# 1978 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships

The 1978 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (1978 WJHC) was the second edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship and was held from December 22, 1977, until January 3, 1978. The tournament was held in Canada, mainly in Montreal and Quebec City. The Soviet Union won its second consecutive gold medal, while Sweden won the silver, and Canada the bronze.

## Final standings

The 1978 tournament divided participants into two divisions of four teams, each playing three games. The top two teams in each division advanced to the medal round (Group A), while the bottom two were placed in Group B. Each division played another round robin. The top two teams in the medal round played a one-game final for the gold medal.
This is the aggregate standings, ordered according to final placing. The four teams in the medal round (Group A) were ranked one through four, while the four teams in Group B were ranked five through eight regardless of overall record.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | D | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Soviet Union | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 50 | 16 | +34 | 12 |
| 2 | Sweden | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 27 | 24 | +3 | 8 |
| 3 | Canada | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 36 | 18 | +18 | 8 |
| 4 | Czechoslovakia | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 21 | 31 | −10 | 5 |
| 5 | United States | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 41 | 30 | +11 | 8 |
| 6 | Finland | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 45 | 25 | +20 | 7 |
| 7 | West Germany | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 20 | 33 | −13 | 2 |
| 8 | Switzerland | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 70 | −63 | 0 |
Switzerland was relegated to Pool B for the 1979 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.

## Preliminary round
### Gold group

| Team | Pld | W | L | D | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Sweden | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 8 | +10 | 5 |
| Soviet Union | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 11 | +20 | 4 |
| Finland | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 26 | 15 | +11 | 3 |
| Switzerland | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 44 | −41 | 0 |

### Blue group

| Team | Pld | W | L | D | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Canada | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 6 | +17 | 6 |
| Czechoslovakia | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 18 | −2 | 4 |
| United States | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 18 | −2 | 2 |
| West Germany | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 21 | −13 | 0 |

## Championship round
### Group B

| Team | Pld | W | L | D | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| United States | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 12 | +13 | 6 |
| Finland | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 10 | +9 | 4 |
| West Germany | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 2 |
| Switzerland | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 26 | −22 | 0 |

### Group A

| Team | Pld | W | L | D | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Soviet Union | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 3 | +11 | 6 |
| Sweden | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 11 | −4 | 3 |
| Canada | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 12 | +1 | 2 |
| Czechoslovakia | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 13 | −8 | 1 |

### Gold medal game
## Scoring leaders

| Rank | Player | Country | G | A | Pts |
| 1 | Wayne Gretzky | Canada | 8 | 9 | 17 |
| 2 | Viktor Shkurdyuk | Soviet Union | 10 | 6 | 16 |
| 3 | Sergei Makarov | Soviet Union | 8 | 7 | 15 |
| 4 | Bobby Crawford | United States | 4 | 9 | 13 |
| 5 | Jorma Sevon | Finland | 7 | 5 | 12 |
| 5 | Mark Green | United States | 7 | 5 | 12 |
| 7 | Timo Susi | Finland | 7 | 3 | 10 |
| 7 | Rainer Risku | Finland | 7 | 3 | 10 |
| 7 | Gerd Truntschka | West Germany | 7 | 3 | 10 |
| 10 | Wayne Babych | Canada | 5 | 5 | 10 |

## Tournament awards

| | IIHF Directorate Awards | Media All-Star Team |
| Goaltender | Alexander Tyzhnykh | Alexander Tyzhnykh |
| Defencemen | Viacheslav Fetisov | Viacheslav Fetisov Risto Siltanen |
| Forwards | Wayne Gretzky | Anton Šťastný Wayne Gretzky Mats Näslund |