2009 IIHF Women's World Championship

2009 IIHF Women's World Championship

Tournament details
Host country	Finland
City	Hämeenlinna
Venue(s)	2 (in 1 host city)
Dates	4–12 April 2009
Opened by	Tarja Halonen
Teams	9
Final positions
Champions	United States (3rd title)
Runner-up	Canada
Third place	Finland
Fourth place	Sweden
Tournament statistics
Games played	20
Goals scored	140 (7 per game)
Attendance	28,614 (1,431 per game)
Scoring leader(s)	Julie Chu (10 points)
MVP	Carla MacLeod
← 2008 2011 →

The 2009 IIHF World Women's Championships was held in Hämeenlinna, Finland,^[where?] from 4 to 12 April 2009.^[1] This was the 12th women's ice hockey world championship run by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). The defending champions United States defeated Canada 4–1 in the final match to win the gold medal and retain their top standing another year.

This was the last world championships with nine teams in the Top Division. Two teams—Japan and China—were relegated to Division I, replaced by only one—Slovakia—promoted from there. Division I also relegated two, Czech Republic and France, while receiving only one team through promotion, Latvia, along with the two from the top division. Division II only relegated one team, the Netherlands, but did not receive any promoted teams from the lower divisions. The lower divisions of III, IV, and V, were canceled for the 2009 cycle, with the lowest seeded team in each to be dropped down one division. The final result was that the Top Division will be reduced in size by one team for 2011, while the lowest division (Division V) will increase by one team. ^[2]