World Junior Hockey Championship - History
1977-81 * 1982 * 1983 * 1984 * 1985 * 1986 * 1987 * 1988 * 1989
1990 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1994 * 1995 * 1996 * 1997 * 1998 * 1999
2000 * 2001 * 2002 * 2003 * 2004 * 2005 * 2006 * 2007 * 2008 * 2009
2010 * 2011 * 2012 * 2013
1998 - Helsinki, Finland
After five straight gold medals, Canada fell to a dismal eighth place showing in 1998, finishing up with a 6-3 loss to unknown and unheralded Kazakhstan that had the nation's deep thinkers scrambling to find out what was suddenly wrong with the Canadian system.
There were warning signs early on for the Canadian side. An opening loss to the host Finns was the first blow, followed by a 4-0 shutout to the Swedes.
Canada rebounded to blank the Czechs and the Germans, and all seemed well again. But the 2-2 start handed the Canadians a bad draw for the playoff round, as they were matched up against a strong Russian team.
Maxim Afinogenov gave the Russians a 2-1 overtime win, and the demoralized Canadians packed it in for the rest of the playoffs.
After falling 3-0 to the United States, Canada dropped the eighth place game to Kazakhstan and the inquisition began.
The lone bright spot for Canada was goaltender Mathieu Garon, who tied a tournament record with two shutouts.
In contrast, Finland hammered Kazakhstan 14-1 in their quarterfinal match and went on to defeat the Russians 2-1 in the gold medal game on an overtime goal by Niklas Hagman.
Olli Jokinen scored four goals and ten points while being named the tournament's top forward. Goaltender Mika Noronen was also outstanding for Finland, especially in the final game.
The top goaltender in the tournament, however, was David Aebischer. He led Switzerland to a surprising third place finish, beating the Czech Republic 4-3 in the bronze medal game.
Team Canada Scoring
| Player |
GP |
G |
A |
Pts |
| Josh Holden |
7 |
4 |
0 |
4 |
| Daniel Tkaczuk |
7 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
| Alex Tanguay |
7 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
| Daniel Corso |
7 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
| Matt Cooke |
6 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
| Vincent Lecavalier |
7 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
| Brett McLean |
7 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
| Matt Bradley |
7 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
| Sean Blanchard |
7 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
| Eric Brewer |
7 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
| Brian Willsie |
7 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
| Jason Ward |
7 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| Corey Sarich |
7 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| Brad Ference |
7 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| Zenith Komarniski |
7 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Steve Begin |
7 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Mike Van Ryn |
7 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Jean-Pierre Dumont |
7 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Manny Malhotra |
7 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Jesse Wallin |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Team Canada Goaltending
| Player |
W-L-T |
GAA |
SO |
| Mathieu Garon |
2-3-0 |
1.91 |
2 |
| Roberto Luongo |
0-2-0 |
3.70 |
0 |
Standings - Group A
| Country |
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 |
Standings - Group B
| Country |
GP |
W |
L |
T |
GF |
GA |
Pts |
| Russia |
4 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
22 |
6 |
7 |
| Switzerland |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
14 |
8 |
5 |
| USA |
4 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
17 |
12 |
4 |
| Kazakhstan |
4 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
9 |
15 |
2 |
| Slovakia |
4 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
8 |
29 |
2 |
Relegation Standings
| Country |
GP |
W |
L |
T |
GF |
GA |
Pts |
| Slovakia |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
17 |
3 |
4 |
| Germany |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
17 |
0 |
| Medal Games |
| Gold - Finland 2, Russia 1 |
| Bronze - Switzerland 4, Czech Republic 3 (OT) |
Overall Tournament Standings
| Country |
GP |
W |
L |
T |
GF |
GA |
Pts |
| 1. Finland |
7 |
6 |
0 |
1 |
35 |
13 |
13 |
| 2. Russia |
7 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
30 |
13 |
11 |
| 3. Switzerland |
7 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
21 |
14 |
9 |
| 4. Czech Republic |
7 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
24 |
22 |
7 |
| 5. United States |
7 |
4 |
3 |
0 |
25 |
19 |
8 |
| 6. Sweden |
7 |
3 |
4 |
0 |
25 |
13 |
6 |
| 7. Kazakhstan |
7 |
2 |
5 |
0 |
16 |
51 |
4 |
| 8. Canada |
7 |
2 |
5 |
0 |
13 |
18 |
4 |
| 9. Slovakia |
6 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
26 |
18 |
6 |
| 10. Germany |
6 |
0 |
6 |
0 |
4 |
41 |
0 |
Top Scorers
| Player |
G |
A |
Pts. |
| Farkas, Jeff (USA) |
6 |
4 |
10 |
| Jokinen, Olli (Fin) |
5 |
4 |
9 |
| Somervuori, Eero (Fin) |
4 |
5 |
9 |
Tournament All-Star Team
| Maxim Balmochnykh (Rus) |
Eero Somervuori (Fin) |
| Olli Jokinen (Fin) |
Andrei Markov (Rus) |
| Pierre Hedin (Swe) |
David Aebischer (Swi) |
