2022 IIHF World U18 Championships

The 2022 IIHF World U18 Championship was the 23rd such event hosted by the International Ice Hockey Federation. Teams participated at several levels of competition. The competition also served as qualifications for the 2023 competition. On 28 February the IIHF "suspended all Russian and Belarusian National Teams and Clubs from participation in every age category and in all IIHF competitions or events until further notice", which resulted in a reformatting of the tournament.^[1] Due to the suspensions there are two open spots in the top division, two teams can be promoted for 2023 and no team will be relegated.^[2] Additionally, all eight teams will qualify for the QF round and will be reseeded according to their tournament ranking.^[2]

2022 IIHF U18 World Championship

Tournament details
Host country	Germany
Venue(s)	2 (in 2 host cities)
Dates	23 April – 1 May
Teams	8
Final positions
Champions	Sweden (2nd title)
Runners-up	United States
Third place	Finland
Fourth place	Czechia
Tournament statistics
Games played	20
Goals scored	167 (8.35 per game)
Attendance	25,047 (1,252 per game)
Scoring leader(s)	Jonathan Lekkerimäki (15 points)
Awards
MVP	Jiří Kulich
Official website
IIHF.com
← 2021 2023 →

Sweden won their second world championship by beating USA in the final with score 6–4. Finland won bronze by beating Czechia in the bronze medal game with score 4–1.

Top Division

The tournament was held from 23 April to 1 May 2022 in Landshut and Kaufbeuren, Germany.^[3][4]

Seeding

Due to the suspension of Russia and Belarus, the groups were reseeded.^[2]

Original Seeding

Group A (Kaufbeuren)  Canada (1)  Finland (4) United States (5)   Switzerland (8)  Latvia (9)

Group B (Landshut)  Russia (2)  Sweden (3)  Belarus (6)  Czechia (7)  Germany (10)

Updated Seeding

Group A (Landshut)  Canada (1) United States (5)  Czechia (7)  Germany (10)

Group B (Kaufbeuren)  Sweden (3)  Finland (4)   Switzerland (8)  Latvia (9)

Preliminary round

All times are local (UTC+2).

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	United States	3	3	0	0	0	24	7	+17	9	Advance to Quarterfinals
2	Czechia	3	1	1	0	1	12	13	−1	5
3	Canada	3	1	0	1	1	16	17	−1	4
4	Germany (H)	3	0	0	0	3	7	22	−15	0

Source: IIHF
(H) Host

23 April 2022 15:30

Czechia

4–2 (1–1, 3–1, 0–0)

Germany

Eisstadion am Gutenbergweg, Landshut Attendance: 2,910

Game reference
	Jan Špunar	Goalies	Simon Wolf	Referees: Cedric Borga Niclas Lundsgaard Linesmen: Sebastian Bedynek Eric Cattaneo
	0–1 06:42 – Kechter (Lutz) Slavíček (Rymon) – 19:25 1–1 1–2 24:44 – Hauf (Elias, Krening) Kulich (Prčík, Šalé) (PP) – 31:01 2–2 Bares (Sale, Petr) (PP) – 36:45 3–2 Kulich (Šalé, Petr) (PP) – 39:30 4–2
	4 min	Penalties	12 min
	56	Shots	21

23 April 2022 19:30

Canada

3–8 (0–2, 3–4, 0–2)

United States

Eisstadion am Gutenbergweg, Landshut Attendance: 2,512

Game reference
	Reid Dyck	Goalies	Trey Augustine	Referees: Richard Magnusson Sakari Suominen Linesmen: Onni Hautamaki Anders Nyqvist
	0–1 04:20 – Howard (Hutson) 0–2 18:52 – Howard (Brindley, Nazar) Wood (Bedard) – 24:42 1–2 Ward (PS) – 25:55 2–2 2–3 29:21 – Cooley (Gauthier) 2–4 30:10 – Lucius (Chesley, Stramel) Bedard (Moldenhauer, Pickering) – 31:43 3–4 3–5 34:33 – Chesley (Howard, Nazar) 3–6 38:37 – Howard (Nazar, Brzustewicz) 3–7 49:15 – Spicer (Kaplan, Chesley) 3–8 50:21 – Howard (Cooley, Powell)
	8 min	Penalties	8 min
	30	Shots	51

