2011 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 2011 IIHF World U20 Championship , commonly referred to as the 2011 World Junior Hockey Championships ( " 2011 WJHC " ) , was the 2011 edition of the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships and was hosted by the United States . The games were played in Western New York , at HSBC Arena in Buffalo and Niagara University ' s Dwyer Arena in Lewiston . Russia won the gold medal with a 5 – 3 victory over Canada in the championship game , after completing the biggest comeback in the WJHC history . Being down 3 – 0 after two periods , the Russians scored five goals in the third period to capture their first WJHC gold medal since 2003 . The host team , the United States , won the bronze medal with a 4 – 2 win over Sweden . Bid process . Co - host of the 2005 tournament , Grand Forks , North Dakota , also submitted a bid to host the 2011 tournament . In addition , Detroit was mentioned as a possible host city . Summary . Exhibition games . A series of five exhibition games were held between several of the teams at Sports Centre at MCC in Brighton , New York and the Jamestown Savings Bank Ice Arena in Jamestown , New York in conjunction with , and immediately prior to , the tournament . Preliminary round . The Preliminary Round robin consisted of two pools of five teams each , played in a round robin format . The United States ( Pool A ) and Sweden ( Pool B ) went undefeated to finish first in their respective pools and earn an automatic berth in the semifinals . To qualify for the quarterfinals , Canada and Russia finished second and third in Pool B while Finland and Switzerland did likewise in Pool A . The remaining teams , Slovakia , Germany , the Czech Republic , and Norway were sent to the relegation round . Relegation round . In the relegation round , Slovakia and Norway played in the first game , with Slovakia winning 5 – 0 . The Czech Republic defeated Germany 3 – 2 in the second game . After the first day of action , the final results were decided and the remaining games were meaningless . Germany lost to Norway 3 – 1 and the Czech Republic defeated Slovakia 5 – 2 in the final relegation games . Norway and Germany were relegated to Division I for the 2012 tournament . Medal round . Quarterfinals . The first quarterfinal game saw Russia take on Finland . Russia trailed by two goals late in the game , but scored twice to tie and send it to overtime . Evgeny Kuznetsov scored the game winning goal in overtime . In the other quarterfinal , Canada easily defeated Switzerland 4 – 1 . Semifinals . The first semi - final featured Russia and Sweden . Controversy erupted in the second period as an apparent icing call on Russia was waved off by the on - ice officials , allowing the Russians to score and take a 2 – 0 lead . The Swedish team protested the non - call , but the goal stood . The Swedes did forge a comeback and took a 3 – 2 lead in the third period , but the Russians scored late to force overtime for the second consecutive game . The game went to a shootout with Russia winning , 4 – 3 . The second semifinal was a highly anticipated rematch of the previous year ' s gold medal game between Canada and the United States , the defending champions . In front of a mainly Canadian crowd that made the trip to Buffalo , Canada earned a berth in the final with a 4 – 1 victory over their American rivals . Fifth place game . The fifth place game featured the losing teams of the quarter - final games . Switzerland defeated Finland 3 – 2 in a shootout to take fifth place . Bronze medal game . The United States defeated Sweden 4 – 2 to win the bronze medal , its first ever WJHC medal on home soil . Gold medal game . The gold medal game was a clash between the hockey powerhouses of Canada and Russia . The game marked Canada ' s tenth consecutive appearance in the final , while the Russians had lost three straight gold medal games to Canada and were looking to avenge an embarrassing sixth place finish the year before . Canada , who beat the Russians 6 – 3 to open the round robin , held a seemingly commanding 3 – 0 lead after two periods . However , the Russians again fought back and scored five unanswered goals in the third , including two in a span of 13 seconds , to win the game 5 – 3 and capture the gold medal . It was Russia ' s first gold medal since 2003 and Canada ' s second straight silver medal finish . Brayden Schenn of Canada was named the tournament ' s Most Valuable Player . The game delivered one of the largest television audiences in Canadian history , with an average of 6 . 88 million viewers watching on TSN and another 652 , 000 watching the French language broadcast on RDS . An estimated half of Canadians watched a portion or all of the game . Top division . Preliminary round . Group A . All times local ( EST / UTC - 5 ) Group B . All times local ( EST / UTC - 5 ) Relegation round . The results from matches between teams from the same group in the preliminary round were carried forward to this round . All times local ( EST / UTC - 5 ) " and were relegated to Division I for the 2012 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships . " Division I . The following teams took part in the Division I tournament . Group A was played in Babruysk , Belarus , between December 13 and December 19 , 2010 . Group B was played in Bled , Slovenia , between December 12 and December 18 , 2010 . Division II . The following teams took part in the Division II tournament . Group A was played in Tallinn , Estonia . Group B was played in Miercurea - Ciuc , Romania , between December 13 and December 19 , 2010 .