IIHF World Junior Championship

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For the similar tournament for players under age 18, see IIHF World U18 Championship. For the similar tournament for female players, see IIHF World Women's U18 Championship.
IIHF World Junior Championship
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2024 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships
Sport Ice hockey
Inaugural season 1974 (unofficial)
1977 (official)
No. of teams 10
Most recent champion(s)  United States
(6th title)
Most titles  Canada
(20 titles)
Relegation to Division I
Division II
Division III
Official website IIHF.com

The IIHF World Junior Championship (WJC), sometimes referred to as World Juniors, is an annual event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) for national under-20 ice hockey teams from around the world. It is traditionally held in late December, ending in early January. The tournament usually attracts the top hockey players in this age category.

The main tournament features the top ten ranked hockey nations in the world, comprising the 'Top Division', from which a world champion is crowned. There are also three lower pools—Divisions I, II and III—that each play separate tournaments playing for the right to be promoted to a higher pool, or face relegation to a lower pool.

The competition's profile is particularly high in Canada, and this is partly for historical reasons in that prior to NHL players being allowed in the Winter Olympics, this was a rare tournament where the best western players faced the best players from the Soviet bloc, and the only other tournament of similar stature where this occurred was the irregularly scheduled Canada Cup invitational tournament. The tournament's stature in Canada can also be credited to Canada's strong performance in the tournament (it has won the gold medal twenty times since its inception), the role of hockey in Canadian culture, along with strong media coverage and fan attendance. As such, in recent years, nearly half of the tournaments have been held in Canadian cities, with the remainder being held in Europe and the United States.

United States is the defending champion of the tournament, after defeating Sweden to win the 2024 edition in Gothenburg, Sweden.

History

The first official tournament was held in 1977, Although the first three tournaments from 1974 to 1976 were held unofficially.[1] The tournament has been dominated by the teams from Canada and Soviet Union/CIS/Russia, together accounting for 31 of the 45 overall gold medals awarded (through 2021). The USSR won the first four official tournaments, while the Canadians put together five straight championships between 1993 and 1997, and another five straight from 2005 to 2009. Canada leads the all-time gold medal count with 20 golds, while the Soviet Union, the CIS and Russia combined have 13 golds.

When it began, the World Junior Championship was a relatively obscure tournament. It has since grown in prestige, particularly in Canada, where the tournament ranks as one of the most important events on the sports calendar and during the holiday season. The Globe and Mail writer Bruce Dowbiggin credits TSN, along with Canada's strong performance at the tournament, for turning it from an obscure non-event when it acquired the rights in 1991 (which had started to grow in prominence due to the 1987 Punch-up in Piestany) to one of Canada's most beloved annual sports events, and at the same time cementing the link between Canadian nationalism and hockey, and inspiring the NHL's Winter Classic.[2][3] Based on increasing attendances for countries repeatedly hosting the event, the popularity of the tournament seems to be growing in other nations as well.

At editions of the tournament held in the country, games involving Team Canada consistently sell out NHL arenas, offering large profit guarantees to Hockey Canada and the IIHF.[4] In the 21st century, Canada has and will continue to host the tournament every second or third year due to the significantly greater following the tournament has in Canada compared to other participating countries. Originally, Switzerland was selected to host the WJHC in 2010, but withdrew.[5] Buffalo, New York, in the United States, hosted the tournament in 2011 and 2018; in both cases, proximity to Canada's population core in Southern Ontario was a key factor in the city winning the bidding rights.[6]

The tournament offers one of the most prestigious stages for young hockey players, significantly boosting a player's value for upcoming NHL Entry Drafts.[3]

Punch-up in Piestany

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Main article: Punch-up in Piestany

One of the most infamous incidents in WJC history occurred in 1987 in Piestany, Czechoslovakia (now part of Slovakia), where a bench-clearing brawl occurred between Canada and the Soviet Union. It began when the Soviet Union's Pavel Kostichkin took a two-handed slash at Canadian player Theoren Fleury. The Soviet Union's Evgeny Davydov then came off the bench, eventually leading to both benches emptying. The officials, unable to break up the numerous fights, left the ice and eventually tried shutting off the arena lights, but the brawl lasted for 20 minutes before the IIHF declared the game null and void. A 35-minute emergency meeting was held, resulting in the delegates voting 7–1 (the sole dissenter was Canadian Dennis McDonald) to eject both teams from the tournament. The Canadian team chose to leave rather than stay for the end-of-tournament dinner, from which the Soviet team was banned.

