The 1968 IIHF European U19 Championship was the first official edition of the IIHF European Junior Championships. Tampere in Finland hosted the six team tournament from 26 December 1967 to 3 January 1968. Finland were qualified as hosts; the other five participants were qualified through the playoffs, played in November and December 1967. ^[1]

Qualification

10 November 1967

Switzerland

1–3 (1-0, 0-2, 0-1)

East Germany

Schaffhausen

12 November 1967

East Germany

10–1 (4-0, 1-0, 5-1)

Switzerland

Crimmitschau

East Germany qualified for the main tournament.

26 November 1967

Norway

1–18 (1-5, 0-5, 0-8)

Sweden

Sarpsborg

27 November 1967

Norway

0–17 (0-6, 0-5, 0-6)

Sweden

Oslo

Sweden qualified for the main tournament.

2 December 1967

France

1–16 (0-2, 1-4, 0-10)

Poland

Reims

3 December 1967

France

6–6 (1-4, 2-0, 3-2)

Poland

Reims

Poland qualified for the main tournament.

2 December 1967

Soviet Union

9–1 (2-0, 4-0, 3-1)

Bulgaria

Reims

4 December 1967

Soviet Union

4–0 (0-0, 1-0, 3-0)

Bulgaria

Reims

Soviet Union qualified for the main tournament.

West Germany

not played

Czechoslovakia

West Germany

not played

Czechoslovakia

West Germany withdrew. Czechoslovakia qualified for the main tournament.

Tournament

Team	TCH	URS	SWE	FIN	POL	GDR	GF/GA	Points
1.   Czechoslovakia		4:3	5:2	8:5	14:4	15:0	46:14	10
2.   Soviet Union	3:4		6:4	5:2	16:2	9:2	39:14	8
3.   Sweden	2:5	4:6		4:2	5:5	21:1	36:19	5
4.   Finland	5:8	2:5	2:4		9:1	8:3	26:21	4
5.   Poland	4:14	2:16	5:5	1:9		7:2	19:46	3
6.   East Germany	0:15	2:9	1:21	3:8	2:7		08:60	0

East Germany was relegated to Group B for 1969.

Tournament Awards

• Top Scorer: Walenty Ziętara (scored 11 goals)
• Top Goalie: Jiří Crha
• Top Defenceman: Valeri Vasiliev
• Top Forward: Walenty Ziętara

References

• Duplacey, James (1998). Total Hockey: The official encyclopedia of the National Hockey League (pgs 530-2). Total Sports. ISBN  0-8362-7114-9.