World Junior Ice Hockey Championships

The IIHF World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (WJC), usually acknowledged actually because the World Juniors, is an annual occasion prepared through the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) for country wide under-20 ice hockey groups from across the global. It is historically held in past due December, finishing withinside the starting of January.

The principal event capabilities the pinnacle ten ranked hockey international locations withinside the global, comprising the `Top Division', from which a global champion is crowned. There also are 3 decrease pools—divisions I, II and III—that every play separate tournaments gambling for the proper to be promoted to a better pool, or face relegation to a decrease pool.

The 2013 World Junior Championship occurred in Ufa, Russia with the US beating Sweden withinside the gold medal match. The 2014 event will take vicinity in Malmö, Sweden

The event turned into first held in 1977 (1974–1976 have been now no longer reputable tournaments).[1] The event has been ruled through the groups from Russia/Soviet Union and Canada, collectively accounting for 28 of the 36 usual gold medals awarded. The USSR received the primary 4 reputable tournaments, even as the Canadians prepare 5 immediately championships among 1993 and 1997, and any other 5 immediately from 2005 to 2009. Canada leads the best-ever gold medal matter with 15, even as USSR/Russia leads the best-ever usual medal matter with 28. Head-to-head suits among those international locations are constantly a whole lot anticipated.

In addition to the domination of gold medals through those international locations, Canada, Russia (and its predecessors) are joined through the Czech Republic (and its predecessor Czechoslovakia), Finland, Sweden, and the US in dominating the medals usual. Among them, those six international locations have taken each medal withinside the records of the event apart from one bronze medal every for Switzerland and Slovakia.

When it began, the World Junior Championship turned into a particularly difficult to understand event. It has due to the fact grown in prestige, especially in Canada, wherein the event ranks as one of the maximum essential occasions at the sports activities calendar. Globe and Mail author Bruce Dowbiggin credit TSN for turning the event from an difficult to understand non-occasion whilst it obtained the rights in 1991 (and which it stays in maximum hockey international locations) to one in all Canada's maximum loved annual sports activities occasions, and on the identical time cementing the hyperlink among Canadian nationalism and hockey, and

 provoking the NHL's Winter Classic.  author Stephen Brunt calls the eye paid to the event in Canada "overkill", however says it's far comprehensible given the nationalistic emotions its stirs and its first-rate timing and marketing. Based on growing attendances for international locations time and again web website hosting the occasion, the recognition of the event appears to be developing in different international locations as well.