1978 IIHF European U18 Championship

The 1978 IIHF European U18 Championship was the eleventh playing of the IIHF European Junior Championships. This year's tournaments offered spectacular finishes in both Group A and Group B. In Group B's championship game, the Italians led with three minutes to play before the French tied it at two. Overtime was played in two five-minute halves, both teams scored once, and finally team Italy won in a shootout.[1]

As great as that was, it still did not compare to the drama that Alpo Suhonen's Finnish team provided in winning Group A. Coming into the final game on January 2 in Helsinki, both Finland and the USSR had won all four previous games. Additionally, in the games that counted in the round robin final, they had both won by a combined total of eight to three. Coming into their last game, since a tie could not be settled by any rule, they would have to play overtime. It was decided that if there was a tie, they would play one full period, and then the second period (if still needed) would be sudden death.[2]" Tom Ratschunas, writing for "Total Hockey", stated that, "The overtime stage of the game with the Soviets is still the mother of all extended playing time in Finnish hockey."[2] The Finns tied the game at three with just a few minutes left in regulation. Twice they tied it up in the first overtime, the second goal coming with just twenty seconds left. Just one minute and forty-two seconds into the second overtime, Jari Kurri scored on Dmitri Saprykhin to make the hosts victorious.[2] An interesting side note to the Finnish triumph was that they played without their top defenceman, Reijo Ruotsalainen because he was chosen to play in the World Juniors, which were unfortunately played at the same time in Montreal.

Group A

Played in Helsinki and Vantaa, Finland from December 27, 1977, to January 2, 1978.

First round
Group 1
Team FIN SWE SUI NOR GF/GA Points
1.  Finland 2:1 10:7 11:1 23:09 6
2.  Sweden 1:2 7:2 14:0 22:04 4
3.   Switzerland 7:10 2:7 6:5 15:22 2
4.  Norway 1:11 0:14 5:6 06:31 0
Group 2
Team URS TCH POL FRG GF/GA Points
1.  Soviet Union 3:0 8:1 13:1 24:02 6
2.  Czechoslovakia 0:3 8:2 13:1 21:06 4
3.  Poland 1:8 2:8 5:3 08:19 2
4.  West Germany 1:13 1:13 3:5 05:32 0

Final round
Championship round
Team FIN URS SWE TCH GF/GA Points
1.  Finland 6:5 2o.t. (2:1) 6:2 14:08 6
2.  Soviet Union 5:6 2o.t. 5:3 (3:0) 13:09 4
3.  Sweden (1:2) 3:5 4:2 08:09 2
4.  Czechoslovakia 2:6 (0:3) 2:4 04:13 0

Final Game Summary
January 2, 1978Soviet Union 5 – 6 2ot
(2–1, 1–1, 0–1, 2–2, 0–1)		 FinlandIce Hall, Helsinki
Attendance: 7 604
Placing round
Team POL SUI FRG NOR GF/GA Points
1.  Poland 4:3 (5:3) 6:3 15:09 6
2.   Switzerland 3:4 10:7 (6:5) 19:16 4
3.  West Germany (3:5) 7:10 2:1 12:16 2
4.  Norway 3:6 (5:6) 1:2 09:14 0

Norway was relegated to Group B for 1979.

Tournament Awards
  • Top Scorer: Henri Loher (15 Points)
  • Top Goalie: Jari Paavola
  • Top Defenceman:Yevgeni Popikhin
  • Top Forward: Jari Kurri

Group B

Played from March 1–5, 1978.

First round
Group 1

Played in Den Bosch, Netherlands.

Team ITA YUG NED DEN GF/GA Points
1.  Italy 3:2 5:4 6:7 14:13 4
2.  Yugoslavia 2:3 4:2 3:1 09:06 4
3.  Netherlands 4:5 2:4 2:0 08:09 2
4.  Denmark 7:6 1:3 0:2 08:11 2
Group 2

Played in Deurne, Belgium

Team FRA ROM AUT BEL GF/GA Points
1.  France 4:4 6:1 10:1 20:08 5
2.  Romania 4:4 5:5 12:1 21:10 4
3.  Austria 1:6 5:5 16:0 22:11 3
4.  Belgium 1:10 1:12 0:16 02:38 0

Placing round
7th place Denmark  15:2
(5:1, 5:0, 5:1)		  Belgium
5th place Austria  5:3
(0:1, 0:0, 5:2)		  Netherlands
3rd place Romania  7:5 o.t.
(1:2, 3:2, 1:1, 2:0)		  Yugoslavia
Final Italy  4:3 s.o.
(0:0, 2:1, 0:1, 1:1, 1:0)		  France

Italy was promoted to Group A, and Belgium was relegated to Group C, for 1979.

Group C

Played in Sofia Bulgaria from January 20–26, 1979.

Team HUN BUL ESP GF/GA Points
1.  Hungary 2:2
6:5		 8:1
5:5		 21:13 6:2
2.  Bulgaria 2:2
5:6		 9:2
1:3		 17:13 3:5
3.  Spain 1:8
5:5		 2:9
3:1		 11:23 3:5

Hungary was promoted to Group B for 1979.

References
  1. France-Italy final
  2. Duplacey, 473
  • Complete results
  • Duplacey, James (1998). Total Hockey: The official encyclopedia of the National Hockey League. Total Sports. pp. 530–2. ISBN 0-8362-7114-9.
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