Canada won their 26th gold medal, defeating Finland 2–0 in the gold medal game.[3] With the win Corey Perry became the second consecutive Canadian team captain to earn membership in the Triple Gold Club.[4] Russia won the bronze medal, defeating the United States 7–2 in the bronze medal game.[5]
Bids
There were three official bids to host these championships. The decision on who hosts the tournament was decided during the final weekend of the 2011 IIHF World Championship in Bratislava, Slovakia.[6]
Russia was the only bidder to ever have hosted these championships, with the most recent being in 2007. The tournament was proposed to run from April 29 – May 15, 2016 in Megasport Arena (Moscow, 13,577 seats) and Ice Palace (Saint Petersburg, 12,300 seats).[6]
Ukraine, like Denmark, has never hosted these championships. The tournament was proposed to run from May 6–22, 2016 in Palace of Sports (Kyiv, 7,000 seats) and a new 12,000 seat arena to be built by 2015 in Kyiv.[6]
The 16 teams were split into two groups of eight teams. After playing a round-robin, the top four teams advance to the knockout stage, to play out the winner. The last team of each group will be relegated to Division I the following year.[7]
Seeding
The seeding in the preliminary round was based on the 2015 IIHF World Ranking, which ended at the conclusion of the 2015 IIHF World Championship.[8]
Each team's roster consisted of at least 15 skaters (forwards and defencemen) and two goaltenders, and at most 22 skaters and three goaltenders. All 16 participating nations, through the confirmation of their respective national associations, had to submit a roster by the first IIHF directorate meeting.
Officials
The IIHF selected 16 referees and 16 linesmen to work the tournament.[9]
Source: IIHF Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament. (H) Host; (R) Relegated Notes:
Source: IIHF Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament. (R) Relegated Notes:
^The rules state that "the bottom ranked two teams will be relegated" and the 2017 hosts (France and Germany) cannot be relegated by rule.[12][13]
TOI = Time on ice (minutes:seconds); SA = Shots against; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; Sv% = Save percentage; SO = Shutouts
Source: IIHF.com