The 1982 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (1982 WJHC) was the sixth edition Ice Hockey World Junior Championship and was held from December 22, 1981, until January 2, 1982. The tournament was hosted by the United States in various cities across the state of Minnesota with some games also played in the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario. Canada won their first gold medal at the World Juniors, while Czechoslovakia and Finland won silver and bronze, respectively. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union finished fourth, marking the only time they played an entire World Juniors tournament and failed to win a medal (the USSR was disqualified in 1987). The host United States featuring future hall of famers John Vanbiesbrouck, Chris Chelios, and Phil Housley, finished sixth.

Pool A

The 1982 tournament was a round-robin format, with the top three teams winning gold, silver and bronze medals respectively.

Final standings

was relegated to Pool B for the 1983 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.

Results

Scoring leaders

Tournament awards

Pool B

Pool B was played on March 16–20, in Heerenveen in the Netherlands. Two groups of four played round robins, with placement games pitting the respective finishers against each other. Japan made their debut, replacing absent Poland.

Preliminary round

Group A

Group B

Final round

7th place game

5th place game

3rd place game

1st place game

was promoted to Pool A for the 1983 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.

Scoring leaders