While the Soviets were out of medal contention, Canada was playing for the gold medal and was leading 4–2 at the time of the brawl. The gold medal ultimately went to Finland, hosts Czechoslovakia took the silver and Sweden, who had previously been eliminated from medal contention, was awarded the bronze.[7]

Medalists

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Main articles: List of IIHF World Junior Championship medalists and List of IIHF World Junior Championship Gold Medal Games
Sweden celebrates their win at the 2012 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.

The IIHF World Junior Championship is an annual event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation for national under-20 ice hockey teams from around the world. It is traditionally held from late December to the beginning of January. The main tournament features the top ten ranked hockey nations in the world, comprising the "Top Division", from which a world champion is crowned. There are also three lower pools—divisions I, II and III—that each play separate tournaments playing for the right to be promoted to a higher pool with the last place team facing relegation to a lower pool.[8]

The first official tournament was held in 1977. Prior to that, there had been invitational tournaments in 1974, 1975 and 1976 that were not sanctioned by the IIHF.[9]

As of 2015, 39 official tournaments have been staged. Seven nations have won a gold medal and ten have won medals. Historically, the tournament has been dominated by the Soviet Union/Russia and Canada, together accounting for 29 of the 39 gold medals awarded. Canada leads the all-time gold medal count with 16 and have won a total of 29 medals, while the Soviet Union/Russia have won the most medals with 33.

Champions

Unofficial tournaments

Year 1st Gold 2nd Silver 3rd Bronze Host city (cities) Host country
1974  Soviet Union  Finland  Canada Leningrad  Soviet Union
1975  Soviet Union  Canada  Sweden Winnipeg  Canada
1976  Soviet Union  Canada  Czechoslovakia Tampere  Finland

Official tournaments

Key
  • (#) Number of tournaments won at the time.
Year 1st Gold 2nd Silver 3rd Bronze Host city (cities) Host country
1977  Soviet Union (1)  Canada (1)  Czechoslovakia (1) Banská Bystrica and Zvolen  Czechoslovakia
1978  Soviet Union (2)  Sweden (1)  Canada (1) Montreal  Canada
1979  Soviet Union (3)  Czechoslovakia (1)  Sweden (1) Karlstad and Karlskoga  Sweden
1980  Soviet Union (4)  Finland (1)  Sweden (2) Helsinki  Finland
1981  Sweden (1)  Finland (2)  Soviet Union (1) Füssen  West Germany
1982  Canada (1)  Czechoslovakia (2)  Finland (1) Minneapolis  United States
1983  Soviet Union (5)  Czechoslovakia (3)  Canada (2) Leningrad  Soviet Union
1984  Soviet Union (6)  Finland (3)  Czechoslovakia (2) Norrköping and Nyköping  Sweden
1985  Canada (2)  Czechoslovakia (3)  Soviet Union (2) Helsinki and Turku  Finland
1986  Soviet Union (7)  Canada (2)  United States (1) Hamilton  Canada
1987  Finland[α] (1)  Czechoslovakia[α] (5)  Sweden[α] (3) Piešťany  Czechoslovakia
1988  Canada (3)  Soviet Union (1)  Finland (2) Moscow  Soviet Union
1989  Soviet Union (8)  Sweden (2)  Czechoslovakia (3) Anchorage  United States
1990  Canada (4)  Soviet Union (2)  Czechoslovakia (4) Helsinki and Turku  Finland[β]
1991  Canada (5)  Soviet Union (3)  Czechoslovakia (5) Saskatoon  Canada
1992  CIS [10](9)  Sweden (3)  United States (2) Füssen and Kaufbeuren  Germany
1993  Canada (6)  Sweden (4)  Czechoslovakia (6) Gävle  Sweden
1994  Canada (7)  Sweden (5)  Russia (1/3) Ostrava and Frýdek-Místek  Czech Republic
1995  Canada (8)  Russia (1/4)  Sweden (4) Red Deer  Canada
1996  Canada (9)  Sweden (6)  Russia (2/4) Boston  United States
1997  Canada (10)  United States (1)  Russia (3/5) Geneva and Morges   Switzerland
1998  Finland (2)  Russia (2/5)   Switzerland (1) Helsinki and Hämeenlinna  Finland
1999  Russia (1/10)  Canada (3)  Slovakia (1) Winnipeg and Brandon  Canada
2000  Czech Republic (1)  Russia (3/6)  Canada (3) Skellefteå and Umeå  Sweden
2001  Czech Republic (2)  Finland (4)  Canada (4) Moscow and Podolsk  Russia
2002  Russia (2/11)  Canada (4)  Finland (3) Pardubice and Hradec Králové  Czech Republic
2003  Russia (3/12)  Canada (5)  Finland (4) Halifax and Sydney  Canada
2004  United States (1)  Canada (6)  Finland (5) Helsinki and Hämeenlinna  Finland
2005  Canada (11)  Russia (4/7)  Czech Republic (1/7) Grand Forks and Thief River Falls  United States
2006  Canada (12)  Russia (5/8)  Finland (6) Vancouver, Kelowna, and Kamloops  Canada
2007  Canada (13)  Russia (6/9)  United States (3) Leksand and Mora  Sweden
2008  Canada (14)  Sweden (7)  Russia (4/6) Pardubice and Liberec  Czech Republic
2009  Canada (15)  Sweden (8)  Russia (5/7) Ottawa  Canada
2010  United States (2)  Canada (7)  Sweden (5) Saskatoon and Regina  Canada
2011  Russia (4/13)  Canada (8)  United States (4) Buffalo and Lewiston[11]  United States
2012  Sweden (2)  Russia (7/10)  Canada (5) Calgary and Edmonton  Canada
2013  United States (3)  Sweden (9)  Russia (6/8) Ufa  Russia
2014  Finland (3)  Sweden (10)  Russia (7/9) Malmö  Sweden
2015  Canada (16)  Russia (8/11)  Slovakia (2) Toronto and Montreal  Canada
2016  Finland (4)  Russia (9/12)  United States (5) Helsinki  Finland

