2020 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships

The 2020 Ice Hockey World Junior Championship (2020 WJC) was the 44th edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship. It began on December 26, 2019, and ended with the gold medal game being played on January 5, 2020. Canada defeated Russia 4-3 to win the gold medal and their 18th world junior hockey championship. This marks the fourth time that the Czech Republic hosted the WJC.

On April 16, 2018, it was announced that Ostrava and Třinec, in the Moravian-Silesian Region in the northeast corner of the Czech Republic, would be the host cities. It is the second time that Ostrava has been the primary host of the tournament and the first time that Třinec is hosting in any capacity. Ostrava has also twice co-hosted the senior Ice Hockey World Championships.

Officials
The following officials were assigned by the International Ice Hockey Federation to officiate the 2019 World Junior Championships.

Referees
 * 🇨🇦 Michael Campbell
 * 🇷🇺 Ivan Fateev
 * 🇸🇪 Andreas Harnebring
 * 🇫🇮 Lassi Heikkinen
 * 🇨🇿 Oldřich Hejduk
 * 🇨🇦 Fraser Lawrence
 * 🇺🇸 Sean MacFarlane
 * 🇷🇺 Sergey Morozov
 * 🇨🇿 Vladimír Pešina
 * 🇩🇪 André Schrader
 * Michael Tscherrig
 * 🇫🇮 Kristian Vikman

Linesmen
 * 🇺🇸 Riley Bowles
 * 🇫🇮 Markus Hägerström
 * 🇨🇦 Chad Huseby
 * 🇨🇿 Vít Lederer
 * 🇸🇪 Ludvig Lundgren
 * 🇩🇪 Jonas Merten
 * 🇸🇪 Tobias Nordlander
 * David Obwegeser
 * 🇷🇺 Nikita Shalagin
 * 🇸🇰 Šimon Synek

Format
The preliminary round is a two group of five teams each internal round-robin format, followed by a three-round playoff. In the round-robin, three points are allotted for a regulation win, and two points for an overtime or shootout win. One point is allotted for an overtime or shootout loss.

The four highest-ranked teams from each group of the preliminary round advance to the quarterfinals while the last-place team from each group will play a best-of-three series, the loser relegated to Division IA for 2021, being replaced by the winner of Division IA. All other teams will retain their Top Division status for the 2021 edition.

Preliminary round
All times are local (UTC+1).

Playoff round
Winning teams were reseeded for the semi-finals in accordance with the following ranking. To determine this ranking, the following criteria were used in the order presented:
 * 1) higher position in the group
 * 2) higher number of points
 * 3) better goal difference
 * 4) higher number of goals scored for
 * 5) better seeding coming into the tournament (i.e., place the team took in the 2019 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships).

Scoring leaders
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)

TOI = Time On Ice (minutes:seconds); GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; SA = Shots Against; Sv% = Save Percentage; SO = Shutouts Source: IIHF

Awards
Source: IIHF
 * Best players selected by the directorate:
 * Best Goaltender: 🇨🇦 Joel Hofer
 * Best Defenceman: 🇸🇪 Rasmus Sandin
 * Best Forward: 🇨🇦 Alexis Lafrenière

Source: IIHF
 * Media All-Stars:
 * MVP: 🇨🇦 Alexis Lafrenière
 * Goaltender: 🇨🇦 Joel Hofer
 * Defencemen: 🇸🇪 Rasmus Sandin / 🇷🇺 Alexander Romanov
 * Forwards: 🇸🇪 Samuel Fagemo / 🇨🇦 Barrett Hayton / 🇨🇦 Alexis Lafrenière

Group A
The tournament was held in Minsk, Belarus from 9 to 15 December 2019.

Group B
The tournament was held in Kyiv, Ukraine from 12 to 18 December 2019.

Group A
The tournament will be held in Vilnius, Lithuania from 6 to 12 January 2020.

Group B
The tournament will be held in Gangneung, South Korea from 28 January to 3 February 2020.

Division III
The tournament will be held in Sofia, Bulgaria from 13 to 19 January 2020.


 * Group A


 * Group B


 * Bracket

Links

 * IIHF World Juniors Official Site
 * World Juniors IIHF