# 1998 IIHF European U18 Championship

The 1998 IIHF European U18 Championship was the thirty-first playing of the IIHF European Junior Championships.

## Group A

Played April 11 to the 19th in Malung and Mora, Sweden. The hosts, led by twins Daniel and Henrik Sedin, won their tenth European Junior title.

### First round
#### Group 1

| Team | RUS | FIN | CZE | NOR | GF/GA | Points |
| 1. Russia | | 4:1 | 2:2 | 5:1 | 11:04 | 5 |
| 2. Finland | 1:4 | | 7:2 | 8:0 | 16:06 | 4 |
| 3. Czech Republic | 2:2 | 2:7 | | 12:1 | 16:10 | 3 |
| 4. Norway | 1:5 | 0:8 | 1:12 | | 02:25 | 0 |

#### Group 2

| Team | SWE | SUI | SVK | UKR | GF/GA | Points |
| 1. Sweden | | 6:0 | 5:3 | 13:1 | 24:04 | 6 |
| 2. Switzerland | 0:6 | | 4:1 | 5:1 | 09:08 | 4 |
| 3. Slovakia | 3:5 | 1:4 | | 5:1 | 09:10 | 2 |
| 4. Ukraine | 1:13 | 1:5 | 1:5 | | 03:23 | 0 |

### Final round

The Czechs had the very unfortunate distinction of finishing tied for first, and actually finishing completely out of the medals. Coming into the final game against the Russians, the Swedes could lose or tie, and finish fourth, win by one or two goals and finish third, win by three and finish second, or win by four or more and be the champions. They led five to one after two, and played a scoreless third to clinch gold.

#### Championship round

| Team | SWE | FIN | RUS | CZE | SUI | SVK | GF/GA | Points | Tie 1 H2H Points | Tie 2 H2H GD | Tie 3 H2H Points | Tie 4 Overall GD |
| 1. Sweden | | 2:2 | 5:1 | 4:6 | (6:0) | (5:3) | 22:12 | 7 | 3 | +2 | 1 | +10 |
| 2. Finland | 2:2 | | (1:4) | (7:2) | 3:2 | 4:2 | 17:12 | 7 | 3 | +2 | 1 | +5 |
| 3. Russia | 1:5 | (4:1) | | (2:2) | 4:0 | 2:1 | 13:09 | 7 | 3 | -1 |
| 4. Czech Republic | 6:4 | (2:7) | (2:2) | | 7:1 | 5:3 | 21:17 | 7 | 3 | -3 |
| 5. Switzerland | (0:6) | 2:3 | 0:4 | 1:7 | | (4:1) | 07:20 | 2 |
| 6. Slovakia | (3:5) | 2:4 | 1:2 | 3:5 | (1:4) | | 10:20 | 0 |

#### 7th place

| Norway | 1:2 (0:0, 0:1, 1:1) | 4:3 (2:1, 2:1, 0:1) | 5:2 (3:0, 2:1, 0:1) | Ukraine |
* No team was relegated, all eight nations were joined by Group B winner, Germany, and the United States to participate in the first IIHF World U18 Championships.

## Tournament awards

* Top scorer Daniel Sedin (11 points)
* Top goalie: Kristian Antila
* Top defenceman: Mikko Jokela
* Top forward: Daniel Sedin

## Group B

Played April 5 to the 12th in Füssen and Memmingen Germany. The hosts did not dominate, but still won all their games, to return to the top level.

### First round
#### Group 1

| Team | GER | BLR | DEN | GBR | GF/GA | Points |
| 1. Germany | | 4:2 | 4:3 | 5:0 | 13:05 | 6 |
| 2. Belarus | 2:4 | | 6:3 | 4:0 | 12:07 | 4 |
| 3. Denmark | 3:4 | 3:6 | | 5:1 | 11:11 | 2 |
| 4. Great Britain | 0:5 | 0:4 | 1:5 | | 01:14 | 0 |

#### Group 2

| Team | POL | ITA | HUN | FRA | GF/GA | Points |
| 1. Poland | | 4:1 | 5:4 | 2:1 | 11:06 | 6 |
| 2. Italy | 1:4 | | 4:1 | 3:1 | 08:06 | 4 |
| 3. Hungary | 4:5 | 1:4 | | 5:1 | 10:10 | 2 |
| 4. France | 1:2 | 1:3 | 1:5 | | 03:10 | 0 |

### Final round
#### Championship round

| Team | GER | ITA | POL | HUN | BLR | DEN | GF/GA | Points |
| 1. Germany | | 5:2 | 4:0 | 4:1 | (4:2) | (4:3) | 21:08 | 10 |
| 2. Italy | 2:5 | | (1:4) | (4:1) | 2:0 | 9:1 | 18:11 | 06 |
| 3. Poland | 0:4 | (4:1) | | (5:4) | 5:8 | 6:6 | 20:23 | 05 |
| 4. Hungary | 1:4 | (1:4) | (4:5) | | 2:1 | 12:9 | 20:23 | 04 |
| 5. Belarus | (2:4) | 0:2 | 8:5 | 1:2 | | (6:3) | 17:16 | 04 |
| 6. Denmark | (3:4) | 1:9 | 6:6 | 9:12 | (3:6) | | 22:37 | 01 |

#### 7th place

| France | 11:1 (3:0, 6:1, 2:0) | 5:2 (1:0, 2:0, 2:2) | Great Britain |
* Germany was promoted to Group A of the IIHF World U18 Championships. The remaining seven nations were joined by Group C winner Austria to form Group B of the IIHF World U18 Championships.

