Naomi Campbell, Staff Writer | 

While the NHL took its annual winter break, hockey fans were treated to the annual IIHF World Junior Championship, beginning on Dec. 26th, 2024. Over the next nine days, 10 teams and over 200 players prepared to compete in one of the biggest tournaments of their careers. The tournament took place in Ottawa and lasted 11 days, with the final games being played on Jan. 5th, 2025.

Over 200 NHL prospects and young professional players hailing from the USA, Canada, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Czechia, Kazakhstan, Slovakia, Sweden, and Switzerland competed in this year’s tournament in Ottawa, but only one nation came out on top.

Preliminary

The first six days of the tournament, known as the preliminary round, consisted of five teams in Group A (Canada, Finland, Germany, Latvia, USA), and five in Group B (Czechia, Kazakhstan, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland) playing the teams within their respective groups to determine rankings.

Day one started out with four games, with Canada beating Finland 4-0, Czechia winning 5-1 against Switzerland, Slovakia falling short to Sweden 5-2, and the biggest game of them all with the United States dominating Germany 10-4.

These four games set the bar for the rest of the tournament, providing high-octane, competitive action on the ice. Over the six days of intense hockey, teams such as Czechia, Finland, USA, and Canada made their presence felt, while Sweden established themselves as early favorites as they posted a perfect 4-0 record through the first stage, beating Slovakia, Kazakhstan, Switzerland, and Czechia.

Quarterfinals/Relegation

As the preliminary round ended, the top four teams in each group were given two rest days before having to go head-to-head in the quarterfinals, where the consequence for losing was elimination from the tournament. As the eight teams prepared for battle, knowing only the top four teams would advance, the games became increasingly intense. The bottom two teams would have to fight for their spot in next year’s World Juniors, with the losing team being eliminated from the 2026 tournament. This is called the relegation game, which included Germany and Kazakhstan this year. Germany was once a consistent performer in the tournament, making this an unusual appearance for their squad.

Entering the match as heavy favorites, Germany came out on top, winning 4-3 and securing their spot in next year’s tournament. In the quarterfinal matchups, Sweden knocked out Latvia 3-2, the USA defeated Switzerland 7-2 and Finland outshined Slovakia 5-3. Despite hosting the tournament, Canada could not capitalize on their home ice advantage, losing to Czechia in the quarterfinals for a second consecutive year in a close matchup ending 4-3.

Semifinals

Moving onto the semifinals, Finland and Sweden went head-to-head in an intensely fought game. Sweden was the favorable team and despite trailing 3-2 after the second period, they came back in the third with a beautiful goal to tie it up and force the game into overtime. However, the Finnish underdogs came out on top and won 4-3, setting them up to go for gold and forcing the Swedes to play for the bronze medal against the losing team in the match between Team USA and Czechia.

Despite knocking Canada out of the tournament, Czechia was blown off the ice by the American team. The USA dominated the ice for the entire 60 minutes of play, allowing Czechia to score only one goal in the first period. Team USA won 4-1, leading them one step closer to gold and dropping Czechia down to play for bronze.

Bronze/Gold Games

The final stage of the 2025 IIHF World Junior Ice Hockey Championship took place on Jan. 5th, 2025 and began with the bronze medal game between Czechia and Sweden. Having posted incredible performances throughout the tournament, both sides showed that they were not going to be defeated easily. After two hard-fought periods of play, the score was tied 2-2 going into the 3rd period. However, the final period of regulation was all about the goaltending as both netminders remained perfect, forcing the game into overtime.

Neither team found the back of the net in the extra period either, so the game advanced into a high-stakes shootout. As the stress levels reached a tournament high, Czechia kept their composure and came out on top, winning 3-2, and were awarded that glorious bronze medal.

That set the standard for the gold-medal match between Finland and the USA extremely high, but luckily, the two sides put on a show in front of the Ottawa crowd. Starting out the gate, Finland led the game 2-1 with an unstoppable offense and strong defensive performance. In the second period, though, the Finns lost focus and allowed the US to tie up the game 3-3, conceding two goals but scoring one of their own.

The United States has always proved to be one of the toughest teams to beat, alongside Canada, and entered the tournament as a betting favorite, thanks to their lineup of powerful players. Still, they could not shake the Finnish team and as both teams left the third period scoreless, the game advanced into overtime.

Despite Finland’s best efforts, though, Team USA rallied together and scored a clutch goal to win 4-3, earning themselves the title of World Junior Champions and taking home their gold medals. Finland played tough and even though they came up short, they still managed to earn themselves silver medals and establish themselves as powerhouses in future tournaments.

Where Team Canada Goes From Here

Despite entering this year’s tournament as favorites to win gold, Canada failed to medal in back-to-back IIHF World Juniors for the first time in their history. Canada struggled to score consistently in this year’s tournament but remained a force thanks to their suffocating defense, which only allowed 11 goals.

Notable absences from this year’s roster such as Carter Yakemchuk, Beckett Sennecke, Michael Misa, and others may be the key in 2026 to re-establish Canada as a gold medal contender.

Naomi Campbell is a Staff Writer for The Reflector 2024-2025.