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
Venue(s)2 (in 2 host cities)
DatesDecember 25, 1997 – January 3, 1998
Teams10
Final positions
Champions  Finland (2nd title)
Runner-up  Russia
Third place   Switzerland
Fourth place Czech Republic
Tournament statistics
Games played34
Goals scored219 (6.44 per game)
Attendance139,680 (4,108 per game)
Scoring leader(s)United States 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

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All times are local. (Eastern European TimeUTC+2)

Pool A

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Group A

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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
December 25, 1997
18:30
Finland  3–2
(0–0, 1–1, 2–1)
  CanadaHartwall Arena, Helsinki
Attendance: 9,000 (approx.)
Game reference
Mika NoronenGoaliesMathieu GaronReferee:
  Ulf Radbjer
Linesmen:
  Allen Stensland
  Kent Thuden
0–130:02 - Ward
Kauppinen (Vallin, Kalto) - 33:011–1
Somervuori (Jokinen) (PP) - 47:272–1
2–251:39 - Dumont (Tkaczuk)
Hagman (Somervuori, Jokinen) - 56:203–2
10 minPenalties21 min
38Shots18
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
Game reference
Johan HolmqvistGoaliesRoberto LuongoReferee:
  Rami Savolainen
Linesmen:
  Allen Stensland
  Dino Casgrande
Nilson (Forsander) (PP) - 6:561–0
Hedin - 17:322–0
D. Sedin (H. Sedin) - 22:553–0
Cannerheim (Nilson) - 46:454–0
14 minPenalties20 min
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.)
Game reference
Mathieu GaronGoaliesAdam Svoboda, Vlastimil Lakosil (15:46 second)Referee:
  Scott Hansen
Linesmen:
  Alfred Hascher
  Kent Thuden
Holden (Corso) - 10:101–0
Cooke (Sarich) (PP) - 11:102–0
Tanguay (McLean) - 26:453–0
McLean (Tanguay, Brewer) (SH) - 30:404–0
Holden (Corso) - 38:055–0
12 minPenalties14 min
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
Game reference
Mathieu GaronGoaliesBjörn LeonhardtReferee:
  Ulf Radbjer
Linesmen:
  Dino Casagrande
  Nadir Mandioni
Bradley (Cooke, Lecavalier) -28:051–0
Lecavalier (Bradley) - 54:592–0
26Shots17
December 30, 1997
18:30
Czech Republic  5–5  FinlandHartwall Arena, Helsinki

Group B

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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
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

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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
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December 31, 1997
15:00
Russia  2–1 (OT)
(1–0, 0–0, 0–1, 1–0)
  CanadaHämeenlinna
Attendance: 2,877
Game reference
Denis KhlopotnovGoaliesMathieu GaronReferee:
  Rami Savolainen
Linesmen:
  Riku Peltonen
  Kent Thuden
Vlasenkov (Lyashenko) - 18:011-0
1-142:31 - Tkaczuk (Willsie, Blanchard)
Afinogenov (Balmochnykh) - 69:212-1
21Shots18
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
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January 1, 1998
16:00
Russia  5–1
(0–0, 3–1, 2–0)
  Czech RepublicHartwall Arena, Helsinki
January 1, 1998
20:00
Switzerland  1–2
(0–1, 0–0, 1–1)
  FinlandHartwall Arena, Helsinki
David AebischerGoaliesJean-Marc Pelletier
Placement games
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January 2, 1998
15:00
Canada  0–3
(0–1, 0–1, 0–1)
  United StatesHämeenlinna
Game reference
Mathieu GaronGoaliesJean-Marc PelletierReferee:
  Petr Bolina
Linesmen:
  Riku Peltonen
  Nadir Mandioni
0-15:59 - York (Mottau) (PP)
0-239:31 - Dusbabek (Mara)
0-359:25 - Farkas (EN)
12 minPenalties8 min
15Shots40
January 2, 1998
18:30
Sweden  5–1
(1–0, 2–0, 2–1)
  KazakhstanHämeenlinna
7th place game
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January 3, 1998
12:00
Canada  3–6
(0–2, 0–2, 3–2)
  KazakhstanHämeenlinna
Attendance: 169
Game reference
Mathieu Garon, Roberto Luongo (14:00 second)GoaliesRoman KrivomazovReferee:
  Petr Bolina
Linesmen:
  Vyacheslav Bulanov
Dariusz Sudol
0-13:45 - Troshchinsky (Antropov)
0-213:14 - Alexandrov (Troshchinsky, Antropov) (PP)
0-331:47 - Troshchinsky (Alexandrov, Novopashin) (SH)
0-434:00 - Troshchinsky (Antropov)
Holden (Blanchard) (PP) - 47:251-4
Holden (Ference, Corso) (PP) - 50:102-4
2-558:21 - Komissarov (Ksandopulo)
2-659:20 - Rifel (EN)
Tkaczuk (Willsie, Brewer) - 59:573-6
19 minPenalties20 min
43Shots17
5th place game
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January 3, 1998
16:00
United States  4–3
(1–2, 2–0, 1–1)
  SwedenHämeenlinna
Bronze medal game
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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
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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 NoronenGoaliesDenis Khlopotnov
0–137:10 − Vlassenkov
Puistola (PP) - 43:251–1
Hagman (Jokinen, Petriläinen) - 73:412–1
45Shots26

Relegation round

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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

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Rank Country
    Finland
    Russia
     Switzerland
4   Czech Republic
5   United States
6   Sweden
7   Kazakhstan
8   Canada
9   Slovakia
10   Germany

Scoring leaders

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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

Preliminary round

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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 D GF GA GD Pts        
  Denmark 3 3 0 0 26 8 +18 6 5–4 8–1 13–3
  Slovenia 3 2 1 0 15 8 +7 4 4–5 4–1 7–2
  Croatia 3 1 2 0 6 14 −8 2 1–8 1–4 4–2
  Romania 3 0 3 0 7 24 −17 0 3–13 2–7 2–4
Source: [citation needed]

Placement games

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

Pool D

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

Preliminary round

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Group A
Team Pld W L D GF GA GD Pts        
  Netherlands 3 3 0 0 58 4 +54 6 7–1 19–2 32–1
  Spain 3 2 1 0 18 9 +9 4 1–7 6–2 11–0
  Bulgaria 3 1 2 0 17 29 −12 2 2–19 2–6 13–4
  Turkey 3 0 3 0 5 56 −51 0 1–32 0–11 4–13
Source: [citation needed]
Group B
Team Pld W L D GF GA GD Pts        
  Lithuania 3 3 0 0 33 2 +31 6 5–1 14–0 14–1
  Yugoslavia 3 2 1 0 23 7 +16 4 1–5 13–0 9–2
  Mexico 3 1 2 0 3 28 −25 2 0–14 0–13 3–1
  South Africa 3 0 3 0 4 26 −22 0 1–14 2–9 1–3
Source: [citation needed]

Placement games

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  Lithuania was promoted to Pool C for 1999.

References

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