2003 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships

The 2003 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships were held in Helsinki, Turku and Tampere in Finland from April 26 to May 11.

In the quarterfinals, between Sweden and Finland, the Swedes completed an outstanding comeback, being down 4 goals 5–1 7 minutes into the second period. At that time, Sweden decided to change goalie, from Tommy Salo to Mikael Tellqvist. After the change, the Swedes scored 3 goals in a row in the second period to reduce the lead to 5–4. In the third period, Peter Forsberg scored a notable goal, when he skated from his own half of the rink all the way to Finland's offensive zone, scoring on a wrap around. Per Johan Axelsson scored the game winning goal in the third period to win the game 6–5 for the Swedes.

Relegation round
avoids relegation by defeating 4-1 in the 2004 IIHF World Championship Far East Qualification game.  and are demoted to Division I at the 2004 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships.

Group A
Played at Budapest, Hungary April 15-21

Group B
Played at Zagreb, Croatia April 13-20

 and are promoted to the 2004 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships,  and  are demoted to Division II.

Group A
Played at Seoul, South Korea April 5-12

Group B
Played at Sofia, Bulgaria March 24-30

 and are promoted to Division I,  and  are demoted to Division III.

Division III
Played at Auckland, New Zealand April 3-6

 and are promoted to Division II.