2020 IIHF World Junior Championship: Schedule, standings teams, tables, TV channels, players to watch

The 2020 World Junior Championship has concluded and Canada is back on top of the junior hockey world. The Canadians took down Russia in the gold medal game on Sunday to capture the program's 18th gold at the event, the most in WJC history. The Russians settled for their 10th silver, improving on their bronze medal finish in 2019. Sweden rounded out the medalists by capturing bronze with a win over Finland on Sunday.

In the relegation round, Germany ousted Kazakhstan in three games. You can find a full recap of the 2020 WJC below.

What is the World Junior Championship?

The WJC, or more simply the World Juniors, is an annual international ice hockey tournament that features some of the best under-20 players in the world. A large number of NHL prospects participate in the event every year, both in the form of players who have already been drafted and players who are expected to be drafted this summer. The main tournament features the top-ten ranked hockey nations in the world, but there are also several lower divisions that play separate WJC tournaments for the purpose of promotion/relegation.

How does the format work?

The event typically runs from the day after Christmas until early January, with a round-robin preliminary round before an elimination three-round playoff. The 10-team field is split evenly into two groups (Group A and Group B), with every team playing one prelim game against each of the four other teams in their group. The preliminary round uses a 3-2-1-0 point structure (3 points for a win, 2 points for an OT win, 1 point for an OT loss, 0 points for a regulation loss).

At the conclusion of the preliminary round, the top four teams from each group will move on to the playoff round, while the last-place teams from each group will face off in a best-of-three series to determine who gets relegated for next year's tournament.

Which countries are competing this year?

Here is this year's group layout:

Group A

Finland
Switzerland
Sweden
Slovakia
Kazakhstan

Group B

United States
Russia
Canada
Czech Republic
Germany

Who is the reigning champ?

Finland won last year's tournament, upsetting the United States in the gold medal game with a thrilling 3-2 victory. Kaapo Kakko (New York Rangers) scored the game-winning goal with just over a minute left in the third period to give Finland its 5th title in tournament history.

Who are the players to watch this year?

UNITED STATES - Montreal Canadiens prospect Cole Caufield is a small (5-foot-7) but lethal goal-scoring talent on the wing. Spencer Knight, 18, was the first goalie taken off the board during the 2019 Draft (13th overall to the Florida Panthers) and will be the Americans' last line of defense in net.

CANADA - Winger Alexis Lafreniere is only 18 years old and is seen as a complete offensive player who is the favorite to be the first overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. Quinton Byfield, 17, is a big center (6-foot-4, 215 pounds) who is also projected to be drafted near the very top of the 2020 Draft.

SWEDEN - Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Rasmus Sandin, 19, will be leading the Swedes on the blue line. Winger Lucas Raymond, 17, is a well-rounded and skilled threat on the wing and projects to be a high draft pick next summer.

FINLAND - Winnipeg Jets defensive prospect Ville Heinola, 18, will be leading the defending champs from the back end. Forward Anton Lundell, 18, will once again be contributing up front and is expected to be a lottery pick in the 2020 draft.

RUSSIA - Yaroslav Askarov, 17, projects to be the top goaltender of the 2020 draft class and will be holding it down between the pipes for the Russians.