IIHF World U20 Championship

The IIHF Ice Hockey World Junior Championships (WJC), commonly known simply as the World Juniors, is an annual event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) for national under-20 ice hockey teams from around the world. It is traditionally held in late December, ending in the beginning of January.
The main tournament features the top ten ranked hockey nations in the world, comprising the 'Top Division', from which a world champion is crowned. There are also three lower pools—Divisions I, II and III—that each play separate tournaments playing for the right to be promoted to a higher pool, or face relegation to a lower pool.
The competition's profile is particularly high in Canada; its stature has been credited to Canada's strong performance in the tournament (it has won the gold medal sixteen times since its inception), the role of hockey in Canadian culture, along with strong media coverage and fan attendance. As such, in recent years, nearly half of the tournaments have been held in Canadian cities, with the remainder being held in Europe and the United States.
Canada is the defending champion of the tournament, after having beaten Sweden to win the 2022 edition in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
==History==
The first official tournament was held in 1977, although the first three tournaments from 1974 to 1976 were held unofficially. The tournament has been dominated by the teams from Canada and Soviet Union/CIS/Russia, together accounting for 31 of the 45 overall gold medals awarded (through 2021). The USSR won the first four official tournaments, while the Canadians put together five straight championships between 1993 and 1997, and another five straight from 2005 to 2009. Canada leads the all-time gold medal count with 19 golds, while the Soviet Union, the CIS and Russia combined have 13 golds.
When it began, the World Junior Championship was a relatively obscure tournament. It has since grown in prestige, particularly in Canada, where the tournament ranks as one of the most important events on the sports calendar and during the holiday season. The Globe and Mail writer Bruce Dowbiggin credits TSN, along with Canada's strong performance at the tournament, for turning it from an obscure non-event when it acquired the rights in 1991 (which had started to grow in prominence due to the 1987 Punch-up in Piestany) to one of Canada's most beloved annual sports events, and at the same time cementing the link between Canadian nationalism and hockey, and inspiring the NHL's Winter Classic. Based on increasing attendances for countries repeatedly hosting the event, the popularity of the tournament seems to be growing in other nations as well.
At editions of the tournament held in the country, games involving Team Canada consistently sell out NHL arenas, offering large profit guarantees to Hockey Canada and the IIHF. In the 21st century, Canada has and will continue to host the tournament every second or third year due to the significantly greater following the tournament has in Canada compared to other participating countries.
Originally, Switzerland was selected to host the WJHC in 2010, but withdrew.
Buffalo, New York, in the United States, hosted the tournament in 2011 and 2018; in both cases, proximity to Canada's population core in Southern Ontario was a key factor in the city winning the bidding rights.
The tournament offers one of the most prestigious stages for young hockey players, significantly boosting a player's value for upcoming NHL Entry Drafts.
===Punch-up in Piestany===
One of the most infamous incidents in WJC history occurred in 1987 in Piestany, Czechoslovakia (today's Slovakia), where a bench-clearing brawl occurred between Canada and the Soviet Union. It began when the Soviet Union's Pavel Kostichkin took a two-handed slash at Canadian player Theoren Fleury. The Soviet Union's Evgeny Davydov then came off the bench, eventually leading to both benches emptying. The officials, unable to break up the fight, left the ice and eventually tried shutting off the arena lights, but the brawl lasted for 20 minutes before the IIHF declared the game null and void. A 35-minute emergency meeting was held, resulting in the delegates voting 7–1 (the sole dissenter was Canadian Dennis McDonald) to eject both teams from the tournament. The Canadian team chose to leave rather than stay for the end-of-tournament dinner, from which the Soviet team was banned.
While the Soviets were out of medal contention, Canada was playing for the gold medal, and were leading 4–2 at the time of the brawl. The gold medal ultimately went to Finland, hosts Czechoslovakia took the silver and Sweden, who had previously been eliminated from medal contention, was awarded the bronze.
==Champions==
===Unofficial tournaments===
Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Host city (cities) 	Host country (countries)
1974	 	 	 	Leningrad 	
1975	 	 	 	Winnipeg and BrandonMinneapolis, Bloomington and Fargo	
1976	 	 	 	Tampere, Turku, Pori and Rauma 	
===Official tournaments===
;Key
* Number of tournaments won at the time.
Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze	4th place	Host city (cities) 	Host country (countries)
1977	 	 	 	 	Zvolen and Banská Bystrica 	
1978	 	 	 	 	Montreal and Quebec City 	
1979	 	 	 	 	Karlstad and Karlskoga 	
1980	 	 	 	 	Helsinki and Vantaa 	
1981	 	 	 	 	Füssen, Landsberg and Kaufbeuren 	
1982	 	 	 	 	Bloomington, Minneapolis and DuluthWinnipeg and Kenora	
1983	 	 	 	 	Leningrad 	
1984	 	 	 	 	Norrköping and Nyköping 	
1985	 	 	 	 	Helsinki and Turku 	
1986	 	 	 	 	Hamilton, Toronto and London 	
1987	 	 	 	 	Piešťany, Topoľčany, Trenčín and Nitra 	
1988	 	 	 	 	Moscow 	
1989	 	 	 	 	Anchorage and Eagle River 	
1990	 	 	 	 	Helsinki and Turku 	
1991	 	 	 	 	Saskatoon 	
1992	 	 	 	 	Füssen and Kaufbeuren 	
1993	 	 	 	 	Gävle, Uppsala and Falun 	
1994	 	 	 	 	Ostrava and Frýdek-Místek 	
1995	 	 	 	 	Red Deer, Edmonton and Calgary 	
1996	 	 	 	 	Boston, Amherst and Marlborough 	
1997	 	 	 	 	Geneva and Morges 	
1998	 	 	 	 	Helsinki and Hämeenlinna 	
1999	 	 	 	 	Winnipeg, Brandon and Selkirk 	
2000	 	 	 	 	Skellefteå and Umeå 	
2001	 	 	 	 	Moscow and Podolsk 	
2002	 	 	 	 	Pardubice and Hradec Králové 	
2003	 	 	 	 	Halifax and Sydney 	
2004	 	 	 	 	Helsinki and Hämeenlinna 	
2005	 	 	 	 	Grand Forks and Thief River Falls 	
2006	 	 	 	 	Vancouver, Kelowna and Kamloops 	
2007	 	 	 	 	Leksand and Mora 	
2008	 	 	 	 	Pardubice and Liberec 	
2009	 	 	 	 	Ottawa 	
2010	 	 	 	 	Saskatoon and Regina 	
2011	 	 	 	 	Buffalo (various venues) 	
2012	 	 	 	 	Calgary and Edmonton 	
2013	 	 	 	 	Ufa 	
2014	 	 	 	 	Malmö 	
2015	 	 	 	 	Toronto and Montreal 	
2016	 	 	 	 	Helsinki 	
2017	 	 	 	 	Montreal and Toronto 	
2018	 	 	 	 	Buffalo (various venues) 	
2019	 	 	 	 	Vancouver and Victoria 	
2020	 	 	 	 	Ostrava and Třinec 	
2021	 	 	 	 	Edmonton 	
2022	 	 	 	 	Edmonton 	
2023	 	 	 	 	Halifax and Moncton 	
2024	 	 	 	 	Gothenburg 	
2025	 	 	 	 	 	
==Participating countries==
Canada, Finland and Sweden have participated in all 44 IIHF Ice Hockey World Junior Championships as well as the three unofficial World Junior Championships. USSR/CIS/Russia (when the Soviet Union broke up, Russia remained in Pool A, while all other former Soviet republics started competing in Pool C in 1993) and Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic have also participated in all official and unofficial World Junior Championships, and the United States has participated in all except the unofficial tournament in 1976.
When Czechoslovakia peacefully split in 1993, the Czech Republic remained in Pool A but Slovakia was placed in Pool C (now Division II). Slovakia was promoted to the top division for the 1996 Championships and has remained there since.
Starting with the 1996 tournament, the competition was increased from an 8-team round-robin to the current 10-team format, including elimination rounds. Since then, Switzerland has become a regular participant.
Germany has been a frequent participant in the top pool, having played there roughly half the time in the past decade. Latvia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan have also each made a number of top division appearances since the early 1990s. Less frequent top pool appearances have been made by Austria, Denmark, France, Japan, Norway, Poland and Ukraine.
At the most recent championship, held in Canada in 2022, participating teams included Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States.
== Player eligibility ==
A player is eligible to play in the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships if:
* the player is of the male sex;
* the player has his 20th birthday in the year of the tournament's ending (i.e. 1994 for 2014 tournament), and at latest, the fifth year after the tournament's ending (i.e. 1999 for 2014 tournament);
* the player is a citizen in the country he represents;
* the player is under the jurisdiction of a national association that is a member of the IIHF.
If a player who has never played in IIHF-organized competition wishes to switch national eligibility, he must have played in competitions for two consecutive years in the new country without playing in another country, as well as show his move to the new country's national association with an international transfer card. In case the player has previously played in IIHF-organized competition but wishes to switch national eligibility, he must have played in competitions for four consecutive years in the new country without playing in another country, he must show his move to the new country's national association with an international transfer card, as well as be a citizen of the new country. A player may only switch national eligibility once.
==Tournament awards==
At the conclusion of each tournament, the Directorate of the IIHF presents awards to the Top Goalie, Forward and Defenceman of the tournament. The media attending the event select an All-Star team separately from this.
== Broadcast coverage ==
The following television networks and websites broadcast World Junior Championship games on television or online.
Country 	Broadcaster(s)
Canada 	TSNRDS
Czech Republic	ČT
Europe 	Eurosport
Finland 	Yle, MTV3 (2009-2015)
Russia 	NTV Plus
Slovakia 	RTVS
Sweden 	SVTTV4/TV12Viasat
United States 	NHL Network
TSN (Canada) is the IIHF's main broadcast partner for this tournament. TSN.ca carries all Canada, select preliminary round, and all medal round games live, as well as most games on demand after their completion.
Starting with the 2013 tournament, TSN.ca online coverage - both Live and On-Demand - is behind a paywall and only available from Canadian I.P. addresses.http://www.tsn.ca/world_jrs/story/?id=411089
==See also==
*Ice Hockey World Championships
*IIHF World U18 Championship
*IIHF World Ranking
*World Junior A Challenge
*World U-17 hockey challenge
*2007 Super Series
==Notes==
;General references
*
*
*
* Also OCLC|124052660.
==Further reading==
* 
==External links==
*IIHF World U20 all-time leading scorers at quanthockey.com
*www.worldjuniors2008.com - 2008 IIHF World U20 Championship - Pardubice, Liberec, Czech republic
*Result archive - Full results for men's, women's and junior championships since 1999 and medalists for all tournaments.
*Complete archive of all IIHF tournaments in French at passionhockey.com.
Category:International ice hockey competitions for junior teams
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Category:International Ice Hockey Federation tournaments
Category:Tournaments
Category:IIHF World Junior Championships