2021 IIHF World U18 Championships

2021 IIHF U18 World Championship

170px
Tournament details
Host country	United States
Dates	April 26 – May 6
Teams	10
Venue(s)	2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Canada (4th title)
Runner-up	Russia
Third place	Sweden
Fourth place	Finland
Tournament statistics
Matches played	28
Goals scored	221 (7.89 per match)
Attendance	21,038 (751 per match)
Scoring leader(s)	Matvei Michkov (16 points)
MVP	Matvei Michkov
← 2020 (cancelled) 2022 →

The 2021 IIHF World U18 Championship was the 22nd such event hosted by the International Ice Hockey Federation. Teams would have participated at several levels of competition. The competition also would have served as qualifications for the 2022 competition. All tournaments other than the top division tournament were cancelled by the IIHF on November 18, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The United States finished without a medal for the first time since 2003.

Top Division

The tournament was held from April 26 to May 6, 2021, in Frisco and Plano, United States.

Officials

The following officials were assigned by the International Ice Hockey Federation to officiate the 2021 World U18 Championships.

Referees

• Adam Kika
• Riku Brander
• Lukas Kohlmüller
• Sergey Yudakov
• Christoffer Holm
• Micha Hebeisen
• Sean Fernandez
• Sean MacFarlane
• Jacob Rekucki
• Stephen Reneau
• Peter Schlittenhardt
• Andrew Wilk

Linesmen

• Nikita Polyakov
• David Klouček
• Tommi Niittylä
• Dāvis Zunde
• Roman Slavikovskii
• Kevin Briganti
• Nick Briganti
• Jake Davis
• William Hancock
• Patrick Richardson

Preliminary round

All times are local (UTC–5).

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts

---

---

---

---

---

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts

---

---

---

---

---

Playoff round

Winning teams were reseeded for the semifinals in accordance with the following ranking:

1. higher position in the group
2. higher number of points
3. better goal difference
4. higher number of goals scored for
5. better seeding coming into the tournament (final placement at the 2019 IIHF World U18 Championships).

Rank	Team	Group	Pos	Pts	GD	GF	Seed
1	Canada	A	1	12	+23	28	4
2	Finland	B	1	9	+11	24	7
3	Russia	B	2	9	+15	27	2
4	Sweden	A	2	9	+2	16	1
5	United States	B	3	8	+3	18	3
6	Belarus	A	3	6	+3	16	5
7	Czech Republic	B	4	4	–10	10	6
8	Switzerland	A	4	3	−13	6	9

Bracket

	Quarterfinals				Semifinals				Gold Medal Game
	May 3 – Plano
	2B Russia	5
					May 5 – Frisco
	3A Belarus	2
					1 Canada	8
	May 3 – Frisco
					4 Sweden	1
	1A Canada	10
									May 6 – Frisco
	4B Czech Republic	3
									1 Canada	5
	May 3 – Plano
									3 Russia	3
	1B Finland	2
					May 5 – Frisco
	4A Switzerland	0
					2 Finland	5
	May 3 – Frisco
					3 Russia	6			Bronze Medal Game
	2A Sweden	5
									May 6 – Frisco
	3B United States	2
									2 Finland	0
									4 Sweden	8

---

---

---

---

Final standings

Pos	Grp	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Final result
1	A	Canada	7	7	0	0	0	51	12	+39	21	Champions
2	B	Russia	7	4	1	1	1	41	24	+17	15	Runners-up
3	A	Sweden	7	5	0	0	2	30	24	+6	15	Third place
4	B	Finland	7	3	1	1	2	31	27	+4	12	Fourth place
5	B	United States (H)	5	1	2	1	1	20	20	0	8	Eliminated in Quarterfinals
6	A	Belarus	5	2	0	0	3	18	18	0	6
7	B	Czech Republic	5	1	0	1	3	13	30	−17	4
8	A	Switzerland	5	1	0	0	4	6	21	−15	3
9	A	Latvia	4	0	0	0	4	6	21	−15	0	Eliminated in Preliminary round
10	B	Germany	4	0	0	0	4	5	24	−19	0

Statistics

Scoring leaders

Pos	Player	Country	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
1	Matvei Michkov	Russia	7	12	4	16	+7	4
2	Shane Wright	Canada	5	9	5	14	+12	2
3	Connor Bedard	Canada	7	7	7	14	+12	2
4	Nikita Chibrikov	Russia	7	4	9	13	+7	14
5	Mason McTavish	Canada	7	5	6	11	+10	10
5	Samu Tuomaala	Finland	7	5	6	11	0	0
7	Francesco Pinelli	Canada	7	4	7	11	+8	0
7	Danila Yurov	Russia	7	4	7	11	+4	2
9	Ville Koivunen	Finland	7	4	6	10	−2	0
9	Fyodor Svechkov	Russia	7	4	6	10	+4	4

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus–minus; PIM = Penalties In Minutes
Source: IIHF

Goaltending leaders

(minimum 40% team's total ice time)

Pos	Player	Country	TOI	GA	GAA	SA	Sv%	SO
1	Benjamin Gaudreau	Canada	300:00	11	2.20	136	91.91	0
2	Carl Lindbom	Sweden	313:29	16	3.06	194	91.75	1
3	Kaidan Mbereko	United States	147:29	7	2.85	82	91.46	0
4	Sergei Ivanov	Russia	364:23	16	2.63	183	91.26	0
5	Tikhon Chaika	Belarus	180:00	8	2.67	90	91.11	0

TOI = Time on ice (minutes:seconds); GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; SA = Shots against; Sv% = Save percentage; SO = Shutouts
Source: IIHF

Awards

• Best players selected by the Directorate:
  • Best Goaltender: Benjamin Gaudreau
  • Best Defenceman: Aleksi Heimosalmi
  • Best Forward: Matvei Michkov

Source: IIHF

• Media All-Stars:
  • MVP: Matvei Michkov
  • Goaltender: Sergei Ivanov
  • Defencemen: Aleksi Heimosalmi / Brandt Clarke
  • Forwards: Connor Bedard / Matvei Michkov / Samu Tuomaala

Source: IIHF

Division I

All division group tournaments were cancelled by the IIHF.

Group A

The tournament was to be held in Spišská Nová Ves, Slovakia, from April 5 to 11, 2021.

• Denmark
• France
• Japan
• Kazakhstan
• Norway
• Slovakia

Group B

The tournament was to be held in Asiago, Italy, from April 18 to 25, 2021.

• Austria
• Hungary
• Italy
• Poland
• Slovenia
• Ukraine

Division II

Group A

The tournament was to be held in Tallinn, Estonia, from April 4 to 10, 2021.

• Great Britain
• Estonia
• Lithuania
• Romania
• Serbia
• South Korea

Group B

The tournament was to be held in Sofia, Bulgaria, from March 21 to 27, 2021,

• Australia
• Bulgaria
• China
• Croatia
• Netherlands
• Spain

Division III

Group A

The tournament was to be held in Istanbul, Turkey, from March 29 to April 4, 2021.

• Belgium
• Chinese Taipei
• Iceland
• Israel
• Mexico
• Turkey

Group B

The tournament was to be held in Kockelscheuer, Luxembourg, from March 28 to April 3, 2021.

• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Hong Kong
• Kyrgyzstan
• Luxembourg
• New Zealand
• South Africa