---

24 April 2022 15:30

United States

6–2 (0–1, 4–0, 2–1)

Czechia

Eisstadion am Gutenbergweg, Landshut Attendance: 1,012

Game reference
	Tyler Muszelik	Goalies	Michael Schnattinger	Referees: Richard Magnusson Zsombor Palkovi Linesmen: Eric Cattaneo Anders Nyqvist
	0–1 12:01 – Kulich (PS) Howard (Casey, Muszelik) (PP) – 25:35 1–1 Snuggerud (Cooley, Gauthier) – 28:26 2–1 Leonard (Hutson) – 28:56 3–1 McGroarty (Kaplan) – 32:37 4–1 Cooley (Gauthier) – 48:35 5–1 5–2 52:35 – Plos (Hamara) McGroarty (Lucius, Stramel) – 53:29 6–2
	14 min	Penalties	8 min
	39	Shots	37

24 April 2022 19:30

Germany

3–8 (0–2, 2–2, 1–4)

Canada

Eisstadion am Gutenbergweg, Landshut Attendance: 2,075

Game reference
	Philipp Dietl	Goalies	Nolan Lalonde	Referees: Niclas Lundsgaard Sakari Suominen Linesmen: Sebastian Bedynek Davids Rozitis
	0–1 07:16 – Siepmann (Lorenz, Collins) 0–2 07:40 – Goyette (Lorenz, Siepmann) 0–3 24:36 – Bedard (Fantilli, Sova) (PP) 0–4 25:22 – Schuurman (Goyette) Lutz (Oswald, Bettahar) – 31:58 1–4 Kechter (Lutz, Oswald) (PP) – 34:28 2–4 Lutz (Oswald, Bettahar) (PP) – 40:25 3–4 3–5 43:21 – Bedard (PP) 3–6 44:34 – Bedard 3–7 45:39 – Wood (Davies) 3–8 57:28 – Parker (PP)
	39 min	Penalties	31 min
	36	Shots	49

---

26 April 2022 15:30

Canada

5–6 OT (1–1, 2–3, 2–1) (OT: 0–1)

Czechia

Eisstadion am Gutenbergweg, Landshut Attendance: 326

Game reference
	Reid Dyck	Goalies	Jan Špunar	Referees: Zsombor Palkovi Sakari Suominen Linesmen: Onni Huhtamäki Davids Rozitis
	Moldenhauer (Dragicevic, Fantilli) – 01:55 1–0 1–1 05:59 – Bareš (Hamara, Šalé) (PP) 1–2 21:35 – Kulich (Hamara, Šalé) (PP) Fantilli (PP) – 22:38 2–2 2–3 27:29 – Gaspar (PP) Dragicevic (Lorenz, Goyette) – 34:33 3–3 3–4 35:15 – Kulich (Šalé, Šapovaliv) (PP) Delic (Pickering, Hvidston 4–4 5–4 5–5 57:26 – Hamara (Kulich) 5–6 61:50 – Hamara (PP)
	16 min	Penalties	6 min
	24	Shots	52

26 April 2022 19:30

United States

10–2 (3–0, 5–0, 2–2)

Germany

Eisstadion am Gutenbergweg, Landshut Attendance: 1,438

Game reference
	Trey Augustine	Goalies	Simon Wolf Philipp Dietl	Referees: Cedric Borga Richard Magnusson Linesmen: Eric Cattaneo Anders Nyquist
	33 min	Penalties	12 min
	55	Shots	22

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Sweden	3	2	0	0	1	12	8	+4	6[a]	Advance to Quarterfinals
2	Finland	3	2	0	0	1	13	7	+6	6[a]
3	Switzerland	3	1	0	0	2	8	15	−7	3[b]
4	Latvia	3	1	0	0	2	7	10	−3	3[b]

Source: IIHF
Notes:

1. Sweden 4–3 Finland
2. Switzerland 4–3 Latvia

23 April 2022 14:30

Finland

6–2 (1–1, 3–1, 2–0)

Switzerland

Erdgas Schwaben Arena, Kaufbeuren Attendance: 692

Game reference
				Referees: Marc Iwert Peter Schlittenhardt Linesmen: Patrick Laguzov John Waleski
	33 min	Penalties	16 min
	35	Shots	19

23 April 2022 18:30

Latvia

3–2 (1–0, 2–2, 0–0)

Sweden

Erdgas Schwaben Arena, Kaufbeuren Attendance: 854

Game reference
	8 min	Penalties	8 min
	21	Shots	25

---

24 April 2022 14:30

Finland

4–1 (1–1, 2–0, 1–0)

Latvia

Erdgas Schwaben Arena, Kaufbeuren Attendance: 683

Game reference
	4 min	Penalties	6 min
	35	Shots	16

24 April 2022 18:30

Sweden

6–2 (0–0, 1–2, 5–0)

Switzerland

Erdgas Schwaben Arena, Kaufbeuren Attendance: 946

Game reference
	8 min	Penalties	10 min
	40	Shots	27

---

26 April 2022 14:30

Switzerland

4–3 (1–2, 2–1, 1–0)

Latvia

Erdgas Schwaben Arena, Kaufbeuren Attendance: 257

Game reference
	6 min	Penalties	6 min
	26	Shots	23

26 April 2022 18:30

Sweden

4–3 (2–1, 2–1, 0–1)

Finland

Erdgas Schwaben Arena, Kaufbeuren Attendance: 684

Game reference
	6 min	Penalties	8 min
	31	Shots	27

Playoff round

Winning teams will be reseeded in accordance with the following ranking:^[5]

1. higher position in the group
2. higher number of points
3. better goal difference
4. higher number of goals scored for
5. better seeding coming into the tournament (final placement at the 2021 IIHF World U18 Championships).

Rank	Team	Group	Pos	Pts	GD	GF	Seed
1	United States	A	1	9	+17	24	5
2	Sweden	B	1	6	+4	12	3
3	Finland	B	2	6	+6	13	4
4	Czechia	A	2	5	-1	12	7
5	Canada	A	3	4	-1	16	1
6	Switzerland	B	3	3	-7	8	8
7	Latvia	B	4	3	-3	7	9
8	Germany	A	4	0	-15	7	10

Bracket

	Quarterfinals				Semifinals				Gold Medal Game
	28 April – Landshut
	1A United States	13
					30 April – Landshut
	4B  Latvia	3
					1 United States	6
	28 April – Landshut
					4  Czechia	1
	2A  Czechia	8
									1 May – Landshut
	3B   Switzerland	0
									1 United States	4
	28 April – Kaufbeuren
									2  Sweden	6
	1B  Sweden	7
					30 April – Landshut
	4A  Germany	1
					2  Sweden	2
	28 April – Kaufbeuren
					3  Finland	1			Bronze Medal Game
	2B  Finland (OT)	6
									1 May – Landshut
	3A  Canada	5
									3  Finland	4
									4  Czechia	1

Quarterfinals

28 April 2022 14:30

Finland

6–5 OT (2–2, 1–2, 2–1) (OT: 1–0)

Canada

Erdgas Schwaben Arena, Kaufbeuren Attendance: 918

Game reference
	4 min	Penalties	12 min
	35	Shots	29

---

28 April 2022 15:30

Czechia

8–0 (4–0, 3–0, 1–0)

Switzerland

Eisstadion am Gutenbergweg, Landshut Attendance: 505

Game reference
	10 min	Penalties	10 min
	36	Shots	8

---

28 April 2022 18:30

Sweden

7–1 (3–0, 1–1, 3–0)

Germany

Erdgas Schwaben Arena, Kaufbeuren Attendance: 1,703

Game reference
	33 min	Penalties	18 min
	46	Shots	29

---

28 April 2022 19:30

United States

13–3 (6–1, 3–0, 4–2)

Latvia

Eisstadion am Gutenbergweg, Landshut Attendance: 504

Game reference
	6 min	Penalties	2 min
	64	Shots	18

Semifinals

30 April 2022 14:30

United States

6–1 (0–1, 5–0, 1–0)

Czechia

Eisstadion am Gutenbergweg, Landshut Attendance: 1,389

Game reference
	12 min	Penalties	8 min
	38	Shots	27

---

30 April 2022 18:30

Sweden

2–1 (0–0, 1–0, 1–1)

Finland

Eisstadion am Gutenbergweg, Landshut Attendance: 1,430

Game reference
	6 min	Penalties	8 min
	23	Shots	42

Bronze medal game

1 May 2022 14:30

Finland

4–1 (1–1, 1–0, 2–0)

Czechia

Eisstadion am Gutenbergweg, Landshut Attendance: 1,649

Game reference
	2 min	Penalties	4 min
	34	Shots	27

Gold medal game

1 May 2022 18:30

United States

4–6 (2–2, 1–2, 1–2)

Sweden

Eisstadion am Gutenbergweg, Landshut Attendance: 2,560

Game reference
	16 min	Penalties	14 min
	51	Shots	15

Final standings

Pos	Grp	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Final result
1	B	Sweden	6	5	0	0	1	27	14	+13	15	Champions
2	A	United States	6	5	0	0	1	47	17	+30	15	Runners-up
3	B	Finland	6	3	1	0	2	24	15	+9	11	Third place
4	A	Czechia	6	2	1	0	3	22	23	−1	8	Fourth place
5	A	Canada	4	1	0	2	1	21	23	−2	5	Eliminated in Quarter-finals
6	B	Switzerland	4	1	0	0	3	8	23	−15	3
7	B	Latvia	4	1	0	0	3	10	23	−13	3
8	A	Germany (H)	4	0	0	0	4	8	29	−21	0

Source: IIHF
Rules for classification: 1) position in the group; 2) number of points; 3) goal difference; 4) goals scored; 5) seeding before tournament.
(H) Host

Statistics

Scoring leaders

Pos	Player	Country	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
1	Jonathan Lekkerimäki	Sweden	6	5	10	15	+4	4
2	Mattias Hävelid	Sweden	6	4	8	12	+4	0
3	Jiří Kulich	Czech Republic	6	9	2	11	−6	2
4	Isaac Howard	United States	6	6	5	11	+8	2
5	Noah Östlund	Sweden	6	4	6	10	+3	6
6	Logan Cooley	United States	6	3	7	10	+5	4
7	Rutger McGroarty	United States	6	8	1	9	+8	27
8	Cutter Gauthier	United States	6	3	6	9	+3	6
8	Frank Nazar	United States	6	3	6	9	+7	4
8	Liam Öhgren	Sweden	6	3	6	9	+4	2

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus–minus; PIM = Penalties In Minutes
Source: IIHF

Goaltending leaders

(minimum 40% team's total ice time)

Pos	Player	Country	TOI	GA	GAA	SA	Sv%	SO
1	Hugo Hävelid	Sweden	298:28	12	2.41	170	92.94	0
2	Topias Leinonen	Finland	298:32	13	2.61	126	89.68	0
3	Trey Augustine	United States	238:36	11	2.77	93	88.17	0
4	Simon Wolf	Germany	151:35	17	6.73	137	87.59	0
5	Michael Schnattinger	Czech Republic	237:37	15	3.79	118	87.29	1

TOI = Time on ice (minutes:seconds); GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; SA = Shots against; Sv% = Save percentage; SO = Shutouts
Source: IIHF

Division I

Further information: 2022 IIHF World U18 Championship Division I

Group A

The tournament was played in Piešťany, Slovakia, from 11 to 17 April 2022.^[6][7]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion
1	Slovakia (H)	5	5	0	0	0	27	11	+16	15	Promoted to the 2023 Top Division
2	Norway	5	4	0	0	1	26	12	+14	12
3	France	5	3	0	0	2	16	17	−1	9
4	Kazakhstan	5	2	0	0	3	15	23	−8	6
5	Denmark	5	1	0	0	4	14	16	−2	3
6	Japan	5	0	0	0	5	8	27	−19	0

Source: IIHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament.
(H) Host

Group B

The tournament was played in Asiago, Italy, from 25 April to 1 May 2022.^[8][9]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion
1	Hungary	5	5	0	0	0	19	3	+16	15	Promoted to the 2023 Division I A
2	Ukraine	5	4	0	0	1	30	11	+19	12
3	Italy (H)	5	3	0	0	2	15	18	−3	9
4	Slovenia	5	2	0	0	3	12	12	0	6
5	Austria	5	1	0	0	4	11	24	−13	3
6	Poland	5	0	0	0	5	11	30	−19	0

Source: IIHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament.
(H) Host

Division II

Further information: 2022 IIHF World U18 Championship Division II

Group A

The tournament was played in Tallinn, Estonia, from 3 to 9 April 2022.^[10][11]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion
1	South Korea	5	4	0	0	1	33	9	+24	12[a]	Promoted to the 2023 Division I B
2	Estonia (H)	5	4	0	0	1	24	7	+17	12[a]
3	Great Britain	5	3	1	0	1	20	9	+11	11
4	Lithuania	5	2	0	0	3	16	21	−5	6
5	Romania	5	1	0	1	3	6	21	−15	4
6	Serbia	5	0	0	0	5	7	39	−32	0

Source: IIHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament.
(H) Host
Notes:

1. South Korea 2–1 Estonia

Group B

The tournament was played in Sofia, Bulgaria, from 21 to 24 March 2022.^[12][13]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion
1	Croatia	3	3	0	0	0	18	2	+16	9	Promoted to the 2023 Division II A
2	Spain	3	2	0	0	1	9	7	+2	6
3	Netherlands	3	1	0	0	2	10	12	−2	3
4	Bulgaria (H)	3	0	0	0	3	3	19	−16	0
–	China[a]	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Withdrawn
–	Australia[b]	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Source: IIHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament.
(H) Host
Notes:

1. China withdrew their team because of the COVID-19 pandemic.^[14]
2. Australia withdrew their team on 22 January 2022 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.^[15]

Division III

Further information: 2022 IIHF World U18 Championship Division III

Group A

The tournament was played in Istanbul, Turkey, from 11 to 17 April 2022.^[16][17]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion
1	Chinese Taipei	5	4	0	0	1	24	11	+13	12[a]	Promoted to the 2023 Division II B
2	Belgium	5	4	0	0	1	23	8	+15	12[a]
3	Iceland	5	4	0	0	1	18	12	+6	12[a]
4	Israel	5	2	0	0	3	15	19	−4	6
5	Mexico	5	0	1	0	4	8	22	−14	2
6	Turkey (H)	5	0	0	1	4	8	24	−16	1

Source: IIHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament.
(H) Host
Notes:

1. Chinese Taipei 3 Pts, +1 GD; Belgium 3 Pts, 0 GD; Iceland 3 Pts, –1 GD

Group B

The tournament was played in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, from 17 to 22 April 2022.^[18][19]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion
1	Bosnia and Herzegovina (H)	4	4	0	0	0	37	15	+22	12	Promoted to the 2023 Division III A
2	Luxembourg	4	1	0	0	3	20	36	−16	3
3	South Africa	4	1	0	0	3	21	27	−6	3
–	New Zealand[a]	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Withdrawn
–	Hong Kong[b]	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Source: IIHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) result against closest best-ranked team outside tied teams; 6) result against second-best ranked team outside tied teams; 7) seeding before tournament.
(H) Host
Notes:

1. New Zealand withdrew their team because of the COVID-19 pandemic.^[20]
2. Hong Kong withdrew their team because of the COVID-19 pandemic.^[21]