2016 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships

The 2016 World Junior Ice Hockey Championship was the 40th Ice Hockey World Junior Championship. It was hosted in Helsinki, Finland. It began on December 26, 2015, and ended with the gold medal game on January 5, 2016. This marked the sixth time that Finland has hosted the WJC, and the hosts defeated Russia 4–3 in overtime to win their fourth title in history and second in the last three years. Belarus was relegated to Division I-A for 2017 by merit of their tenth-place finish, while Finnish right winger Jesse Puljujärvi earned MVP and top scorer honors.



Player eligibility
A player is eligible to play in the 2016 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships if:
 * the player is of male gender;
 * the player was born at the earliest in 1996, and at the latest, in 2001;
 * the player is a citizen in the country he represents;
 * the player is under the jurisdiction of a national association that is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).

If a player who has never played in IIHF-organized competition wishes to switch national eligibility, he must have played in competitions for two consecutive years in the new country without playing in another country, as well as show his move to the new country's national association with an international transfer card. In case the player has previously played in IIHF-organized competition but wishes to switch national eligibility, he must have played in competitions for four consecutive years in the new country without playing in another country, he must show his move to the new country's national association with an international transfer card, as well as be a citizen of the new country. A player may only switch national eligibility once.

Match officials
The IIHF selected 12 referees and 10 linesmen to officiate during the tournament:

Referees
 * 🇷🇺 Alexei Anisimov
 * Andris Ansons
 * 🇫🇮 Stefan Fonselius
 * 🇨🇦 Brett Iverson
 * 🇸🇰 Daniel Konc
 * 🇸🇪 Mikael Nord
 * 🇨🇿 Vladimir Pešina
 * 🇩🇪 Daniel Piechaczek
 * 🇺🇸 Christopher Pitoscia
 * 🇫🇮 Aleksi Rantala
 * 🇨🇦 Jean-Philippe Sylvain
 * Marc Wiegand

Linesmen
 * 🇨🇦 Nicolas Chartrand-Piché
 * Matjaž Hribar
 * Rene Jensen
 * Roman Kaderli
 * 🇫🇮 Pasi Nieminen
 * 🇺🇸 Brian Oliver
 * 🇷🇺 Alexander Otmakhov
 * 🇸🇪 Henrik Pihlblad
 * 🇫🇮 Hannu Sormunen
 * 🇳🇴 Alexander Waldejer

Format
The four best ranked teams from each group of the preliminary round advance to the quarterfinals, while the last-placed team from both groups play a relegation round in a best-of-three format to determine the relegated team.

Preliminary round
''All times are local. (Eastern European Time – UTC+2)''

Relegation round
Note: was relegated to the 2017 Division I A

Scoring leaders
Source: IIHF

Goaltending leaders
(minimum 40% team's total ice time)

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

Tournament awards
Reference: Most Valuable Player
 * Forward: 🇫🇮 Jesse Puljujärvi

All-star team
 * Goaltender: 🇸🇪 Linus Söderström
 * Defencemen: 🇫🇮 Olli Juolevi, 🇺🇸 Zach Werenski
 * Forwards: 🇫🇮 Jesse Puljujärvi, 🇫🇮 Patrik Laine, 🇺🇸 Auston Matthews

IIHF best player awards
 * Goaltender: 🇸🇪 Linus Söderström
 * Defenceman: 🇺🇸 Zach Werenski
 * Forward: 🇫🇮 Jesse Puljujärvi

Final standings
Note that due to the lack of playoff games for determining the spots 5–8, these spots were determined by the preliminary round records for each team.

Group A
The Division I A tournament was played in Vienna, Austria, from December 13 to 19, 2015.

Group B
The Division I B tournament was played in Megève, France, from December 12 to 18, 2015. Prior to the start of the tournament, Japan withdrew, and was relegated for 2017.

Group A
The Division II A tournament was played in Elektrėnai, Lithuania, from December 13 to 19, 2015.

Group B
The Division II B tournament was played in Novi Sad, Serbia, from January 17 to 23, 2016.

Division III
The Division III tournament was played in Mexico City, Mexico, from January 15 to 24, 2016.