# 1997 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships

The 1997 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships were held in Geneva and Morges, Switzerland. The tournament was won by Canada, who won their record fifth-straight gold medal with a 2–0 victory over the United States in the gold-medal match. Mike York of the United States was the top scorer in the tournament, with five goals and five assists for ten points.
The tournament all-star team selected upon the conclusion of the tournament included forwards Mike York (United States), Sergei Samsonov (Russia) and Christian Dube (Canada); defencemen Mark Streit (Switzerland) and Chris Phillips (Canada); and goaltender Brian Boucher (United States).
Notable future National Hockey League (NHL) stars that played in this year's tournament included Joe Thornton (Canada), Daniel Brière (Canada) and Marián Hossa (Slovakia).

## Round robin
### Group A

| Team | Pld | W | L | D | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| United States | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 5 | +13 | 7 |
| Canada | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 9 | +6 | 6 |
| Czech Republic | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 8 | +5 | 4 |
| Switzerland | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 11 | −3 | 3 |
| Germany | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 26 | −21 | 0 |

### Group B

| Team | Pld | W | L | D | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Russia | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 5 | +15 | 7 |
| Finland | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 9 | +8 | 6 |
| Slovakia | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 13 | +4 | 4 |
| Sweden | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 3 |
| Poland | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 33 | −27 | 0 |

## Relegation round

| Team | Pld | W | L | D | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Switzerland | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 5 | +13 | 6 |
| Sweden | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 10 | +7 | 4 |
| Germany | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 14 | −3 | 2 |
| Poland | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 20 | −17 | 0 |
Poland was relegated for the 1998 World Junior Championships.

## Medal Rounds

| Quarter finals | Quarter finals | Quarter finals | Semi finals | Semi finals | Semi finals | Final | Final | Final |
| | | | QF1 | Canada | 3 | | | |
| A2 | Canada | 7 | B1 | Russia | 2 | | | |
| B3 | Slovakia | 2 | | | | SF1 | Canada | 2 |
| | | | | | | SF2 | United States | 0 |
| | | | QF2 | Czech Republic | 2 |
| B2 | Finland | 2 | A1 | United States | 5 |
| A3 | Czech Republic | 3 | | | | Third place | Third place | Third place |
| | | | | | | QF1 | Russia | 4 |
| | | | | | | QF2 | Czech Republic | 1 |

### Bronze-medal game

Game reference :
| Alexei Morozov 6:23 (SH) Alexei Kolkunin 15:10 (PP) Oleg Kvasha 22:33 Sergei Samsonov 49:04 | Goals | Marek Melenovsky 36:47 |

### Gold-medal game
## Final standings

| | Team |
| | Canada |
| | United States |
| | Russia |
| 4th | Czech Republic |
| 5th | Finland |
| 6th | Slovakia |
| 7th | Switzerland |
| 8th | Sweden |
| 9th | Germany |
| 10th | Poland |
Poland was relegated for the 1998 World Juniors

## Scoring leaders

| Player | Country | GP | G | A | Pts |
| Mike York | United States | 6 | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| Tomi Kallio | Finland | 6 | 5 | 4 | 9 |
| Erik Rasmussen | United States | 6 | 4 | 5 | 9 |
| Rastislav Pavlikovský | Slovakia | 7 | 2 | 7 | 9 |
| Alexei Morozov | Russia | 6 | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| Niko Kapanen | Finland | 6 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| Alexei Kolkounov | Russia | 6 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| Ľubomír Vaic | Slovakia | 6 | 1 | 7 | 8 |
| Sergei Samsonov | Russia | 6 | 6 | 1 | 7 |
| Marián Hossa | Slovakia | 6 | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| Mark Parrish | United States | 6 | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| Brad Isbister | Canada | 6 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| Christian Dubé | Canada | 6 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| Cameron Mann | Canada | 6 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| Marek Melenovský | Czech Republic | 6 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| Boris Lingemann | Germany | 6 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| Ondrej Kratena | Czech Republic | 6 | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| Ville Nieminen | Finland | 6 | 2 | 5 | 7 |

## Goaltending leaders

(minimum 40% team's total ice time)
| Player | Country | MINS | GAA |
| Denis Khlopotnov | Russia | 180 | 0.33 |
| Brian Boucher | United States | 357.13 | 1.51 |
| Marc Denis | Canada | 419.52 | 1.86 |
| David Aebischer | Switzerland | 300 | 2.00 |
| Adam Svoboda | Czech Republic | 428.27 | 2.66 |

## Tournament awards

| | IIHF Directorate Awards | Media All-Star Team |
| Goaltender | Marc Denis | Brian Boucher |
| Defencemen | Joe Corvo | Chris Phillips Mark Streit |
| Forwards | Alexei Morozov | Christian Dubé Sergei Samsonov Michael York |

## Pool B

This tournament was played in Kyiv Ukraine, from December 27 to January 5.

### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | D | GF | GA | GD | Pts | | | | | | | | |
| 1 | Kazakhstan | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 39 | 15 | +24 | 13 | | 4–1 | 1–1 | 7–5 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 11–3 | 9–4 |
| 2 | Latvia | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 28 | 19 | +9 | 11 | 1–4 | | 4–3 | 5–5 | 2–1 | 4–3 | 9–1 | 3–2 |
| 3 | France | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 22 | 16 | +6 | 10 | 1–1 | 3–4 | | 5–4 | 4–3 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 5–1 |
| 4 | Norway | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 33 | 23 | +10 | 7 | 5–7 | 5–5 | 4–5 | | 2–2 | 3–3 | 5–1 | 9–0 |
| 5 | Ukraine | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 26 | 18 | +8 | 7 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 3–4 | 2–2 | | 4–3 | 8–1 | 7–3 |
| 6 | Japan | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 24 | 17 | +7 | 6 | 0–4 | 3–4 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 3–4 | | 6–1 | 8–0 |
| 7 | Hungary | 7 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 14 | 44 | −30 | 2 | 3–11 | 1–9 | 2–3 | 1–5 | 1–8 | 1–6 | | 5–2 |
| 8 | Italy | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 12 | 46 | −34 | 0 | 4–9 | 2–3 | 1–5 | 0–9 | 3–7 | 0–8 | 2–5 | |
Kazakhstan was promoted to Pool A, and Italy was relegated to Pool C, for 1998.

## Pool C

Played in Gheorgheni and Miercurea Ciuc, Romania from December 30 to January 3.

### Preliminary round
#### Group A

| Team | Pld | W | L | D | GF | GA | GD | Pts | | | | |
| Belarus | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 2 | +24 | 6 | | 7–2 | 8–0 | 11–0 |
| Great Britain | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 9 | +4 | 4 | 2–7 | | 4–2 | 7–0 |
| Austria | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 12 | −6 | 2 | 0–8 | 2–4 | | 4–0 |
| Croatia | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 22 | −22 | 0 | 0–11 | 0–7 | 0–4 | |

#### Group B

| Team | Pld | W | L | D | GF | GA | GD | Pts | | | | |
| Slovenia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 6 | +16 | 6 | | 6–2 | 6–2 | 10–2 |
| Denmark | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 8 | +19 | 4 | 2–6 | | 9–0 | 16–2 |
| Romania | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 18 | −10 | 2 | 2–6 | 0–9 | | 6–3 |
| Netherlands | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 32 | −25 | 0 | 2–10 | 2–16 | 3–6 | |

### Placement Games

* 7th place: Croatia 5 - 3 Netherlands
* 5th place: Austria 3 - 1 Romania
* 3rd place: Denmark 5 - 4 Great Britain
* 1st Place: Belarus 8 - 2 Slovenia
Belarus was promoted to Pool B, and Netherlands was relegated to Pool D for 1998.

## Pool D

Played in Sofia Bulgaria from December 30 to January 3.

### Preliminary round
#### Group A

| Team | Pld | W | L | D | GF | GA | GD | Pts | | | | |
| Lithuania | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 4 | +41 | 6 | | 10–1 | 15–1 | 20–2 |
| Spain | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 12 | +5 | 4 | 1–10 | | 3–1 | 13–1 |
| Bulgaria | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 20 | −11 | 2 | 1–15 | 1–3 | | 7–2 |
| Mexico | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 40 | −35 | 0 | 2–20 | 1–13 | 2–7 | |

#### Group B

| Team | Pld | W | L | D | GF | GA | GD | Pts | | | | |
| Estonia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 7 | +31 | 6 | | 8–3 | 12–3 | 18–1 |
| Yugoslavia | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 12 | +10 | 4 | 3–8 | | 9–4 | 10–0 |
| Israel | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 23 | −10 | 2 | 3–12 | 4–9 | | 6–2 |
| South Africa | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 34 | −31 | 0 | 1–18 | 0–10 | 2–6 | |

### Placement Games

* 7th place: South Africa 5 - 3 Mexico
* 5th place: Israel 7 - 3 Bulgaria
* 3rd place: Yugoslavia 4 - 1 Spain
* 1st Place: Estonia 8 - 4 Lithuania
Estonia was promoted to Pool C for 1998.