The 2001 IIHF World U18 Championships were held in Heinola, Helsinki, and Lahti, Finland. The championships ran between April 12 and April 22, 2001. Games were played at the Heinolan Jäähalli in Heinola, the Helsinki Ice Hall in Helsinki, and the Lahden Jäähalli in Lahti. Russia defeated Switzerland 6–2 in the final to win the gold medal, with Finland defeating the Czech Republic 2–1 to capture the bronze medal.
Ukraine was relegated. However with Canada entering the tournament for 2002, Ukraine was re-instated to top level as the tournament was expanded to 12 teams for a year.
Ukraine were supposed to be relegated to Division I for the 2002 IIHF World U18 Championships, however with the late addition of Canada it was decided to temporarily expand the tournament to twelve teams.[1]
11 March 2001
SofiaYugoslavia
–
Israel
7:6 n.P. (1:2,2:3,3:1,0:0,1:0)
5th place
11 March 2001
Sofia
Bulgaria
–
Belgium
3:11 (1:2,0:4,2:5)
3rd place
11 March 2001
SofiaSpain
–
South Africa
8:1 (4:0,2:1,2:0)
Final
11 March 2001
SofiaNetherlands
–
Romania
4:3 (1:1,2:0,1:2)
Netherlands were promoted to the Division II, and Israel were relegated to Division III Qualification (which was not played, Israel returned to competition in 2003) for the 2002 IIHF World U18 Championships.