WJC #21—1997, hosted by Switzerland (Geneva, Morges)

Canada won an unprecedented fifth consecutive gold medal, and they did so with an undefeated record of five wins and two ties. The first tie came against the Americans in the round robin. The U.S. took a stunning 4-3 lead late in the game, but Canada tied it with just over three minutes remaining. The other tie came against the Czechs, who scored a short-handed goal with only ten seconds remaining to make it a 3-3 score. In the semi-finals, Canada needed two goals in the third to overcome the Russians, and in the finals, Canada blanked the Americans, 2-0. This silver medal for the USA came just a few months after the senior team defeated Canada in the 1996 World Cup. It marked the best finish ever for the team in World Junior play, and it was a sign of things to come. The Poles, meanwhile, lost all six games, were demoted, and have yet to earn promotion back to the top after 30 years. Russia beat the Czechs for bronze while the Swedes had their worst tournament ever, finishing 8th. Slovakia had played U20 C Pool in 1994, B Pool in 1995, and A Pool in 1996, and the emerging independent nation finished a solid 6th.

WJC #22—1998, hosted by Finland (Helsinki, Hämeenlinna)

Finland became only the second European nation to win gold on home ice, and the first since the Soviets won in Leningrad in 1983. This was their second U20 gold and first by way of winning the gold-medal game. And it came in dramatic fashion. They scored early in the third to tie the game, 1-1, with Russia, and then at 13:41 of overtime Niklas Hagman scored the golden goal for the hosts before 13,550 fans at Hartwall Arena. Equally dramatic, the Swiss won their first ever World Junior medal when Sandro Rizzo scored the shootout winner against the Czechs in the bronze-medal game. Canada, meanwhile, suffered its worst finish ever. After being eliminated in the quarter-finals in OT to Russia, they lost to the U.S. in one placement game and then were embarrassed by Kazakhstan, 6-3, finishing 8th. Olli Jokinen (FIN) and Jeff Farkas (USA) led the tournament in scoring with ten points. Incredibly, nine of the 34 game scores were by shutout. 

WJC #23—1999, hosted by Canada (Brandon, Winnipeg, Selkirk, Prairie, Teulon, Morden)

Canada bounced back after a dismal 1998, Russia continued to play well, and Slovakia made history with their first World Junior medal. And Manitoba, which hosted the tournament for the first time, set a U20 record by attracting 173,453 fans. Canada and Russia got to the gold-medal game in different ways, the former winning easily in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, the latter ekeing out two, one-goal wins. But in the finals, played at the venerable Winnipeg Arena, Artem Chubvarov scored at 5:13 of overtime to give Russia the gold. Slovakia’s goalie Jan Lasak became an adopted son of Canadian fans for his incredible play and led his team to the bronze medal in a wildly entertaining game with Sweden. Slovakia led 2-0 and trailed 3-2 before reeling off three goals to take control of a game they won, 5-4. 

WJC #24—2000, hosted by Sweden (Skellefteå, Umeå)

The Czechs, who had been dominating international hockey at the senior level, finally won gold at the World Juniors, their first ever. While the senior team had won Olympic gold in 1998, and followed with three gold in a row at the World Championship (1999-2001), this win for the juniors was special. As in Nagano, it was a 1-0 win over Russia, but this win in Skelleftea, Sweden, came in a shootout after 20 minutes of goalless overtime. Milan Kraft was the hero at one end while goalie Zdenek Smid was stellar in goal for the Czechs. The bronze-medal game also went to a shootout, Brandon Reid scoring the winner for Canada in a 4-3 win over the United States. A new format also saw the relegated team decided by a best-of-two series in which Slovakia won in the tie-breaking overtime of the second game to send Ukraine down. Sweden finished fifth, despite the presence of the Sedin twins, Daniel and Henrik, Niklas Kronwall, and Henrik Zetterberg.

WJC #25—2001, hosted by Russia (Moscow, Podolsk)

Moscow hosted the 25th World Juniors, but the hosts bowed out in the quarter-finals after a 3-2 loss to Sweden. The Czechs and Canada replicated the 2000 tournament by winning medals, albeit against different opponents. The Czechs won their second gold in a row with a 2-1 win over Finland, while Canada placed third again after a Raffi Torres goal in OT gave them a 2-1 win over Sweden. The Czechs opened a 2-0 lead over Finland early in the second, and although Jani Rita got one back before the end of the period, the Czechs played flawless defence in the third to win. Forward Pavel Brendl led the tournament with ten points, and the Czechs went a perfect 7-0 in the tournament for the first time, four of those wins coming in one-goal games. Goalie Tomas Duba played every minute for the winners, allowing only eight goals and recording three shutouts. In the semi-finals, Zdenek Blatny scored midway through the first, the only goal in a 1-0 Czech win over Sweden. Belarus, which had earned promotion from a year ago, managed to stay up with a 9th-place finish, while Kazakhstan, playing their fourth top level U20 in a row, lost the relegation best-of-two and were demoted for 2002.

Previous articles from the Countdown to 50 series:

• Countdown to 50: Introduction - How the World Juniors Came To Be

• Countdown to 50: Part 1 – Establishing a New World Juniors Tournament

• Countdown to 50: Part 2 - Canada Wins First Gold at World Juniors

• Countdown to 50: Part 3 - Shock, Then the Dawn of a New Era of World Juniors

• Countdown to 50: Part 4 - Canadian Dominance at World Juniors