The Czechs and Finns played a thriller during the preliminary round.
photo: Tim Austen/IIHF
The 50th edition of the IIHF World Junior Championship is in the books, so here is a look back at some of the highlights and special moments from St. Paul/Minneapolis.
Stenberg saves the day
Game 1 of the World Juniors featured Sweden and Slovakia, but the favoured Swedes were in trouble against the underdogs. Although Sweden took a 2-0 lead, the Slovaks roared back to tie it midway through the third. That set the stage for Ivar Stenberg, who scored a great goal with less than four minutes to play to give Sweden the dramatic victory.
Goals, not goalies
Any Canada-Czechia game is going to be good, but no one could have predicted the high-scoring affair on Boxing Day between the two medal contenders. Lead changes? There were many. Canada led 1-0 and 2-1 and trailed 3-2. Canada led 4-3 and 5-4, but teams exchanged goals down the stretch to make the score 6-4, 6-5, and, finally, 7-5. Not a great night for the goalies, but certainly a memorable game for the fans.
Latvia, again
The last time these countries played at the World Juniors was last year, and the Latvians pulled off a shocker, winning 3-2 in a shootout. But that was one lucky game, right? Wrong. On this night, Canada tried to nurse a 1-0 lead but the Latvians scored late in the third to send the game into overtime. Michael Hage saved the day for Canada, but not without a scare.
OT thriller
One of the marquis games of the preliminary round was the Czechia-Finland tilt, two teams who could easily be part of the medal conversation a week later. In this thriller, Matej Kubiesa scored less than two minutes into the game, and that goal held up the rest of the period, all of the second, and most of the third. But with Petteri Rimpinen on the bench for an extra attacker, Finland scored with 20 seconds remaining to send the game to overtime. Adam Jiricek, however, scored perhaps the best goal of the tournament to get the Czechs two points.
Hosts never say give
Slovakia had the Americans…until they didn’t. The visitors led 2-0 and 3-1, and even 4-3 late in the second period. But the U.S. tied the game with a late goal and continued to score in the third, taking those deficits and turning them into a frenetic 6-5 win.
New Year’s Eve
The final game at 3M Arena at Mariucci for the calendar year 2025 featured Canada and Finland, two great rivals. The score shows Canada won the game, 7-4, but it doesn’t show how. Early in the first Canada led 1-0 and 2-1, and already by the 5:40 mark it was 2-2. Here’s the crazy thing. By that time, both teams also had only two shots on goal. Four total shots—four goals. It was 3-3 after the first. Canada then pulled away, but not without leaving behind a wild opening six minutes.
Hosts go down
The first games of the New Year were played on January 2, the quarter-finals. And one game was a repeat of last year’s gold medal—United States vs. Finland. The Americans led 1-0 and 2-1, but the Finns scored two goals 55 second apart in the third to take a 3-2 lead. The hosts, however, tied the game at 18:27 to force overtime. But it was the Finns who found another gear and scored the winner, a nice shot by Arttu Valila at 2:11 to eliminate the Americans.
Semi-finals thriller
It was the Nordic rivals, Finland and Sweden, playing in one semi-finals. The winner plays for gold. Sweden had leads of 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2, and each time the Finns responded, the last goal sending the game to overtime and then a shootout. That’s when the goalies took over. Love Harenstam for Sweden and Petteri Rimpinen for Finland were sensational. In the end, Harenstam was one shot better, but what a memorable game it was.
Not impressed
The Czechs weren’t intimidated. They were inspired. The other semi-finals, Canada-Czechia, saw the game go back and forth, but whenever it seemed Canada gained the momentum, Czechia did something that said, we don’t care. When Porter Martone scored late in the third to make it 4-4, it appeared the game was headed to a fourth period. Tomas Poletin had other ideas, though, and his go-ahead goal at 18:46 was the difference maker. Canada played for bronze…and the Czechs played for gold.
Third gold for three crowns
The gold-medal game was exactly how Sweden drew it up, until Czechia tore up the drawings. The Swedes built a solid 3-0 lead by the early part of the third period, so it was just a matter of killing the clock and collecting gold medals. But the Czechs had a final push, scoring twice with the extra attacker in the final three minutes. In the end, it was a 4-2 Sweden win, but not without heart-stopping drama at the end. A golden classic.