Future tournaments

These tournaments have been announced.

Year Host city (cities) Host country
2017 Montreal and Toronto[12]  Canada[13]
2018 Buffalo  United States[14]
2019  Canada[13]
2020  Czech Republic
2021  Canada[13]

Medal table

The unofficial tournaments held prior to 1977 are not included in this table.

Countries in italics no longer compete at the World Championships.

Country 1st Gold 2nd Silver 3rd Bronze Medals
 Canada 16 8 5 29
 Russia
 Soviet Union
 CIS
Total 		 4
8
1
13		 9
3
0
12		 7
2
0
9		 20
13
1
34
 Finland 4 4 6 14
 United States 3 1 5 9
 Sweden 2 10 5 17
 Czech Republic
 Czechoslovakia
Total 		 2
0
2		 0
5
5		 1
6
7		 3
11
14
 Slovakia 0 0 2 2
  Switzerland 0 0 1 1

See also

References

Footnotes
  • α During the final game of the tournament, Canada and the Soviet Union became engaged in a violent bench-clearing brawl while Canada was leading 4–2. Consequently, the game was declared null and void, and both teams were ejected from the tournament; while the Soviets were out of medal contention, Canada was playing for the gold medal and were guaranteed at least a bronze.[15][16]
  • β Canada will host the tournament every 3 or 4 years. In 1990, Canada decided to switch years with Finland.
General
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Specific

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External links

Future tournaments

These tournaments have been announced:

Year Host city (cities) Host country
2025 Ottawa[17]  Canada
2026 Minneapolis/Saint Paul[18]  United States
2027 TBD  Canada
2028 TBD  Finland

The IIHF announced that Canada will host the tournament every other year until their agreement with Hockey Canada runs out in 2034.[19]

Hosting countries

Host country Tournaments[20]
 Canada 18[21]
 Finland 7
 Sweden 7
 United States 7[22]
 Czechia
 Czechoslovakia
Total 		 4
2
6
 Russia
 Soviet Union
 CIS
Total 		 2
3
0
5
 Germany
 West Germany
Total 		 1
1
2
  Switzerland 1
Note
  • 1974, 1975 and 1976 unofficial tournaments are counted.

