# 2021 IIHF World U18 Championships

The 2021 IIHF World U18 Championship was the 22nd such event hosted by the International Ice Hockey Federation. Teams would have participated at several levels of competition. The competition also would have served as qualifications for the 2022 competition. All tournaments other than the top division tournament were cancelled by the IIHF on November 18, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The United States finished without a medal for the first time since 2003.

## Top Division

The tournament was held from April 26 to May 6, 2021, in Frisco and Plano, United States.

### Officials

The following officials were assigned by the International Ice Hockey Federation to officiate the 2021 World U18 Championships.
Referees
* Adam Kika
* Riku Brander
* Lukas Kohlmüller
* Sergey Yudakov
* Christoffer Holm
* Micha Hebeisen
* Sean Fernandez
* Sean MacFarlane
* Jacob Rekucki
* Stephen Reneau
* Peter Schlittenhardt
* Andrew Wilk
Linesmen
* Nikita Polyakov
* David Klouček
* Tommi Niittylä
* Dāvis Zunde
* Roman Slavikovskii
* Kevin Briganti
* Nick Briganti
* Jake Davis
* William Hancock
* Patrick Richardson

### Preliminary round

All times are local (UTC–5).

#### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Canada | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 5 | +23 | 12 | Advance to Quarterfinals |
| 2 | Sweden | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 14 | +2 | 9 | Advance to Quarterfinals |
| 3 | Belarus | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 13 | +3 | 6 | Advance to Quarterfinals |
| 4 | Switzerland | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 19 | −13 | 3 | Advance to Quarterfinals |
| 5 | Latvia | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 21 | −15 | 0 | |

#### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Finland | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 13 | +11 | 9 | Advance to Quarterfinals |
| 2 | Russia | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 12 | +15 | 9 | Advance to Quarterfinals |
| 3 | United States (H) | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 15 | +3 | 8 | Advance to Quarterfinals |
| 4 | Czech Republic | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 20 | −10 | 4 | Advance to Quarterfinals |
| 5 | Germany | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 24 | −19 | 0 | |
* 1 2 Finland 4–3 (GWS) Russia

### Playoff round

Winning teams were reseeded for the semifinals 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 2019 IIHF World U18 Championships).
| Rank | Team | Group | Pos | Pts | GD | GF | Seed |
| 1 | Canada | A | 1 | 12 | +23 | 28 | 4 |
| 2 | Finland | B | 1 | 9 | +11 | 24 | 7 |
| 3 | Russia | B | 2 | 9 | +15 | 27 | 2 |
| 4 | Sweden | A | 2 | 9 | +2 | 16 | 1 |
| 5 | United States | B | 3 | 8 | +3 | 18 | 3 |
| 6 | Belarus | A | 3 | 6 | +3 | 16 | 5 |
| 7 | Czech Republic | B | 4 | 4 | –10 | 10 | 6 |
| 8 | Switzerland | A | 4 | 3 | −13 | 6 | 9 |

#### Bracket

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | | Gold Medal Game | Gold Medal Game |
| May 3 – Plano | May 3 – Plano | | | |
| 2B Russia | 5 | | | |
| 2B Russia | 5 | May 5 – Frisco | May 5 – Frisco | | |
| 3A Belarus | 2 | May 5 – Frisco | May 5 – Frisco | |
| 3A Belarus | 2 | 1 Canada | 8 | |
| May 3 – Frisco | May 3 – Frisco | | 1 Canada | 8 | |
| May 3 – Frisco | May 3 – Frisco | 4 Sweden | 1 | |
| 1A Canada | 10 | 4 Sweden | 1 | |
| 1A Canada | 10 | | | | May 6 – Frisco | May 6 – Frisco |
| 4B Czech Republic | 3 | | | | May 6 – Frisco | May 6 – Frisco |
| 4B Czech Republic | 3 | | | | 1 Canada | 5 |
| May 3 – Plano | May 3 – Plano | | | | | 1 Canada | 5 |
| May 3 – Plano | May 3 – Plano | | | | 3 Russia | 3 |
| 1B Finland | 2 | | | | 3 Russia | 3 |
| 1B Finland | 2 | May 5 – Frisco | May 5 – Frisco | | | |
| 4A Switzerland | 0 | May 5 – Frisco | May 5 – Frisco | | | |
| 4A Switzerland | 0 | 2 Finland | 5 | | | |
| May 3 – Frisco | May 3 – Frisco | | 2 Finland | 5 | | | |
| May 3 – Frisco | May 3 – Frisco | 3 Russia | 6 | | Bronze Medal Game | Bronze Medal Game |
| 2A Sweden | 5 | 3 Russia | 6 | | Bronze Medal Game | Bronze Medal Game |
| 2A Sweden | 5 | | | | May 6 – Frisco | May 6 – Frisco |
| 3B United States | 2 | | | | May 6 – Frisco | May 6 – Frisco |
| 3B United States | 2 | | | | 2 Finland | 0 |
| | | | | | 4 Sweden | 8 |

