2010 World Junior Championship

The 2010 IIHF World U20 Championship, commonly referred to as the 2010 World Junior Hockey Championships (2010 WJHC), was the 34th edition of World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. The tournament was hosted in Saskatoon and Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, from December 26, 2009 to January 5, 2010. This was the second time Saskatoon has hosted the tournament, after hosting it in 1991. The medal round, as well as all Canada's preliminary round games, took place in Saskatoon at the Credit Union Centre. The arena underwent renovations and upgrades before the 2010 tournament, including an increase in capacity. Other games were played at the Brandt Centre in Regina, which also received upgrades. In addition, pre-tournament exhibition games were held in other towns and cities throughout the province as well as Calgary, Alberta. In the gold-medal match, the United States defeated the pre-tournament favorites and host country Canada 6-5 in overtime to win their second gold medal.

Other host candidates
Initially, Switzerland was chosen to host the tournament, but later withdrew.

Three bid groups submitted letters of intent to host the 2010 tournament prior to the February 1, 2008 deadline:
 * Joint bid by Halifax, Nova Scotia and Moncton, New Brunswick;
 * Joint bid by Saskatoon and Regina, Saskatchewan; and
 * Joint bid by Winnipeg and Brandon, Manitoba

All three bid groups formally placed their bids before the April 1, 2008 deadline and made their final presentations to the selection committee in Toronto on June 9-June 10, 2008.

On July 7, 2008, Hockey Canada and the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) announced Saskatoon and Regina have been chosen to host the tournament. This was Saskatchewan's first successful bid in five recent attempts, after failing to land the 1999, 2003, 2006, and 2009 tournaments.

Top division
Only teams playing in the top division are eligible to win a medal in any given year. The lowest-ranked teams in the top division are relegated to Division I for the following year's tournament.

Preliminary round
Ten teams were divided into two groups of five, each of which play in a single round-robin format. The winner of each group proceeded directly to the tournament semifinals, with the second- and third-place finishers advancing to the quarterfinals. The remaining four teams participated in the relegation round to determine which teams will be relegated to Division I the following year.

Group A
All times local (Central Time Zone/UTC-6)

Group B
All times local (Central Time Zone/UTC-6)

Relegation round
Results from any games that were played during the preliminary round were carried forward to the relegation round.

All times local (Central Time Zone/UTC-6)

 and were relegated to Division I for the 2011 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.

Final round
* Decided in overtime.

Goaltending leaders
(minimum 40% team's total ice time)

Tournament awards

 * Most Valuable Player
 * 🇨🇦 Jordan Eberle


 * All-star team


 * Goaltender: 🇨🇭 Benjamin Conz
 * Defencemen: 🇨🇦 Alex Pietrangelo, 🇺🇸 John Carlson
 * Forwards: 🇨🇦 Jordan Eberle, 🇺🇸 Derek Stepan, 🇨🇭 Nino Niederreiter


 * IIHF best player awards


 * Goaltender: 🇨🇭 Benjamin Conz
 * Defenceman: 🇨🇦 Alex Pietrangelo
 * Forward: 🇨🇦 Jordan Eberle

Division I
For more detailed information see 2010 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships - Division I The following teams took part in the Division I tournament. Group A played in Megeve & Saint-Gervais-les-Bains, France between December 14 and December 20, 2009. Group B played in Gdansk, Poland between December 14 and December 20, 2009:

Group A
 was promoted to the Top Division and was relegated to Division II for the 2011 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.

Group B
 was promoted to the Top Division and was relegated to Division II for the 2011 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.

Division III
The tournament took place in Istanbul, Turkey from January 4 to January 10, 2010. and have gained promotion to Division II for the 2011 IIHF World U20 Championship.