# 2012 IIHF World U18 Championships

The 2012 IIHF U18 World Championship was the 14th IIHF World U18 Championship and was hosted in Brno, Znojmo and Břeclav, Czech Republic. It began on 12 April 2012 with the gold medal game played on 22 April 2012.
Brno and Znojmo were originally to co-host, but a schedule change became necessary when Kometa Brno unexpectedly advanced to the Czech Extraliga finals, making their home ice unavailable to the tournament on three days.
The United States defeated Sweden 7–0 in the final to win their seventh title. Canada captured the bronze medal by beating Finland 5–4 in overtime.

## Top Division

All times are local. (Central European Summer Time – UTC+2)

### Preliminary round
#### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | United States | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 3 | +15 | 12 | Semifinals |
| 2 | Finland | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 9 | +6 | 9 | Quarterfinals |
| 3 | Canada | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 12 | +5 | 6 | Quarterfinals |
| 4 | Czech Republic | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 21 | −9 | 3 | Relegation round |
| 5 | Denmark | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 23 | −17 | 0 | Relegation round |

#### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Sweden | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 4 | +16 | 12 | Semifinals |
| 2 | Russia | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 7 | +7 | 6 | Quarterfinals |
| 3 | Germany | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 17 | −2 | 6 | Quarterfinals |
| 4 | Latvia | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 15 | −4 | 6 | Relegation round |
| 5 | Switzerland | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 23 | −17 | 0 | Relegation round |

### Relegation round

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Relegation |
| 1 | Switzerland | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 7 | +1 | 6 | |
| 2 | Czech Republic | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 12 | +5 | 6 | |
| 3 | Latvia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 13 | −2 | 4 | |
| 4 | Denmark | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 13 | −4 | 2 | Relegated to the 2013 Division I A |

### Final round

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final |
| | | | B1 | Sweden | 7 | | | |
| A2 | Finland | 8 | A2 | Finland | 3 | | | |
| B3 | Germany | 0 | | | | B1 | Sweden | 0 |
| | | | | | | A1 | United States | 7 |
| | | | A1 | United States | 2 |
| B2 | Russia | 2 | A3 | Canada | 1 |
| A3 | Canada | 4 | | | | Third place | Third place | Third place |
| | | | | | | A2 | Finland | 4 |
| | | | | | | A3 | Canada | 5 |

#### Final
### Final standings

| | Team |
| | United States |
| | Sweden |
| | Canada |
| 4th | Finland |
| 5th | Russia |
| 6th | Germany |
| 7th | Switzerland |
| 8th | Czech Republic |
| 9th | Latvia |
| 10th | Denmark |
* 2012 IIHF U18 World champions
* United States 7th title

### Scoring leaders

List shows the top ten skaters sorted by points, then goals.
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Mathew Dumba | 7 | 5 | 7 | 12 | +2 | 20 |
| Artturi Lehkonen | 7 | 7 | 3 | 10 | +3 | 6 |
| Henrik Haapala | 7 | 4 | 6 | 10 | +4 | 2 |
| Rasmus Kulmala | 7 | 5 | 4 | 9 | +4 | 2 |
| Sebastian Collberg | 6 | 4 | 5 | 9 | +1 | 14 |
| Nicolas Kerdiles | 6 | 4 | 5 | 9 | +8 | 2 |
| Alexander Wennberg | 6 | 3 | 6 | 9 | +2 | 0 |
| Kerby Rychel | 7 | 5 | 3 | 8 | +4 | 12 |
| Kristoffer Lauridsen | 5 | 4 | 4 | 8 | +4 | 4 |
| Gustav Possler | 6 | 4 | 4 | 8 | +5 | 0 |
| Hunter Shinkaruk | 6 | 4 | 4 | 8 | +3 | 6 |
| Dominik Simon | 6 | 4 | 4 | 8 | +2 | 4 |
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalties In Minutes Source: IIHF.com

### Leading goaltenders

Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage, who have played 40% of their team's minutes are included in this list.
| Player | TOI | SA | GA | GAA | Sv% | SO |
| Collin Olson | 300:00 | 116 | 4 | 0.80 | 96.55 | 3 |
| Oscar Dansk | 272:47 | 143 | 9 | 1.98 | 93.71 | 1 |
| Andrei Vasilevski | 299:20 | 141 | 11 | 2.20 | 92.20 | 1 |
| Matt Murray | 419:51 | 210 | 19 | 2.72 | 90.95 | 0 |
| George Sørensen | 276:12 | 193 | 18 | 3.91 | 90.67 | 0 |
TOI = Time on ice (minutes:seconds); SA = Shots against; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; Sv% = Save percentage; SO = Shutouts Source: IIHF.com

