1998 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships

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1998 IIHF World U20 Championship
1998 WJHC logo.png
Tournament details
Host country Finland
DatesDecember 25 – January 3
Teams10
Venue(s)2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Gold medal blank.svg Finland (2nd title)
Runner-up Silver medal blank.svg Russia
Third place Bronze medal blank.svg  Switzerland
Fourth place Czech Republic
Tournament statistics
Matches played34
Goals scored219 (6.44 per match)
Attendance139,680 (4,108 per match)
Scoring leader(s)United States Jeff Farkas
(10 points)
← 1997
1999 →

The 1998 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (1998 WJHC) were held in Helsinki and Hämeenlinna, 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, their first and only medal in the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship.

Canada had its five-year title streak broken with its worst placing to date (8th). Canada would miss out on gold seven years in a row before beginning their 2005–2009 streak of five straight championships. It was the only tournament from 1993 to 2012 in which Canada failed to medal.

This tournament attracted 139,680 fans to 34 games for an average of 4,108 per game. This set a record for the highest-attended World Junior tournament in Europe until the 2016 tournament, which was also held in Finland, attracted 215,225 spectators.[1]

The playoff round was expanded to eight teams, with group leaders not getting a bye to the semifinals.

Championship results[]

All times are local. (Eastern European Time – UTC+2)

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
December 25, 1997
18:30		Finland 3–2
(0–0, 1–1, 2–1)		 CanadaHartwall Arena, Helsinki
Attendance: 9,000 (approx.)
December 25, 1997
15:00		Czech Republic 2–1 SwedenHämeenlinna
December 26, 1997
18:30		Sweden 4–0
(2–0, 1–0, 1–0)		 CanadaHartwall Arena, Helsinki
Attendance: 2,523
December 26, 1997
18:30		Finland 5–0 GermanyHämeenlinna
December 27, 1997
15:00		Germany 1–9 Czech RepublicHartwall Arena, Helsinki
December 28, 1997
15:00		Canada 5–0
(2–0, 3–0, 0–0)		 Czech RepublicHartwall Arena, Helsinki
Attendance: 7,500 (approx.)
December 28, 1997
18:30		Sweden 3–4 FinlandHartwall Arena, Helsinki
December 29, 1997
18:30		Germany 0–8 SwedenHartwall Arena, Helsinki
December 30, 1997
15:00		Canada 2–0
(0–0, 1–0, 1–0)		 GermanyHartwall Arena, Helsinki
Attendance: 8,933
December 30, 1997
18:30		Czech Republic 5–5 FinlandHartwall Arena, Helsinki

Group B[]

Team GP W L T GF GA PTS
 Russia 4 3 0 1 22 6 7
  Switzerland 4 2 1 1 14 8 5
 United States 4 2 2 0 17 12 4
 Kazakhstan 4 1 3 0 8 29 2
 Slovakia 4 1 3 0 9 15 2
December 25, 1997
15:00		Russia 12–1 KazakhstanHämeenlinna
December 25, 1997
15:00		Slovakia 6–3 United StatesHartwall Arena, Helsinki
December 26, 1997
15:00		Kazakhstan 2–8 United StatesHartwall Arena, Helsinki
December 26, 1997
15:00		Slovakia 1–3  SwitzerlandHämeenlinna
December 27, 1997
18:30		Switzerland  3–3 RussiaHartwall Arena, Helsinki
December 28, 1997
15:00		Kazakhstan 5–2 SlovakiaHämeenlinna
December 28, 1997
18:30		United States 2–3 RussiaHämeenlinna
December 29, 1997
18:30		Switzerland  7–0 KazakhstanHämeenlinna
December 30, 1997
15:00		Russia 4–0 SlovakiaHämeenlinna
December 30, 1997
18:30		United States 4–1  SwitzerlandHämeenlinna

Final round[]

