The 2020 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (2020 WJHC) was the 44th edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship, held from 26 December 2019 to 5 January 2020. Canada defeated Russia 4âÂÂ3 to win the gold medal and their 18th world junior hockey championship. This marks the fourth time that the Czech Republic hosted the WJHC.
On 16 April 2018, it was announced that Ostrava and TÃ Âinec, in the Moravian-Silesian Region would host the tournament. This was the second time Ostrava had been selected to host the competition. The city had also twice co-hosted the senior Ice Hockey World Championships (in 2004 and 2015).
The following officials were assigned by the International Ice Hockey Federation to officiate the 2020 World Junior Championships.
Referees
Linesmen
Seeds the preliminary round were based on the 2019 tournament's final standings using the serpentine system. On 6 January 2019, the IIHF announced the groups, with Germany being promoted from Division I A, after having won the 2019 Division I A Tournament.
Note: was relegated to the 2022 Division I A
Winning teams were reseeded for the semi-finals in accordance with the following ranking, this was a change the IIHF implemented during their 2019 annual congress. To determine this ranking, the following criteria were used in the order presented:
<small>GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/â = PlusâÂÂminus; PIM = Penalties In Minutes<br>Source: IIHF</small>
(minimum 40% team's total ice time)
<small>TOI = Time on ice (minutes:seconds); GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; SA = Shots against; Sv% = Save percentage; SO = Shutouts<br>Source: IIHF</small>
<small>Source: IIHF</small>
<small>Source: IIHF</small>
The Division I Group A tournament was played in Minsk, Belarus, from 9 to 15 December 2019.
The Division I Group B tournament was played in Kyiv, Ukraine, from 12 to 18 December 2019.
The Division II Group A tournament was played in Vilnius, Lithuania, from 6 to 12 January 2020.
The Division II Group B tournament was played in Gangneung, South Korea, from 27 January to 3 February 2020.
The Division III tournament was played in Sofia, Bulgaria, from 13 to 19 January 2020.