They pulled their goalie, leading to Zach Parise's gold medal-winning goal with thirty seconds remaining.

Germany,  Norway, and  Ukraine are relegated to Division I for the 2003 IIHF World U18 Championships.

France, the previous year's runner up in Division II was invited, but failed to respond, so the tournament was played with only seven teams.

[7] Kazakhstan were promoted to the top level, and no team was relegated for the 2003 IIHF World U18 Championships.

[8] With North Korea's absence, Romania (the previous year's Division III runners-up) gained a late promotion into this tournament.