  Quarterfinals Semifinals
                           
  B1  Russia 2  
A4  Canada 1  
  QF1  Russia 5  
  QF2  Czech Republic 1  
A2  Czech Republic 4 Final
  B3  United States 1  
    SF1  Russia 1
  SF2  Finland 2
  A1  Finland 14  
B4  Kazakhstan 1  
  QF3  Finland 2 Bronze medal game
  QF4   Switzerland 1  
B2   Switzerland 2 SF1   Switzerland 4
  A3  Sweden 1   SF2  Czech Republic 3
Quarterfinals[]
December 31, 1997
15:00		Russia 2–1 (OT)
(1–0, 0–0, 0–1, 1–0)		 CanadaHämeenlinna
Attendance: 2,877
December 31, 1997
15:00		Finland 14–1
(6–1, 5–0, 3–0)		 KazakhstanHartwall Arena, Helsinki
December 31, 1997
18:30		Switzerland  2 – 1 GWS
(0–0, 0–0, 1–1, 0–0, 5–4)		 SwedenHartwall Arena, Helsinki
December 31, 1997
18:30		Czech Republic 4–1
(0–0, 3–0, 1–1)		 United StatesHämeenlinna
Semifinals[]
January 1, 1998
16:00		Russia 5–1
(0–0, 3–1, 2–0)		 Czech RepublicHartwall Arena, Helsinki

Error: Goals/Progression mismatch: N1 = 2 N2 = 1 PN = 3

January 1, 1998
20:00		Switzerland  1–2
(0–1, 0–0, 1–1)		 FinlandHartwall Arena, Helsinki
Placement games[]
January 2, 1998
15:00		Canada 0–3
(0–1, 0–1, 0–1)		 United StatesHämeenlinna
January 2, 1998
18:30		Sweden 5–1
(1–0, 2–0, 2–1)		 KazakhstanHämeenlinna
7th place game[]
January 3, 1998
12:00		Canada 3–6
(0–2, 0–2, 3–2)		 KazakhstanHämeenlinna
Attendance: 169
5th place game[]
January 3, 1998
16:00		United States 4–3
(1–2, 2–0, 1–1)		 SwedenHämeenlinna
Bronze medal game[]
January 3, 1998
15:00		3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Switzerland  4 – 3 GWS
(2–0, 0–2, 1–1, 0–0, 2–0)		 Czech RepublicHartwall Arena, Helsinki
Gold medal game[]
January 3, 1998
18:30		1st place, gold medalist(s) Finland 2–1 (OT)
(0–0, 0–1, 1–0, 1–0)		 Russia 2nd place, silver medalist(s)Hartwall Arena, Helsinki
Attendance: 13,655

Relegation round[]

January 1, 1998Germany 0–9
(0–1, 0–4, 0–4)		 SlovakiaHartwall Arena, Helsinki
January 3, 1998Slovakia 8–3
(0–1, 3–2, 5–0)		 GermanyHartwall Arena, Helsinki

 Germany lost the two game total goal series 17–3 and was relegated for the 1999 World Juniors

Final ranking[]

Rank Country
1st place, gold medalist(s)  Finland
2nd place, silver medalist(s)  Russia
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)   Switzerland
4  Czech Republic
5  United States
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
Marián Hossa  Slovakia 6 4 4 8
 Finland 7 4 4 8
Andrej Podkonický  Slovakia 6 3 5 8
Marcus Nilson  Sweden 7 3 5 8
Maxim Balmochnykh  Russia 7 2 6 8
Kamil Piroš  Slovakia 7 2 6 8

Tournament awards[]

IIHF Directorate Awards Media All-Star Team
Goaltender Switzerland David Aebischer Switzerland David Aebischer
Defencemen Czech Republic Pavel Skrbek Sweden Pierre Hedin
Russia Andrei Markov
Forwards Finland Olli Jokinen Russia Maxim Balmochnykh
Finland Olli Jokinen
Finland Eero Somervuori

Pool B[]

The second tier was held in Sosnowiec and Tychy Poland, from December 28 to January 4. Two groups of four played round robins, and then the top three played each of the top three teams from the other group. All scores carried forward except the results against the lone eliminated team from each group.

