The 2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships was the 39th edition of Ice Hockey World Junior Championship, played from December 26, 2014 to January 5, 2015. It was co-hosted by Toronto, Ontario, and Montreal, Quebec, Canada,2015 Top Division statistics and organized by Hockey Canada, Hockey Quebec, the Ontario Hockey Federation, the Montreal Canadiens, Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment and Evenko."Heading to hockey’s meccas" , IIHF.com. June 20, 2013 Games were split between Air Canada Centre in Toronto and Bell Centre in Montreal, with Montreal hosting Group A matches and two quarter finals, and Toronto hosting Group B, along with the relegation games, two quarter finals, along with the semi-finals, bronze medal, and gold medal games."Montreal and Toronto to host 2015, 2017 world junior championships", Canadian Press, June 20, 2013The Gazette (Montreal), "World Junior Championship is coming to town" , Brenda Branswell, June 20, 2013
After failing to medal at the previous two editions of the tournament, Canada beat Russia in the final to win the gold medal, marking Canada's first medal at the World Juniors since 2012, and Canada's first gold since 2009. Slovakia defeated Sweden in the bronze medal game to win their second-ever medal. Germany finished tenth overall and was relegated to Division I-A for the 2016 tournament. Slovak goaltender Denis Godla was named the tournament's most valuable player, while Sam Reinhart of Canada was the scoring leader with 11 points.
Player eligibility A player is eligible to play in the 2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships if: the player is of male gender; the player was born at the earliest in 1995, and at the latest, in 2000; the player is a citizen in the country he represents; the player is under the jurisdiction of a national association that is 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.
Top Division
Venues Toronto Montreal Air Canada CentreCapacity: 18,800 Bell CentreCapacity: 21,287
Match officials The IIHF selected 12 referees and 10 linesmen to officiate during the tournament:
Referees Vladimír Baluška Lars Bruggemann Roman Gofman Antonin Jeřábek Mikko Kaukokari Geoffrey Miller Linus Öhlund Konstantin Olenin Steve Patafie Pascal St-Jaques Marcus Vinnerborg Tobias Wehrli
Linesmen Jordan Browne Pierre Dehaen Gleb Lazarev Miroslav Lhotský Andreas Malmqvist Bevan Mills Jani Pesonen Nikolaj Ponomarjow Judson Ritter Simon Wust
Format The four best ranked teams from each group of the preliminary round advance to the quarterfinals, while the last placed teams from each group played a relegation round in a best of three format to determine the relegated team.
Rosters
Preliminary round All times are local. (Eastern Standard Time – UTC-5)
Group A
Group B
Relegation round
Note: was relegated to the 2016 Division I A
Playoff round
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Bronze medal game
Final
Statistics
Scoring leaders PosPlayerCountryGPGA Pts+/−PIM 1 Sam Reinhart 7 5 6 11 +13 6 2 Nic Petan 7 4 7 11 +4 0 3 Connor McDavid 7 3 8 11 +8 0 4 Max Domi 7 5 5 10 +10 4 5 William Nylander 7 3 7 10 –2 0 6 Curtis Lazar 7 5 4 9 +8 0 7 Oskar Lindblom 7 4 5 9 –1 0 7 Martin Réway 7 4 5 9 –1 2 9 Adrian Kempe 6 4 4 8 0 2 10 Anthony Duclair 7 4 4 8 +11 16GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus–minus; PIM = Penalties in minutesSource: IIHF.com
Goaltending leaders (minimum 40% team's total ice time)
PosPlayerCountryTOIGAGAASv%SO 1 Zachary Fucale 300:00 6 1.20 93.94 2 2 Igor Shesterkin 242:13 8 1.98 93.80 1 3 Thatcher Demko 241:42 7 1.74 93.75 1 4 Denis Godla 391:35 18 2.76 92.56 1 5 Ville Husso 183:12 7 2.29 92.31 1TOI = Time On Ice (minutes:seconds); GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; Sv% = Save percentage; SO = ShutoutsSource: IIHF.com
Tournament awards Reference: Most Valuable Player Goaltender: Denis Godla
All-star team Goaltender: Denis Godla Defencemen: Gustav Forsling, Josh Morrissey Forwards: Sam Reinhart, Max Domi, Connor McDavid
IIHF best player awards Goaltender: Denis Godla Defenceman: Vladislav Gavrikov Forward: Max Domi
Final standings
RankTeam 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Relegated to the 2016 Division I A
Note that due to the lack of playoff games for determining the spots 5–8, these spots were determined by the preliminary round records for each team.
Division I
Division I A The Division I A tournament was played in Asiago, Italy, from 14 to 20 December 2014.2015 Division I A statistics
Division I B The Division I B tournament was played in Dunaújváros, Hungary, from 14 to 20 December 2014.2015 Division I B statistics
Division II
Division II A The Division II A tournament was played in Tallinn, Estonia, from 7 to 13 December 2014.2015 Division II A statistics
Division II B The Division II B tournament was played in Jaca, Spain, from 13 to 19 December 2014.2015 Division II B statistics
Division III
The Division III tournament was played in Dunedin, New Zealand, from 20 to 25 January 2015.2015 Division III statistics
On December 27, 2014 organizers announced that the Bulgarian Ice Hockey Federation withdrew their U20 team from the tournament.Bulgaria withdraws
References
External links Hockey Canada site Official website of IIHF