The 2010 IIHF World U20 Championship, commonly referred to as the 2010 World Junior Hockey Championships, was the 34th edition of Ice Hockey World Junior Championship. The tournament was hosted by Saskatoon and Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, from December 26, 2009, to January 5, 2010. Saskatoon had hosted the tournament once before, in 1991. The medal round, as well as all Canada's preliminary round games, took place in Saskatoon at the Credit Union Centre. The arena underwent renovations and upgrades before the 2010 tournament, including an increase in capacity. Other games were played at the Brandt Centre in Regina, which also received upgrades. In addition, pre-tournament exhibition games were held in other towns and cities throughout the province as well as Calgary, Alberta. In the gold medal match, the United States defeated the pre-tournament favourites and host country Canada 6–5 in overtime on a goal by John Carlson to win their second gold medal and first since 2004, ending Canada's bid for a record-breaking sixth consecutive gold medal.
Other host candidates
Initially, Switzerland was chosen to host the tournament, but later withdrew. Three bid groups submitted letters of intent to host the 2010 tournament prior to the February 1, 2008, deadline:
All three bid groups formally placed their bids before the April 1, 2008, deadline and made their final presentations to the selection committee in Toronto on June 9–10, 2008. On July 7, 2008, Hockey Canada and the Canadian Hockey League announced Saskatoon and Regina have been chosen to host the tournament. This was Saskatchewan's first successful bid in five recent attempts, after failing to land the 1999, 2003, 2006 and 2009 tournaments.
Venues
Top division
The lowest-ranked teams in the top division are relegated to Division I for the following year's tournament.
Rosters
Preliminary round
Ten teams were divided into two groups of five, each of which play in a single round-robin format. The winner of each group proceeded directly to the tournament semifinals, with the second- and third-place finishers advancing to the quarterfinals. The remaining four teams participated in the relegation round to determine which teams will be relegated to Division I the following year.
Group A
All times local
Group B
Team
GP
W
OTW
OTL
L
GF
GA
Pts
Advance to...
4
4
0
0
0
28
6
12
Semifinals
4
3
0
0
1
14
8
9
Quarterfinals
4
2
0
0
2
15
13
6
Quarterfinals
4
1
0
0
3
13
20
3
Relegation round
4
0
0
0
4
7
30
0
Relegation round
All times local
Relegation round
Results from any games that were played during the preliminary round were carried forward to the relegation round.
The following teams took part in the Division I tournament. Group A played in Megève and Saint-Gervais, France, between December 14 and December 20, 2009. Group B played in Gdańsk, Poland, between December 14 and December 20, 2009:
