1996 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships

The 1996 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (1996 WJHC) was the 20th edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship, hosted in Massachusetts, United States. The tournament was won by Canada—defeating Sweden 4–1 in the gold-medal game—earning Canada their fourth straight gold medal and ninth overall, tying the Soviet team's record in both regards.

Attendance was less than spectacular for the championships in the United States. It would be the last time the US would host the tournament until 2005 in Grand Forks.

Among this edition of the tournament's future NHL stars were Milan Hejduk, Miikka Kiprusoff, Chris Drury, Marco Sturm, José Théodore, Mattias Öhlund, Daymond Langkow, Sergei Samsonov and tournament scoring leader Jarome Iginla.

This was the first World Juniors tournament to implement the two groups, round-robin/preliminaries and playoff format. It was also Slovakia's first appearance at the top level in the junior tournament.

Relegation round

Template:Ihj was relegated for the 1997 World Junior Championships.

Scoring leaders

Player	Country	GP	G	A	Pts
Jarome Iginla		6	5	7	12
Florian Keller		6	4	8	12
Marco Sturm		6	4	6	10
Miika Elomo		6	4	5	9
Johan Davidsson		7	3	6	9
Ruslan Shafikov		7	1	8	9
Alexei Morozov		7	5	3	8
Juho Jokinen		6	3	5	8
Dmitri Nabokov		7	3	5	8
Marcus Nilson		7	3	5	8

Goaltending leaders

(minimum 40% team's total ice time)

Player	Country	MINS	GA	GAA	SO	W	L	T
José Théodore		240	6	1.50	0	4	0	0
Per-Ragnar Bergkvist		240	6	1.50	1	2	1	1
Magnus Wennström		180	7	2.33	0	2	1	1
Alexei Yegorov		358.9	17	2.84	0	3	2	1
Miikka Kiprusoff		159.3	9	3.39	0	1	2	0

Tournament awards

All-star team

• Goaltender:Template:Flagicon José Théodore
• Defencemen:Template:Flagicon Nolan Baumgartner, Template:Flagicon Mattias Öhlund
• Forwards:Template:Flagicon Jarome Iginla, Template:Flagicon Johan Davidsson, Template:Flagicon Alexei Morozov

IIHF best player awards

• Goaltender:Template:Flagicon José Théodore
• Defenceman:Template:Flagicon Mattias Öhlund
• Forward:Template:Flagicon Jarome Iginla

Final standings

	Team
	Template:Ihj
	Template:Ihj
	Template:Ihj
4th	Template:Ihj
5th	Template:Ihj
6th	Template:Ihj
7th	Template:Ihj
8th	Template:Ihj
9th	Template:Ihj
10th	Template:Ihj

Pool B

The second tier was held in Sosnowiec and Tychy, Poland, from December 28 to January 4. Two groups of four played round robins, and then the top three played each of the top three teams from the other group. All scores carried forward except the results against the lone eliminated team from each group.

Preliminary round

Group A

Group B

Final Round

Template:Ihj was promoted to Pool A for 1997.

Relegation Round

Template:IceHockeybox Template:IceHockeybox Template:Ihj was relegated to Pool C for 1997.

Pool C

Played in Jesenice, Bled, and Kranj, Slovenia, from December 30 to January 3.

Preliminary round

Group A

Group B

Placement Games

• 7th place:Template:Ihj 4 – 1 Template:Ihj
• 5th place:Template:Ihj 3 – 2 Template:Ihj
• 3rd place:Template:Ihj 5 – 4 Template:Ihj
• 1st Place:Template:Ihj 6 – 5 Template:Ihj

Template:Ihj was promoted to Pool B, and Template:Ihj was relegated to Pool D for 1997.

Pool D

Played in Tallinn, Estonia, from December 31 to January 4.

Preliminary round

Group A

Group B

Placement Games

• 5th place:Template:Ihj 10 – 1 Template:Ihj
• 3rd place:Template:Ihj 5 – 4 Template:Ihj
• 1st Place:Template:Ihj 2 – 0 Template:Ihj

Template:Ihj was promoted to Pool C for 1997.