1947 Ice Hockey World Championships

Background

The 1947 LIHG congress was the organization's first gathering after World War II. During the war, the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) and the Amateur Hockey Association of the United States (AHAUS) created the International Ice Hockey Association, which the British Ice Hockey Association was asked to join. Led by CAHA president W. G. Hardy, this new body aimed to move control of world hockey away from Europe. The CAHA left the LIHG in 1944 and committed to the International Ice Hockey Association, strengthening its ties with AHAUS.

In 1946, the CAHA and AHAUS suggested merging with the LIHG to run international hockey, proposing that World Championships rotate between Europe and North America and that Olympic hockey follow CAHA and NHL rules. At the 1947 LIHG meeting, the CAHA argued that an amateur should be defined as anyone not currently working as a professional athlete. The LIHG accepted a merger where the presidency would switch between North America and Europe every three years, and it recognized AHAUS—rather than the Amateur Athletic Union—as the U.S. hockey authority. The CAHA was allowed to keep its own amateur definition, provided Olympic teams followed existing LIHG rules.