1997 IIHF World Junior Championship - Geneva/Morges, Switzerland
Geneva and Morges, Switzerland | Dec. 26-Jan.4
The U.S. National Junior Team reached its first-ever gold-medal game in World Junior Championship play where it fell to Canada, 2-0, to earn the silver medal. Team USA went 4-0-0-1-1 (W-OTW-OTL-L-T) and finished the preliminary round undefeated for the first time in tournament history.
Captained by Marty Reasoner, the U.S. saw its goaltender, Brian Boucher, and forward, Mike York, named to the all-tournament team while Joe Corvo was named best defenseman of the tournament by the directorate. Boucher finished second amongst goaltenders in goals-against-average while York finished as the tournament's leading scorer with 10 points (5-5).
Team USA Results | 4-1-0 (W-L-T)
| DATE | OPPONENT | RESULT |
|---|---|---|
| Dec. 26 | Switzerland | W, 4-0 |
| Dec. 28 | Canada | T, 4-4 |
| Dec. 29 | Czech Republic | W, 2-1 |
| Dec. 31 | Germany | W, 8-0 |
| Jan. 3 | Czech Republic Semifinals |
W, 5-2 |
| Jan. 4 | Canada Gold Medal Game |
L, 0-2 |
Final 1997 IIHF WJC Rankings
| RANK | COUNTRY | RECORD* |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Canada | 4-0-0-0-2 |
| 2. | United States | 4-0-0-1-1 |
| 3. | Russia | 4-0-0-1-1 |
| 4. | Czech Republic | 1-1-0-2-2 |
| 5. | Finland | 4-0-1-1-0 |
| 6. | Slovakia | 2-0-0-4-0 |
| 7. | Switzerland | 4-0-0-2-1 |
| 8. | Sweden | 3-0-0-2-2 |
| 9. | Germany | 1-0-0-6-0 |
| 10. | Poland | 0-0-0-7-0 |
*Win-Overtime Win-Overtime Loss-Loss-Tie