After failing to medal at the previous two editions of the tournament, Canada beat Russia in the final to win the gold medal, marking Canada's first medal at the World Juniors since 2012, and Canada's first gold since 2009. Slovakia defeated Sweden in the bronze medal game to win their second-ever medal. Germany finished tenth overall and was relegated to Division I-A for the 2016 tournament. Slovak goaltender Denis Godla was named the tournament's most valuable player, while Sam Reinhart of Canada was the scoring leader with 11 points.
Player eligibility
A player is eligible to play in the 2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships if:[7]
the player is of male gender;
the player was born at the earliest in 1995, and at the latest, in 2000;
the player is a citizen in the country he represents;
the player is under the jurisdiction of a national association that is a member of the IIHF.
If a player who has never played in IIHF-organized competition wishes to switch national eligibility, he must have played in competitions for two consecutive years in the new country without playing in another country, as well as show his move to the new country's national association with an international transfer card. In case the player has previously played in IIHF-organized competition but wishes to switch national eligibility, he must have played in competitions for four consecutive years in the new country without playing in another country, he must show his move to the new country's national association with an international transfer card, as well as be a citizen of the new country. A player may only switch national eligibility once.[8]
The IIHF selected 12 referees and 10 linesmen to officiate during the tournament:[9]
Referees
Vladimír Baluška
Lars Bruggemann
Roman Gofman
Antonin Jeřábek
Mikko Kaukokari
Geoffrey Miller
Linus Öhlund
Konstantin Olenin
Steve Patafie
Pascal St-Jaques
Marcus Vinnerborg
Tobias Wehrli
Linesmen
Jordan Browne
Pierre Dehaen
Gleb Lazarev
Miroslav Lhotský
Andreas Malmqvist
Bevan Mills
Jani Pesonen
Nikolaj Ponomarjow
Judson Ritter
Simon Wust
Format
The four best ranked teams from each group of the preliminary round advance to the quarterfinals, while the last placed teams from each group played a relegation round in a best of three format to determine the relegated team.[10]