1998 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships

1998 IIHF World U20 Championship
Tournament details
Host country	Finland
Venue(s)	2 (in 2 host cities)
Dates	December 25, 1997 – January 3, 1998
Teams	10
Final positions
Champions	Finland (2nd title)
Runner-up	Russia
Third place	Switzerland
Fourth place	Czech Republic
Tournament statistics
Games played	34
Goals scored	219 (6.44 per game)
Attendance	139,680 (4,108 per game)
Scoring leader(s)	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	Pld	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Finland	4	3	0	1	17	10	+7	7
Czech Republic	4	2	1	1	16	12	+4	5
Sweden	4	2	2	0	16	6	+10	4
Canada	4	2	2	0	9	7	+2	4
Germany	4	0	4	0	1	24	−23	0

Source: Hockey Canada

December 25, 1997
18:30

Finland

3–2
(0–0, 1–1, 2–1)

Canada

Hartwall Arena, Helsinki
Attendance: 9,000 (approx.)

Game reference

Mika Noronen

Goalies

Mathieu Garon

Referee:

Ulf Radbjer
Linesmen:

Allen Stensland

Kent Thuden

	0–1	30:02 - Ward
Kauppinen (Vallin, Kalto) - 33:01	1–1
Somervuori (Jokinen) (PP) - 47:27	2–1
	2–2	51:39 - Dumont (Tkaczuk)
Hagman (Somervuori, Jokinen) - 56:20	3–2

10 min

Penalties

21 min

38

Shots

18

December 25, 1997
15:00

Czech Republic

2–1

Sweden

Hämeenlinna

December 26, 1997
18:30

Sweden

4–0
(2–0, 1–0, 1–0)

Canada

Hartwall Arena, Helsinki
Attendance: 2,523

Game reference

Johan Holmqvist

Goalies

Roberto Luongo

Referee:

Rami Savolainen
Linesmen:

Allen Stensland

Dino Casgrande

Nilson (Forsander) (PP) - 6:56	1–0
Hedin - 17:32	2–0
D. Sedin (H. Sedin) - 22:55	3–0
Cannerheim (Nilson) - 46:45	4–0

14 min

Penalties

20 min

December 26, 1997
18:30

Finland

5–0

Germany

Hämeenlinna

December 27, 1997
15:00

Germany

1–9

Czech Republic

Hartwall Arena, Helsinki

December 28, 1997
15:00

Canada

5–0
(2–0, 3–0, 0–0)

Czech Republic

Hartwall Arena, Helsinki
Attendance: 7,500 (approx.)

Game reference

Mathieu Garon

Goalies

Adam Svoboda, Vlastimil Lakosil (15:46 second)

Referee:

Scott Hansen
Linesmen:

Alfred Hascher

Kent Thuden

Holden (Corso) - 10:10	1–0
Cooke (Sarich) (PP) - 11:10	2–0
Tanguay (McLean) - 26:45	3–0
McLean (Tanguay, Brewer) (SH) - 30:40	4–0
Holden (Corso) - 38:05	5–0

12 min

Penalties

14 min

December 28, 1997
18:30

Sweden

3–4

Finland

Hartwall Arena, Helsinki

December 29, 1997
18:30

Germany

0–8

Sweden

Hartwall Arena, Helsinki

December 30, 1997
15:00

Canada

2–0
(0–0, 1–0, 1–0)

Germany

Hartwall Arena, Helsinki
Attendance: 8,933

Game reference

Mathieu Garon

Goalies

Björn Leonhardt

Referee:

Ulf Radbjer
Linesmen:

Dino Casagrande

Nadir Mandioni

Bradley (Cooke, Lecavalier) -28:05	1–0
Lecavalier (Bradley) - 54:59	2–0

26

Shots

17

December 30, 1997
18:30

Czech Republic

5–5

Finland

Hartwall Arena, Helsinki

Group B

Team	Pld	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Russia	4	3	0	1	22	6	+16	7
Switzerland	4	2	1	1	14	8	+6	5
United States	4	2	2	0	17	12	+5	4
Kazakhstan	4	1	3	0	8	29	−21	2
Slovakia	4	1	3	0	9	15	−6	2

