2022 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships
The 2022 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships was the 46th edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship, held from 9 to 20 August 2022 at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
The tournament was originally scheduled to be held from 26 December 2021 through 5 January 2022, in Edmonton and Red Deer — the host cities originally awarded the 2022 tournament before it was moved into a "bubble" behind closed doors competition in Edmonton due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the tournament, multiple teams reported COVID-19 outbreaks. Consequently, the IIHF decided on 29 December 2021 to cancel the tournament. In February 2022, it was announced that the tournament would be replayed from scratch at a later date, while all results and statistics from December games would be annulled. The official tournament was, once again, hosted exclusively by the city of Edmonton.
This marked the 17th time that Canada hosted the WJIHC. Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia was suspended from international ice hockey and replaced by Latvia. The country notably achieved its first-ever victory in a preliminary game. In the gold medal game, Canada beat Finland 3–2 in overtime to win its 19th tournament title.
Background
Preparations
On March 14, 2019, it was announced that Gothenburg would be the host city. It was to be the first time that Gothenburg has hosted the tournament, and the seventh time that Sweden had hosted the tournament.On September 17, 2020, the IIHF announced that the 2022 tournament would instead be hosted by Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta as compensation for the 2021 tournament being held behind closed doors exclusively in Edmonton due to the [Impact of the Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports|COVID-19 pandemic on sports|COVID-19 pandemic]. It became the 15th time that Canada has hosted the tournament, the fourth time Edmonton has hosted the tournament, and the second time games have been hosted in Red Deer, following the 1995 edition. Gothenburg was re-assigned the 2024 tournament.
On December 18, 2021, citing the "changing epidemiological situation" involving COVID-19 and Omicron variant, and consultation with the IIHF and Alberta Health Services, Hockey Canada announced that the schedule of pre-tournament games would be reduced, and moved to December 23. Organizers stated that their goal was to hold a "safe and successful event," and that 90% of tickets had been sold. There were no stated plans to reduce spectator capacity.
As a participant in the provincial "Restrictions Exemption Program", Rogers Place could operate at full capacity under Alberta provincial public health orders, but was required to enforce proof of COVID-19 vaccinations. On December 21, as part of public health orders to control Omicron variant, the Alberta government ordered all large venues participating in REP to restrict their capacity to 50% effective December 24. Food and drink consumption was prohibited when seated and during intermissions.
Cancellation and rescheduling of tournament due to COVID-19
Teams were required to quarantine if any one member tested positive for COVID-19, resulting in three games being forfeited by December 29. Citing the health and safety of participants, and that the competitive integrity of the tournament had been compromised by the aforementioned forfeits, the IIHF announced that the remainder of the tournament had been abandoned. However, IIHF president Luc Tardif stated during a press conference that a committee would meet in January to discuss the feasibility of resuming the tournament at a later date, and that "we want to take the next month to think about it and maybe come with a good surprise."On February 17, 2022, Tardif announced that the tournament would be rescheduled to mid-August 2022, following the U18 Hlinka Gretzky Cup. The tournament would be replayed from the beginning, with all results and statistics from the first attempt thrown out. Rosters from the first playing of the tournament were grandfathered. The following month, it was announced that the tournament replay had been scheduled for August 9–20, 2022, and that it would be hosted exclusively by Edmonton for the second year in a row. Those who had purchased tickets for the first running of the 2022 tournament, or the 2021 tournament, were given priority access to tickets. With Edmonton focusing on the rescheduled tournament, the 2022 Hlinka Gretzky Cup was hosted exclusively by Red Deer.
In condemnation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia was suspended from international ice hockey by the IIHF. It was announced that Latvia—who were promoted to the top division for 2023 after finishing second in the Division I-A tournament—would replace Russia for the tournament replay. Division I-A winner Belarus was also banned from international ice hockey for their support of the invasion.
Sponsorship withdrawals and low attendance
Due to the Hockey Canada sexual assault scandal that emerged in June 2022, a number of major entities suspended their sponsorships and support of Hockey Canada, including BDO, Canadian Tire, Imperial Oil, Recipe Unlimited, Scotiabank, Telus, and Tim Hortons. The city of Edmonton withdrew their marketing for the tournament. Sportsnet writer Paul D. Grant suggested that sponsors may had also been given the option to receive refunds on sponsorship purchases they had made for the December 2021 running of the tournament after it was cancelled. Besides a placement for IIHF global sponsor Tissot, there were no in-arena sponsor placements during the tournament, with the boards otherwise containing only images of the tournament emblem and ads for the IIHF's official mobile app.On the eve of the tournament, it was also reported that "thousands" of tickets were still unsold, including tickets for games involving Canada—which had typically been a major draw during editions of the tournament hosted by Canada. The summer scheduling of the tournament, high ticket prices, the Hockey Canada scandals, and the removal of Russia, were cited by the press as potential factors. The first day of the tournament saw minuscule crowds, with its first three games having an announced attendance of 430, 376, and 829 respectively. However, this was based on tickets sold, and the actual number of spectators in attendance was believed to be much lower. Canada's games had moderate levels of attendance, ranging from 2,779 for its first preliminary game, to 5,204 for its final preliminary game—a fraction of Rogers Place's hockey capacity of 18,500. The gold medal game had an official attendance of 13,327.
