In Prague, the host Czech team won all six games in the first two rounds and finished three points ahead of Canada, who had opened the tournament with a 2-2 tie against Austria. In Ostrava, Sweden and Slovakia tied for the lead with eight points each. Russia finished a distant fifth place to miss the quarterfinals despite a squad that included Alexei Yashin, Ilya Kovalchuk and a young Alexander Ovechkin.

Canada, Sweden and Slovakia all advanced from their quarter-final encounters but the Czechs fell to the United States in a shootout with Andy Roach scoring the winning goal to disappoint the large partisan O2 Arena crowd.

The semi-finals featured two one-goal games, with Sweden edging the Americans 3-2 and Canada getting past Slovakia 2-1 to set up a re-match of the 2003 final. In the bronze medal game, the Slovaks and Americans played 70 minutes of scoreless hockey before the heroics of Roach and goaltender Ty Conklin once again won it for the Americans, giving them their first medal since 1996.

For the second straight year, Canada beat Sweden in the final, this time by a 5-3 score. The winning goal was scored by Dany Heatley, who led all players with 11 points and was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player and Best Forward. Sweden's Dick Tarnstrom was the Best Defenceman, while Conklin got Best Goalkeeper honours.

Final Standings:

1. Canada
2. Sweden
3. USA
4. Slovakia
5. Czech Republic
6. Finland
7. Latvia
8. Switzerland
9. Germany
10. Russia
11. Austria
12. Denmark
13. Kazakhstan
14. Ukraine
15. Japan
16. France