Source: Hockey Canada

December 25, 1997
15:00

Russia

12–1

Kazakhstan

Hämeenlinna

December 25, 1997
15:00

Slovakia

6–3

United States

Hartwall Arena, Helsinki

December 26, 1997
15:00

Kazakhstan

2–8

United States

Hartwall Arena, Helsinki

December 26, 1997
15:00

Slovakia

1–3

Switzerland

Hämeenlinna

December 27, 1997
18:30

Switzerland

3–3

Russia

Hartwall Arena, Helsinki

December 28, 1997
15:00

Kazakhstan

5–2

Slovakia

Hämeenlinna

December 28, 1997
18:30

United States

2–3

Russia

Hämeenlinna

December 29, 1997
18:30

Switzerland

7–0

Kazakhstan

Hämeenlinna

December 30, 1997
15:00

Russia

4–0

Slovakia

Hämeenlinna

December 30, 1997
18:30

United States

4–1

Switzerland

Hämeenlinna

Final round

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Finals

B1

Russia

2

A4

Canada

1

QF1

Russia

5

QF2

Czech Republic

1

A2

Czech Republic

4

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)

Canada

Hämeenlinna
Attendance: 2,877

Game reference

Denis Khlopotnov

Goalies

Mathieu Garon

Referee:

Rami Savolainen
Linesmen:

Riku Peltonen

Kent Thuden

Vlasenkov (Lyashenko) - 18:01	1-0
	1-1	42:31 - Tkaczuk (Willsie, Blanchard)
Afinogenov (Balmochnykh) - 69:21	2-1

21

Shots

18

December 31, 1997
15:00

Finland

14–1
(6–1, 5–0, 3–0)

Kazakhstan

Hartwall Arena, Helsinki

December 31, 1997
18:30

Switzerland

2 – 1 GWS
(0–0, 0–0, 1–1, 0–0, 5–4)

Sweden

Hartwall Arena, Helsinki

December 31, 1997
18:30

Czech Republic

4–1
(0–0, 3–0, 1–1)

United States

Hämeenlinna

Semifinals

January 1, 1998
16:00

Russia

5–1
(0–0, 3–1, 2–0)

Czech Republic

Hartwall Arena, Helsinki

January 1, 1998
20:00

Switzerland

1–2
(0–1, 0–0, 1–1)

Finland

Hartwall Arena, Helsinki


David Aebischer	Goalies	Jean-Marc Pelletier

Placement games

January 2, 1998
15:00

Canada

0–3
(0–1, 0–1, 0–1)

United States

Goalies

Referee:

Petr Bolina
Linesmen:

Riku Peltonen

Nadir Mandioni

	0-1	5:59 - York (Mottau) (PP)
	0-2	39:31 - Dusbabek (Mara)
	0-3	59:25 - Farkas (EN)

12 min

Penalties

8 min

15

Shots

40

January 2, 1998
18:30

Sweden

5–1
(1–0, 2–0, 2–1)

Kazakhstan

Hämeenlinna

7th place game

January 3, 1998
12:00

Canada

3–6
(0–2, 0–2, 3–2)

Kazakhstan

Hämeenlinna
Attendance: 169

Game reference

Mathieu Garon, Roberto Luongo (14:00 second)

Goalies

Roman Krivomazov

Referee:

Petr Bolina
Linesmen:

Vyacheslav Bulanov
Dariusz Sudol

	0-1	3:45 - Troshchinsky (Antropov)
	0-2	13:14 - Alexandrov (Troshchinsky, Antropov) (PP)
	0-3	31:47 - Troshchinsky (Alexandrov, Novopashin) (SH)
	0-4	34:00 - Troshchinsky (Antropov)
Holden (Blanchard) (PP) - 47:25	1-4
Holden (Ference, Corso) (PP) - 50:10	2-4
	2-5	58:21 - Komissarov (Ksandopulo)
	2-6	59:20 - Rifel (EN)
Tkaczuk (Willsie, Brewer) - 59:57	3-6

19 min

Penalties

20 min

43

Shots

17

5th place game

January 3, 1998
16:00

United States

4–3
(1–2, 2–0, 1–1)