#### Gold medal game
### Final standings

| Pos | Grp | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Final result |
| 1 | A | Canada | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 51 | 12 | +39 | 21 | Champions |
| 2 | B | Russia | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 41 | 24 | +17 | 15 | Runners-up |
| 3 | A | Sweden | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 30 | 24 | +6 | 15 | Third place |
| 4 | B | Finland | 7 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 31 | 27 | +4 | 12 | Fourth place |
| 5 | B | United States (H) | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 20 | 0 | 8 | Eliminated in Quarterfinals |
| 6 | A | Belarus | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 18 | 0 | 6 | Eliminated in Quarterfinals |
| 7 | B | Czech Republic | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 30 | −17 | 4 | Eliminated in Quarterfinals |
| 8 | A | Switzerland | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 21 | −15 | 3 | Eliminated in Quarterfinals |
| 9 | A | Latvia | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 21 | −15 | 0 | Eliminated in Preliminary round |
| 10 | B | Germany | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 24 | −19 | 0 | Eliminated in Preliminary round |

### Statistics
#### Scoring leaders

| Pos | Player | Country | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| 1 | Matvei Michkov | Russia | 7 | 12 | 4 | 16 | +7 | 4 |
| 2 | Shane Wright | Canada | 5 | 9 | 5 | 14 | +12 | 2 |
| 3 | Connor Bedard | Canada | 7 | 7 | 7 | 14 | +12 | 2 |
| 4 | Nikita Chibrikov | Russia | 7 | 4 | 9 | 13 | +7 | 14 |
| 5 | Mason McTavish | Canada | 7 | 5 | 6 | 11 | +10 | 10 |
| 5 | Samu Tuomaala | Finland | 7 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Francesco Pinelli | Canada | 7 | 4 | 7 | 11 | +8 | 0 |
| 7 | Danila Yurov | Russia | 7 | 4 | 7 | 11 | +4 | 2 |
| 9 | Ville Koivunen | Finland | 7 | 4 | 6 | 10 | −2 | 0 |
| 9 | Fedor Svechkov | Russia | 7 | 4 | 6 | 10 | +4 | 4 |
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 | Benjamin Gaudreau | Canada | 300:00 | 11 | 2.20 | 136 | 91.91 | 0 |
| 2 | Carl Lindbom | Sweden | 313:29 | 16 | 3.06 | 194 | 91.75 | 1 |
| 3 | Kaidan Mbereko | United States | 147:29 | 7 | 2.85 | 82 | 91.46 | 0 |
| 4 | Sergei Ivanov | Russia | 364:23 | 16 | 2.63 | 183 | 91.26 | 0 |
| 5 | Tikhon Chaika | Belarus | 180:00 | 8 | 2.67 | 90 | 91.11 | 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: Benjamin Gaudreau
** Best Defenceman: Aleksi Heimosalmi
** Best Forward: Matvei Michkov
Source: IIHF
* Media All-Stars:
** MVP: Matvei Michkov
** Goaltender: Sergei Ivanov
** Defencemen: Aleksi Heimosalmi / Brandt Clarke
** Forwards: Connor Bedard / Matvei Michkov / Samu Tuomaala
Source: IIHF

## Division I

All lower division tournaments were cancelled by the IIHF.

### Group A

The tournament was to be held in Spišská Nová Ves, Slovakia, from April 5 to 11, 2021.
* Denmark
* France
* Japan
* Kazakhstan
* Norway
* Slovakia

### Group B

The tournament was to be held in Asiago, Italy, from April 18 to 25, 2021.
* Austria
* Hungary
* Italy
* Poland
* Slovenia
* Ukraine

## Division II
### Group A

The tournament was to be held in Tallinn, Estonia, from April 4 to 10, 2021.
* Great Britain
* Estonia
* Lithuania
* Romania
* Serbia
* South Korea

### Group B

The tournament was to be held in Sofia, Bulgaria, from March 21 to 27, 2021,
* Australia
* Bulgaria
* China
* Croatia
* Netherlands
* Spain

## Division III
### Group A

The tournament was to be held in Istanbul, Turkey, from March 29 to April 4, 2021.
* Belgium
* Chinese Taipei
* Iceland
* Israel
* Mexico
* Turkey

### Group B

The tournament was to be held in Kockelscheuer, Luxembourg, from March 28 to April 3, 2021.
* Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Hong Kong
* Kyrgyzstan
* Luxembourg
* New Zealand
* South Africa