The 2017 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships was the 41st edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship (WJC or WM20).^[1][2] The main tournament was co-hosted by the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec and Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario.^[3][4] This was the 14th championship that Canada had hosted. Montreal and Toronto also jointly hosted the 2015 edition.^[5] The tournament consisted of 30 games between 10 nations.^[6]

Quick Facts Tournament details, Host country ...

2017 IIHF World Junior Championship

Tournament details
Host country	Canada
City	Montreal, Toronto
Venue(s)	Bell Centre Air Canada Centre (in 2 host cities)
Dates	December 26, 2016 – January 5, 2017
Teams	10
Final positions
Champions	United States (4th title)
Runner-up	Canada
Third place	Russia
Fourth place	Sweden
Tournament statistics
Games played	30
Goals scored	183 (6.1 per game)
Attendance	257,882 (8,596 per game)
Scoring leader(s)	Kirill Kaprizov (12 points)
MVP	Thomas Chabot
Website	worldjunior2017.com
← 2016 2018 →

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Group A preliminary games, as well as the medal rounds, were hosted by the Bell Centre in Montreal. The Air Canada Centre in Toronto hosted preliminaries in Group B, including the host country of Canada.^[7] The tournament also initiated several year-long celebrations, the 375th anniversary of Montreal's founding; the 100th anniversary of the National Hockey League's founding in Montreal;^[8] the 100th anniversary of Hockey Canada's origins; the 50th anniversary of Montreal's Expo 67; the 150th anniversary of Canadian confederation; and the 100th anniversary of the Toronto Maple Leafs.^[9] The Maple Leafs had planned to make the WJHC the centrepiece of their 100th-anniversary celebrations.^[10]

The event was organized by Hockey Canada, Hockey Québec, Ontario Hockey Federation, Montreal Canadiens, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment and Evenko.^[6] Montreal and Quebec provided C$1 million and C$2 million in funding, respectively, for both the 2015 and 2017 editions.

For the first time in the history of the event, the defending champion (Finland) had to compete in the relegation round. Latvia was relegated to Division I-A for 2018 by merit of their tenth-place finish.

A player was eligible to play in the 2017 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships if:^[11]

• the player was of male gender;
• the player was born at the earliest in 1997, and at the latest, in 2002;
• the player was a citizen in the country he represented;
• the player was under the jurisdiction of a national association that was 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.^[12]

The Division III tournament was held in Dunedin, New Zealand, from January 16 to 22, 2017.^[25][26] Turkey defeated China in the Gold medal game to achieve promotion to Division II. Chinese Taipei returned to play for the first time since 2011, losing all but their final game.

Playoffs

	Semifinals					Final
	B1	Turkey	3
	A2	Iceland	2
						B1	Turkey	2
						A1	China	1
	A1	China	11
	B2	New Zealand	2			3rd place match
						A2	Iceland	10
						B2	New Zealand	0

	5th–8th place semifinals					5th place match
	A3	Israel	9
	B4	South Africa	0
						A3	Israel	3
						B3	Bulgaria	2
	B3	Bulgaria	6
	A4	Chinese Taipei	1			7th place match
						B4	South Africa	1
						A4	Chinese Taipei	7

Final standings

More information Rank, Team ...

Rank	Team	Result
	Turkey	Promoted to the 2018 Division II B
	China
	Iceland
4	New Zealand
5	Israel
6	Bulgaria
7	Chinese Taipei	Relegated to the 2018 Division III Qualification
8	South Africa

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• 2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championship when Toronto & Montreal co-hosted
• 2012 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships when Calgary & Edmonton co-hosted
• 2010 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships when Saskatoon & Regina co-hosted
• 2009 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships when Ottawa hosted