västra Frölunda in 2002.

In men's international ice hockey, the Big Six is a group comprising the six national teams that have dominated play throughout the history of international ice hockey, especially since the 1950s. It has traditionally been composed of the North American countries of Canada and the United States and four European countries: Czechia, Finland, Russia, and Sweden. During the Cold War and for two years afterwards, the Soviet Union/CIS and Czechoslovakia held the places of Russia and Czechia, respectively, within the group. The four European members are sometimes referred to as the "European Big Four" or "Big Four", especially to distinguish them from the North American teams.

As of 2025, out of the 264 Ice Hockey World Championships medals awarded by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), 234 have been won by the Big Six teams. Since 1954, only ten medals have been won by teams outside the Big Six (four by Slovakia, four by Switzerland, and one each by Germany and Latvia). Of the 75 Olympic ice hockey medals awarded, 67 have been won by a Big Six team.

The Russian men's national ice hockey team (Russian: Сборная России по хоккею с шайбой) is the national men's ice hockey team of Russia, overseen by the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia. As of 2021, they were rated third in the IIHF World Ranking. The team has competed internationally from 1992 until it was provisionally suspended in 2022, and is recognized by the IIHF as the successor to the Soviet Union team and CIS team. Russia has been 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, Sweden, and the United States. The European nations of the Big Six participate in the Euro Hockey Tour, which Russia won nine times since 2005. Since September 2021, the head coach is Alexei Zhamnov, who took over from Valeri Bragin.

Since the establishment of the team, Russia has participated in 29 IIHF World Championships tournaments and nine Olympic ice hockey tournaments, winning five world championships and one Olympic gold medal.