The growing popularity of international competition begun by the 1972 Summit Series and continued with the Canada Cup led the IIHF to formalize the tournament in 1977 as the IIHF World U20 Championship (colloquially the World Junior Hockey Championship). The defending Memorial Cup champion St. Catharines Fincups of the OHA represented Canada at this first official tournament, winning the silver medal, while Dale McCourt was named the tournament's best forward. The 1978 tournament was held in Montreal. It was the first major international tournament for Wayne Gretzky, a 16-year-old phenom whom the Montreal crowd cheered wildly. Though he led the tournament in scoring with 17 points, Canada managed only a bronze medal after losing the final round-robin game to Sweden, 6–5, in which they needed only a tie for silver.