Preliminary round[]

Group A
Team GP W L T GF GA PTS Hungary Latvia France Japan
 Hungary 3 1 0 2 10 9 4 3–2 2–2 5–5
 Latvia 3 2 1 0 15 10 4 2–3 5–2 8–5
 France 3 1 1 1 12 9 3 2–2 2–5 8–2
 Japan 3 0 2 1 12 21 1 5–5 5–8 2–8
Group B
Team GP W L T GF GA PTS Poland Ukraine Belarus Norway
 Poland 3 2 1 0 13 11 4 7–3 1–4 5–4
 Ukraine 3 1 1 1 13 10 3 3–7 2–2 8–1
 Belarus 3 1 1 1 6 6 3 4–1 2–2 0–3
 Norway 3 1 2 0 8 13 2 4–5 1–8 3–0

Final round[]

Rank Team GP W L T GF GA PTS Belarus Ukraine Poland Latvia Hungary France
1  Belarus 5 4 0 1 22 8 9 2–2 4–1 3–1 8–0 5–4
2  Ukraine 5 3 1 1 23 12 7 2–2 3–7 5–1 4–1 9–1
3  Poland 5 3 2 0 24 13 6 1–4 7–3 2–3 8–0 6–3
4  Latvia 5 2 3 0 12 15 4 1–3 1–5 3–2 2–3 5–2
5  Hungary 5 1 3 1 6 24 3 0–8 1–4 0–8 3–2 2–2
6  France 5 0 4 1 12 27 1 4–5 1–9 3–6 2–5 2–2

 Belarus was promoted to Pool A for 1999.

Relegation round[]

Norway 6–4 Japan
Norway 3 – 4 ot Japan
Norway 4–1 Japan

 Japan lost two games to one and was relegated to Pool C for 1999.

Pool C[]

Played in Tallinn and Kohtla-Järve Estonia from December 28 to January 1.

Preliminary round[]

Group A
Team GP W L T GF GA PTS Italy Austria Estonia United Kingdom
 Italy 3 2 0 1 20 6 5 4–4 11–1 5–1
 Austria 3 2 0 1 18 6 5 4–4 8–1 6–1
 Estonia 3 1 2 0 5 20 2 1–11 1–8 3–1
 Great Britain 3 0 3 0 3 14 0 1–5 1–6 1–3
Group B
Team GP W L T GF GA PTS Denmark Slovenia Croatia Romania
 Denmark 3 3 0 0 26 8 6 5–4 8–1 13–3
 Slovenia 3 2 1 0 15 8 4 4–5 4–1 7–2
 Croatia 3 1 2 0 6 14 2 1–8 1–4 4–2
 Romania 3 0 3 0 7 24 0 3–13 2–7 2–4

Placement games[]

 Denmark was promoted to Pool B, and  Romania was relegated to Pool D for 1999.

Pool D[]

Played in Kaunas and Elektrenai Lithuania from December 30 to January 3.

Preliminary round[]

Group A
Team GP W L T GF GA PTS Netherlands Spain Bulgaria Turkey
 Netherlands 3 3 0 0 58 4 6 7–1 19–2 32–1
 Spain 3 2 1 0 18 9 4 1–7 6–2 11–0
 Bulgaria 3 1 2 0 17 29 2 2–19 2–6 13–4
 Turkey 3 0 3 0 5 56 0 1–32 0–11 4–13
Group B
Team GP W L T GF GA PTS Lithuania Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Mexico South Africa
 Lithuania 3 3 0 0 33 2 6 5–1 14–0 14–1
 FR Yugoslavia 3 2 1 0 23 7 4 1–5 13–0 9–2
 Mexico 3 1 2 0 3 28 2 0–14 0–13 3–1
 South Africa 3 0 3 0 4 26 0 1–14 2–9 1–3

Placement games[]

 Lithuania was promoted to Pool C for 1999.

References[]

  1. ^ Merk, Martin (2016-01-06). "215225 fans in Helsinki". WorldJunior2016.com. Retrieved 2016-01-22.

External links[]

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