Participating Countries
Sweden, Finland and Canada have participated in all 34 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships as well as the 3 unofficial World Junior Hockey Championships although Canada and Soviet Union nearly were relegated to Pool B (now Division I) as punishment for the Punch-up in Piestany in 1988. USSR/CIS/Russia, Czechoslovakia/Czech-Republic, and the United States have mainly participated at the top level. When Czechoslovakia peacefully split in 1993, the Czech Republic remained in Pool A but Slovakia (Slovak Republic) was placed in Pool C (now Division II). In 1995, Slovakia became a main participant of the World Junior Hockey Championships and won bronze in 1999. Starting with the 1996 tournament, competition was increased from an 8 round robin to the current 10 team format. Since then, Switzerland has been a main participant. West Germany competed frequently from 1977 and since the reunification in 1990 the united Germany has continued that trend. Before the format change in 1996, Austria, Denmark, Norway, Poland and Switzerland made brief appearances. After regaining their independence in the early 1990s, Latvia has made several appearances, along with Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. These teams had to start from the bottom division in the early 1990s. France and Japan have so far made one appearance each at the World Junior Hockey Championships.
Read more about this topic: IIHF World U20 Championship
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