1933 Ice Hockey World Championships

The 1933 Ice Hockey World Championships took place in Prague, Czechoslovakia, from February 18 to 26. The United States claimed its first world title, ending Canada’s streak of championships. The American squad, the Massachusetts Rangers, consisted largely of university students, with goalie Gerry Cosby and captain Ben Langmaid on defense delivering standout performances. Canada was represented by the Toronto National Sea Fleas, winners of the 1932 Allan Cup, coached by the controversial Harold Ballard.

The gold medal game occurred on February 26 at Zimní stadión on Štvanice island. After 45 minutes of regulation, the score was tied 1-1—Sherman Forbes scored for the U.S., and Tim Kerr equalized for Canada. In a dramatic “non-sudden death” overtime, American defenseman John Garrison beat Canadian goalie Ron Geddes at the six-minute mark.

Ten nations competed in three first-round groups, with the top two from each advancing to the second round. Canada and the United States received automatic byes into that round. In the second round, eight teams split into two groups; the top two from each group moved to the semifinals, where the first-place team from one group faced the second-place team from the other.

Semifinal winners played for gold, losers for bronze. Fifth and sixth places were decided by a match between the third-place finishers in the second-round groups; seventh and eighth places by a match between the last-place finishers. For the final four positions, two classification matches among the bottom four first-round teams determined seedings for the ninth and eleventh-place games.

In the first round, groups A, B, and C were played. The second round featured groups D and E. Consolation matches saw Romania and Latvia qualify for the 9th/10th place playoff, while Belgium and Italy qualified for the 11th/12th place playoff.

In the semifinals, the U.S. and Canada advanced to the gold medal match; Austria and Czechoslovakia progressed to the bronze medal match. For 11th/12th place, Belgium declined to play, so Italy was awarded the win. The 9th/10th, 7th/8th, and 5th/6th place playoffs were held, followed by the bronze and gold medal matches.

The United States’ oldest active college hockey award, the Walter Brown Award, was created in 1953 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of this championship team and its coach, Walter A. Brown.