 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 competition became more open as the " Big Six " teams – Canada , the Czech Republic , Finland , Russia , Sweden , and the United States – as well as Slovakia became more evenly matched . 