Stenberg saves the day
Game 1 of the World Juniors featured Sweden and Slovakia, but the favoured Swedes were in trouble against the underdogs. Although Sweden took a 2-0 lead, the Slovaks roared back to tie it midway through the third. That set the stage for Ivar Stenberg, who scored a great goal with less than four minutes to play to give Sweden the dramatic victory.
Goals, not goalies
Any Canada-Czechia game is going to be good, but no one could have predicted the high-scoring affair on Boxing Day between the two medal contenders. Lead changes? There were many. Canada led 1-0 and 2-1 and trailed 3-2. Canada led 4-3 and 5-4, but teams exchanged goals down the stretch to make the score 6-4, 6-5, and, finally, 7-5. Not a great night for the goalies, but certainly a memorable game for the fans.
Latvia, again
The last time these countries played at the World Juniors was last year, and the Latvians pulled off a shocker, winning 3-2 in a shootout. But that was one lucky game, right? Wrong. On this night, Canada tried to nurse a 1-0 lead but the Latvians scored late in the third to send the game into overtime. Michael Hage saved the day for Canada, but not without a scare.
OT thriller
One of the marquis games of the preliminary round was the Czechia-Finland tilt, two teams who could easily be part of the medal conversation a week later. In this thriller, Matej Kubiesa scored less than two minutes into the game, and that goal held up the rest of the period, all of the second, and most of the third. But with Petteri Rimpinen on the bench for an extra attacker, Finland scored with 20 seconds remaining to send the game to overtime. Adam Jiricek, however, scored perhaps the best goal of the tournament to get the Czechs two points.
Hosts never say give
Slovakia had the Americans…until they didn’t. The visitors led 2-0 and 3-1, and even 4-3 late in the second period. But the U.S. tied the game with a late goal and continued to score in the third, taking those deficits and turning them into a frenetic 6-5 win.
New Year’s Eve
The final game at 3M Arena at Mariucci for the calendar year 2025 featured Canada and Finland, two great rivals. The score shows Canada won the game, 7-4, but it doesn’t show how. Early in the first Canada led 1-0 and 2-1, and already by the 5:40 mark it was 2-2. Here’s the crazy thing. By that time, both teams also had only two shots on goal. Four total shots—four goals. It was 3-3 after the first. Canada then pulled away, but not without leaving behind a wild opening six minutes.
Hosts go down
The first games of the New Year were played on January 2, the quarter-finals. And one game was a repeat of last year’s gold medal—United States vs. Finland. The Americans led 1-0 and 2-1, but the Finns scored two goals 55 second apart in the third to take a 3-2 lead. The hosts, however, tied the game at 18:27 to force overtime. But it was the Finns who found another gear and scored the winner, a nice shot by Arttu Valila at 2:11 to eliminate the Americans.
Semi-finals thriller
It was the Nordic rivals, Finland and Sweden, playing in one semi-finals. The winner plays for gold. Sweden had leads of 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2, and each time the Finns responded, the last goal sending the game to overtime and then a shootout. That’s when the goalies took over. Love Harenstam for Sweden and Petteri Rimpinen for Finland were sensational. In the end, Harenstam was one shot better, but what a memorable game it was.
Not impressed
The Czechs weren’t intimidated. They were inspired. The other semi-finals, Canada-Czechia, saw the game go back and forth, but whenever it seemed Canada gained the momentum, Czechia did something that said, we don’t care. When Porter Martone scored late in the third to make it 4-4, it appeared the game was headed to a fourth period. Tomas Poletin had other ideas, though, and his go-ahead goal at 18:46 was the difference maker. Canada played for bronze…and the Czechs played for gold.
Third gold for three crowns
The gold-medal game was exactly how Sweden drew it up, until Czechia tore up the drawings. The Swedes built a solid 3-0 lead by the early part of the third period, so it was just a matter of killing the clock and collecting gold medals. But the Czechs had a final push, scoring twice with the extra attacker in the final three minutes. In the end, it was a 4-2 Sweden win, but not without heart-stopping drama at the end. A golden classic.