The 1996 IIHF European U18 Championship was the twenty-ninth 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 ...

Group A

Played April 7 to the 14th, in

Ufa Ufa ( ba, Өфө , Öfö; russian: Уфа́, r=Ufá, p=ʊˈfa) is the largest city and capital of Bashkortostan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Belaya and Ufa rivers, in the centre-north of Bashkortostan, on hills forming the ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

First round

Because of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

's success in the previous year, the draw for this year's championship guaranteed a final four berth for either Germany, Switzerland or Belarus. Group 1 was made up of the teams that finished 1st, 4th, 5th, and the newly promoted country, Group 2 contained 2nd, 3rd, 6th, and 7th. Unfortunately, this meant that Slovakia's first time playing at the top level, they would face Finland, Russia, and the Czech Republic, in the first round. The Swiss made the most of their opportunity, becoming just the seventh nation to finish in the top four. ;Group 1 ;Group 2

Final round

On the final day the Russians and the Finns both won to finish tied for first, and since they had tied each other, it came down to goal differential in the final round. Both teams beat the Swedes by three goals, but Russia's seven goal margin against the Swiss clinched the gold. ;Championship round ;Placing round On the final day of competition, Slovakia avenged their surprising loss in 1993, by beating, and in effect relegating, Belarus. ''

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

was relegated to Group B for 1997.''

Tournament Awards

*Top Scorer

Marco Sturm Marco Johann Sturm (born September 8, 1978) is a German professional ice hockey coach and former winger who played in the National Hockey League and Deutsche Eishockey Liga. He is currently the Head Coach of the Ontario Reign. Sturm began his ca ...

(11 points) *Top Goalie:

Adam Svoboda Adam Svoboda (26 January 1978 – 7 May 2019) was a Czech ice hockey goaltender and coach. Club career Svoboda began his professional career with HC Sparta Praha, starting in 25 games for the club throughout the 1996-97 Czech Extraliga season. H ...

*Top Defenceman:

Andrei Zyuzin Andrei Yurievich Zyuzin (russian: Андрей Юрьевич Зюзин; born January 21, 1978) is a Russian former professional ice hockey defenceman. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the San Jose Sharks, Tampa Bay Lightning, New ...

*Top Forward:

Marcus Nilson Marcus Rolf Börje Nilson (born March 1, 1978) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey player, who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Florida Panthers and Calgary Flames. Playing career Nilson was drafted in the first round, ...

Group B

Played from March 23 to the 29th, in

Tychy Tychy (Polish pronunciation: ; german: Tichau; szl, Tychy) is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, approximately south of Katowice. Situated on the southern edge of the Upper Silesian industrial district, the city boders Katowice to the north, ...

and

Sosnowiec Sosnowiec is an industrial city county in the Dąbrowa Basin of southern Poland, in the Silesian Voivodeship, which is also part of the Silesian Metropolis municipal association.—— Located in the eastern part of the Upper Silesian Industria ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

First round

;Group 1 ;Group 2

Final round

;Championship round ;Placing round ''

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

was promoted to Group A and

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

was relegated to Group C, for 1997.''

Group C

Played from March 15 to 19, in

Maribor Maribor ( , , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is also the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, th ...

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

First round

;Group 1 ;Group 2

Placing round

was promoted to Group B and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

was relegated to Group D, for 1997.''

Group D

Played from March 6 to 10 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 ...

First round

;Group 1 ;Group 2 *The Greek team did not have the minimum required number of players, and were disqualified. However, they still played their games against

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

as exhibition matches. They also played an exhibition game against fifth place

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, defeating them seven to five.Greece still plays
/ref>

Placing round

''The

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 ...

was promoted to Group C for 1997.''

References

Complete results
* {{DEFAULTSORT:IIHF European U18 Championship,1996

Junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

International ice hockey competitions hosted by Russia Sport in Ufa

April 1996 sports events in Europe Sosnowiec Sport in Tychy

International ice hockey competitions hosted by Poland March 1996 sports events in Europe Sport in Maribor International ice hockey competitions hosted by Slovenia

International ice hockey competitions hosted by Bulgaria Sports competitions in Sofia 1996 IIHF European U18 Championship