| IIHF World U20 Championship | |
| 2025 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships | |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Founded | 1977 |
| Inaugural season | 1974 World Junior Championship |
| No. of teams | 10 |
| Most recent champion(s) |  United States of America (7th, 2025)
|
| Most championship(s) |  Canada (20 titles)
|
| Official website | IIHF.com |
The IIHF Ice Hockey World Junior Championships (WJC), commonly known simply as the World Juniors, is an annual event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) for national under-20 ice hockey teams from around the world. It is traditionally held in late December, ending in the beginning of January.
The main tournament features the top ten ranked hockey nations in the world, comprising the 'Top Division', from which a world champion is crowned. There are also three lower pools—Divisions I, II and III—that each play separate tournaments playing for the right to be promoted to a higher pool, or face relegation to a lower pool.
The competition's profile is particularly high in Canada; its stature has been credited to Canada's strong performance in the tournament (it has won the gold medal sixteen times since its inception), the role of hockey in Canadian culture, along with strong media coverage and fan attendance. As such, in recent years, nearly half of the tournaments have been held in Canadian cities, with the remainder being held in Europe and the United States.
Canada is the defending champion of the tournament, after having beaten Sweden to win the 2022 edition in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
History[]
The first official tournament was held in 1977, although the first three tournaments from 1974 to 1976 were held unofficially.[1] The tournament has been dominated by the teams from Canada and Soviet Union/CIS/Russia, together accounting for 31 of the 45 overall gold medals awarded (through 2021). The USSR won the first four official tournaments, while the Canadians put together five straight championships between 1993 and 1997, and another five straight from 2005 to 2009. Canada leads the all-time gold medal count with 19 golds, while the Soviet Union, the CIS and Russia combined have 13 golds.
When it began, the World Junior Championship was a relatively obscure tournament. It has since grown in prestige, particularly in Canada, where the tournament ranks as one of the most important events on the sports calendar and during the holiday season. The Globe and Mail writer Bruce Dowbiggin credits TSN, along with Canada's strong performance at the tournament, for turning it from an obscure non-event when it acquired the rights in 1991 (which had started to grow in prominence due to the 1987 Punch-up in Piestany) to one of Canada's most beloved annual sports events, and at the same time cementing the link between Canadian nationalism and hockey, and inspiring the NHL's Winter Classic.[2][3] Based on increasing attendances for countries repeatedly hosting the event, the popularity of the tournament seems to be growing in other nations as well.
At editions of the tournament held in the country, games involving Team Canada consistently sell out NHL arenas, offering large profit guarantees to Hockey Canada and the IIHF.[4] In the 21st century, Canada has and will continue to host the tournament every second or third year due to the significantly greater following the tournament has in Canada compared to other participating countries. Originally, Switzerland was selected to host the WJHC in 2010, but withdrew.[5] Buffalo, New York, in the United States, hosted the tournament in 2011 and 2018; in both cases, proximity to Canada's population core in Southern Ontario was a key factor in the city winning the bidding rights.[6]
The tournament offers one of the most prestigious stages for young hockey players, significantly boosting a player's value for upcoming NHL Entry Drafts.[3]
Punch-up in Piestany[]
- One of the most infamous incidents in WJC history occurred in 1987 in Piestany, Czechoslovakia (today's Slovakia), where a bench-clearing brawl occurred between Canada and the Soviet Union. It began when the Soviet Union's Pavel Kostichkin took a two-handed slash at Canadian player Theoren Fleury. The Soviet Union's Evgeny Davydov then came off the bench, eventually leading to both benches emptying. The officials, unable to break up the fight, left the ice and eventually tried shutting off the arena lights, but the brawl lasted for 20 minutes before the IIHF declared the game null and void. A 35-minute emergency meeting was held, resulting in the delegates voting 7–1 (the sole dissenter was Canadian Dennis McDonald) to eject both teams from the tournament. The Canadian team chose to leave rather than stay for the end-of-tournament dinner, from which the Soviet team was banned.
While the Soviets were out of medal contention, Canada was playing for the gold medal, and were leading 4–2 at the time of the brawl. The gold medal ultimately went to Finland, hosts Czechoslovakia took the silver and Sweden, who had previously been eliminated from medal contention, was awarded the bronze.[7]
Champions[]
Unofficial tournaments[]
| Year |  Gold
|
 Silver
|
 Bronze
|
Host city (cities) | Host country (countries) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 |  Soviet Union
|
 Finland
|
Canada
|
Leningrad |  Soviet Union
|
| 1975 | Soviet Union
|
Canada
|
 Sweden
|
Winnipeg and Brandon Minneapolis, Bloomington and Fargo |
 Canada United States
|
| 1976 | Soviet Union
|
Canada
|
 Czechoslovakia
|
Tampere, Turku, Pori and Rauma |  Finland
|
Official tournaments[]
- Key
- (#) Number of tournaments won at the time.
Participating countries[]
Canada, Finland and Sweden have participated in all 44 IIHF Ice Hockey World Junior Championships as well as the three unofficial World Junior Championships. USSR/CIS/Russia (when the Soviet Union broke up, Russia remained in Pool A, while all other former Soviet republics started competing in Pool C in 1993) and Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic have also participated in all official and unofficial World Junior Championships, and the United States has participated in all except the unofficial tournament in 1976.
When Czechoslovakia peacefully split in 1993, the Czech Republic remained in Pool A but Slovakia was placed in Pool C (now Division II). Slovakia was promoted to the top division for the 1996 Championships and has remained there since.
