1938 Ice Hockey World Championships

The 1938 Ice Hockey World Championships took place from February 11 to 20 at Štvanice Stadium in Prague, Czechoslovakia. The tournament coincided with the IIHF’s 30th anniversary, marked by a celebration attended by prominent European hockey players. A yearbook was also produced for the twenty-two member nations, noting that Czechoslovakia had the most hockey clubs (361) and Great Britain the most artificial rinks (21). Fourteen teams competed. The event began with three preliminary groups: two of five teams and one of four.

The top three from each group advanced to the second round, where the nine remaining teams were split into three groups of three. The winners of each second-round group, plus the best second-place team, moved on to the semifinals. Canada won its tenth world title by defeating Great Britain 3-1 in the final. That result gave Great Britain its fourth European Championship—and third in a row.

Czechoslovakia took the bronze medal with a 3-0 win over Germany, while Sweden beat Switzerland 2-0 for fifth place. The Swiss were upset by the IIHF’s decision to select Germany as the fourth semifinalist. Germany, Switzerland, and Sweden had finished the second round in a three-way tie. The organizing committee chose Germany because it had to play Canada.