The 1998 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (1998 WJHC) were held in Helsinki and Hameenlinna, Finland. The championships began on December 25, 1997 and finished on January 3, 1998. Home team Finland was the winner, defeating Russia 2-1 in the gold medal game, thanks to the goaltending of Mika Noronen and the overtime heroics of Niklas Hagman. Switzerland defeated the Czech Republic 4-3 to capture the bronze medal.
Also worth noting was that Canada had its five year title streak broken with its worst placing to date (8th). Canada also suffered perhaps one of the most shocking losses in hockey history during the tournament, losing 6-3 at the hands of Kazakhstan. The Kazakhstanis were considered the "joke" of the tourney, using borrowed equipment from other teams for one game. Canada would miss out on gold seven years in a row before beginning their current streak of five straight championships. As of 2009, this tournament is the only one since 1992 in which Canada failed to medal.
Championship results[]
Pool A[]
Group A[]
| Team | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Finland
|
4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 10 | 7 |
 Czech Republic
|
4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 12 | 5 |
 Sweden
|
4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 6 | 4 |
 Canada
|
4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 7 | 4 |
 Germany
|
4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 24 | 0 |
Group B[]
| Team | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Russia
|
4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 6 | 7 |
 Switzerland
|
4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 5 | 5 |
 United States
|
4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 12 | 4 |
 Kazakhstan
|
4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 30 | 2 |
 Slovakia
|
4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 30 | 2 |
Final Round[]
| Quarterfinal | |||||||||||||
| B1 |  Russia
|
2 | |||||||||||
| A4 |  Canada
|
1 | Semifinal | ||||||||||
| QF1 | Russia
|
||||||||||||
| Quarterfinal | QF2 |  Czech Republic
|
' | ||||||||||
| A2 | Czech Republic
|
||||||||||||
| B3 |  United States of America
|
Final | |||||||||||
| SF1 | Russia
|
1 | |||||||||||
| Quarterfinal | SF2 |  Finland
|
2 | ||||||||||
| A1 | Finland
|
14 | |||||||||||
| B4 |  Kazakhstan
|
1 | Semifinal | Bronze Medal Game | |||||||||
| QF3 | Finland
|
' | SF1 |  Switzerland
|
4 | ||||||||
| Quarterfinal | QF4 | Switzerland
|
SF2 | Czech Republic
|
3 | ||||||||
| B2 | Switzerland
|
' | |||||||||||
| A3 |  Sweden
|
||||||||||||
Relegation Round[]
| Team | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slovakia
|
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 3 | 4 |
| Germany
|
2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 17 | 0 |
Germany relegated to Pool B for 1999.
Final Ranking[]
| Rank | Country |
|---|---|
 |
Finland
|
 |
Russia
|
 |
Switzerland
|
| 4 | Czech Republic
|
| 5 | United States of America
|
| 6 | Sweden
|
| 7 | Kazakhstan
|
| 8 | Canada
|
| 9 |  Slovakia
|
| 10 |  Germany
|
Scoring leaders[]
| Player | Country | GP | G | A | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeff Farkas | United States |
7 | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| Olli Jokinen | Finland |
7 | 4 | 6 | 10 |
| Eero Somervuori | Finland |
7 | 3 | 6 | 9 |
| Ladislav Nagy | Slovakia |
6 | 6 | 2 | 8 |
| Brian Gionta | United States |
7 | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| Timo Vertala | Finland |
7 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| Marián Hossa | Slovakia |
6 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| Marcus Nilson | Sweden |
7 | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| Andrej Podkonický | Slovakia |
6 | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| Maxim Balmochnykh | Russia |
7 | 2 | 6 | 8 |
Tournament awards[]
All-star team
- Goaltender:
David Aebischer - Defencemen: Pierre Hedin, Andrei Markov
- Forwards: Maxim Balmochnykh, Olli Jokinen, Eero Somervuori
Team Photos[]
External links[]
| Preceded by 1997 World Juniors |
World Junior Ice Hockey Championships See also: 1998 World Championships |
Succeeded by 1999 World Juniors |
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