Participating countries

Canada, Finland and Sweden have participated in all 44 IIHF Ice Hockey World Junior Championships as well as the three unofficial World Junior Championships. Czechoslovakia/Czechia have also participated in all official and unofficial World Junior Championships, and the United States has participated in all except the unofficial tournament in 1976. USSR/CIS/Russia (when the Soviet Union broke up, Russia remained in Pool A, while all other former Soviet republics started competing in Pool C in 1993) participated in all tournaments until the 2023 edition (having been suspended by the IIHF in February 2022).[23]

When Czechoslovakia peacefully split in 1993, Czechia remained in Pool A but Slovakia was placed in Pool C (now Division II). Slovakia was promoted to the top division for the 1996 Championships and has remained there since.

Starting with the 1996 tournament, the competition was increased from an 8-team round-robin to the current 10-team format, including elimination rounds. Since then, Switzerland has become a regular participant.

Germany has been a frequent participant in the top pool, having played there roughly half the time in the past decade. Latvia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan have also each made a number of top division appearances since the early 1990s. Less frequent top pool appearances have been made by Austria, Denmark, France, Japan, Norway, Poland and Ukraine.

At the most recent championship, held in Canada in 2023, participating teams included Austria, Canada, Czechia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States.

Player eligibility

A player is eligible to play in the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships if:[24]

  • the player is eligible to compete as a male athlete
  • the player has his 20th birthday in the year of the tournament's ending (e.g. born in 1994 for 2014 tournament), and at latest, the fifth year after the tournament's ending (e.g. born in 1999 for 2014 tournament);
  • the player is a citizen in the country he represents;
  • the player is under the jurisdiction of a national association that is a member of the IIHF.

If a player who has never played in IIHF-organized competition wishes to switch national eligibility, he must have played in competitions for two consecutive years in the new country without playing in another country, as well as show his move to the new country's national association with an international transfer card. In case the player has previously played in IIHF-organized competition but wishes to switch national eligibility, he must have played in competitions for four consecutive years in the new country without playing in another country, he must show his move to the new country's national association with an international transfer card, as well as be a citizen of the new country. A player may only switch national eligibility once.[25]

Tournament awards

At the conclusion of each tournament, the Directorate of the IIHF presents awards to the Top Goalie, Forward and Defenceman of the tournament. The media attending the event select an All-Star team separately from this.

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Main article: List of IIHF World Junior Championship Directorate award winners

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Main article: List of IIHF World Junior Championship Media All-Star Teams

Broadcast coverage

The following television networks and websites broadcast World Junior Championship games on television or online.

Country Broadcaster(s)
Canada TSN
RDS
Czechia ČT Sport
Europe Eurosport
Finland TV5
Russia Match TV
Channel One Russia
Slovakia RTVS
Sweden SVT
TV4/TV12
C More
Switzerland UPC Switzerland (MySports)
United States NHL Network
ESPN+

TSN is the IIHF's main broadcast partner for this tournament. TSN.ca carries all games excluding relegation games live, as well as most games on demand after their completion.[26] Beginning with 2022 WJC, the international feed produced by TSN as seen on NHL Network's USA Hockey team games has the IIHF lettering for game scores instead of TSN's.

Starting with the 2013 tournament, a paywall and geo-block was implemented on TSN's online coverage.[27] The same system applies to Canadian cable subscribers and subscribers of TSN's streaming service - users cannot stream the tournament outside of Canada on TSN Direct.[28]

Norway is currently a 'blackout' zone. Neither Eurosport or Viasat carry the tournament.

See also

Notes

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References

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General references
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Further reading

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External links

Media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. at Wikimedia Commons

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  10. ↑ "IIHF World U20 Championships" International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved 2009-11-20.
  11. ↑ http://www.iihf.com/channels1011/wm20/home.html
  12. ↑ http://www2.tsn.ca/world_jrs/story/?id=425844
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  20. ↑ 1974, 1975 and 1976 unofficial tournaments are counted
  21. ↑ 1975 and 1982 tournaments were co-hosted with the United States
  22. ↑ 1975 and 1982 tournaments were co-hosted with Canada
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  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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