1978 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships

1978 IIHF World Junior Championship
Tournament details
Host country Canada
Venue(s)5 (in 5 host cities)
DatesDecember 22, 1977 –
January 3, 1978
Teams8
Final positions
Champions  Soviet Union (2nd title)
Runner-up  Sweden
Third place  Canada
Fourth place Czechoslovakia
Tournament statistics
Games played25
Goals scored248 (9.92 per game)
Attendance41,681 (1,667 per game)
Scoring leader(s)Canada Wayne Gretzky (17 points)
← 1977
1979 →

The 1978 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (1978 WJHC) was the second edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship and was held from December 22, 1977, until January 3, 1978. The tournament was held in Canada, mainly in Montreal and Quebec City. The Soviet Union won its second consecutive gold medal, while Sweden won the silver, and Canada the bronze.

Final standings

The 1978 tournament divided participants into two divisions of four teams, each playing three games. The top two teams in each division advanced to the medal round (Group A), while the bottom two were placed in Group B. Each division played another round robin. The top two teams in the medal round played a one-game final for the gold medal.

This is the aggregate standings, ordered according to final placing. The four teams in the medal round (Group A) were ranked one through four, while the four teams in Group B were ranked five through eight regardless of overall record.

Pos Team Pld W L D GF GA GD Pts
1  Soviet Union 7 6 1 0 50 16 +34 12
2  Sweden 7 3 2 2 27 24 +3 8
3  Canada 6 4 2 0 36 18 +18 8
4  Czechoslovakia 6 2 3 1 21 31 −10 5
5  United States 6 4 2 0 41 30 +11 8
6  Finland 6 3 2 1 45 25 +20 7
7  West Germany 6 1 5 0 20 33 −13 2
8   Switzerland 6 0 6 0 7 70 −63 0
Source: Hockey Canada

  Switzerland was relegated to Pool B for the 1979 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.

Preliminary round

Gold group

Team Pld W L D GF GA GD Pts
 Sweden 3 2 0 1 18 8 +10 5
 Soviet Union 3 2 1 0 31 11 +20 4
 Finland 3 1 1 1 26 15 +11 3
  Switzerland 3 0 3 0 3 44 −41 0
Source: Hockey Canada
December 22, 1977Soviet Union 18 – 1
(4–0, 5–0, 9–1)		  SwitzerlandCornwall, Ontario
December 22, 1977Sweden 4 – 4
(1–2, 1–1, 2–1)		 FinlandChicoutimi, Quebec
December 23, 1977Sweden 6 – 3
(2–0, 3–1, 1–2)		 Soviet UnionQuebec City, Quebec
December 23, 1977Switzerland 1 – 18
(0–4, 1–7, 0–7)		 FinlandChicoutimi, Quebec
December 26, 1977Sweden 8 – 1
(3–0, 3–0, 2–1)		  SwitzerlandCornwall, Ontario
December 26, 1977Soviet Union 10 – 4
(3–1, 3–2, 4–1)		 FinlandMontreal, Quebec

Blue group

Team Pld W L D GF GA GD Pts
 Canada 3 3 0 0 23 6 +17 6
 Czechoslovakia 3 2 1 0 16 18 −2 4
 United States 3 1 2 0 16 18 −2 2
 West Germany 3 0 3 0 8 21 −13 0
Source: Hockey Canada
December 22, 1977Canada 6 – 3
(2–1, 1–2, 3–0)		 United StatesMontreal, Quebec
December 22, 1977Czechoslovakia 5 – 4
(2–0, 2–3, 1–1)		 West GermanyQuebec City, Quebec
December 23, 1977Canada 8 – 0
(4–0, 4–0, 0–0)		 West GermanyCornwall, Ontario
December 23, 1977United States 5 – 8
(1–1, 1–7, 3–0)		 CzechoslovakiaHull, Quebec
December 25, 1977Canada 9 – 3
(4–2, 2–1, 3–0)		 CzechoslovakiaMontreal, Quebec
December 25, 1977West Germany 4 – 8
(1–1, 1–4, 2–3)		 United StatesHull, Quebec

Championship round

Group B

Team Pld W L D GF GA GD Pts
 United States 3 3 0 0 25 12 +13 6
 Finland 3 2 1 0 19 10 +9 4
 West Germany 3 1 2 0 12 12 0 2
  Switzerland 3 0 3 0 4 26 −22 0
Source: Hockey Canada
December 28, 1977Finland 4 – 1 West GermanyChicoutimi, Quebec
December 28, 1977United States 11 – 1  SwitzerlandCornwall, Ontario
December 31, 1977Finland 9 – 1  SwitzerlandCornwall, Ontario
December 31, 1977United States 6 – 5 West GermanyHull, Quebec
January 1, 1978Finland 6 – 8 United StatesHull, Quebec
January 1, 1978West Germany 6 – 2  SwitzerlandCornwall, Ontario

Group A

Team Pld W L D GF GA GD Pts
 Soviet Union 3 3 0 0 14 3 +11 6
 Sweden 3 1 1 1 7 11 −4 3
 Canada 3 1 2 0 13 12 +1 2
 Czechoslovakia 3 0 2 1 5 13 −8 1
Source: Hockey Canada
December 28, 1977Canada 2 – 3
(2–0, 0–2, 0–1)		 Soviet UnionQuebec City, Quebec
December 28, 1977Sweden 1 – 1
(0-1, 0-0, 1-0)		 CzechoslovakiaMontreal, Quebec
December 31, 1977Canada 6 – 3
(1–1, 1–1, 4–1)		 CzechoslovakiaMontreal, Quebec
December 31, 1977Soviet Union 5 – 0
(1–0, 1–0, 3–0)		 SwedenQuebec City, Quebec
January 1, 1978Canada 5 – 6
(2–2, 0–2, 3–2)		 SwedenMontreal, Quebec
January 1, 1978Czechoslovakia 1 – 6
(1–2, 0–0, 0–4)		 Soviet UnionQuebec City, Quebec

Gold medal game

January 3, 19781st place, gold medalist(s) Soviet Union 5 – 2
(2–1, 2–1, 1–0)		 Sweden 2nd place, silver medalist(s)Montreal, Quebec

Scoring leaders

Rank Player Country G A Pts
1 Wayne Gretzky  Canada 8 9 17
2 Viktor Shkurdyuk  Soviet Union 10 6 16
3 Sergei Makarov  Soviet Union 8 7 15
4 Bobby Crawford  United States 4 9 13
5 Jorma Sevon  Finland 7 5 12
Mark Green  United States 7 5 12
7 Timo Susi  Finland 7 3 10
Rainer Risku  Finland 7 3 10
Gerd Truntschka  West Germany 7 3 10
10 Wayne Babych  Canada 5 5 10

Tournament awards

IIHF Directorate Awards Media All-Star Team
Goaltender Soviet Union Alexander Tyzhnykh Soviet Union Alexander Tyzhnykh
Defencemen Soviet Union Viacheslav Fetisov Soviet Union Viacheslav Fetisov
Finland Risto Siltanen
Forwards Canada Wayne Gretzky Czechoslovakia Anton Šťastný
Canada Wayne Gretzky
Sweden Mats Näslund

References

  • Podnieks, Andrew (1998). Red, White, and Gold: Canada at the World Junior Championships 1974–1999. ECW Press. ISBN 1-55022-382-8.
  • 1977–81 World Junior Hockey Championships at TSN
  • "Championnat du monde 1978 des moins de 20 ans". Retrieved 2011-11-02.
  • Statistical leaders at eliteprospects.com