1998 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships

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.

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

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)

Group A
Team GP W L T GF GA PTS
 Finland 430117107
 Czech Republic 421116125
 Sweden 42201664
 Canada 4220974
 Germany 40401240
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 43012267
  Switzerland 42111485
 United States 422017124
 Kazakhstan 41308292
 Slovakia 41309152
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		 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		 Finland 2–1 (OT)
(0–0, 0–1, 1–0, 1–0)		 Russia 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
 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 States76410
Olli Jokinen Finland74610
Eero Somervuori Finland7369
Ladislav Nagy Slovakia6628
Brian Gionta United States7538
Marián Hossa Slovakia6448
Timo Vertala Finland7448
Andrej Podkonický Slovakia6358
Marcus Nilson Sweden7358
Maxim Balmochnykh Russia7268
Kamil Piroš Slovakia7268

Tournament awards
IIHF Directorate AwardsMedia 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 GP W L T GF GA PTS
 Hungary 310210943–22–25–5
 Latvia 3210151042–35–28–5
 France 311112932–22–58–2
 Japan 3021122115–55–82–8
Group B
Team GP W L T GF GA PTS
 Poland 3210131147–31–45–4
 Ukraine 3111131033–72–28–1
 Belarus 31116634–12–20–3
 Norway 312081324–51–83–0

Final round
Rank Team GP W L T GF GA PTS
1 Belarus 540122892–24–13–18–05–4
2 Ukraine 5311231272–23–75–14–19–1
3 Poland 5320241361–47–32–38–06–3
4 Latvia 5230121541–31–53–22–35–2
5 Hungary 513162430–81–40–83–22–2
6 France 5041122714–51–93–62–52–2

 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 320120654–411–15–1
 Austria 320118654–48–16–1
 Estonia 312052021–111–83–1
 Great Britain 303031401–51–61–3
Group B
Team GP W L T GF GA PTS
 Denmark 330026865–48–113–3
 Slovenia 321015844–54–17–2
 Croatia 312061421–81–44–2
 Romania 303072403–132–72–4

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 330058467–119–232–1
 Spain 321018941–76–211–0
 Bulgaria 3120172922–192–613–4
 Turkey 303055601–320–114–13
Group B
Team GP W L T GF GA PTS
 Lithuania 330033265–114–014–1
 FR Yugoslavia 321023741–513–09–2
 Mexico 312032820–140–133–1
 South Africa 303042601–142–91–3

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.
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