In the Division A Championship held 17 April to 3 May in Vienna, Austria, each team played each other once in the preliminary round.

The Germans had beaten both Canada and Finland when it was revealed that forward Miroslav Sikora had played for the Polish junior team in 1977.

[6] Promotion and relegation was effective for 1989 as the IIHF did not run a championship in Olympic years at this time.

Nations that did not participate in the Calgary Olympics were invited to compete in the final Thayer Tutt Trophy.

In addition to being promoted, the winner played off against the fourth placed Group B team for the final Olympic berth.

They lost 31–3 to Australia, 24–0 to South Korea, 12–1 to New Zealand, and tied Hong Kong 2–2.

Source: [1] Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage, who have played 50% of their team's minutes are included in this list.