who has won the most ice hockey world championships
List of IIHF World Championship medalists As of 2016, 81 tournaments have been staged. From 1920 to 1930, the Winter Olympic Games Ice Hockey Tournaments held counted as the World Championships and no tournaments in between were held. No championships were held from 1940 to 1946 due to World War II, nor during the Olympic years 1980, 1984 and 1988.[4] Ten nations have won a gold medal at the World Championships and a total of fourteen have won medals. Canada has won 48 medals, the most of any nation. The Soviet Union, which began competing in 1954 and last competed in 1991, captured a medal in every tournament they entered.[1] In winning the 2006 World Championships, Sweden became the first nation in sports history to win an Olympic gold as well as a separate World Championship in the same season.[5]