The IIHF World U20 Championships are an annual tournament for national under-20 ice hockey teams from around the world. Canada is the defending champion of the tournament, after defeating Russia to win the 2020 edition in the Czech Republic. The tournament has been dominated by the teams from Soviet UnionCISRussia and Canada, together accounting for 31 of the 44 overall gold medals awarded. Canada announced in January 2019 that it would also host the event in 2024.
About IIHF World U20 Championship in brief
The IIHF World U20 Championships are an annual tournament for national under-20 ice hockey teams from around the world. The main tournament features the top ten ranked hockey nations in the world, comprising the ‘Top Division’, from which a world champion is crowned. There are also three lower pools—Divisions I, II and III—that each play separate tournaments playing for the right to be promoted to a higher pool, or face relegation to a lower pool. Canada is the defending champion of the tournament, after defeating Russia to win the 2020 edition in the Czech Republic. The tournament has been dominated by the teams from Soviet UnionCISRussia and Canada, together accounting for 31 of the 44 overall gold medals awarded. Canada leads the all-time gold medal count with 18 golds, while the Soviet Union, the CIS and Russia combined have 13 golds. Canada has and will continue to host the tournament every second or third year due to the significantly greater following the tournament has in Canada compared to other participating countries.
The first official tournament was held in 1977, although the first three tournaments from 1974 to 1976 were held unofficially. Sweden and Canada swapped between Canada and Sweden between 2022 and 2024. These countries no longer compete at the World Hockey Championships due to CO-19 pandemic. Canada announced in January 2019 that it would also host the event in 2024, though the events have now been swapped between 2026, 2031 and 2031, though Canada will still host in 2022 and 2022. The event is one of the most prestigious stages for young hockey players, able to significantly boost a player’s value for upcoming NHL Entry Drafts. In recent years, nearly half of the tournaments have been held in Canadian cities, with the remainder being held in Europe and the United States.
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This page is based on the article IIHF World U20 Championship published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 30, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