Starting with the 1996 tournament, the competition was increased from an 8-team round-robin to the current 10-team format, including elimination rounds. Since then, Switzerland has become a regular participant.
Germany has been a frequent participant in the top pool, having played there roughly half the time in the past decade. Latvia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan have also each made a number of top division appearances since the early 1990s. Less frequent top pool appearances have been made by Austria, Denmark, France, Japan, Norway, Poland and Ukraine.
At the most recent championship, held in Canada in 2022, participating teams included Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States.
Player eligibility[]
A player is eligible to play in the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships if:[13]
- the player is of the male sex;
- the player has his 20th birthday in the year of the tournament's ending (i.e. 1994 for 2014 tournament), and at latest, the fifth year after the tournament's ending (i.e. 1999 for 2014 tournament);
- the player is a citizen in the country he represents;
- the player is under the jurisdiction of a national association that is a member of the IIHF.
If a player who has never played in IIHF-organized competition wishes to switch national eligibility, he must have played in competitions for two consecutive years in the new country without playing in another country, as well as show his move to the new country's national association with an international transfer card. In case the player has previously played in IIHF-organized competition but wishes to switch national eligibility, he must have played in competitions for four consecutive years in the new country without playing in another country, he must show his move to the new country's national association with an international transfer card, as well as be a citizen of the new country. A player may only switch national eligibility once.[14]
Tournament awards[]
At the conclusion of each tournament, the Directorate of the IIHF presents awards to the Top Goalie, Forward and Defenceman of the tournament. The media attending the event select an All-Star team separately from this.
Broadcast coverage[]
The following television networks and websites broadcast World Junior Championship games on television or online.
| Country | Broadcaster(s) |
|---|---|
| Canada | TSN RDS |
| Czech Republic | ČT |
| Europe | Eurosport |
| Finland | Yle, MTV3 (2009-2015) |
| Russia | NTV Plus |
| Slovakia | RTVS |
| Sweden | SVT TV4/TV12 Viasat |
| United States | NHL Network |
TSN (Canada) is the IIHF's main broadcast partner for this tournament. TSN.ca carries all Canada, select preliminary round, and all medal round games live, as well as most games on demand after their completion.[15]
Starting with the 2013 tournament, TSN.ca online coverage - both Live and On-Demand - is behind a paywall and only available from Canadian I.P. addresses.[16]
See also[]
- Ice Hockey World Championships
- IIHF World U18 Championship
- IIHF World Ranking
- World Junior A Challenge
- World U-17 hockey challenge
- 2007 Super Series
Notes[]
- ↑ All Medallists - U20. History. International Ice Hockey Federation.
- ↑ "TSN turned World Junior molehill into mountain", The Globe and Mail.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Credit TSN for elevating world juniors to must-see TV", The Globe and Mail.
- ↑ "Ottawa to host 2009 world junior tourney", tsn.ca, 2006-05-03.
- ↑ Toronto, Regina-Saskatoon formally bid to stage World Juniors. tsn.ca (10 June 2008).
- ↑ "Buffalo to host 2011 world hockey juniors", CBC Sports, 2008-10-27.
- ↑ Punch-up in Piestany. CBC Digital Archives. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (1987-01-04). Retrieved on 2009-01-07.
- ↑ "Story 59" International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved 2016-06-28.
- ↑ "Brotherly but divided", International Ice Hockey Federation.
- ↑ 2011 IIHF World U20 Championship.
- ↑ Toronto and Montreal to host 2015 and 2017 world juniors (19 June 2013).
- ↑ Seravalli, Frank (3 December 2015). Sources: Outdoor game planned for 2018 World Juniors in Buffalo.
- ↑ IIHF statutes and bylaws. IIHF. Retrieved on 2014-01-01.
- ↑ IIHF Eligibility. IIHF. Retrieved on 2014-01-01.
- ↑ IIHF World Under 20 Championship 2011 Television Coverage. iihf.com (5 January 2011). Retrieved on 2010-01-05.
- ↑ http://www.tsn.ca/world_jrs/story/?id=411089
- General references
- International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved on 2009-01-07.
- Mens National Junior U-20 Team. Hockey Canada. Retrieved on 2009-01-07.
- World Juniors. tsn.ca. Retrieved on 2009-01-07.
- Müller, Stephan (2005). International ice hockey encyclopaedia 1904 – 2005. Norderstedt: Books on Demand. ISBN 978-3-8334-4189-9. OCLC 180899737. Also OCLC|124052660.
Further reading[]
- Gibson, Kevin (2003), The Official Book of Team Canada from Eh to Zed: The World Junior Championships, Trafford, ISBN 1-4120-0162-5, <http://books.google.ca/books?id=Roi9RxZ41eQC&lpg=PA2219&dq=Canada%20Cup&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=true>
External links[]
- IIHF World U20 all-time leading scorers at quanthockey.com
- www.worldjuniors2008.com - 2008 IIHF World U20 Championship - Pardubice, Liberec, Czech republic
- Result archive - Full results for men's, women's and junior championships since 1999 and medalists for all tournaments.
- Complete archive of all IIHF tournaments in French at passionhockey.com.
| International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) | |
|---|---|
| World Championships | Ice Hockey World Championships - U20 - U18 - World Women's Championships - U18 - Inline Hockey World Championship |
| Other competitions | |
| Awards and honors | Centennial All-Star Team - Hall of Fame - Paul Loicq Award - Torriani Award |
| Related articles | World Ranking (Past) - Members - Teams - Debuts - Triple Gold Club - International Ice Hockey Association |
| This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at IIHF World U20 Championship. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA). |