The 1998 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (1998 WJHC) were held in Helsinki and Hameenlinna, Finland. The championships began on December 25, 1997 and finished on January 3, 1998. Home team Finland was the winner, defeating Russia 2-1 in the gold medal game, thanks to the goaltending of Mika Noronen and the overtime heroics of Niklas Hagman. Switzerland defeated the Czech Republic 4-3 to capture the bronze medal, their first and only medal in the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.
Also worth noting was that Canada had its five year title streak broken with its worst placing to date (8th). Canada would miss out on gold seven years in a row before beginning their 2005-2009 streak of five straight championships. It was the only tournament from 1993 to 2012 in which Canada failed to medal.
This tournament attracted 139,680 fans to 34 games for an average of 4,108 per game. As of 2013, it was the best-attended World Junior Championship ever held in Europe.
Famous quotes containing the words world, junior and/or ice:
“This world is the will to power—and nothing else! And you yourselves are also this will to power—and nothing else!”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“Never burn bridges. Today’s junior prick, tomorrow’s senior partner.”
—Kevin Wade, U.S. screenwriter, and Mike Nichols. Katharine Parker (Sigourney Weaver)
“A young person is a person with nothing to learn
One who already knows that ice does not chill and fire does not burn . . .
It knows it can spend six hours in the sun on its first
day at the beach without ending up a skinless beet,
And it knows it can walk barefoot through the barn
without running a nail in its feet. . . .
Meanwhile psychologists grow rich
Writing that the young are ones’ should not
undermine the self-confidence of which.”
—Ogden Nash (1902–1971)