World Junior A Challenge

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World Junior A Challenge
Most recent season or competition:
2025 World Junior A Challenge
File:World Jr A Logo.png
SportIce hockey
First season2006
Most recent
champion		File:Flag of the United States.svg United States
Most titlesFile:Flag of the United States.svg United States (11)
BroadcasterTSN
SponsorsHockey Canada
Canadian Junior Hockey League
International Ice Hockey Federation
Related
competitions		CJHL Prospects Game
Royal Bank Cup
World U-17 Hockey Challenge
Official websiteWorld Junior A Challenge

The World Junior A Challenge (WJAC) is an annual under-20 international ice hockey tournament sponsored by Hockey Canada, the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL), and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). The tournament showcases Junior A level players and is modeled after the IIHF World U20 Championships, which displays the best of all junior-aged hockey players. It has been hosted by Canadian cities every year in CJAHL markets.

The tournament has seen teams from Canada, the United States, Russia, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Sweden, Belarus, Denmark, Slovakia, Germany, and Latvia. Canada is represented by two regional squads; Canada West consists of players from the British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Superior International Junior Hockey Leagues, while Canada East features players from the Northern Ontario, Ontario, Central, Quebec, and Maritime Junior Hockey Leagues. American players are chosen from the United States Hockey League. Canada West captured the first two gold medals in tournament history, while the United States won the next three. Also, Russia, who has been with the tournament since the beginning, generally sends their Under-18 Team in place of a general select squad.[1][2][3]

History

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Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Canada West's Justin Gvora with the first ever awarded WJAC Championship Trophy and Medallion (2006)

The tournament was created in 2006 through a proposal by the Canadian Junior A Hockey League (CJHL prior to 2008) to Hockey Canada. The idea behind the tournament was to showcase players from Canadian Junior "A" to Canadian Hockey League, National Collegiate Athletic Association, and National Hockey League scouts, while also exposing them to an international level and style of play.

The inaugural 2006 tournament was hosted in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, and featured six teams – Canada West, Canada East, Russia, Slovakia, Germany and Belarus. Both Canadian teams met in the final with Canada West defeating Slovakia 7-1 and Canada East defeating Russia 5–1 in their respective semifinals. Led by Kyle Turris, Canada West ran up a 4-0 tally against Canada East early in the game and held on for a 4–3 victory to win the first-ever WJAC championship.

The 2007 tournament was held in Trail, British Columbia. The United States joined the tournament for the first time, replacing Slovakia.[4] For the second straight year, Canada West defeated the East in the final.

Beginning in 2008, the United States began a string of dominance at the tournament. They defeated Canada West in the 2008 (Camrose, Alberta) and 2009 (Summerside, Prince Edward Island) finals before winning their third consecutive title against Canada East in 2010 (Penticton, British Columbia). The 2009 tournament featured newcomers Sweden, who sent a team in place of Germany. That year also marked the first time in tournament history that Canada East failed to medal. At the 2010 WJAC, Switzerland competed in place of Belarus.

The 2013 tournament was won by the United States, 4–1, over Russia. This instance marked the first time in tournament history that both Canada East and Canada West were shut out of the gold medal game.

In 2014, the tournament started being played in December as opposed to it usually taking place in early November. The 2014 tournament marked the first time in tournament history that neither Canadian team earned a medal, with Canada East losing the bronze to Russia.

In 2025, the tournament will be hosted in Trois-Rivières, the first time in the province of Quebec.[5]