### Tournament Awards

Best players selected by the directorate:
* Best Goalkeeper: Collin Olson (USA)
* Best Defenseman: Mathew Dumba (CAN)
* Best Forward: Filip Forsberg (SWE)
Best players of each team Best players of each team selected by the coaches.
| Team | Players |
| Canada | Mathew Dumba Matt Murray Adam Pelech |
| Czech Republic | Petr Šidlík Jakub Vrána Dominik Simon |
| Denmark | Oliver Bjorkstrand Kristoffer Lauridsen Bjørn Uldall |
| Finland | Henrik Happala Rasmus Kulmala Artturi Lehkonen |
| Germany | Marcel Kurth Lennart Palausch Sven Ziegler |
| Latvia | Georgs Golovkovs Teodors Bļugers Rūdolfs Kalvītis |
| Russia | Anton Slepyshev Alexander Barabanov Bogdan Yakimov |
| Switzerland | Lucas Balmelli Samuel Kreis Nico Dunner |
| Sweden | Oscar Dansk Hampus Lindholm Sebastian Collberg |
| United States | Seth Jones Matt Lane Collin Olson |

## Division I
### Division I A

The tournament was played in Piešťany, Slovakia, from 11 to 17 April 2012.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Slovakia | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 6 | +24 | 15 | Promoted to the 2013 Top Division |
| 2 | Norway | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 22 | 20 | +2 | 9 | |
| 3 | Italy | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 20 | −3 | 7 | |
| 4 | France | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 19 | −7 | 5 | |
| 5 | Slovenia | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 21 | −9 | 5 | |
| 6 | Japan | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 21 | −7 | 4 | Relegated to the 2013 Division I B |

### Division I B

The tournament was played in Székesfehérvár, Hungary, from 11 to 17 April 2012.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Belarus | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 9 | +19 | 15 | Promoted to the 2013 Division I A |
| 2 | Kazakhstan | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 16 | +11 | 11 | |
| 3 | Austria | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 21 | 21 | 0 | 8 | |
| 4 | Ukraine | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 20 | 26 | −6 | 6 | |
| 5 | Poland | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 30 | −17 | 3 | |
| 6 | Hungary | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 20 | −7 | 2 | Relegated to the 2013 Division II A |

## Division II
### Division II A

The tournament was played in Heerenveen, the Netherlands, from 31 March to 6 April 2012.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | South Korea | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 14 | +3 | 12 | Promoted to the 2013 Division I B |
| 2 | Romania | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 15 | +10 | 12 | |
| 3 | Lithuania | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 11 | +11 | 11 | |
| 4 | Great Britain | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 17 | +1 | 5 | |
| 5 | Croatia | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 23 | −15 | 4 | |
| 6 | Netherlands | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 16 | 26 | −10 | 1 | Relegated to the 2013 Division II B |

### Division II B

The tournament was played in Novi Sad, Serbia, from 20 to 26 March 2012.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Estonia | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 17 | +15 | 14 | Promoted to the 2013 Division II A |
| 2 | Serbia | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 22 | 16 | +6 | 9 | |
| 3 | Spain | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 21 | 18 | +3 | 8 | |
| 4 | Iceland | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 23 | 23 | 0 | 7 | |
| 5 | Australia | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 20 | −12 | 4 | |
| 6 | China | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 18 | 30 | −12 | 3 | Relegated to the 2013 Division III A |

## Division III

The tournament was played in Sofia, Bulgaria, from 12 to 18 March 2012.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Belgium | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 12 | +36 | 15 | Promoted to the 2013 Division II B |
| 2 | New Zealand | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 33 | 13 | +20 | 12 | |
| 3 | Mexico | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 24 | 15 | +9 | 9 | |
| 4 | Bulgaria | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 27 | 23 | +4 | 6 | |
| 5 | Chinese Taipei | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 19 | 26 | −7 | 3 | |
| 6 | South Africa | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 68 | −62 | 0 | Relegated to the 2013 Division III B |