IIHF World U-20 Hockey Championship
The IIHF World U-20 Hockey Championship (colloquially called the World Junior Ice Hockey Championship, WJHC) is an annual event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation 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 "A pool", 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 2007 tournament was held in Leksand and Mora, Sweden from December 26, 2006 - January 5, 2007.
History
First held in 1974 as a relatively obscure tournament, the WJHC's have grown in prestige, particularly in Canada, where the tournament ranks as one of the most important on the hockey calendar, and several cities compete for the right to host the tournament, offering large profit guarantees to Hockey Canada. [1]
One of the most infamous incidents in WJHC history occurred in 1987 in Piestany, Czechoslovakia, where a massive bench clearing brawl occurred between Canada and the Soviet Union. It began when Pavel Kostichkin took a two handed slash at Theoren Fleury. The Soviet Union's Evgeny Davydov came off the bench, eventually leading to both benches clearing. The officials, unable to break up the fight, walked off the ice and eventually tried shutting off the arena lights, but the brawl lasted for 20 minutes before the International Ice Hockey Federation declared the game null and void. A 35 minute emergency meeting resulting in the delegates voting 7-1 to disqualify both teams from the tournament, the sole dissenter being Canadian Dennis McDonald. Both teams were also banned from attending the players' banquet at the end of the tournament.
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 was awarded the bronze.[2]
Member nations
Thirty-nine nations compete annually in four divisions:
A pool
The A pool comprises the top ten hockey nations in the world. The next tournament will be held in Pardubice and Liberec, Czech Republic between December 26, 2007 and January 5, 2008
| Group A | Group B |
|---|---|
 Canada |
 Russia |
 Sweden |
 United States |
 Czech Republic |
 Finland |
 Slovakia |
 Switzerland |
 Denmark (promoted from Division I) |
 Kazakhstan (promoted from Division I) |
Division I
Twelve teams comprise Division I. They are broken into two groups, with the winner of each group gaining promotion to the A pool for the following year. In this edition of the tournament, Group A will compete in Bad Tolz, Germany from December 9-15, 2007. Group B will compete in Riga, Latvia from December 12-18, 2007.
| Group A | Group B |
|---|---|
 Germany (relegated from the Elite) |
 Belarus (relegated from the Elite) |
 Ukraine |
 Latvia |
 Austria |
 Great Britain |
 Poland |
 France |
 Norway |
 Slovenia |
 Lithuania (promoted from Division II) |
 Hungary (promoted from Division II) |
Division II
Twelve teams comprise Division II. They are also broken into two groups competing to advance into Division I. Six of these teams will compete in Canazei, Italy from December 9-15, 2007. The other six teams will play in Tallinn, Estonia from December 10-16, 2007.
| Group A | Group B |
|---|---|
 Italy (relegated from Division I) |
 Estonia (relegated from Division I) |
 |
 Netherlands |
 Japan |
 Croatia |
 South Korea |
 Spain |
 Iceland |
 Mexico |
 Belgium (promoted from Division III) |
 China (promoted from
Division III) |
Division III
Division III is made up of six teams. The top two in each years tournament are promoted to Division II. The 2008 edition of the Division III Championship will be held in Belgrade, Serbia from January 17-23, 2007.
| Division III |
|---|
 Serbia (relegated from Division II) |
 Australia (relegated from Division II) |
 |
 Turkey |
 Bulgaria |
 South Africa |
 Armenia |
- Armenia participated in the 2007 tournament, however they are not listed by the IIHF to participate on this occasion. South Africa will make its debut in the World Under-20 Championship.
IIHF World Junior Champions
1Positions upgraded after Canada and Soviet Union were disqualified following a bench clearing brawl.
List of champions
| Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Canada |
13 | 8 | 5 | 26 |
 Soviet Union |
11 | 3 | 2 | 16 |
 Russia |
3 | 6 | 3 | 12 |
 Finland |
2 | 5 | 6 | 13 |
| Czech Republic |
2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
 Sweden |
1 | 6 | 5 | 12 |
| United States |
1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
 CIS |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
 Czechoslovakia |
0 | 5 | 7 | 12 |
 Slovakia |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Switzerland |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
See also
- Ice Hockey World Championships
- IIHF World U18 Championships
- IIHF World Ranking
- World U-17 hockey challenge
- 2007 Super Series
References
External links
- 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.
- Hockey Almanac
- Müller, Stephan : International Ice Hockey Encyclopedia 1904-2005 / BoD GmbH Norderstedt, 2005 ISBN 3-8334-4189-5
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