The 2004 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (2004 WJHC) was held between December 26, 2003, and January 5, 2004, in Helsinki and Hämeenlinna, Finland. The United States won their first ever gold medal, after defeating Canada 4–3 in the final.
Venues
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! Helsinki Ice Arena<br>Capacity: 8,200
! Hameenlinna Ice Arena<br>Capacity: 5,360
|-
| 150px
| 150px
|-
! – Helsinki
! – Hämeenlinna
|}
Rosters
Top Division
Preliminary round
Group A
<small>All times local (EET/UTC+2).</small>
Group B
<small>All times local (EET/UTC+2).</small>
Relegation round
<small>Results from any games played during the preliminary round were carried forward to the relegation round.</small>
(all games at Hämeenlinna)
January 2
- Sweden 4–0 Ukraine
- Switzerland 6–2 Austria
January 3
- Austria 2–2 Ukraine
- Sweden 4–3 Switzerland
Playoff round
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Fifth place game
Bronze medal game
Final
The victory gave the United States its first WJC gold medal ever, and its first medal since a silver medal in 1997 when it lost 2–0 to Canada in the final.
Scoring leaders
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
!width=30|Pos
!width=150|Player
!Country
!width=20|GP
!width=20|G
!width=20|A
!width=30|Pts
|-
| 1 || align=left|Nigel Dawes || align=left| || 6 || 6 || 5 || 11
|-
| 2 || align=left|Zach Parise || align=left| || 6 || 5 || 6 || 11
|-
| 2 || align=left|Anthony Stewart || align=left| || 6 || 5 || 6 || 11
|-
| 4 || align=left|Valtteri Filppula || align=left| || 7 || 4 || 5 || 9
|-
| 5 || align=left|Sami Lepistö || align=left| || 7 || 4 || 4 || 8
|-
| 6 || align=left|Patrik Bärtschi || align=left| || 6 || 3 || 5 || 8
|-
| 7 || align=left|Sergei Anshakov || align=left| || 6 || 5 || 2 || 7
|-
| 7 || align=left|Jeff Carter || align=left| || 6 || 5 || 2 || 7
|-
| 7 || align=left|Gianni Ehrensperger || align=left| || 6 || 5 || 2 || 7
|-
| 7 || align=left|Alexander Ovechkin || align=left| || 6 || 5 || 2 || 7
|-
|}<small>GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus-minus; PIM = Penalties In Minutes</small>
Goaltending leaders
<small>Minimum 40% of team's ice time.</small>
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
!width=30|Rank
!width=150|Player
!Country
!width=20|
!width=20|
!width=20|
!width=20|
!width=20|Saves
!width=20|
!width=20|
|-
| 1 ||align=left| Al Montoya ||align=left| || 360:00 || 144 || 8 || 1.33 || 136 || 94.44 || 2
|-
| 2 ||align=left| Joakim Lundström ||align=left| || 299:08 || 105 || 7 || 1.40 || 98 || 93.33 || 1
|-
| 3 ||align=left| Denis Khudyakov ||align=left| || 160:00 || 58 || 4 || 1.50 || 54 || 93.10 || 0
|-
| 4 ||align=left| Jaroslav Halák ||align=left| || 360:00 || 194 || 14 || 2.33 || 180 || 92.78 || 2
|-
| 5 ||align=left| Hannu Toivonen ||align=left| || 357:25 || 137 || 11 || 1.85 || 126 || 91.97 || 1
|}
Tournament awards
{| class="wikitable"
!width=120| ||width=180| IIHF Directorate Awards ||width=180| Media All-Star Team
|-
! Goaltender
| Al Montoya || Al Montoya
|-
! Defencemen
| Sami Lepistö || Dion Phaneuf<br> Sami Lepistö
|-
! Forwards
| Zach Parise || Valtteri Filppula<br> Jeff Carter<br> Zach Parise
|}
Most Valuable Player
Zach Parise
Final standings
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
!width=15|
!Team
|- bgcolor="#F7F6A8"
| ||align=left|
|- bgcolor="#DCE5E5"
| ||align=left|
|- bgcolor="#FFDAB9"
| ||align=left|
|-
| 4 ||align=left|
|-
| 5 ||align=left|
|-
| 6 ||align=left|
|-
| 7 ||align=left|
|-
| 8 ||align=left|
|- bgcolor="#ffcccc"
| 9 ||align=left|
|- bgcolor="#ffcccc"
| 10 ||align=left|
|}
Division I
The Division I Championships were played on December 14–20, 2003 in Berlin, Germany (Group A) and on December 13–19, 2003 in Briançon, France (Group B).
Group A
Group B
Division II
The Division II Championships were played on December 28, 2003 – January 3, 2004 in Sosnowiec, Poland (Group A) and on January 5–11, 2004 in Kaunas and Elektrėnai, Lithuania (Group B).
Group A
Group B
Division III
The Division III Championship was played on January 5–11, 2004 in Sofia, Bulgaria.