 The first World Championship that was held as an individual event was in 1930 . It was held in Chamonix , France ; Vienna , Austria ; and Berlin , Germany . Canada , represented by the Toronto <unk> , defeated Germany in the gold medal game , and Switzerland won the bronze . Canada , represented by the Manitoba Grads , won the following year , and the Winnipeg Winnipegs won Gold for Canada at the 1932 Winter Olympics . At the 1933 World Championships in Prague , Czechoslovakia , the United States won the gold medal , becoming the first non @-@ Canadian team to win the competition . As of 2015 , it is the only gold medal the United States has won at a non @-@ Olympic tournament . Two days before the 1936 Winter Olympics in Germany , Canadian officials protested that two players on the British team — James Foster and Alex Archer — had played in Canada but transferred without permission to play for clubs in the English National League . The IIHF agreed with Canada , but Britain threatened to withdraw if the two could not compete . Canada withdrew the protest before the games started . Britain became the first non @-@ Canadian team to win Olympic gold , with Germany taking bronze . Canada won the remainder of the World Championship tournaments held in the 1930s . The 1939 World Championships marked the first time that a team from Finland competed in the tournament . World War II forced the cancellation of the 1940 and 1944 Winter Olympics and the World Championships from 1941 to 1946 . 
