1981 Ice Hockey World Championships

The 1981 Ice Hockey World Championships took place in Sweden between 12 and 26 April 1981, with games being played in the arenas of Scandinavium in Gothenburg and Johanneshovs isstadion in Stockholm. Eight teams took part, first splitting into two groups of four, with the best two from each group advancing to the final group. These teams then play each other in the final round. This was the 47th World Championships, and also the 58th European Championships. The Soviet Union became World Champions for the 17th time, and also won their 20th European title. Don Cherry commented, "This is the best Russian team I've ever seen."

The Dutch team had won Group C and Group B in successive years to play in this tournament, but did not fare well. Their best game was a narrow one goal loss to the Americans, a goal scored on a penalty shot by Dave Christian with eleven seconds left. It was their first appearance at the top level since 1950 and they have not returned since.

Consolation round
The Netherlands were relegated to Group B.

World Championship Group B (Italy)
Played in Urtijëi 20–29 March. The hosts went undefeated to win, led by former Pittsburgh Penguin and Edmonton Oiler Wayne Bianchin and backstopped by former Oiler Jim Corsi.

Italy was promoted to Group A, both Yugoslavia and Japan were relegated to Group C.

World Championship Group C (China PR)
Played in Beijing 6–15 March.

Both Austria and China were promoted to Group B.

Tournament Awards

 * Best players selected by the directorate:
 * Best Goaltender:     🇸🇪 Peter Lindmark
 * Best Defenceman:     🇨🇦 Larry Robinson
 * Best Forward:         Alexander Maltsev
 * Media All-Star Team:
 * Goaltender: 🇸🇪 Peter Lindmark
 * Defence: 🇨🇦 Larry Robinson, Valeri Vasiliev
 * Forwards: Sergei Kapustin,  Sergei Makarov,  Alexander Maltsev

Final standings
The final standings of the tournament according to IIHF:

European championships final standings
The final standings of the European championships according to IIHF:

Fanfare of the Championships
The fanfare for the Championships was written by Benny Andersson (from ABBA) in 1981. It was later used as the jingle/opening theme for the television special Dick Cavett Meets ABBA aired later in 1981. Reference - Palm, Carl Magnus: ABBA - The Complete Recordings Sessions, page 106. Verulam Publishing Ltd (13 October 1994). ISBN 0-907938-10-8. ISBN 978-0-907938-10-1.