# 2021 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships

The 2021 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (2021 WJHC) was the 45th edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship, held from 25 December 2020 to 5 January 2021. This marked the 16th time that Canada hosted the WJIHC. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, it was hosted in a "bubble" behind closed doors in Edmonton, Alberta, with no spectators admitted for any game.

## Background

On 6 December 2018, it was announced that Edmonton and Red Deer, in the province of Alberta, would be the host cities. It was the third time Edmonton had been selected to host the tournament, after previously hosting in 1995 and 2012, and the first to use Rogers Place as a venue.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the IIHF cancelled all lower-division U20 championships on September 17, 2020 (thus there was no promotion or relegation), and announced that the top division tournament would be hosted solely by Edmonton using a "bubble" strategy similar to what was used for the NHL's 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs in Edmonton and Toronto. This decision resulted in the elimination of Red Deer as the secondary host city of the 2021 tournament. All games were held behind closed doors with no outside spectators. It was subsequently announced that Edmonton and Red Deer would host the 2022 tournament, and that Gothenburg, Sweden would be shifted from 2022 to 2024.
On 19 October 2020, the full schedule for the tournament was announced, with play beginning on Christmas for the first time since the 2004–05 edition.
On 25 November 2020, Hockey Canada suspended its selection camp and quarantined all players for a fortnight (retroactive to November 23) due to two positive COVID-19 tests among participants. Swedish head coach Tomas Montén, along with two assistant leaders, and four players (William Eklund, Karl Henriksson, William Wallinder, and Albin Grewe) from the Swedish preliminary roster had to leave the team after having tested positive for COVID-19 very close to the beginning of the championship.
Team Canada captain Kirby Dach sustained an injury in Canada's pre-tournament game against Russia, and was ruled out for the rest of the tournament.
Nine German players were quarantined under COVID-19 protocols through the first two games due to positive tests prior to the tournament. No new COVID-19 positives were detected within the bubble through the conclusion of the tournament.
Blackhawks prospect and 2020 first rounder and Team Germany forward Lukas Reichel was unable to play at the tournament, after having tested positive for COVID-19.

## Top Division
### Venue

| Edmonton | Edmonton | Edmonton |
| Rogers Place Capacity: 18,347 | Edmonton | Edmonton |

### Match officials

The following officials were assigned by the IIHF to officiate the 2021 World Junior Championships. All officials are Canadian due to restrictions from COVID-19 pandemic on travel and ease of getting officials on site.
Referees
* Adam Bloski
* Michael Campbell
* Alexandre Garon
* Olivier Gouin
* Kyle Kowalski
* Guillaume Labonté
* Mike Langin
* Fraser Lawrence
* Kevin Maille
* Mathieu Menniti
* Mark Pearce
* Brett Roeland
* Carter Sandlak
* Tyson Stewart
Linesmen
* Guillaume Brunelle
* Maxime Chaput
* Jonathan Deschamps
* Deion Foster
* Adam Harris
* Brett Mackey
* Kelsey Mahoney
* Matthew Mannella
* Michael McGowan
* Ben O'Quinn
* Nathan Vanoosten
* Tarrington Wyonzek

### Preliminary round
#### Seeding

Seeds for the preliminary round were based on the 2020 tournament's final standings using the serpentine system. The IIHF announced the groups on 5 January 2020, with Austria being promoted from Division I A, after having won the 2020 Division I A Tournament.

##### Group A (Rogers Place)

* Canada (1)
* Finland (4)
* Switzerland (5)
* Slovakia (8)
* Germany (9)

##### Group B (Rogers Place)

* Russia (2)
* Sweden (3)
* United States (6)
* Czech Republic (7)
* Austria (11-Promoted)

#### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Canada (H) | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 4 | +29 | 12 | Quarterfinals |
| 2 | Finland | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 8 | +8 | 9 | Quarterfinals |
| 3 | Germany | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 28 | −14 | 5 | Quarterfinals |
| 4 | Slovakia | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 13 | −8 | 4 | Quarterfinals |
| 5 | Switzerland | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 20 | −15 | 0 | |

#### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | United States | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 5 | +20 | 9 | Quarterfinals |
| 2 | Russia | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 9 | +7 | 8 | Quarterfinals |
| 3 | Sweden | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 9 | +5 | 7 | Quarterfinals |
| 4 | Czech Republic | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 14 | −4 | 6 | Quarterfinals |
| 5 | Austria | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 29 | −28 | 0 | |

### Playoff round

Winning teams will be reseeded for the semi-finals in accordance with the following ranking:
* higher position in the group
* higher number of points
* better goal difference
* higher number of goals scored for
* better seeding coming into the tournament (final placement at the 2020 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships).
| Rank | Team | Group | Pos | Pts | GD | GF | Seed |
| 1 | Canada | A | 1 | 12 | +29 | 33 | 1 |
| 2 | United States | B | 1 | 9 | +20 | 25 | 6 |
| 3 | Finland | A | 2 | 9 | +8 | 16 | 4 |
| 4 | Russia | B | 2 | 8 | +7 | 16 | 2 |
| 5 | Sweden | B | 3 | 7 | +5 | 14 | 3 |
| 6 | Germany | A | 3 | 5 | −14 | 14 | 9 |
| 7 | Czech Republic | B | 4 | 6 | –4 | 10 | 7 |
| 8 | Slovakia | A | 4 | 4 | –8 | 5 | 8 |

#### Bracket

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | | Final | Final |
| 2 January – Rogers Place | 2 January – Rogers Place | | | |
| 2B Russia | 2 | | | |
| 2B Russia | 2 | 4 January – Rogers Place | 4 January – Rogers Place | | |
| 3A Germany | 1 | 4 January – Rogers Place | 4 January – Rogers Place | |
| 3A Germany | 1 | 1 Canada | 5 | |
| 2 January – Rogers Place | 2 January – Rogers Place | | 1 Canada | 5 | |
| 2 January – Rogers Place | 2 January – Rogers Place | 4 Russia | 0 | |
| 2A Finland | 3 | 4 Russia | 0 | |
| 2A Finland | 3 | | | | 5 January – Rogers Place | 5 January – Rogers Place |
| 3B Sweden | 2 | | | | 5 January – Rogers Place | 5 January – Rogers Place |
| 3B Sweden | 2 | | | | 1 Canada | 0 |
| 2 January – Rogers Place | 2 January – Rogers Place | | | | | 1 Canada | 0 |
| 2 January – Rogers Place | 2 January – Rogers Place | | | | 2 United States | 2 |
| 1A Canada | 3 | | | | 2 United States | 2 |
| 1A Canada | 3 | 4 January – Rogers Place | 4 January – Rogers Place | | | |
| 4B Czech Republic | 0 | 4 January – Rogers Place | 4 January – Rogers Place | | | |
| 4B Czech Republic | 0 | 2 United States | 4 | | | |
| 2 January – Rogers Place | 2 January – Rogers Place | | 2 United States | 4 | | | |
| 2 January – Rogers Place | 2 January – Rogers Place | 3 Finland | 3 | | Third place | Third place |
| 1B United States | 5 | 3 Finland | 3 | | Third place | Third place |
| 1B United States | 5 | | | | 5 January – Rogers Place | 5 January – Rogers Place |
| 4A Slovakia | 2 | | | | 5 January – Rogers Place | 5 January – Rogers Place |
| 4A Slovakia | 2 | | | | 3 Finland | 4 |
| | | | | | 4 Russia | 1 |

#### Gold medal match
### Statistics
#### Scoring leaders

| Pos | Player | Country | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| 1 | Trevor Zegras | United States | 7 | 7 | 11 | 18 | +9 | 0 |
| 2 | Dylan Cozens | Canada | 7 | 8 | 8 | 16 | +11 | 6 |
| 3 | Anton Lundell | Finland | 7 | 6 | 4 | 10 | +7 | 4 |
| 4 | Tim Stützle | Germany | 5 | 5 | 5 | 10 | −4 | 8 |
| 5 | John-Jason Peterka | Germany | 5 | 4 | 6 | 10 | –5 | 2 |
| 6 | Florian Elias | Germany | 5 | 4 | 5 | 9 | −2 | 4 |
| 7 | Connor McMichael | Canada | 7 | 4 | 4 | 8 | +8 | 4 |
| 8 | Arthur Kaliyev | United States | 7 | 3 | 5 | 8 | +9 | 4 |
| 8 | Peyton Krebs | Canada | 7 | 3 | 5 | 8 | +8 | 4 |
| 8 | Alex Turcotte | United States | 7 | 3 | 5 | 8 | +8 | 2 |
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus–minus; PIM = Penalties In Minutes Source: IIHF

