It was an exhilarating conclusion to a thrilling tournament that was finally held in front of fans in the stands again from 13 to 29 May: the home team defeated Canada 4:3 in the Finnish city of Tampere to clinch the 86th Men’s Ice Hockey World Championship. The Czech national team placed third and took home bronze medals for the first time in ten years.
The Finns had the best player of the tournament in their ranks with Juho Olkinuora. After the final, he received the crystal trophy created by ŠKODA Design for the Most Valuable Player of the tournament from ŠKODA AUTO Board Member for People & Culture, Maren Gräf. Peter Olah, Head of Interior Design at ŠKODA AUTO, was inspired by skate marks on the ice for the design and cut of the trophy. The sculpture combines the balanced proportions, striking lines and emotive design language of the current ŠKODA models with the dynamism and energy of ice hockey. The 35-centimetre tall, 22-centimetre wide and five-kilogram trophy was blown into a mould before being elaborately cut.
As the main sponsor of the event, ŠKODA AUTO once again provided the organisers of the World Championship with a fleet of 45 vehicles, including 15 all-electric ENYAQ COUPÉ RS iVs. The tournament organisers were also shuttled in 30 SUPERB iVs and KODIAQs.
In addition, ŠKODA was the exclusive partner of the IIHF app for this world championship. It provided ice hockey fans with important information about the tournament, including scores, statistics and a live ticker with goal alerts.
ŠKODA AUTO has been involved in international ice hockey for 30 years now as a sponsor of the world championship. ŠKODA AUTO first joined the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship as a mobility partner in 1992 and became the tournament’s official main sponsor just one year later. In 2017, the partnership between the car manufacturer and the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship was recognised as a Guinness World Record for the longest main sponsorship in the history of sports world championships.