Group A (December 2021)
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Group B (December 2021)
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Top Division
Match officials
The following officials were assigned by the International Ice Hockey Federation to officiate the 2022 World Junior Championships.Referees
- Adam Bloski
- Riku Brander
- Sean Fernandez
- Stephen Hiff
- Robert Hennessey
- Christoffer Holm
- Sirko Hunnius
- Adam Kika
- Joonas Kova
- Kyle Kowalski
- Nick Briganti
- Eric Cattaneo
- Andreas Hofer
- Cody Huseby
- Niko Jusi
- Brett Mackey
- Shawn Oliver
- John Rey
- Josef Špůr
Preliminary round
Seeding
;Group A;Group B
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Group A
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Group B
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Playoff round
Winning teams will be reseeded for the semi-finals in accordance with the following ranking:- higher position in the group
- higher number of points
- better goal difference
- higher number of goals scored for
- better seeding coming into the tournament.
| Rank | Team | Group | |||||
| 1 | A | 1 | 12 | +20 | 27 | 2 | |
| 2 | B | 1 | 12 | +18 | 22 | 1 | |
| 3 | B | 2 | 9 | +8 | 15 | 5 | |
| 4 | A | 2 | 8 | +9 | 22 | 3 | |
| 5 | B | 3 | 6 | –3 | 10 | 6 | |
| 6 | A | 3 | 4 | −6 | 10 | 12 | |
| 7 | A | 4 | 4 | −7 | 11 | 7 | |
| 8 | B | 4 | 3 | −7 | 8 | 9 |
Statistics
Scoring leaders
| Pos | Player | Country | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| 1 | Mason McTavish | 7 | 8 | 9 | 17 | +13 | 2 | |
| 2 | Joakim Kemell | 7 | 4 | 8 | 12 | +4 | 0 | |
| 3 | Olen Zellweger | 7 | 2 | 9 | 11 | +14 | 2 | |
| 4 | Logan Stankoven | 7 | 4 | 6 | 10 | +8 | 2 | |
| 5 | Aatu Räty | 7 | 3 | 7 | 10 | +2 | 2 | |
| 6 | Roby Järventie | 7 | 4 | 5 | 9 | –4 | 4 | |
| 7 | Kent Johnson | 7 | 3 | 6 | 9 | +8 | 2 | |
| 8 | Jan Myšák | 7 | 5 | 3 | 8 | +3 | 0 | |
| 9 | Emil Andrae | 7 | 4 | 4 | 8 | +6 | 6 | |
| 9 | Connor Bedard | 7 | 4 | 4 | 8 | +9 | 2 |
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus–minus; PIM = Penalties In Minutes
Source:
Goaltending leaders
| Pos | Player | Country | TOI | GA | GAA | SA | Sv% | SO |
| 1 | Jesper Wallstedt | 296:49 | 8 | 1.62 | 133 | 93.98 | 0 | |
| 2 | Dylan Garand | 363:20 | 12 | 1.98 | 148 | 92.50 | 0 | |
| 3 | Kaidan Mbereko | 238:19 | 7 | 1.76 | 88 | 92.05 | 0 | |
| 4 | Juha Jatkola | 183:20 | 6 | 1.96 | 72 | 91.67 | 1 | |
| 5 | Bruno Brūveris | 244:15 | 12 | 2.95 | 142 | 91.55 | 0 |
TOI = Time on ice ; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; SA = Shots against; Sv% = Save percentage; SO = Shutouts
Source:
Awards
- Best players selected by the directorate:
- *Best Goaltender: Jesper Wallstedt
- *Best Defenceman: Kasper Puutio
- *Best Forward: Mason McTavish
- Media All-Stars:
- *MVP: Mason McTavish
- *Goaltender: Jesper Wallstedt
- *Defencemen: Olen Zellweger / Emil Andrae
- *Forwards: Mason McTavish / Joakim Kemell / Jan Myšák