The 1978 IIHF European U18 Championship was the eleventh playing of the

IIHF European Junior Championships 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.Dupalcey page 528 The tournament was play ...

. 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.France-Italy final
/ref> As great as that was, it still did not compare to the drama that

Alpo Suhonen Alpo Suhonen (born 17 June 1948) is a Finnish former ice hockey coach. He and Ivan Hlinka of the Pittsburgh Penguins were the first European-born NHL head coaches in 52 years. Coaching career Suhonen worked for the Finnish ice hockey federati ...

's Finnish team provided in winning Group A. Coming into the final game on January 2 in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, both

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

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.Duplacey, 473" 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." 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 Jari Pekka Kurri (; born May 18, 1960) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey winger and a five-time Stanley Cup champion. In 2001, he became the first Finnish player to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. In 2017 Kurri was named one ...

scored on Dmitri Saprykhin to make the hosts victorious. An interesting side note to the Finnish triumph was that they played without their top defenceman,

Reijo Ruotsalainen Reijo Ruotsalainen (born April 1, 1960) is a Finnish former ice hockey defenceman. He was twice named Finland's top defenceman, and won two Stanley Cups with the Edmonton Oilers, in 1987 and 1990. Playing career Ruotsalainen started his career ...

because he was chosen to play in the World Juniors, which were unfortunately played at the same time in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Group A

Played in

and

Vantaa Vantaa (; sv, Vanda, ) is a city and Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. It is part of the inner core of the Greater Helsinki, Finnish Capital Region along with Helsinki, Espoo, and Kauniainen. With a population of (), Vantaa i ...

from December 27, 1977, to January 2, 1978.

First round

;Group 1 ;Group 2

Final round

;Championship round

Final Game Summary

;Placing round ''

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

was relegated to Group B for 1979.''

Tournament Awards

*Top Scorer: Henri Loher (15 Points) *Top Goalie: Jari Paavola *Top Defenceman:

Yevgeni Popikhin Yevgeni, Yevgeny, Yevgenii or Yevgeniy (russian: Евгений), also transliterated as Evgeni, Evgeny, Evgenii or Evgeniy, is the Russian form of the masculine given name Eugene. People with the name include: :''Note: Occasionally, a person may b ...

*Top Forward:

Group B

Played from March 1–5, 1978.

First round

;Group 1 Played in

Den Bosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. ;Group 2 Played in Deurne,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Placing round

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

was promoted to Group A, and

was relegated to Group C, for 1979.''

Group C

Played in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

from January 20–26, 1979. ''

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

was promoted to Group B for 1979.''

References

Complete results
* {{IIHF European Junior Championships

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IIHF European Junior Championship tournament International ice hockey competitions hosted by Finland International ice hockey competitions hosted by the Netherlands

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Sport in Vantaa International sports competitions in Helsinki 1970s in Helsinki December 1977 sports events in Europe January 1978 sports events in Europe Sports competitions in Sofia 1970s in Sofia March 1978 sports events in Europe