#### Goaltending leaders

(minimum 40% team's total ice time)
| Pos | Player | Country | TOI | GA | GAA | SA | Sv% | SO |
| 1 | Devon Levi | Canada | 398:07 | 5 | 0.75 | 139 | 96.40 | 3 |
| 2 | Spencer Knight | United States | 332:15 | 9 | 1.63 | 149 | 93.96 | 3 |
| 3 | Simon Latkoczy | Slovakia | 183:54 | 8 | 2.61 | 102 | 92.16 | 1 |
| 4 | Kari Piiroinen | Finland | 357:57 | 13 | 2.18 | 152 | 91.45 | 1 |
| 5 | Yaroslav Askarov | Russia | 360:11 | 15 | 2.50 | 174 | 91.38 | 0 |
TOI = Time on ice (minutes:seconds); GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; SA = Shots against; Sv% = Save percentage; SO = Shutouts Source: IIHF

### Awards

* Best players selected by the directorate:
** Best Goaltender: Devon Levi
** Best Defenceman: Topi Niemelä
** Best Forward: Tim Stützle
Source: IIHF
* Media All-Stars:
** MVP: Trevor Zegras
** Goaltender: Devon Levi
** Defencemen: Bowen Byram / Ville Heinola
** Forwards: Trevor Zegras / Dylan Cozens / Tim Stützle
Source: IIHF

### Final standings

| Pos | Grp | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Final result |
| 1 | B | United States | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 36 | 10 | +26 | 18 | Champions |
| 2 | A | Canada (H) | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 41 | 6 | +35 | 18 | Runners-up |
| 3 | A | Finland | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 26 | 15 | +11 | 15 | Third place |
| 4 | B | Russia | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 19 | 19 | 0 | 11 | Fourth place |
| 5 | B | Sweden | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 12 | +4 | 7 | Eliminated in Quarterfinals |
| 6 | A | Germany | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 15 | 30 | −15 | 5 | Eliminated in Quarterfinals |
| 7 | B | Czech Republic | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 17 | −7 | 6 | Eliminated in Quarterfinals |
| 8 | A | Slovakia | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 18 | −11 | 4 | Eliminated in Quarterfinals |
| 9 | A | Switzerland | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 20 | −15 | 0 | Eliminated in Preliminary round |
| 10 | B | Austria | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 29 | −28 | 0 | Eliminated in Preliminary round |

## Division I

Division I, II, and III tournaments were cancelled.

### Group A

The tournament would have been held in Hørsholm, Denmark, from December 13 to 19, 2020.
* Belarus
* Denmark
* Hungary – Promoted from Division I B
* Kazakhstan – Relegated from Top Division
* Latvia
* Norway

### Group B

The tournament would have been held in Tallinn, Estonia, from February 10 to 17, 2021.
* Estonia
* France
* Japan – Promoted from Division II A
* Poland
* Slovenia – Relegated from Division I A
* Ukraine

## Division II

Division I, II, and III tournaments were cancelled.

### Group A

The tournament would have been held in Brașov, Romania, from February 8 to 14, 2021.
* Great Britain
* Italy – Relegated from Division I B
* Lithuania
* Romania
* South Korea – Promoted from Division II B
* Spain

### Group B

The tournament would have been held in Belgrade, Serbia, from February 8 to 14, 2021.
* Belgium
* China
* Croatia
* Iceland – Promoted from Division III
* Netherlands
* Serbia – Relegated from Division II A

## Division III

The tournament would have been held in Mexico City, Mexico, from January 10 to 17, 2021, but was cancelled.
* Bulgaria
* Chinese Taipei
* Israel – Relegated from Division II B
* Mexico
* South Africa
* Turkey