The IIHF European Junior Championships were an annual ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation and held from 1968 to 1998, with an unofficial tournament being held in 1967.[1] The tournament was played as a U19 tournament from 1968 to 1976. In 1977, the IIHF created the IIHF World Junior Championships, and the U19 championships became U18. The tournament was dominated by the Russians (and Soviets), Czechs (and Czechoslovaks), Swedes and Finns, winning all but two of the medals in the 31 years it was held.
| IIHF European Junior Championships | |
|---|---|
| Status | defunct |
| Genre | sports event |
| Date(s) | March–April |
| Frequency | annual |
| Location(s) | various |
| Inaugurated | 1967 |
| Most recent | 1998 |
| Organised by | IIHF |
The U18 Championships remained strong until 1999, when the new IIHF World U18 Championships were introduced, thus rendering the U18 European Championships redundant. Two European Divisions continued until 2000, but were tiered qualifiers, alongside Asian Divisions, with promotion and relegation to the World Group B.
Champions
U19
U18
Medal table
| Country |  Gold
|
 Silver
|
 Bronze
|
Medals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Russia Soviet Union |
1 11 12 |
2 7 9 |
2 5 7 |
5 23 28 |
 Sweden
|
10 | 7 | 9 | 26 |
 Czech Republic Czechoslovakia |
0 5 5 |
0 9 9 |
2 8 10 |
2 22 24 |
 Finland
|
4 | 5 | 4 | 13 |
 Germany
|
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 Switzerland
|
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
European Division I (Qualifier for World Group B)
| Year | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Host |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 |  Latvia
|
 Slovenia
|
 Lithuania
|
 Romania
|
| 2000 |  Kazakhstan
|
 Estonia
|
Slovenia
|
Slovenia
|
Overall participation totals
Over the history of the tournament there were 31 'A', 30 'B', 21 'C', and 4 'D' championships
In 1976 Group 'A' grew from six members to eight.
| Team | Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Austria |
1 | 25 | 3 | — | 29 |
 Belarus |
2 | 3 | 1 | — | 6 |
 Belgium |
– | 1 | 9 | 1 | 11 |
 Bulgaria |
1 | 13 | 8 | 4 | 26 |
 Croatia |
— | – | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| Czech Republic |
6 | — | — | — | 6 |
| Czechoslovakia |
25 | — | — | — | 25 |
 Denmark |
– | 27 | 1 | — | 28 |
 East Germany |
1 | – | 1 | — | 2 |
| Estonia |
— | – | 6 | – | 6 |
| Finland |
31 | — | — | — | 31 |
 France |
5 | 22 | – | — | 27 |
| Germany |
27 | 3 | — | — | 30 |
 Great Britain |
– | 5 | 15 | – | 20 |
 Greece |
— | — | — | 1 | 1 |
 Hungary |
– | 17 | 10 | — | 27 |
 Iceland |
— | — | – | 2 | 2 |
 Israel |
— | – | – | 4 | 4 |
 Italy |
2 | 24 | 1 | — | 25 |
| Kazakhstan |
– | – | – | 1 | 1 |
| Latvia |
– | – | 6 | — | 6 |
 Lithuania |
– | – | 5 | 1 | 6 |
 Luxembourg |
— | — | – | 1 | 1 |
 Netherlands |
1 | 14 | 6 | 3 | 24 |
 Norway |
16 | 13 | – | — | 29 |
 Poland |
18 | 13 | — | — | 31 |
| Romania |
4 | 23 | 2 | – | 29 |
| Russia |
7 | — | — | — | 7 |
 Serbia and Montenegro |
— | — | 1 | 3 | 4 |
 Slovakia |
3 | 1 | 2 | — | 6 |
| Slovenia |
– | 1 | 5 | — | 6 |
| Soviet Union |
24 | – | – | — | 24 |
 Spain |
— | 7 | 10 | 2 | 19 |
| Sweden |
31 | — | — | — | 31 |
| Switzerland |
24 | 5 | – | — | 29 |
 Turkey |
— | — | – | 3 | 3 |
 Ukraine |
2 | 1 | 3 | — | 6 |
 Yugoslavia |
– | 22 | 1 | — | 23 |
- Former nations are italicized and listed separately from nations that continued in their stead.
- In Group A participation totals include withdrawals (or forfeitures) by Bulgaria, Poland and Romania. Likewise Greece's only appearance is listed despite not being official because of forfeit.
References
- ^ Dupalcey page 528
- Year by year complete results with notes and commentary in french at Passionhockey.com
- Duplacey, James (1998). Total Hockey: The official encyclopedia of the National Hockey League (pgs 528-32). Total Sports. ISBN 0-8362-7114-9. Description of tournament and tabled results up to 1997.