who has won the most world hockey championships
Russia
title: Canada men's national ice hockey team text: used to refer to the Canadian national team ever since. Canada is the leading national ice hockey team in international play, winners of the 1972 Summit Series against the Soviet Union, four of five Canada Cups dating back to 1976, nine Olympic gold medals (the most in the world), including three of the last five: Salt Lake City 2002, Vancouver 2010, and Sochi 2014. They are 26-time IIHF World Champions and winner of the 2004 and 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Canada is a member of the so-called "Big Six", the unofficial group of the six strongest men's ice hockey title: Ice Hockey World Championships text: The bronze was won by the United States, leaving the Czechs with a second consecutive fourth place. 2016 IIHF World Championships was won by Canada who defeated Finland in the final. 2017 IIHF World Championship was won by Sweden who defeated two-time defending champions Canada 2-1 in a shootout. The first World Championship to be held as an individual event was in 1930. Twelve different nations participated. Canada's team was given a bye to the gold medal game, and the rest of the nations played an elimination tournament to determine which nation would also play for the gold. In 1931, title: Lars Björn text: Lars Björn Lars Gunnar Raldo "Lasse" Björn (born 16 December 1931 in Stockholm, Sweden) is a retired ice hockey defenceman who played 217 games for the national team Tre Kronor. He won nine Swedish ice hockey championships with Djurgårdens IF between 1950 and 1963, making him the only player ever to have won that many championships. He participated at nine IIHF World Championship tournaments, winning gold in 1953 and 1957 and three bronze medals. He participated in three Winter Olympics, winning one bronze medal in 1952. He was inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame in 1998. title: Ice Hockey World Championships text: for a certain period of time. Canada was the tournament's first dominant team, winning the tournament 12 times between 1930 and 1952. The United States, Czechoslovakia, Sweden, Great Britain and Switzerland were also competitive during this period. The Soviet Union first participated in 1954 and soon became rivals with Canada. From 1963 until the nation's breakup in 1991, the Soviet Union was the dominant team, winning 20 championships. During that period, only three other nations won medals: Canada, Czechoslovakia and Sweden. Russia first participated in 1992 and the Czech Republic and Slovakia began competing in 1993. In the 2000s, the title: Ice Hockey World Championships text: to the gold medal. The Soviets won bronze–the last medal the team would ever win. The Soviet Union dissolved in December 1991. Nine former soviet republics became part of the IIHF and began competing in international competitions, including Belarus, Kazakhstan, Latvia and Ukraine. Russia was named the successor to the Soviet Union. With this flood of new teams, the IIHF expanded the number of spots from eight to twelve. From 1963 to 1991, only four teams won a World Championship medal: the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia (failing to win a medal only three times), Sweden and Canada. The Soviets won a