1950 World Ice Hockey Championships
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country |
 Great Britain
|
| Dates | 13–22 March |
| Teams | 9 |
| Venue(s) | Wembley Arena, Empress Hall and Harringay (in 1 host city) |
| Final positions | |
Champions 
|
 Canada (13th title)
|
Runner-up 
|
 United States
|
Third place 
|
 Switzerland
|
| Fourth place |
Great Britain
|
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 27 |
| Goals scored | 302 (11.19 per match) |
| Attendance | 127,700 (4,730 per match) |
|
← 1949
1951 →
|
|
The 17th Ice Hockey World Championships and 28th European Championships were held from 13 to 22 March 1950 in London, England. Canada, represented by the Edmonton Mercurys, won its 13th World Championship. Highest ranking European team Switzerland finished third, winning its fourth European Championship. Defending World and European champion Czechoslovakia was absent from the tournament.
Officially, the defending champion Czechoslovakians did not arrive in London because two of their journalists did not receive their visas. In reality, communist authorities had become uneasy after the LTC Praha (LTC Prague) club team had suffered defections at the 1948 Spengler Cup in Davos, the death of six national team players in a plane crash a few months before the 1949 World Ice Hockey Championships, and the defection of former national hockey team player (and future Wimbledon tennis champion) Jaroslav Drobný in June 1949. The authorities arrested several members of the 1950 national team while they were awaiting their delayed flight at the Prague Airport. On 7 October 1950, the players appeared in court charged with espionage and were named "state traitors." At issue was the claim that several players on the 1950 national team, who played their club hockey with LTC Praha, had discussed defecting in Davos in 1948—though only Miroslav Sláma, two other players and one of the heads of the delegation had actually defected at that Spengler Cup tournament. All twelve men were convicted, with sentences ranging from eight months to 15 years. Then current LTC Praha and former national team goaltender Bohumil Modrý, a delegate with the 1950 national team, was the one to receive the 15 year sentence, as he was mysteriously cast as the "main figure" in the potential defection plan.
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