Canada national junior hockey team

The Canadian men's national under 20 ice hockey team is the national under-20 ice hockey team in Canada. The team represents Canada at the International Ice Hockey Federation's World Junior Hockey Championship, held annually every December and January. The team also faced their Russian counterparts at the 2007 Super Series, an eight game series commemorating the 35th anniversary of the 1972 Summit Series.

There are a total of 357,962 junior hockey players in Canada. The head coach for the 2009 tournament was Pat Quinn. His assistants are Dave Cameron (Mississauga St. Michael's Majors (OHL)) and Willie Desjardins (Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL))..

The national junior team is extremely popular in Canada, even more so than the men's senior team which plays at the World Championships. World Junior events in Canada are often sold out, television ratings are extremely high, and even events in Europe are well attended by a contingent of Canadian fans.

The Canadian junior team is one of the two most successful in the world along with that of the former Soviet Union and currently Russia. Its success can be traced back to the formation of the Program of Excellence in 1982 by the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association, which created the first true national junior team. Since that time, Canada has won 15 of 27 world junior championships, including the last five.

History
In 1973, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) created an invitation-only junior tournament for the top ice hockey nations in the world. Held in late December 1973 and early January 1974, it featured six teams: the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Sweden, Finland, the United States and Canada. For that first tournament, The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) wanted to send the defending Memorial Cup champion Toronto Marlboros to represent Canada. That team declined, so instead the Peterborough Petes, the runner up in the Ontario Hockey Association was sent. Despite being the only club team in the tournament, the Petes finished third.

The same six teams were invited to the 1975 tournament which was held in Winnipeg, Manitoba. An all-star team from the Western Canada Hockey League represented Canada and finished second. Canada was again represented by a club team, the Sherbrooke Beavers, in 1976, again finishing second.

World Junior Championships
The 1977 tournament was the first formal World Junior Championship, featuring the top eight junior teams in the world. Once again, the CAHA sent a club team, the defending Memorial Cup champion St. Catharines Fincups. The Canadians won the silver medal in this tournament, posting a 5–1–1 record in the round robin event.

World Junior Championship record
The 1974, 1975 and 1976 tournaments were unofficial. The 1974 team was represented by the Peterborough Petes. Canada was disqualified in 1987 for a bench clearing brawl with the Soviets. In 1996, a playoff was added to the tournament (prior to this, it was just a round robin tournament.) Playoff games are included in record. Since 2007, the IIHF has awarded 3 points for a win, 2 points for an overtime win and 1 point for an overtime loss.

* Includes one win in extra time (in the playoff round) + Includes one loss in extra time (in the playoff round)

Super Series
In 2007, the Canadian junior team played the Russian junior team in an 8-game Super Series commemorating the 35th anniversary of the 1972 Summit Series.