Sweden

Hämeenlinna

Bronze medal game

January 3, 1998
15:00

Switzerland

4 – 3 GWS
(2–0, 0–2, 1–1, 0–0, 2–0)

Czech Republic

Hartwall Arena, Helsinki

Gold medal game

January 3, 1998
18:30

Finland

2–1 (OT)
(0–0, 0–1, 1–0, 1–0)

Russia

Hartwall Arena, Helsinki
Attendance: 13,655

Mika Noronen

Goalies

Denis Khlopotnov

	0–1	37:10 − Vlassenkov
Puistola (PP) - 43:25	1–1
Hagman (Jokinen, Petriläinen) - 73:41	2–1

45

Shots

26

Relegation round

January 1, 1998

Germany

0–9
(0–1, 0–4, 0–4)

Slovakia

Hartwall Arena, Helsinki

January 3, 1998

Slovakia

8–3
(0–1, 3–2, 5–0)

Germany

Hartwall Arena, Helsinki

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

Final ranking

Rank	Country
	Finland
	Russia
	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
Timo Vertala	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	David Aebischer	David Aebischer
Defencemen	Pavel Skrbek	Pierre Hedin Andrei Markov
Forwards	Olli Jokinen	Maxim Balmochnykh Olli Jokinen 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	Pld	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Hungary	3	1	0	2	10	9	+1	4		3–2	2–2	5–5
Latvia	3	2	1	0	15	10	+5	4	2–3		5–2	8–5
France	3	1	1	1	12	9	+3	3	2–2	2–5		8–2
Japan	3	0	2	1	12	21	−9	1	5–5	5–8	2–8

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Group B

Team	Pld	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Poland	3	2	1	0	13	11	+2	4		7–3	1–4	5–4
Ukraine	3	1	1	1	13	10	+3	3	3–7		2–2	8–1
Belarus	3	1	1	1	6	6	0	3	4–1	2–2		0–3
Norway	3	1	2	0	8	13	−5	2	4–5	1–8	3–0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Final round

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Belarus	5	4	0	1	22	8	+14	9		2–2	4–1	3–1	8–0	5–4
2	Ukraine	5	3	1	1	23	12	+11	7	2–2		3–7	5–1	4–1	9–1
3	Poland	5	3	2	0	24	13	+11	6	1–4	7–3		2–3	8–0	6–3
4	Latvia	5	2	3	0	12	15	−3	4	1–3	1–5	3–2		2–3	5–2
5	Hungary	5	1	3	1	6	24	−18	3	0–8	1–4	0–8	3–2		2–2
6	France	5	0	4	1	12	27	−15	1	4–5	1–9	3–6	2–5	2–2

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

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	Pld	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Italy	3	2	0	1	20	6	+14	5		4–4	11–1	5–1
Austria	3	2	0	1	18	6	+12	5	4–4		8–1	6–1
Estonia	3	1	2	0	5	20	−15	2	1–11	1–8		3–1
Great Britain	3	0	3	0	3	14	−11	0	1–5	1–6	1–3

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Group B

Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Denmark	3	3	0	26	8	+18	6		5–4	8–1	13–3
Slovenia	3	2	1	15	8	+7	4	4–5		4–1	7–2
Croatia	3	1	2	6	14	−8	2	1–8	1–4		4–2
Romania	3	0	3	7	24	−17	0	3–13	2–7	2–4

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Placement games

7th place: Great Britain 7 – 5 Romania
5th place: Croatia 3 – 2 Estonia
3rd place: Slovenia 4 – 2 Austria
1st Place: Denmark 6 – 4 Italy

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	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Netherlands	3	3	0	58	4	+54	6		7–1	19–2	32–1
Spain	3	2	1	18	9	+9	4	1–7		6–2	11–0
Bulgaria	3	1	2	17	29	−12	2	2–19	2–6		13–4
Turkey	3	0	3	5	56	−51	0	1–32	0–11	4–13

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Group B

Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Lithuania	3	3	0	33	2	+31	6		5–1	14–0	14–1
Yugoslavia	3	2	1	23	7	+16	4	1–5		13–0	9–2
Mexico	3	1	2	3	28	−25	2	0–14	0–13		3–1
South Africa	3	0	3	4	26	−22	0	1–14	2–9	1–3