2022 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships

The 2022 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (2022 WJHC) was the 46th edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship. It began on December 26, 2021, and was scheduled to end with the gold medal game on January 5, 2022. On December 29, 2021, the IIHF Council cancelled the remainder of the tournament due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and spread of the Omicron variant.

Background
On March 14, 2019, it was announced that Gothenburg would be the host city. It was to be the first time that Gothenburg has hosted the tournament (having previously hosted the Senior Ice Hockey World Championships twice in 1981 and 2002), and the seventh time that Sweden had hosted the tournament.

On September 17, 2020, the IIHF announced that the 2022 tournament would instead be hosted by Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta as compensation for the 2021 tournament (which was originally to be hosted by both cities) being held behind closed doors exclusively in Edmonton due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It will mark the 15th time that Canada has hosted the tournament. Gothenburg was re-assigned the 2024 tournament. It will mark the fourth time Edmonton has hosted the tournament, and the second time games have been hosted in Red Deer, following the 1995 edition.

On December 18, 2021, citing the "changing epidemiological situation" involving COVID-19 and Omicron variant, and consultation with the IIHF and Alberta Health Services, Hockey Canada announced that the pre-tournament schedule (which was to feature each team playing at least two exhibition games) would be reduced, and be delayed to December 23. Organizers have stated that their goal was to hold a "safe and successful event," and that 90% of tickets had been sold.

There were no stated plans to reduce spectator capacity, although all spectators were required to present proof of full vaccination in order to attend. However, on December 21, the Alberta provincial government ordered all large arenas to restrict their capacity to 50% effective December 24, with food and drink consumption prohibited when seated and during intermissions. Teams were required to quarantine if any member tested positive for COVID-19, resulting in three games being forfeited by December 29.

On December 29, the IIHF announced that citing the health and safety of all participants, and because the integrity of the tournament had been compromised by the forfeits, its council had made a decision to abandon the remainder of the tournament.

Officials
The following officials were assigned by the International Ice Hockey Federation to officiate the 2022 World Junior Championships.

Referees
 * 🇨🇦 Adam Bloski
 * 🇫🇮 Riku Brander
 * 🇺🇸 Sean Fernandez
 * 🇸🇪 Andreas Harnebring
 * 🇺🇸 Robert Hennessey
 * 🇸🇪 Christoffer Holm
 * 🇩🇪 Marc Iwert
 * 🇨🇿 Adam Kika
 * 🇫🇮 Joonas Kova
 * 🇨🇦 Kyle Kowalski
 * 🇨🇦 Morgan MacPhee
 * 🇺🇸 Jake Rekucki
 * 🇷🇺 Sergey Yudakov

Linesmen
 * 🇺🇸 Nick Briganti
 * Dario Fuchs
 * 🇩🇪 Andreas Hofer
 * 🇨🇦 Chad Huseby
 * 🇨🇦 Ryan Jackson
 * 🇨🇦 Brett Mackey
 * 🇫🇮 Tommi Niittylä
 * 🇸🇪 Daniel Persson
 * 🇺🇸 John Rey
 * 🇷🇺 Roman Slavikovskii
 * 🇨🇿 Josef Špůr

Seedings

 * Group A (Edmonton)
 * (2)
 * (3)
 * (6)
 * (7)
 * (10)


 * Group B (Red Deer)
 * (1)
 * (4)
 * (5)
 * (8)
 * (9)

Preliminary round
All times are local (UTC-7).

Top 10 scorers
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus-minus; PIM = Penalties In Minutes Updated to match(es) played on December 28, 2021. Source: IIHF.com

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

TOI = Time On Ice (minutes:seconds); GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; Sv% = Save Percentage; SO = Shutouts Updated to match(es) played on December 28, 2021. Source: IIHF.com

Group A
The tournament was held in Hørsholm, Denmark, from 12 to 18 December 2021.

Group B
The tournament was held in Tallinn, Estonia, from 12 to 18 December 2021.

Group A
The tournament was held in Brașov, Romania, from 13 to 19 December 2021.

Group B
The tournament would have been held in Belgrade, Serbia, from 10 to 16 January 2022, but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Division III
The tournament would have been held in Queretaro, Mexico, from January 6 to 16, 2022, but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.