## Group C

Played March 16 to the 20th in Zagreb, Croatia. On final day the host Croats had to face Yugoslavia to determine who would be relegated. Because of the expansion of the top tier to ten teams, it did not matter in the end, but it was a very tense affair at the time.

### First round
#### Group 1

| Team | AUT | SLO | ROM | YUG | GF/GA | Points |
| 1. Austria | | 5:3 | 15:3 | 13:1 | 33:07 | 6 |
| 2. Slovenia | 3:5 | | 9:1 | 10:0 | 22:06 | 4 |
| 3. Romania | 3:15 | 1:9 | | 6:3 | 10:27 | 2 |
| 4. Yugoslavia | 1:13 | 0:10 | 3:6 | | 04:29 | 0 |

#### Group 2

| Team | LAT | LTU | EST | CRO | GF/GA | Points |
| 1. Latvia | | 6:1 | 7:0 | 10:4 | 23:05 | 6 |
| 2. Lithuania | 1:6 | | 4:1 | 7:6 | 12:13 | 4 |
| 3. Estonia | 0:7 | 1:4 | | 4:2 | 05:13 | 2 |
| 4. Croatia | 4:10 | 6:7 | 2:4 | | 12:21 | 0 |

### Placing round

| 7th place | Croatia | 5:3 (1:1, 2:1, 2:1) | Yugoslavia |
| 5th place | Romania | 5:0 forfeit | Estonia |
| 3rd place | Lithuania | 3:2 (0:1, 2:1, 1:0) | Slovenia |
| Final | Austria | 4:3 (0:2, 2:1, 2:0) | Latvia |
* Austria was promoted to Group B of the IIHF World U18 Championships. No nation was relegated, the remaining Group C nations would take part in Division I of the 1999 U18 European Championships.

## Group D

Played from March 3–9 in Luxembourg. Two new entrants participated this year, the hosts, and Kazakhstan. The Kazakhs switched from playing in the Asian junior tournament, to the European. The Kazakh squad was a much better team than was suited for this level, scoring over 150 goals in five games. The Dutch were the only ones to lose by less than fifteen to the Kazakhs. Leading the team, a young Nik Antropov collected 54 points.

### First round
#### Group 1

| Team | NED | BEL | BUL | ISR | GF/GA | Points |
| 1. Netherlands | | 7:3 | 12:0 | 12:0 | 31:03 | 6 |
| 2. Belgium | 3:7 | | 12:1 | 8:0 | 23:08 | 4 |
| 3. Bulgaria | 0:12 | 1:12 | | 3:2 | 04:26 | 2 |
| 4. Israel | 0:12 | 0:8 | 2:3 | | 02:23 | 0 |

#### Group 2

| Team | KAZ | ESP | ISL | LUX | GF/GA | Points |
| 1. Kazakhstan | | 19:2 | 63:0 | 39:0 | 121:02 | 6 |
| 2. Spain | 2:19 | | 4:1 | 17:2 | 023:22 | 4 |
| 3. Iceland | 0:63 | 1:4 | | 4:2 | 005:69 | 2 |
| 4. Luxembourg | 0:39 | 2:17 | 2:4 | | 004:60 | 0 |

### Final round
#### Championship round

| Team | KAZ | NED | BEL | ESP | GF/GA | Points |
| 1. Kazakhstan | | 14:1 | 20:1 | (19:2) | 53:04 | 6 |
| 2. Netherlands | 1:14 | | (7:3) | 4:1 | 12:18 | 4 |
| 3. Belgium | 1:20 | (3:7) | | 5:3 | 09:30 | 2 |
| 4. Spain | (2:19) | 1:4 | 3:5 | | 06:28 | 0 |

#### Placing round

| Team | BUL | ISR | ISL | LUX | GF/GA | Points |
| 1. Bulgaria | | (3:2) | 9:2 | 5:2 | 17:06 | 6 |
| 2. Israel | (2:3) | | 4:4 | 4:1 | 10:08 | 3 |
| 3. Iceland | 2:9 | 4:4 | | (4:2) | 10:15 | 3 |
| 4. Luxembourg | 2:5 | 1:4 | (2:4) | | 05:13 | 0 |
* Kazakhstan was promoted to the newly titled Division I of the 1999 U18 European Championships.