Category Archives: IHLC Team Profiles

IHLC Team Profiles – 🇨🇦 Canada (Junior)

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🇨🇦 CANADA (CAN) Men’s Junior National Ice Hockey Team (1973-)
129 wins, 25 reigns, 137 games with IHLC – ranked 1st
current IHLC title holders (since 17 December 2025)

While the first decade of the junior IHLC belonged to the Soviet Union, Canada has emerged as the global leader in junior hockey in the past twenty-five years, with the World Junior Championship becoming something of a national holiday. Canada has captured 20 Gold Medals since 1982 (including five straight on two separate occasions), and sits first all-time in IHLC wins. With emerging nations like Finland, Sweden and their rival United States improving each year, Canada will have to continue to fight to stay atop the World Junior stage, as they look to hold on to #1 atop the rankings.
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IHLC Team Profiles – 🇺🇸 United States (Women’s)

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🇺🇸 UNITED STATES (USA) Women’s National Ice Hockey Team (1987-)
168 wins, 43 reigns, 168 games with IHLC – ranked 2nd
current IHLC title holders (since 13 April 2025)

One of the “big two” of women’s international hockey, the U.S. team was just another punching bag for the dominant Canadian squad, until they stunned Canada (and the world) by winning the first women’s Olympic Gold in 1998. Since then, while the U.S. has failed to win another Olympic Gold, their tilts with Canada have become the stuff of legend, and in recent years the U.S. has become a regular champion at the Women’s World Championship. Since becoming the second ever IHLC winner in 1993, the U.S. trails only Canada in the number of IHLC wins, reigns and days as champion.
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IHLC Team Profiles – 🇳🇴 Norway (Men’s)

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🇳🇴 NORWAY (NOR) Men’s National Ice Hockey Team (1937-)
8 wins, 4 reigns, 11 games with IHLC – ranked 12th
IHLC last held 13 April 2013

Norway, playing international hockey since 1937, first competed for the IHLC at the 1950 World Championship in London, and failed to capture the title until nearly fifty years later, winning the IHLC from Germany in 1996. After a second reign in 1997, the Isbjørnene failed to compete on the top international level throughout the 2000s, only recently reemerging as a contender on the backs of NHL stars lacing up for Norge. Norway has won two more IHLC titles since 2010, competed for the IHLC as recently as the 2018 Olympics, and surely will continue to compete in coming years.
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IHLC Team Profiles – 🇺🇦 Ukraine (Junior)

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🇺🇦 UKRAINE (UKR) Men’s Junior National Ice Hockey Team (1992-)

Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, the Ukrainian junior squad saw some initial success in Division I, qualifying for the Top Division in 1995 and 1996, returning in 2000 and 2004. However, since 2005 Ukraine has been stuck in Division I, even dropping to Division II in 2012, looking to claw their way back to the Top Division.
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IHLC Team Profiles – 🇭🇺 Hungary (Women’s)

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🇭🇺 HUNGARY (HUN) Women’s National Ice Hockey Team (1999-)

First competing nationally in 1999, the Magyars have rocketed up the women’s world rankings in the past two decades, climbing from Division III all the way to the Top Division in 2019, competing for their first IHLC by becoming surprising quarterfinalists at the 2022 Women’s World Championships.

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IHLC Team Profiles – 🇷🇸 Yugoslavia

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🇷🇸 YUGOSLAVIA (YUG) Men’s National Ice Hockey Team (1939-92)

Yugoslavia, by virtue of hosting the 1984 Olympics, played for its only International Hockey Lineal Championship against the Soviet Union, losing 9-1. The Yugoslav squad played in one World Championship and at five Olympics before the team dissolved due to the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1992, continuing on as Serbia & Montenegro until 2006, and the lineage of the Yugoslavia team today continues with the Serbian national team, looking to claw their way back into the top Division for the first time since 1939. Yugoslavia hosted two major tournaments, the 1966 World Championship (in what is now Ljubljana, Slovenia) and the 1984 Olympic Games (in what is now Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina). Continue reading →