WJC #6—1982, hosted by USA (Minnesota) and Canada (Ontario, Manitoba)
This year marked a seismic shift in World Junior competition. Canada had been dismayed by the results produced by various junior club teams playing at the tournament, so Hockey Canada created the “Program of Excellence” and got all three junior leagues to buy into the idea that the best juniors from coast to coast should represent the country. The result was a 6-1-0 record and a gold medal. The team included players from the WHL, OHL, QMJHL, and even NCAA. On the final day of play, it was Canada and the Czechs, with gold on the line. The Czechs needed to win, and Canada needed only a tie, so the 3-3 result favoured the Canadians. Jiri Dudachek scored the tying goal with less than three minutes to play, but a bench minor soon after dulled their momentum and Canada held on for the tie. Finland finished ahead of the Soviets for bronze on the strength of an impressive 6-3 win in the medal round, overcoming a 1-0 deficit to score the only four goals of the second period en route to victory. Switzerland, playing for the third time at the U20, lost all seven games and was demoted. They had lost all 18 games so far at the World Juniors.
WJC #7—1983, hosted by Soviet Union (Leningrad)
Although the tournament was still in its infancy, the World Juniors brought the stars out in 1983 like never before—Dominik Hasek, Steve Yzerman, Mario Lemieux, Esa Tikkanen, Raimo Helminen, Ulf Samuelsson, Tom Barrasso, and Uwe Krupp, to name but a few of the game’s future hall of famers and superstars. But playing in Leningrad, it was the Soviets who came out on top with a 7-0 record to win gold, followed by the Czechs and Canadians. The Canada-Czech game on New Year’s Day 1983, was the craziest U20 game ever, ending in the highest tie score in a World Junior game, 7-7. Incredibly, Hasek gave up all seven goals. Teams set a record that stands to this day when they combined for eleven goals in the second period. The Czechs led 1-0, 6-3, and 7-6, but each time Canada had an answer.
WJC #8—1984, hosted by Sweden (Norrköping, Nyköping)
Sweden hosted the 1984 World Juniors, but the hosts didn’t perform as they had hoped and finished a distant fifth with a 3-4 record. Canada fought to a 3-3 tie with the Soviets on the penultimate day, but that wasn’t enough as losses to Finland and Czechoslovakia put them in fourth. On the final day, the Czechs defeated Canada, 6-4, to earn bronze, and Finland came a close second to the Soviets to win silver. The difference was a Soviet 3-1 win midway through the round robin. They took a 3-0 lead and only a late Raimo Helminen goal made the score look closer. Still, it was Finland’s fourth medal in five years at the World Juniors, a clear indication of the improvement in their program.
WJC #9—1985, hosted by Finland (Turku, Helsinki, Vantaa, Espoo)
The final day of the tournament was as thrilling as one could hope for. Three of the four games were absolutely critical. The Czechs and Canada played for gold, but Canada entered the game with the superior goal differential, so they needed only a tie to finish first. The Finns and Soviets played for bronze, but the Soviets needed a win. And, West Germany and Poland, both with zero points through the first six games, played for a spot in next year’s top pool. Again, Germany needed only the tie because of a better goals differential. In the end, Wendel Clark scored with 6:17 remaining to give Canada a 2-2 tie and gold. The Soviets, meanwhile, held off a late charge from Finland to win, 6-5, and take the bronze. And Germany, after falling behind, 3-1, scored two late goals to make it a 3-3 game and demote Poland. It was exactly the kind of final day the tournament was hoping for.
WJC #10—1986, hosted by Canada (Ontario)
The host Canadians and arch-rivals Soviets played on the second-last day of the tournament with gold on the line. Both teams were 5-0, but Canada had the better goal differential and had hammered the Soviets 5-0 the previous year. The Soviet players were promised $700 in spending money if they won, and Canada helped them out by incurring seven of the nine minor penalties in the game. In the end, it was a 4-1 win by the Soviets at a packed Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario. The Americans made some history of their own, winning a bronze medal, their first World Junior medal in ten tournaments. And the Swiss, which had lost all 31 games they had played in U20 history, finally produced a W on the final day, a monumental 7-1 win over West Germany to avoid relegation. Attendance in southern Ontario for the 28 games spread over 17 arenas was a whopping 154,172 nearly double the previous best and an early sign of what this event was capable of doing for the international hockey audience. It would be 13 years, in Winnipeg, before this mark was bettered.
Previous articles from the Countdown to 50 series: