The 2019 IIHF World Junior Champions begin on December 26, 2018 and will conclude with the gold medal game, to be played on January 5, 2019. The event, hosted by Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia, brings together ten teams from around the world to showcase the best under-20 prospects.
The format of the event is as follows: two five team groups will play a round robin format. The top four teams from each group will then advance to a three round, single-elimination playoff. Countries involved this year are as follows:
Group A
- Canada
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Russia
- Switzerland
Group B
- Kazakhstan
- Finland
- Slovakia
- Sweden
The Canadians are the defending champions, with Sweden last year’s runners up and the Americans finishing third in 2018.