Champions

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Year 1st place, gold medalist(s) Gold 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Silver 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Bronze MVP Host city (cities)
2006 Canada Canada West Canada Canada East Error creating thumbnail: Russia Canada West (Kyle Turris) Yorkton, Humboldt & Canora, Saskatchewan[6]
2007 Canada Canada West Canada Canada East United States United States Canada West (Mike Connolly) Trail & Nelson, British Columbia[7]
2008 United States United States Canada Canada West Canada Canada East United States (Mike Cichy) Camrose, Alberta[8]
2009 United States United States Canada Canada West Error creating thumbnail: Russia Canada West (Sean Bonar) Summerside, Prince Edward Island[9]
2010 United States United States Canada Canada East Switzerland Switzerland United States (Scott Mayfield) Penticton, British Columbia [10]
2011 Canada Canada West Canada Canada East United States United States Canada East (Devin Shore) Langley, British Columbia[11]
2012 United States United States Canada Canada West Switzerland Switzerland United States (Vincent Hinostroza) Yarmouth, Nova Scotia[12]
2013 File:Flag of the United States.svg United States Error creating thumbnail:  Russia Canada Canada West United States (Nick Schmaltz) Yarmouth & Liverpool, Nova Scotia[13]
2014 File:Flag of the United States.svg United States File:Flag of Denmark.svg Denmark Error creating thumbnail:  Russia Denmark (Nikolaj Ehlers) Kindersley, Saskatchewan[14]
2015 Canada Canada West Error creating thumbnail:  Russia File:Flag of the United States.svg United States Canada West (Tyson Jost) Cobourg & Whitby, Ontario[15]
2016 File:Flag of the United States.svg United States Canada Canada East Error creating thumbnail:  Russia Error creating thumbnail: (Andrei Svechnikov) Bonnyville, Alberta[16]
2017 Canada Canada West File:Flag of the United States.svg United States File:Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Czech Republic Canada West (Zach Rose) Halifax, Nova Scotia
2018 File:Flag of the United States.svg United States Error creating thumbnail: Russia Canada Canada West United States (Bobby Brink) Bonnyville, Alberta[17]
2019 Error creating thumbnail: Russia Canada Canada East File:Flag of the United States.svg United States Canada East (Devon Levi) Dawson Creek, British Columbia[18]
2020 Tournament cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic. [19] Cornwall, Ontario[20]
2021 Tournament cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic. [21] Cornwall, Ontario[22]
2022 File:Flag of the United States.svg United States Canada Canada East File:Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden United States (Cole Knuble) Cornwall, Ontario[23]
2023 Canada Canada West Canada Canada East File:Flag of the United States.svg United States Canada East (Trevor Hoskin) Truro, Nova Scotia[24]
2024 File:Flag of the United States.svg United States File:Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden Canada Canada West Camrose, Alberta[25]
2025 File:Flag of the United States.svg United States Canada Canada West File:Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden Trois-Rivières, Quebec[26][5]

All-time team records

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Current as of 2023 Tournament [27]

Team GP W OTW OTL L GF GA Medals
File:Flag of the United States.svg United States 74 53 6 4 11 348 167 9 G, 1 S, 5 B
Canada Canada West 75 37 7 6 25 282 214 6 G, 3 S, 2 B
Error creating thumbnail: Russia 63 29 6 4 24 217 194 1 G, 3 S, 4 B
Canada Canada East 75 28 4 7 36 232 280 0 G, 8 S, 1 B
File:Flag of Denmark.svg Denmark 4 3 0 1 0 14 8 0 G, 1 S, 2 B
File:Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland 30 6 3 2 19 91 124 0 G, 0 S, 2 B
File:Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Czech Republic 37 10 3 3 21 88 139 0 G, 0 S, 1 B
File:Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden 24 7 1 3 13 64 88 0 G, 0 S, 1 B
File:Flag of Belarus.svg Belarus 17 3 1 1 12 54 108 0 G, 0 S, 0 B
File:Flag of Slovakia.svg Slovakia 9 2 0 1 6 22 42 0 G, 0 S, 0 B
File:Flag of Germany.svg Germany 12 2 0 0 10 34 62 0 G, 0 S, 0 B
File:Flag of Latvia.svg Latvia 4 0 1 0 3 4 24 0 G, 0 S, 0 B

Participation

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Current as of 2025 Tournament [27]

Country 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Total Appearances First Last
File:Flag of the United States.svg United States 11 1 5 17 17 2007 2025
 Canada West
 Canada East
 Canada Total  		6
0
6 		4
8
12 		3
1
4 		13
9
22 		18 2006 2025
Error creating thumbnail:  Russia 1 3 4 8 14 2006 2019
File:Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden 0 1 2 3 7 2009 2025
File:Flag of Denmark.svg Denmark 0 1 0 1 1 2014 2014
File:Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland 0 0 2 2 7 2010 2017
File:Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Czech Republic 0 0 1 1 8 2011 2019
File:Flag of Slovakia.svg Slovakia 0 0 0 0 2 2006 2023
File:Flag of Belarus.svg Belarus 0 0 0 0 4 2006 2009
File:Flag of Germany.svg Germany 0 0 0 0 3 2006 2008
File:Flag of Latvia.svg Latvia 0 0 0 0 1 2022 2022

See also

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References

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