Russia is the new ice hockey world champion, the “Sbornaya” having beaten surprise finalist Slovakia 6:2. Yevgeni Malkin of Russia’s world championship team was recognised as the WM’s most valuable player and was presented with the attendant trophy by Winfried Vahland, CEO of WM main sponsor ŠKODA at the closing ceremony. ŠKODA says it is very satisfied with its sponsorship of the 76th IIHF ice hockey WM in Finland and Sweden.

13.242 visitors in a sold out Hartwall arena in Helsinki saw a final match in which the Russian ice hockey national team first fell behind 0:1, then made a strong showing and eventually trounced surprise finalist Slovakia 6:2. Before that, the Czech Republic had beaten Finland in the match for third place, securing bronze medals for its team. Yevgeni Malkin of Russia was named the tournament’s “most valuable player”. He was presented with the trophy by Winfried Vahland, CEO of WM main sponsor ŠKODA, at the awards ceremony.

Vahland himself had been presented with an award at the finals weekend for the 20th jubilee of ŠKODA’s main sponsorship of the IIHF ice hockey WM, presented by René Fasel, president of the International Ice Hockey Federation and Philippe Blatter, president and CEO of IIHF marketing partners Infront Sports & Media. ŠKODA’s support of IIHF WM is considered the longest running main sponsorship in the history of sports world championships and has even been recognised as a GUINNESS world record.

Following the finals, Vahland said ŠKODA was very satisfied with the WM: “The championship’s innovative concept of holding the event in two countries in parallel has been an utter success. We are delighted that our support has contributed to making it possible to offer great action by lots of ice hockey superstars to fans in the stadiums, in front of TV screens and on the internet. This sport’s dynamic character fits perfectly with ŠKODA, and the worldwide attention which we were able to gather with our brand’s appearance at the WM via TV and digital media will help us advance on our growth course in international markets. The way these two weeks have played out in Finland and Sweden has shown yet again what kind of enthusiasm this sports arouses in its fans.”

Over 650 million TV spectators worldwide and 451,054 visitors in the arenas watched the games at the IIHF WM in Finland and Sweden. The official YouTube channel sponsored by ŠKODA, with its offering of live and on-demand streams, game wrap-ups and associated coverage recorded two million visits worldwide. More than 150,000 users worldwide downloaded the free “2012 IIHF WM App powered by ŠKODA” smartphone app for iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry users.