2021 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships

The 2021 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (2021 WJHC) were the 45th edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship. It began on December 25, 2020, and ended with the gold medal game on January 5, 2021. This marked the 16th time that Canada hosted the WJIHC. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, it was hosted in a "bubble" behind closed doors in Edmonton, Alberta, with no spectators admitted for any game.
==Background==
On December 6, 2018, it was announced that Edmonton and Red Deer, in the province of Alberta, would be the host cities. It was the third time Edmonton has hosted the tournament, after previously hosting in 1995 and 2012, and the first to use Rogers Place as a venue.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the IIHF cancelled all lower-division U20 championships on September 17, 2020 (thus there was no promotion or relegation), and announced that the top division tournament would be hosted solely by Edmonton using a "bubble" strategy similar to what was used for the NHL's 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs in Edmonton and Toronto. This decision resulted in the elimination of Red Deer as the secondary host city of the 2021 tournament. All games were held behind closed doors with no outside spectators. It was subsequently announced that Edmonton and Red Deer would host the 2022 tournament, and that Gothenburg, Sweden would be shifted from 2022 to 2024.
On October 19, 2020, the full schedule for the tournament was announced, with play beginning on Christmas for the first time since the 2004–05 edition.
On November 25, 2020, Hockey Canada suspended its selection camp and quarantined all players for 14 days (retroactive to November 23) due to two positive COVID-19 tests among participants. Swedish head coach Tomas Montén, along with two assistant leaders and players William Eklund, Karl Henriksson, William Wallinder, and Albin Grewe from the Swedish preliminary roster, were forced to leave the team after testing positive for COVID-19 too close to the beginning of the championship.
Team Canada captain Kirby Dach sustained an injury in Canada's pre-tournament game against Russia, and was ruled out for the rest of the tournament.
Nine German players were quarantined under COVID-19 protocols through the first two games due to positive tests prior to the tournament. No new COVID-19 positives were detected within the bubble through the conclusion of the tournament.
Blackhawks prospect and 2020 first rounder and Team Germany forward Lukas Reichel was unable to make the tournament after he tested positive with COVID-19
===Preliminary round===
====Group A====
Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD 	Pts	Qualification
1 	(H) 	4 	4	0 	0 	0	33	4 	29 	12 	Advance to Quarterfinals
2 	 	4 	3	0 	0 	1	16	8 	8 	9 	Advance to Quarterfinals
3 	 	4 	1	1 	0 	2	14	28	−14	5 	Advance to Quarterfinals
4 	 	4 	1	0 	1 	2	5 	13	−8 	4 	Advance to Quarterfinals
5 	 	4 	0	0 	0 	4	5 	20	−15	0 	
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====Group B====
Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD 	Pts	Qualification
1 	 	4 	3	0 	0 	1	25	5 	20 	9 	Advance to Quarterfinals
2 	 	4 	2	1 	0 	1	16	9 	7 	8 	Advance to Quarterfinals
3 	 	4 	2	0 	1 	1	14	9 	5 	7 	Advance to Quarterfinals
4 	 	4 	2	0 	0 	2	10	14	−4 	6 	Advance to Quarterfinals
5 	 	4 	0	0 	0 	4	1 	29	−28	0 	
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===Playoff round===
Winning teams will be reseeded for the semi-finals 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 2020 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships).
Rank	Team 	Group	 	 	 	 	
1 	align=left	A 	1	12	+29	33	1
2 	 	B 	1	9 	+20	25	6
3 	 	A 	2	9 	+8 	16	4
4 	 	B 	2	8 	+7 	16	2
5 	 	B 	3	7 	+5 	14	3
6 	 	A 	3	5 	−14	14	9
7 	 	B 	4	6 	–4 	10	7
8 	 	A 	4	4 	–8 	5 	8
====Quarterfinals====
====Semifinals====
====Bronze medal game====
====Gold medal game====
==Division I==
Division I, II, and III games have been cancelled.
===Group A===
The tournament would have been held in Hørsholm, Denmark, from December 13 to 19, 2020.
*
*
* – Promoted from Division I B
* – Relegated from Top Division
*
*
===Group B===
The tournament would have been held in Tallinn, Estonia, from February 10 to 17, 2021.
*
*
* – Promoted from Division II A
*
* – Relegated from Division I A
*
==Division II==
Division I, II, and III games have been cancelled.
===Group A===
The tournament would have been held in Brașov, Romania, from February 8 to 14, 2021.
*
* – Relegated from Division I B
*
*
* – Promoted from Division II B
*
===Group B===
The tournament would have been held in Belgrade, Serbia, from February 8 to 14, 2021.
*
*
*
* – Promoted from Division III
*
* – Relegated from Division II A
==Division III==
The tournament would have been held in Mexico City, Mexico, from January 10 to 17, 2021., but have been cancelled.
*
*
* – Relegated from Division II B
*
*
*
==References==
==External links==
* IIHF World Juniors Official Site
Category:2021 in ice hockey
Category:IIHF World U20 Championships